Today was the day the armor I'd commissioned from the Weapon Shop old man would be ready.
I showed up right when the store opened.
"Oh, Naofumi. Bright and early."
"Sure am. So how is it? Done?"
"Yup. Oh, by the way, your pot's become a real sensation, but for some reason people think I made it."
"Don't know, don't care. Go teach whoever's spreading those rumors a lesson."
"You're too much for me, Naofumi..."
The old man brought out my armor from the back of the shop.
It wasn't bone mail made by shattering chimera and dragon bones into pieces... rather, it was a rider's suit with bones sewn on as a punk fashion statement. Something like that.
The End-of-the-World Grunt Mark II, this outfit.
Incidentally, calling it a rider's suit when the proper terms would be "riding wear" or "racing suit" is probably beside the point.
"Old man, are you really that desperate to make me look like a bandit boss?"
Maybe it was because the original materials included the Barbarian Armor, but could you please fix the direction this is going?
"Huh? What are you talking about, Naofumi?"
Do I really have to wear this...? It's a fantasy world, so why is every piece of equipment I end up with a Showa-era relic?
Well, let me check the stats at least.
"By the way, what kind of armor is this?"
"Custom orders have gotten so complicated I've lost track. Let's just call it Barbarian Armor +1, yeah?"
"This feels like more than a +1 modification. The decay dragon leather reminds me of a completely different kind of outfit, or something."
The design was completely different too.
Before, it had that denim-ish End-of-the-World Grunt look, but now the decay dragon leather had a black sheen that was more like rubber.
Only the chest area had metal plating, almost as an afterthought.
What would you even call this? An outfit that says "get on a motorcycle."
There are no motorcycles in this world, so would I be riding around on Filo at top speed instead? Give me a break!
Barbarian Armor +1?
Defense Up / Impact Resistance (Medium) / Fire Resistance (Large) / Dark Resistance (Large) / HP Recovery (Slight) / Magic Power Up (Medium)
Magic Defense Processing / Auto-Repair Function
Once again, it came loaded with all sorts of resistances.
Auto-Repair... I could understand the performance just from the name alone. Even if it gets torn, it'll probably fix itself, right...?
With stats this high, it looked like I'd be stuck wearing this thing—I really didn't want to call it armor—for a long time.
"What's wrong? You seen this armor somewhere before, Naofumi?"
"You know I'm not from this world, right? In my world... it's similar to what you'd wear when riding something faster than a horse or a Filolial in this world."
"Then Master will ride on top of Filo while wearing this outfit!"
Filo's eyes lit up like crazy as she stared at me.
"Naofumi. That sounds kinda dirty when the bird girl says it."
The old man muttered with a half-lidded, exasperated look.
"Shut up!"
The Weapon Shop old man—was he deliberately trying to make my life as miserable as possible when crafting my armor?
"What's the matter, Naofumi?"
...No, that wasn't it. There was genuinely no malice behind it. What could you do?
"W-well. I'll take it."
Raphtalia even went and said I looked cool in it or whatever.
Walking around town in this outfit really made me stand out...
...It wasn't armor anymore. It was clothes. Deeply sad.
But anyway, preparations for the Wave were finished without any issues.
Raphtalia's dark bruises had completely healed thanks to the daily application of potent Holy Water. I was relieved that they'd finally gone.
That wound-healing-suppression effect was no joke. I'd wanted her healed as quickly as possible.
For Raphtalia and Filo, their respective accessories were completed on the day itself.
"Here are the accessories you requested."
"Yay!"
"Thank you."
"Raphtalia first."
I handed Raphtalia a jade bracelet.
"Thank you very much."
"The enchantment effect is Magic Power Up (Small). It partially compensates for the magic power reduced by the magic defense processing on your equipped armor."
"I'll treasure it."
"Are you sure this is enough? I could've made something flashier, more focused on appearance."
"What are you saying? Where would I have the luxury to dress up with something like that?"
Hmm. If she felt that way, then so be it.
"Filo next."
I handed Filo an amber hairpin.
