The Great Outer Bounds were coming up fast, and I was scheduled to enter the venue the day after tomorrow.
My daily training was going great, too.
Recently I'd been increasing the number of Evil Eyes to ramp up the difficulty.
That session was done as well, and just when I thought I'd take it easy today—
Arc Lab.
"The moment I saw it, I was so struck I couldn't say a word. The Star of Spears that Mineha unleashed—it was so fantastical and overwhelming."
Lupinus told us dreamily.
The blush on her cheeks made her look like a lovestruck maiden.
"So what you're saying is, you want something like that."
"Yes, that about sums it up."
Sitting in her dedicated chair, Lupinus answered Hiyarn flatly.
Even for a rabbit like Hiyarn, the chair was spacious enough, with a retro-chic style to it.
It was the kind of tall round-cushion chair you'd find in an old-fashioned café, complete with a backrest.
Combined with her lab coat, it was an indescribable look.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The topic here is Lupinus.
It was pretty rare for her to show up at my place alone, looking like she'd cornered herself into coming, so I wondered what was going on.
But I get it. Torquetam is a good party with clear role division.
If I had to name one weakness, it's that the main tank is lacking.
I'm not all that familiar with it, but if my past life memories are anything to go by.
The main tank — the shield role — isn't about protecting your allies.
Its true purpose is being a decoy.
You draw the enemy's attacks onto yourself, creating openings and opportunities for your allies to strike.
That's why it's a shield, and why it needs to be tough.
What Lupinus's main tank was missing was that decoy element.
Without any means of drawing the enemy's attacks to a single point, all they could do was passively defend.
That worked fine against trash mobs.
But against large monsters or strong opponents, it wouldn't cut it.
So become the decoy. If there were a way to take all the enemy's attacks onto yourself.
"That is precisely why I desire offensive power as well."
"That's not it!"
The words slipped out before I could stop myself. Lupinus and Hiyan stared.
Lupinus narrowed her eyes.
"Whatever do you mean?"
I explained. About the main tank. About the main shield.
Lupinus had the look of someone seeing the light for the first time. She brought a hand to her mouth.
She was trembling a little.
Hiyan had started manipulating her panel partway through my explanation.
Searching the database, probably. When I finished, stars appeared in Lupinus's eyes.
Sparkling. And burning with intensity.
"Me. I shall become the main tank! Wof-san's narration — it is truly the essence of the Roade Denton household! I was so foolish to fixate on attack power and such..."
"Well, there are also battle tanks and guard attackers."
And then there's the approach of hardening your body and attacking head-on.
If I recall correctly, the witch mentioned that first-rank delvers called "human fortresses" are battle tanks, or something like that.
Actually, aren't battle tanks just tanks? Like, the armored vehicle kind?
"Main tank, you say. You're quite well-informed."
"Wof just happens to know random things now and then."
"As expected of the witch's apprentice."
"Hahaha... Anyway, Hiyan. Did you find anything?"
"No OOPArts, but there was something close. Though this one's legendary."
"Ah, a decoy."
"A decoy?"
"It's not a person becoming bait — it's an object that becomes the bait."
"So there are things like that too."
"Oh, this one isn't an OOPArt either, but there was something pretty close in terms of tactics."
"What kind of thing?"
"Just as Wof described — a plan for creating those kinds of soldiers. It was scrapped pretty early on, but there's an interesting proposal in there. It's about taking the provocation that monsters use and turning it into a Relic, as a method of luring enemies in."
"Could it be something like [Roar] or [War Cry]?"
The classics of provocation, huh. Yeah, those come to mind first.
"No, it's [Stomp]."
Ah…
"What is it, dear?"
"You stomp your feet and make noise to provoke them."
"There is that option too, yes."
"Hmm. Roaring, huh. Same general idea, though. Provoke with sound and draw them in… Hmm. Unfortunately, there aren't any effective provocation Relics in the database. All right. I'll make one."
So that's where this is going.
"Make one? You mean a Relic?"
"Something at this level, I can craft. I'll need materials, though."
That's not normal, but if he can make it, that works.
"…………"
Lupinus gave me a look bordering on bewilderment.
All I could do was smile wryly.
"Oh, while I was at it, I found something interesting in the database earlier. Let's boost the defense on your shield too, Lupinus. In its current state, it might not hold up."
"I would appreciate that greatly."
"However. Both will require materials. You'll need to gather them yourself."
"Naturally. And regarding the provocation Relic, I do have a request."
"What is it?"
"What's that?"
"I want a roar. A thunderous one, please. I have… considerable confidence in my volume."
Lupinus smiled brightly.
The unexpected request left me and Hyaern exchanging glances.
Something about shields suddenly popped into my head. Or rather, it surfaced.
"Both of you. How about something like this?"
My idea settled the shape of Lupinus's new shield.
Hyaern listed the necessary materials.
"A sample of a monster's voice..."
"It's a roar-type, after all."
"That may be true, but..."
"These ores I can gather. But what is this one?"
"That's the core of this whole shield."
"Blue-green crystal...?"
What was this? A power crystal that glowed blue and green?
"I haven't the faintest idea."
"For the record, I don't know where it is either."
"Shall we ask the witch?"
That was the only option.
"I'll handle that. About the monster voice sample though — what should we do with it?"
"For that, I'm going to build a recording device."
"Right, of course."
"A recording... device?"
Heyarn worked the panel.
What came out was a square box.
After a quick rundown on how to use it, we decided to test it.
Lupinus. Me. Heyarn — we recorded our voices.
When the playback reached Lupinus's part, she kept exclaiming "How embarrassing!"
She buried her bright-red face in her hands, shaking her head. Cute.
