“It feels like we’re finally back to our ordinary lives,” Sol said to Reen and Julia with a blissful smile. “After a long, long time.”
He and his party were heading toward the spiral staircase leading to Abyss, located deep beneath the keep in the compound of the old Atriesta Palace. Luna, who was holding his hand, looked up at him quizzically, not understanding why he was in such a good mood. The puzzlement was shared by Aina’noa, who was floating behind him as usual, and by Little Alshunna from her perch on his head. Even so, they were all smiles, as their liege being happy meant that they were happy. Luna even went so far as to begin swinging his arm.
Looking just as content, Reen replied, “It hasn’t actually been that long, but it feels...nostalgic somehow.”
This was in spite of the fact that they were going to be fighting very challenging enemies very soon. Or rather, it was because of that. For a while now, the three of them had felt like they were bouncing from situation to situation while the world changed rapidly all around them. Now, however, they were checking their gear and mentally readying themselves to face monsters. They felt like they were back to living the extraordinary life that was ordinary for adventurers, and that was comforting.
“I mean, look at what we’re wearing,” said Julia with a small smile. There was an unmistakable spring in her step as she examined herself.
Since the Numbers armaments were fast becoming the group’s loadout despite qualifying more as equippable weapon systems than traditional adventuring gear, any equipment that looked like what normal adventurers used brought back memories of their Black Tiger days. Of course, what they were using now, after it passed through Gawain’s hands, was greatly superior to what they’d worn back then. The most obvious example was Butter Knife, the sword that Reen had used in the Country Eater fight. There was no way a normal adventurer had a weapon capable of bottoming out a taboo territory boss’s HP barrier. Similarly, everything that Julia, Frederica, Eliza, and even their newest companion, Rosalind, were decked out in looked like normal gear but were actually armis magicka with incredible capabilities.
The look of the equipment Reen and Julia were using was all based on the well-worn gear they had entrusted their lives to during their extensive travels. These items had practically become a part of them, so wearing the armor gave them a sense of reassurance separate from practical performance, and brandishing the weapons evoked joy. This was something only those who had grown with their gear through thick and thin, such as adventurers and soldiers, could understand.
“I...feel a little exposed.”
In contrast, Frederica, who had never been an adventurer, saw her Numbers armament as her basic loadout. The gauntlets she was wearing at the moment allowed her to punch holes in castle walls, and her dress would protect her even from normal territory bosses, but Type Hecatoncheires was so much more powerful in comparison that she couldn’t help but feel underpowered. Or, as she put it, “exposed,” as though she were appearing before people in an extremely thin outfit.
That was partly Gawain’s fault. He had been so successful at making the foundation suit incredible at protecting the wearer that it gave him the leeway to make the outfits worn on top of those suits not only provide more stats or special abilities but also look good. And unlike Reen and Julia, who already had a style they wanted, Frederica and Eliza had ended up with designs that leaned quite hard into Sol’s preferences. In short, they were rather sexy.
That was more what Frederica was referring to when she described feeling “exposed.” And yet, she still walked out in front of Sol and did a spin for him, suggesting that she didn’t want to complain to Gawain but thank him when she saw him next. After all, it was very effective at drawing Sol’s eye. The fact that it looked normal on the surface but would become very titillating when she made showy moves in battle earned extra points in her book. And since everyone in Sol’s party was female—with him being the sole exception—there was no need to worry about being seen by other guys.
Julia sighed. “It’s scary how easily people can get used to things.”
It was anybody’s guess how much she was talking about getting used to powerful equipment or how Frederica, a cloistered princess just a few months ago, was obviously deriving pleasure from being immodest in front of Sol. Based on her expression, it was most likely the latter.
“I don’t know,” said Eliza, checking herself out. “This doesn’t seem so bad to me.”
Reen shrugged. “That’s because you’re in normal wear almost all the time when in action.”
As head of the underworld, Eliza had the most opportunities to be involved in violence. However, due to her position, her opponents were humans more often than not. She was absolutely peerless against those without Player’s protection and therefore had very little reason to bring out her Numbers armament. That meant, as Reen pointed out, that the armor she wore was usually the bare minimum, if anything, though she did always have her foundation suit on so that she could summon the armament at any time, just in case.
Given her background, in contrast to Frederica, Eliza felt overarmored wearing a “normal” adventurer loadout, even if it was a little suggestive. Then again, she had a tendency to blindly endorse everything that Sol would like. Her opinion probably took into account the little bursts of joy she got catching the occasional red-faced glances that he sneaked her way.
When she was with a man she was interested in, a woman’s every word naturally became imbued with hidden meaning. Judging by the silly look on Sol’s face, however, it was clear he was getting none of it. Then again, he wasn’t supposed to, as such maneuvering only ever happened between women. For example, Reen was smiling like her normal self, but that could have been her preening her feathers for having successfully taken her relationship with Sol to the next level the other day. Or not.
In any case, Sol’s ignorance in this regard could become a very useful tool going forward as his relationships with women became increasingly complicated. It wouldn’t be long before he perfected this trait further and developed the ability to automatically not hear what he wasn’t supposed to.
“I... I’m still having trouble getting used to any of it. I’m sorry.”
Among Sol’s Girls, the only one who was pure and innocent in the truest sense was their newest addition, Rosalind. At the moment, she was feeling extremely sorry that she was, once again, taking up the time of everyone from his party with her training. She very much did not have the bandwidth to catch the second layer of meaning in the conversation going on.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking it easy,” said Sol reassuringly. “It’s normal.”
The fact that he could say that with a real smile was a clear sign that he did not see Rosalind as a girl at all. That was to be expected, as she was merely a seven-year-old child, especially after she stopped occasionally attempting wiles far beyond her years.
“Lord Sol is correct. That said, it does not mean you can be complacent,” said Blue Water out loud.
Everyone could hear Blue Water now because the artificial persona made up of the personalities and memories of Crystania’s past rulers had been completely detached from its vessel. Not only was it no longer dwelling inside the circlet known as Ruler’s Wisdom but it had been granted the ability to manifest itself without the aid of its current bearer through a special piece of equipment that Rosalind had been gifted upon joining the Libertadores.
This equipment had a very unique form and was made from the body of Country Eater, a material as powerful and singular as that which had been used for the initial versions of the Numbers armaments. At first glance, it didn’t even look like equipment. No, the appearance of Type Rodem was much more accurately described as a giant black panther currently walking nestled up to Rosalind. Ruler’s Wisdom was affixed to its semitransparent neck, and red light in geometric patterns periodically flashed across its glossy skin. It served as both a Numbers armament control system and a conduit that allowed the collective consciousness of Blue Water to join and leave Rosalind’s mind at will. When Gawain had first laid eyes on the circlet, he had grown feverish with excitement and whipped up the gear in the blink of an eye. It was a stroke of luck that Country Eater had just been killed, practically dropping the materials into his lap. That was how Type Rodem had ended up embodying the characteristics of slime monsters and taken on the most distinctive appearance of the entire Numbers series.