I'd put a bit of extra effort into the craftsmanship so it would look good even in Filo's monster form, with feathers clamped in to give it a feather-ornament feel.
"The enchantment effect is Agility Up (Small)."
"Thank you, Master!"
"These materials were all I had to work with—it was the best I could do. If you need another one, I'll make it, so just bear with me."
"Not a problem at all. I'll get the absolute maximum performance out of this accessory."
"Yeah! Filo will do her best too!"
"I'm counting on you."
We prepared in time for the scheduled hour. I'd also had a brief meeting with the volunteers, so everything was ready.
I'd already explained the fight against the Wave to Filo. At first, she'd been puzzled about what exactly a Wave was, but I'd made her understand that it was something that had to be resolved.
Medicine was stocked up. The carriage was... broken, and a new one hadn't been finished yet, so I had a cart hitched up instead.
In any case, my role during the Wave was different from the other Heroes—I was supposed to protect the nearby towns and villages. I didn't even need to participate in the Wave proper, but if I just sat out, there was no telling what kind of punishment they'd hand down.
00:05
Five more minutes.
Once we were teleported, I'd figure out where we ended up and issue orders to the volunteers.
I'd equip the Chimera Viper Shield...
00:00
It was time!
A deafening sound like glass shattering echoed across the world.
In the next instant, the scenery shifted in the blink of an eye.
We calmly surveyed our surroundings.
"This is..."
Yeah. I was pretty sure this was near the village where the man lived who'd been trying to bring medicine to an old woman suffering from illness.
From the Castle Town, it would take at least a day and a half no matter how fast you traveled.
Looking up at the sky, sure enough, wine-red cracks ran across it.
"Shield Hero!"
The volunteers had been summoned too and were running toward me.
And then I saw the other three Heroes and their—
"Filo! Kick the spear at anyone trying to rush the cracks! But don't overdo it!"
"Okay!"
Filo shed her claws and charged, just as I'd instructed!
She caught up with the group that could only be described as reckless bull-headed rushers.
"Huh—?!"
The spear was kicked back mid-swing by Filo and sent flying into the other groups.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
They went flying in a spectacular bowling strike, and we approached them. That bitch was among the ones sent tumbling, which felt pretty good.
Since Filo had held back, they weren't seriously hurt.
"What—what do you think you're doing?!"
The Spear Hero made a fuss and leveled accusations at us.
I ignored the Spear Hero and glared at the Sword and Bow Heroes.
"That's my line, you idiots!"
"What's with the sudden attack?!"
"That's right! We need to defeat the enemies pouring out of the Wave!"
I was past angry at these idiot Heroes—I was just exasperated.
"Listen first. You can go fight the enemies after that."
I gestured with my eyes for the volunteers to head to the nearby villages.
The volunteers nodded and dashed off toward the villages, as ordered.
"You're just trying to interfere with us!"
"No, I'm not!"
My sharp shout made Itsuki blink in surprise.
"Calm down and think. I don't receive any support funds, so I don't fight the main body of the Wave. My job is to protect nearby towns and villages at most. Do you understand that?"
"Yeah."
"As a Hero, that's disqualifying."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Their respective entourages jeered at me as well.
"Now, you three. Your job is to defeat the enemies pouring from the Wave's main body. Whether defeating the boss makes the Wave subside or whether you need to attack the rift—I don't know, since I've never tried."
"It's linked to the boss!"
Ren answered aggressively, getting worked up about it.
Like I cared about that.
"But you know, we've got other important jobs besides that... don't you get it?"
"What jobs?"
Motoyasu didn't understand either? Or was this world really that similar to the games he knew?
Why couldn't they get it? I'd spelled it out with plenty of sarcasm.
"Hey, where the hell is the knight order?!"
My voice made all three Heroes wince.
"They'll come later."
A magic flare-like spell shot up into the sky, as if to prove the point.
"This place is a day and a half from the Castle Town by horse or Filolial! Are they gonna make it in time, you morons?!"
"Th-then what are we supposed to do?!"
"You're supposed to be the informed ones—don't ask me!"
I pointed at the volunteers who were running toward the villages.