She listened to mine and Heyarn's voices too, and confirmed it worked properly.
Still red all the way to her ears, Lupinus thanked us and went home.
The monster roar samples — we'd be getting those from Torquetam.
If anything came up, they said to count on me.
I was also asked to ask the witch about another material.
Well, the real work wouldn't kick off until after the Great O'Browns was over.
Pakira, too,
had been appointed
as an attendant.
Day after tomorrow, then.
Our Thunder Fang hideout was a defunct inn.
A small two-story inn — the first floor was the entrance and dining hall.
At a table in that dining hall sat a rare visitor.
It was Mineha. Sitting in a chair, in her large form.
A letter, huh.
Yeah.
Sitting across from me was the leader of our Thunder Fang. Axe.
Both of them looked grim. That was understandable.
After all, a letter had suddenly arrived from someone who hadn't been in touch for months.
That someone was Axe's mother and also Mineha's master.
I'd never met her, but if I remembered right, she was a Rank II delver named Emmy.
"So what did the letter say?"
"She's apparently coming here."
"Just because she's coming doesn't mean we have to meet her."
"To Hydrangea?"
I sat down in an empty seat.
In the kitchen, Hoss was cooking.
"Seems that way, but it's way too sudden, Master."
"Yeah, I know."
"Seriously."
"She sent letter after letter before and never got a single reply."
"Yeah, I know..."
"It's like her, I guess."
"Yeah, I know..."
"Hey, how long has it been since we last saw Master?"
Mineha deftly spun the letter between her fingers as she spoke.
"Years, for me."
"Now that you mention it, that's right. I wonder how many months it's been for me."
"I'm pretty sure Axe's mother was an elf."
"Yeah, an elf."
"I never asked for details, but what kind of person was she?"
"What kind, let me see. She looked cute, for starters. She had her bold side and her strict side, but she was also playful and surprisingly timid."
"Looks aside, bold does sound right. Well, in my case I kept my distance from the old man from pretty early on, so I don't know as much as Mineha does."
"What was she like when you were little?"
"......I remember she cried sometimes. Looking back now, she was probably thinking about the old man. Oh, right. Let me add something to that 'timid' part."
"Add what?"
"Add?"
"Cowardly."
Hmm. Axe continues.
"I don't know a thing about the old man. All I know is that he was a Fawn, same as me. And that he was a delver."
"I heard a little from my mother. He was strong. And he'd just become a First-Class Delver, and he ranked up at the same time as my mother."
"The old man was First-Class!?"
"You didn't know that?"
"Wh-what?"
—You didn't know that? I've never heard that before! Nobody told me a thing, that old hag…
Axe grumbled. Calling his own mother an "old hag" wasn't exactly commendable, but I'd let it slide for now.
Mineha would normally scold Axe for this, but even she seemed willing to let it go.
"Anyway, according to Mother, they looked like an overly sugary, lovey-dovey couple at first glance."
"I really don't want to hear about that kind of thing."
"She also said you were probably glad to be in your master's belly. That if you hadn't been, you might have followed her in death."
"Good thing, Axe."
"…I've got nothing to say to that."
Axe let out a deep sigh.
Just then, Hoss arrived with the finished dishes.
He set them on the table. Mineha's was a huge, heaping portion of meat rice with sauce.
She could really pack it away. Not as much as her tenth sister, though.
That sister was apparently in the capital now, so I could only pray the dining establishments there wouldn't go under.
"Come to think of it, you."
Attendant
You're doing that, right."
"Ah, that. Honestly, I have no idea. I did grasp that Wof is still as terrible as ever."
"I agree with that. What on earth was she doing, I wonder."
"Well, that's Wof for you."
"Yeah, right."
Hmm. This minced-meat pasta. Tasty.
"So Mineha was her mother?"
"Yep. The 'Fairy Empress.'"
"It's been a while since you saw your mom, hasn't it?"
"Come to think of it, yeah. But we've been writing letters back and forth, so it doesn't really feel like we've drifted apart. More importantly, Axe. You seriously don't remember?"
"I don't. Who's this Ence person?"
"There was a surname. Highland."
"A noble?"
"Probably a noble, yeah."
Axe stopped eating his butter rice and groaned.
"...Highland, that name. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
"So you do remember something."
"But I can't figure it out. There's nothing about it in Mom's letters either."
"But if our master is coming here in person, maybe it's connected to that."
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. We're meeting today, so I'll ask then."
"Right."
"Today?"
"That's sudden, huh."
"It's out of the blue, isn't it?"
"The letter arrived this morning, apparently."
"That's... hard to say, I guess."
I'm not too familiar with how the mail situation works.
But if you consider the state of the world, the unstable regional security, and the distances involved, delays are inevitable.
Mail delivery is currently handled by delvers as part of their commissions.
Personally, I think it'd be fine to set up a dedicated organization for it, but there'd probably be plenty of hurdles.
Apparently the Delvers' Guild has its own mail and communication network using teleportation arrays.
In terms of efficiency, you really can't beat that kind of cost performance.
However, since teleportation arrays are so rare, widespread adoption is out of the question.
"The venue is listed as the Hydrangea Grand Hall."
"That's the big theater in Hydrangea's central district. You've seen it before, right? It's that building that looks like an arena."
"Oh yeah, that thing."
"I'm pretty sure the 'Great Owlbears' are held there too."
"Huh. Anyway, guess I'll go see my mom first."
"Yeah."
"Well, take care out there."
"Looking forward to the stories you bring back."
When we said that, Axe looked skeptical.
"Wait, you guys are coming too. It said they wanted to meet with 'Thunder Fang.'"
"You should've told us that sooner."
"Well, I just did."
Hoss and I exchanged a wry smile.