“You’re leaving already? Shame, but I suppose that’s the way it is,” Pastèque said. We had decided to visit him one last time before we left. “Ah, yes, go ahead and take that big thing in the other room.”
We opened the door to the other room as instructed, only to find the corpse of the baby dragon that Fresa had defeated yesterday.
“Are you sure? This is quite the monster,” Datil said.
Pastèque laughed. “I can’t be called an adventurer if I steal another person’s thunder! Of course, I’ve added this to your adventurer evaluations as well.” He glanced over at Fresa, then turned to Datil. “Do you have a place to go? Right now, the weather’s good in both the north and the south. Great for sightseeing. The fishing town in the south can lead you to some great food that pairs great with liquor!”
“I’m so sorry, sir. There’s actually something I’d like for you to see. Apple-san, would you please?”
Copy that. Grida, could you collect the baby dragon and take out the siratar?
“Okay! Here I go!” she said. The baby dragon disappeared into the storage card, and the siratar took its place.
“Huh?! Is this a siratar? It’s quite big,” Pastèque said. Like Datil before him, the guildmaster’s expression changed as he continued to intensely stare at the corpse. “But if it’s this big, wouldn’t it still retain its human form even if it’s slain? How did you remove the demon by itself?”
“Sir, I believe the host is still alive,” Datil replied.
In normal circumstances, that should be impossible. After all, it got this big from eating her.
“Impossible! That’s unheard of!” Pastèque was silent for a moment before speaking again. “Ah. This also has something to do with your youth, doesn’t it?” He glanced over at me, as Fresa cupped me in her hands. He seemed to have understood something.
Hey, how much did this guy figure out from yesterday’s sword fight?
“Since you showed me this, I assume you already have a destination in mind?”
“Correct. We’re heading to Muruma,” Datil said.
“Muruma. Noted. I’ll have some people do some investigating. It won’t be too elaborate though, since I don’t want to explain who I’m doing this for.”
I see. If he says that there might be siratars in Muruma, people will start to ask how he knows.
“And? What’s the probability that someone from here in Kalabuya is infected?”
Júzi and Arguta said that they took the sickly Berry and fled from that band of thieves. That means that Berry was already infected with the siratar before she got here. I hopped onto the floor and rolled from side to side. This was my signal for “no.”
“Seems like we don’t have to worry about that,” Datil replied.
The guildmaster looked at Datil and me, and burst into laughter. Why does he look kinda happy?
“Hah! I see, I see. Well, that’s good news. Then I’ll arrange it so that you can get some intel about Muruma and its surroundings. As for the code, hm... If someone asks you ‘Why did you go south?’ you should answer, ‘Because I don’t drink alcohol.’ Also, take that disgusting slimy demon with you, you hear? Like I said, I can’t be called an adventurer if I steal another person’s thunder.”
✦ ✦ ✦
So this is the store that casts antidegradation magic on equipment, huh? As we opened the door, we found the shop owner, an elderly man, smiling at us.
“Welcome. I’ve heard all about your weapon. Now please take your sword out.”
This was the “store with a good magician” that Pastèque referred us to. Datil took his sword from his waist and handed it to the shop owner, scabbard and all.
“Oho! As he said, this is quite an interesting sword. All right then, I’ll restore all eight layers of magic. Hm? Do you want me to do the same to your armor as well?”
“Oh, no need. This armor is—”
The owner laughed. “No need to be so reserved! It’s on his dime, after all. Why not let me restore the magic there too?” The moment the owner reached out and touched Datil’s armor, he started trembling. “Th-This is...”
That’s Loga’s Leather Armor. It’s made out of the skin of a demon lord from another world. It’s a god-tier item and is self-repairing. So there’s no need to apply antidegradation magic—it doesn’t degrade in the first place.
“I can’t believe this. Wh-Where did you get this terrifying armor?”
To think he saw this armor’s true value in an instant! Pastèque has a good eye for shops.
“As I said, no need.” Datil smiled and put his finger in front of his lips. “I’m sure you’ve heard from the guildmaster, but I’ve got some stuff going on, so if you wouldn’t mind...”
The owner’s face twitched with surprise and he let out a small yelp as he took Datil’s sword and disappeared into the back of the shop.
It might be better if we don’t show off our SSR items.