“We can mass-produce silver weapons for fighting undead.”
“Gonna sell those through the Echigoya Company?”
The Magic Swords I sold were better than the competition’s, but these silver weapons would go for a far more reasonable price and could be good for us. They do say silver banishes evil.
“Master, is that only possible with metal?”
“I’d assume so? Plating means a layer of metal…”
“Could you use it to coat paper in plastic? Like lamination?”
“What might work…alua?”
Alua resin hardened into a jewel-like beauty, so I tried laminating some good paper I had in stock.
“……It worked.”
Was that Plating?
It might not quite match the spell name, but since this worked in my favor, I decided not to think about it.
This would let me easily make company IDs that couldn’t be forged.
“Then please! Give this a soft waterproof coating!” Arisa said, taking out a BL doujin created by the demon lord Shizuka.
“Pendragon! The Pendragon party returns!”
When we got back to Arcatia, we found adventurers and citizens alike cheering for us.
“We’ve got a parade ready to go!” said a golden lion adventurer, Tiga.
“You arranged this?”
“Yep! That was you going crazy in the castle, right? I saw the elf kid make a massive earth wall all around the outside of it.”
Oh, so they’d seen our setup.
I’m shocked they didn’t try to stop us.
“Don’t sweat the details, just get on this carriage! The guild provided it, and the townsfolk decorated it!”
He was pointing at a topless carriage. They’d gone absolutely crazy with jungle materials.
“Wowzers! I dig it! Thanks, Tiga!” Arisa shot him a thumbs-up, and being a goof, he returned the same gesture.
“The heroes return in triumph! Music! Dancing! Are you ready?!”
“““Yeah!”””
Men and women dressed for a samba started tapping out a merry rhythm on percussive and wind instruments made southwest of here. It was a bit racy, but lots of fun—and they escorted our carriage along.
“Pochi! Look here!”
“Yes, sir! Pochi sees you!”
“Tama, let’s draw together!”
“Okies!”
Pochi and Tama seemed to have made a lot of friends among the locals.
So had the other girls.
“Nana, call us larvae!”
“Lady Mia, you’re gorgeous!”
“Lulu, we’ll bring food over later!”
“Black Spear! I’ll best you yet!”
“Arisa! We’ll be playing Shadow Ogre later! In the square!”
People were calling out in all directions.
“Young master, treat Roro well!”
“Young master, when’s your next culinary concoction?”
Some of them seemed to have the wrong idea, but I just waved without correcting them.
“No one mocks smooth-skins anymore!”
“Seriously. Those little ones could mop the floor with us.”
“Looks ain’t everything. Strength is all that matters here!”
Even those who’d looked down on humanfolk—and races that looked like them—had to respect the feats my party had pulled off.
“Hmph! Are you defanged? Domesticated? No matter how strong they are, a smooth-skin is a smooth-skin! I won’t stand for it!”
“Hardheaded asshat.”
“Rhinofolk don’t have hair, either!”
“Shush! I’ve got hard skin!”
“Yeah! Not like that soft-smooth skin!”
A rhino and a monkey were arm in arm, fighting popular opinion. Guess discrimination ran deep.
These views came with the weight of history and couldn’t be overturned that easily. As long as progress was being made.
“Oh, we’re not headed to the Hero’s Rest?”
“Looks like the Great Sorceress’s Tower.”
Arisa and Liza were right; the parade route led right there.
They’d sent word to the Hero’s Rest, too; Roro, the hamsters, and Ms. Nona were all headed to the tower, too.
“Pendragon’s here! Fire the volley!” an elderly mage yelled, and the mages on standby all sent fireballs into the sky.
They made a racket and filled the sky with smoke.
You’d think this would startle people, but the citizens seemed used to it, and everyone just cheered.
“Master, Tia’s in Great Sorceress mode.”
“At least call her ‘Great Sorceress Arcatia,’ then.”
Arisa was still calling her by her incognito name, so I corrected her.
“Come to think of it, the Great Sorceress is a so-called smooth-skin, but has no one ever taken issue with that?”
“Beats me. They might have her in another bracket.”
“So arbitrary!”
Arisa rolled her eyes, and I had to agree.
“And in public, she always wears that giant witch hat pulled low over her eyes and has several high-powered obfuscation items, so normal people might have a very vague image of her unless they get up close and personal.”
Since she spent most of her time as Tia, I bet not many people had ever seen the Great Sorceress up close.
The carriage stopped at the back of the square, and we were waved to the podium where the Great Sorceress stood.
My party in tow, I stepped on up, and the band and dancers spread out around us, going all out.
“Conquering the castle is a feat for the ages, Pendragon.”
We lined up in front of the Great Sorceress, and she spoke, her voice a bit lower and stern.
“They’re crazy!”
“What if you’d failed and the Taurus army came pouring out?!”
The rhino and monkey were still heckling, not reading the room at all, but the lionfolk and tigerfolk around them beat them into silence. Such violence.