"Come to think of it... how did those people get teleported with us?"
"...Are you serious? The Formation function... you don't know about that?"
"They're companions? When did you recruit so many of them?"
"No... I designated one person in each Formation as a sub-leader to create a party. Then I teleported them all at once."
Could it be... these guys had no knowledge about Waves?
"Let me just check. Has anyone looked at the help section or anything about fighting in the Waves?"
...Not a single person raised their hand.
"There's no need to check the help or tutorials for games we already know inside out!"
"Right. We know this world well."
"Exactly, so let's prioritize suppressing the Wave right away!"
"So what do you call Wave battles in your other games?"
"Huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind that, let's go!"
Itsuki ignored my question and ran off.
"Motoyasu, you understand what I'm asking, right?"
"Well... an Instant Dungeon?"
Not even close.
"No. It's a Time Attack Wave, right?"
Ren... also wrong.
"Guild battles, or team battles, or large-scale combat!"
The games I used to play in my original world had a big weekly event between players.
If we used the Formation system, it was clear we'd be facing opponents beyond what the Heroes alone could handle.
Last time during the Wave, if the knight order hadn't arrived in time, I would've been forced to retreat, and the damage would've been far worse.
"...You three—have you never actually managed a large guild even though you theoretically understand all this?"
The point was that coordination was the top priority.
Of course, the ace players—the Heroes—were expected to lead from the front.
But to minimize damage to other protected targets, we needed the cooperation of this world's inhabitants.
The fact that they couldn't grasp that was honestly baffling.
"I ran a team before."
Motoyasu answered. His eyes were glued to Filo in her monster form. He probably didn't want to get kicked again.
"Then why can't you understand?"
"There's no need to."
"Hah?!"
"It'll work out somehow."
...Right. He was the type to leave all the management work to a secretary or sub-master.
"I wasn't interested in that kind of stuff."
Ren... was definitely the type who struggled to talk to people even before guild battles, huh?
Always acting all cool.
If someone like that claimed to be the master of a large guild, you'd wonder how it could possibly function.
"Anyway, this time I'll do my best to manage, but next time, coordinate properly with the knight order!"
I shooed them off, hissing for them to hurry to the Wave's main body.
Ren and Motoyasu both ran off without hiding their displeasure with me.
Hey, don't spit on the ground!
"So. We're heading to the nearby villages too!"
"Okay!"
Filo pulled the cart, and Raphtalia and I rushed to the nearby village.
"We've arrived!"
When we reached the village, enemies were pouring out of the Wave. Dark Condors, Black Wolves, plus goblin-like creatures and what looked like Lizard-men.
But the Demi-human-like ones had inconsistent models—shadowy, almost like apparitions.
Each one flickered as their names appeared: Dark Condor, Black Wolf, Goblin Assault Shadow, and Lizard-man Shadow.
And clearly, the words "Dimensional" had been added to the name field.
Shadow monsters with names close to the Demi-human types disappeared like ghosts when defeated.
What thoroughly creepy things.
The types of monsters were completely different from the last Wave—were there no consistent rules or patterns?
Anyway, I'd leave all the troublesome stuff to those guys.
"ACHOO!"
The old woman I'd given medicine to was the one making strange cries. She was fighting valiantly with a sickle in one hand.
The volunteers looked bewildered at the sight of her.
"Oh, Saint! My apologies for all this! ACHOO!"
The old woman bowed to me once, then smashed a Wave-spawned monster with her sickle.
She hit quite hard. There was a decent pile of monster corpses around her.
"Come on, you say thanks too."
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much."
The old woman's son was the same as ever, bowing his head to me.
"For now, enemies are pouring out of the Wave, so please evacuate!"
The volunteers were directing villagers to safety. In between, they were also taking out enemies, but it looked like they were struggling.
We joined the fight too.
"ACHOO!"
The old woman was cutting through enemies with remarkable ease.
Was this the same woman who'd been on the verge of death a month ago?
"Thanks to the Saint's blessing, I've got my old strength back! Hahaha!"
Looking at the old woman's son, he was fighting as hard as he could, looking somewhat embarrassed.
