“Would it still work if you wore the red jacket over the top of your miko priestess garb?” Ren said, proposing a compromise to Raphtalia.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting her to wear nothing but the jacket!” I clarified.
“I would certainly hope not!” Raphtalia shot back. I had meant the jacket over her current outfit from the start! It might be too many layers, but it could work as a jacket. “This entire exchange reminds me of Natalia from the other day.”
“I can see that,” I agreed.
“Overlaying my interaction with Natalia on this farce is very rude!” Holn interjected. Raphtalia gave a deep sigh.
“Okay, I give my consent,” Raphtalia finally said. “Just don’t take things too far. I don’t want to end up practically naked.”
“Of course not. Just what do you take me for?” I said, offended. Certainly not the kind of creep to raise a slave girl and then make her wear nothing but a red jacket. And wasn’t that a short and sweet summation of Raphtalia’s life!
I took a moment to recall what we had been discussing. Right. Exclusive equipment. We might be able to apply that term if an accessory was made for a particular individual to use. Just keep things simple, then. Put your heart into making something for that person.
Making an accessory for Raphtalia would be great training for me. I counted on her the most out of everyone. That was where the Raph-chans and my love of them came from. That made me think of that arm band I made for Raphtalia. The direction of the piece, as well as how to combine the materials to get the most out of them, was important to consider. Raphtalia might like something decorative, with gemstones, but that didn’t suit my image at all.
“Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia stammered. I had taken her hand and was checking the size of her wrist. The last time, I’d simply made something I thought she could get the most use out of. I needed to consider a size that would make it easy to use and ensure it wouldn’t get in the way in battle. I’d have to choose the materials carefully based on these points. Something with a strong connection to Raphtalia too . . . like a sakura stone of destiny, sakura lumina, or emergency medicine. It felt like my ideas were taking shape. The only issue was I didn’t expect it to enhance skills even when it was completed.
“Hey, Raphtalia. What happened to that ball I made from those balloons for you?” I asked.
“That ball? I keep it safe on a shelf in my room,” she replied. The memories of when we first met brought a smile to her face.
“And you have some more balloon materials in case it ever needed repairs, right?” I confirmed with her. I knew what a precious treasure that ball was for her. I hadn’t given it much thought when I made the gift, but for Raphtalia, it was a super important memory.
“I do,” she replied.
“If you have some to spare, could I have them? It should be auspicious to make use of those materials,” I explained. That was exactly what this item was going to need.
“Okay,” Raphtalia finally replied.
“I often sympathize with you when Naofumi is giving you the runaround, but I can see how close you really are,” Ren said quietly. I considered this to be business as usual.
“It looks like you’ve had a good idea or two,” Holn commented.
“I noticed that too,” Imiya added, the pair of them looking at me with smiles on their faces. I just wanted everyone to stop staring at me.
“I’m not going to use the balloon materials to make a thong, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I said.
“And I wouldn’t give them to you if you were!” Raphtalia fired back. I wondered how we always got off topic like this. All I wanted to do was practice making some powerful exclusive equipment.
“Finding the right combination of exclusive equipment and weapons could be a lot of work,” I stated. I’d practice making exclusive equipment for Raphtalia and the Raph species first and then narrow down the search to something suited to their weapons.
We continued to spend the day testing more accessories. At the end, we had quite the haul. I walked away with enhanced durability for Shooting Star Shield, longer range for Float Shield, and the ability to choose reflect magic up to Zweite class. I could add some life force to increase the output of the magic reflection, but after too many boosted reflects, the accessory itself would be destroyed. Ren had increased accuracy for Hundred Swords, night vision, and early warning for magic activation. Raphtalia gained additional stars that scattered from her Stardust Blade—swinging her sword, making flower petals appear for slashing follow-up attacks—and a boost to magic. Fohl and Filolia got visible critical points when attacking, easier charging of life force, and increased speed. S’yne and R’yne took home enhanced attack power and tensile strength for their thread attacks and boosted stats for their familiars. Mamoru got enhancements for Shield Boomerang, additional strength for Shield Bash, and auto Shooting Star Shield. Holn got increased length of time for the whip binding skills, a paralysis effect added to her attacks, and a reduction in compounding time.
I was especially impressed with Mamoru and his automatic deployment of Shooting Star Shield on a fixed cycle. I even gave it a try myself, but it didn’t work for me like it did for him. I cursed the Shield Spirit again. That annoying ball of light seemed intent on dragging me through the mud. I was seriously thinking about changing full-time to the Mirror Hero.
Mamoru did say he was jealous of my magic reflection, but I wondered how honest he was being. It was probably a case of “the grass is always greener” for both of us. Holn’s items were pretty run-of-the-mill, but she seemed to like them. I could easily imagine the kind of things she had in mind to use them for.