“Hmm, for those unaware and thus concerned, allow me to explain. These adventurers had a plan and ensured no stampede would occur even if they failed. They brought this plan to me for my approval. Even if a stampede did occur, I deemed their plan would handle it—that is why I granted permission.”
We hadn’t asked for permission at all, so she was just soaking the blame to appease the citizens.
“And no stampede occurred. Pendragon’s party pulled off the unthinkable and conquered the castle. I am here to celebrate that feat.”
She snapped her fingers, and there was a drumroll. Eight apprentices emerged, each carrying a tray with a Crown of Thorns and an adventurer badge.
The Great Sorceress took one of these in hand, and the drumroll ended in a bang. Silence settled over the square.
“In honor of your heroic achievement, I grant each of you a Crown of Thorns, which banishes evil, and the title Knight of the Great Sorceress.”
I knelt, and she placed the crown on my head. Her apprentices did the same with my party.
“And I grant the Pendragons new adventurer badges.”
She took the badge from the tray, holding it up for all to see.
Interesting.
That wasn’t a golden lion.
“……Light dragon!” an old man near the stage gasped.
His murmur spread through the crowd.
“A light dragon badge!”
“They actually exist?!”
That cry made a smirk appear on the Great Sorceress’s lips. She looked us over.
Clearly, she’d arranged a little surprise. I turned my “Poker Face” skill off, letting the emotions show.
“We haven’t given out this rank in a long time,” she whispered in Tia’s voice. Then she turned to the crowds. “My blessing on the new light dragon adventurers!”
There was a flash, and the translucent image of a dragon made of light shone within us. The crowd cheered like the sound exploded out of them.
The illusion was likely a spell cast by her apprentices.
Beaming, my party waved to the crowd, and the cheers grew even louder.
Pochi and Tama seemed especially pleased and were racing around the tiny stage, tails and hands waving alike.
LYURYU!
Pochi’s excitement proved infectious, and Lyuryu popped out of the Dragon Cradle.
“A dragon! A tiny dragon!”
“It’s blessing the birth of the light dragon adventurers!”
The crowd kicked up a fuss about Lyuryu, who responded by letting out a cry toward the heavens. A ton of flower petals soared in from somewhere, filling the air.
“Wow! Lovely! Beautiful! I should let them hear my voice as well!”
“Wait, Arisa.”
“Save that for later.”
Arisa had been on the verge of an impromptu recital, but Lulu and Liza stopped her.
“Bring out the drinks and food! People of the fortress city—tonight we feast in the heroes’ honor!”
At the Great Sorceress’s word, they started rolling in barrels of ale and carts laden with food.
She headed back into the tower, and I was swept up in a rush of local big shots eager to say hello. Once that finally died down, I managed to join my party.
“You made it through, Master,” Arisa said, handing me some fruit water. I downed it in one swallow, catching my breath.
“Satou, Lulu, everyone—congratulations!”
A clear voice from the throng.
The owner of the Hero’s Rest, Roro, was pushing through the crowd, her face as beautiful as her voice.
“Thanks, Roro.”
“Roro! Thanks!”
Lulu and Roro exchanged a hug.
“Young master! Congrats. Look who we brought!”
Ms. Nona, a regular at the shop, was leading a parade of little ones.
“Congrats, Mashter!”
“Congrats, Nana!”
“Congrats, I’m hungry!”
The hamsterfolk kids from the Hero’s Rest offered their platitudes.
“Larvae!” Nana cried, sweeping them up with godlike speed.
They fidgeted, trying to escape, but no one could escape her hugs.
“Reluctant.”
“Yes, Mia. More hugs later, I promise.”
She let the hamsters go.
“The doggy’s with them, sir.”
“Eh-heh-heh!”
Pochi and Tama were carrying puppy-mode Fen around.
“Don’t clump up in the corner, guest of honor,” said Tiga, a golden lion adventurer. “We’ve got seats for you over here; come regale the adventurers with the tale of your conquest.”
With Roro’s team in tow, we took him up on that invitation.
The fortress city had a surplus of monster meat, so the banquet tables were laden with meat dishes.
“Wow, wild and craaaazy?”
“So much meat, Pochi doesn’t know what to do, sir!”
“Then stuff your face! You’ve earned it!”
Tiga gave the beastfolk kids a gentle nudge toward the meat dishes.
“Tastyyyyy?!”
“Meat is strongest, sir!”
LYU?
“You eat, too, Lyuryu! Growing kids need food, sir!”
LYURYU!
That first bite must have pleased it, because Lyuryu began digging into the pile of meat, too.
One more bottomless stomach.
“There’s lots of food, sir. Take your time, don’t spill anything, sir!”
Pochi was busily looking after her dragon.
Pleased to have a chance to play at being the big sister.
“Oh! Look! The cat-eared girl who saved us!”
“And the dog-eared girl and little dragon that kicked those monsters aside when we got surrounded!”
Adventurers in the crowd around were sharing stories about us.
But we’d saved so many people, it was hard to remember them all.