But he wasn't doing nearly as well as his mother. He was only barely managing, fighting alongside the volunteers.
He couldn't compare to the old woman.
"I used to be an adventurer in my prime, you know! My level matches my age now! ACHOO!"
"Don't push yourself, old lady!"
She was practically one-woman-army material—wasn't she one of the strongest people here?
While I was busy blocking enemy attacks, she was taking down monsters left and right with force rivaling Filo's.
It was nice having someone dependable to count on, but the way she'd probably collapse like a dead battery once the fight ended was terrifying.
"What the hell did I give that old lady to drink?"
"I have no idea..."
Raphtalia stared blankly at the old woman in response to my question.
I'd have to interrogate that old woman's son later.
For now, it was time to treat the wounded.
"If you're injured, get to the cart. Everyone else, fall back to the safest position behind the defensive line!"
I issued orders and, when I had a moment, treated the wounded.
"ACHOO! Saint, there are quite a few unusual ones mixed in."
Looking, I could see that among the Dimensional Lizard-man Shadows, there was a remarkably large individual—about twice the size of the others.
"Raphtalia, Filo—we're taking that one down!"
It would be too much for the volunteers to handle.
"Yes!"
"Okay!"
We charged toward the big one.
The Dimensional Lizard-man Shadow raised a massive black sword.
I stepped forward and raised my shield.
A heavy clang rang out, and sparks flew.
Venom Fang (Medium) activated, poisoning the enemy.
But the effect was weak. Sure enough, poison didn't work well against these reptilian types.
But poisoning the enemy wasn't my goal.
"HAAAHHH!"
Raphtalia drove her sword into the Dimensional Lizard-man Shadow's abdomen, staggering it.
"YAAAH!"
Filo, wearing her claws, landed a devastating blow that obliterated the Dimensional Lizard-man Shadow's face.
It toppled backward with a heavy thud.
"Amazing..."
A volunteer let out a hushed word of awe.
"Good! You all head to nearby villages to provide relief and keep casualties to a minimum!"
This village had the old woman, six volunteers, and if there were stationed adventurers, they could probably hold things down.
There were other villages nearby too. We needed to reach them as quickly as possible—it could get dangerous any minute.
"I'll leave some medicine behind. The ride's rough, but let's move to the next one!"
At my command, volunteers loaded onto the cart.
"Go!"
"Right!"
Filo began pulling the now-heavier cart, bursting into a sprint.
When we arrived at the next village, the volunteers looked pretty rough, but we couldn't afford to worry about that.
This village had suffered more damage than the last.
Houses were burning, and villagers had been hurt.
"Quick, we need to help! Move!"
"Y-yes!"
We cut down the monsters pouring from the Wave while waiting for it to end.
"...This is taking forever!"
Three hours had passed.
We'd barely managed to deal with the nearby villages, and now we were being run ragged by the endlessly spawning Wave monsters.
The evacuation was progressing, and we'd managed to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.
But if the Wave-spawned enemies attacked where people had evacuated, it would be a massacre. That kind of back-and-forth was still ongoing.
This was way too slow.
How much longer were those Heroes going to take?
"Hero, please leave this to us and go support the other Heroes!"
A young soldier who'd been fighting alongside me offered the suggestion.
"There's no point going over there..."
Defeating the Wave's main body was their job, and going there only to get chewed out would be pointless.
"But..."
The volunteers' faces were looking rough too. After three hours of continuous fighting, they were running out of stamina.
I was exhausted too. Raphtalia and Filo were the same...
"Ahahaha!"
Filo kicked a Dimensional Goblin Assault Shadow and laughed.
Yeah. Filo was still fine. She was practically a bundle of stamina.
"Can I leave it to you?"
"Please do!"
She still seemed to have energy to spare.
"Then I'll take you up on that and go check on things. I'm counting on you!"
"Yes!"
"Raphtalia, Filo, let's go!"
"Understood."
"Okay!"
We left the nearby village in the hands of the volunteers and adventurers, climbed on Filo, and headed for the Wave's main body.