Once the festival had embarked on its third day, the famous Milk Can Carrying Race commenced. It was a competition that spanned across Grantham’s eight districts, in which you had to run a long-distance relay race through town while shouldering cans big enough to hold twelve liters. The most challenging part was a section of the suburbs where you had to run down a hill. If you fell and spilled the milk, you’d have to start again from the top. However, most of the participants tripped and fell, ending up soaked in milk and mud.
I remembered how those rags used to clean up spilled milk during school lunches would wind up. I wonder how bad everyone’s clothes will smell by tomorrow.
Kumpf Plaza was the race’s finish line, so it was crowded with people. By this point, the victor had already been decided, and an award ceremony was underway. Everyone was busy watching it, so we had free time at the store. As I enjoyed a short breather, a large shadow enveloped me.
There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky today, but maybe an evening shower was coming on? When I looked up, it wasn’t a cloud I saw. Instead, there loomed a large-bodied man nearly two meters tall. He had also brought two beautiful women with him. What was more, the woman at his left side had long ears. Is she an elf?! It was my first time seeing one in this world. She was dressed in a pretty risqué manner. Her clothes exposed a wide swathe of her chest, and the slit in her skirt ran high. I didn’t know where to look.
“Welcome.”
The large man who had been staring intently at me smiled broadly. He was big and scary-looking, but he had a strange charm when he smiled.
“Shopkeeper,” he said, “I heard you were selling something called Mobile Forces here. Where are they?”
“Sure thing! I’ve got them right here. We only have three boxes left, though.”
They had sold well again today, so there were only three remaining: Gufufu, Kian, and Jujiong.
“I see! Is it okay to pick them up?”
“Go ahead. There’s an explanation on the side of the box.”
The big man picked up Gufufu and carefully read the box. Between the two of us, the man looked older, but he had the earnestness of a young boy. After taking a leisurely ten minutes to compare them all, he finally decided on his purchase.
“I’ll go with Gufufu after all,” he said. “I feel it’d be most compatible with me.”
“So, Gufufu, huh? Would you like a weapon and some armor with that?” I introduced him to Mister Sanaga’s weapons as if I were offering him a side of french fries. Most people bought them together, after all.
“Let’s see. Which do you think is good, Cres?”
“I do believe a spear would be good,” said the elf with a giggle, hugging herself right beneath her boobs and exuding allure as she gave her two cents. Her pheromones were off the charts.
“What about you, Rana?”
“How about you get something unique like a whip instead?” she suggested. “The box art has one.” This girl had an overly serious air about her. There was indeed an image of Gufufu equipping a whip on the box art.
“Hmm...” The large man extracted the parts from the box and began assembling Gufufu in front of the store. It was extremely easy to assemble a Mobile Force unit, so even a small child would only need a max of five minutes. His fingers were big and tough, but they moved dexterously and he assembled Gufufu in no time at all.
“Can I try having it hold a weapon?” It sounded like he wanted to decide after actually having his Mobile Force equip it. Despite his large size, he might possess unexpectedly delicate sensibilities.
“That’s fine, but please do not hit it against something and break it.”
“I understand.”
The man put Gufufu against his forehead and established a magic link between them. He then proceeded to move its body so smoothly you’d never have guessed it was his first time. I’d never seen anyone move it so skillfully, aside from Michelle.
“Oh, this is great!” he exclaimed. “It’s truly quite fun!”
He had Gufufu fly and jump and assume a fighting stance without its movements ever once faltering. This man right here might just be what is known as a master.
After the man tried out various weapons, he selected the unpopular longsword. It was a rather large sword with a slight curve, like the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. The blade itself was a matte black color with red decorative engravings.
“I like this. I’ll take it.”
“What will you do for armor? This shield here is popular.”
“I don’t need a shield,” he said. “It’ll hold its weapon with both hands.”
I see. That’d probably make its sword more powerful...
The serious-looking girl named Rana paid for the items. She was staring at my face very intently... Was something bothering her?
“Incidentally, Shopkeeper,” the man said, “I heard that you can get some training from the capital’s champion if you buy a Mobile Force. I’d like a match with him. Will that be all right?”
I looked over at Michelle, who had been sitting with her back against the wall of a building, but she had already stood up and begun stretching her arms. I guess she knew that things would turn out like this.
“Is that all right with you, Minerva?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s no problem.” Michelle was having her Kian equip its sword and shield. She somehow seemed kind of fired up.
“Now, come this way,” I said.
The man nodded and set Gufufu down in the arena. It held the long sword that he had just purchased.
This was supposed to be a Mobile Forces match, but the air was thick with the kind of tension you might feel before a duel between two fellow knights. The next thing I knew, a great number of spectators had begun ignoring the closing ceremony to observe the match instead.
“This isn’t an official battle, so we don’t need to introduce ourselves,” the man said, taking a pretty lighthearted approach to the battle that lay ahead of him.
“Bring it on.” Michelle’s fighting spirit was laid bare to the world. She was the type to get heated in fights.
There had been no signal to commence the match, but the two Mobile Force units dived into battle at the same time, as if they had agreed on a signal beforehand.