Lupinus's new shield chattered away.
The black gem in the center was flashing, and then it spoke.
"What is this? What's going on?"
"Wh-wh-wh-why is my shield talking...?"
"So it was as I suspected."
"Hiiiigh. What does this mean?"
"There was a function I didn't recognize in the data. A soul installation."
"A soul?"
"How did that happen?"
"I don't know."
"Hey. Wof. Explain yourself."
"Huh?"
I was startled at being called out by name.
"Wof. Do you know this person?"
"Someone I know?"
"No, not at all..."
Who? Who is this?
"Ugh. You forgot? It's me."
"I mean, even if you say 'it's me'..."
"Wagahai?"
"Who? I don't know."
*"Wagahai once resided within your gauntlet. A Quiet One."*
"A gauntlet?"
"It was in there?"
"…Uh… yeah… hhhmm… maybe it was?"
*"Don't forget!"*
"That's easy for you to say."
"Wof. What's going on?"
"I have no clue…"
Something about how it resided in there. The current weird ones just helped themselves to squatting inside a person's heart, after all.
And they were playing card games with Dagaa mixed in without asking or anything.
*The Quiet One. I always thought it was docile, so I just left it sleeping… but to think it was lurking in somewhere like that.*
"Huh—what, suddenly!?"
"What is it?"
"What's wrong?"
*Um, could you not just suddenly speak inside someone's heart?*
A woman's voice. This had to be the blue woman. The Empress, or something like that.
*Oh, sorry. The sudden development was just so interesting.*
*Hey. Blue. It's your turn.*
(Na!)
(Nyoronamenyuro)
*Oh, my apologies. There, let me see... This one. With this, the Dragon, the Saint, and the Princess are all taken care of.*
*You actually went and did it, you bastard.*
(Na!?)
(Nyoronamenyoroname!)
Hey. Don't play card games so casually inside someone's mind.
*Hehe, I won. Yes, yes. That one that became a shield was originally housed inside your gauntlet. The quiet thing from when it was known as the Gauntlet of the Silent Saint. It went somewhere after I moved in. I can't believe it ended up here of all places...*
I see.
No, I don't see. None of this makes sense.
*I won't lose next time.*
(Na!)
(Nyomenamemyomemoro!)
*Hehe, heheheh, I won't lose...*
Hey. Why are you trying to start a second round?
*Nineteenth round.*
Don't play that many rounds inside someone's mind!
Even an all-nighter guy doesn't go that far.
*(All-nighter guy?)*
Never mind.
"Wof?"
"Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes. Um, it seems the soul that used to inhabit my gauntlet has somehow ended up in the shield instead."
"How did that happen?"
"Well, um, the Quiet One?"
"What?"
"Why the shield?"
"It's not like I wanted this. I moved into the magic treasure crystal."
"Into that? Oh, so that's why the color changed."
So it wasn't my imagination after all.
"Hmm. So because it was used as material, you got folded into the shield?"
"Seems like it."
"My... shield..."
Lupinus looked stunned.
Can you blame her? A man's soul taking up residence in her long-awaited shield and then talking to boot — that's a shock, plain and simple.
But still. A soul living in a shield, chatting away.
Something about it felt familiar, and then it hit me — the AI from my past life memories.
A shield equipped with an AI.
"You little elf. I'm the one who should be upset! I was about to spend my time relaxing inside the magic treasure crystal. What are you going to do about that!"
"Can't you just... leave?"
"Yeah."
"I've been trying since a moment ago, but... for some reason I can't. What's worse, the shield's information is firmly lodged in my head. What's going on?"
"Hmm. Hmm. So that means it's already completely built into the shield as one of its functions, then."
The one who said that was—the witch.
She slid into the lab with a sly, wicked grin, all three tails swishing behind her.
"Witch."
She was wearing her usual see-through black outfit, draped with a white robe.
Lightly dressed, all in all.
"My, my. How delightful. Looks like you're having fun."
"This isn't fun!"
"Witch... isn't there anything you can do about this? I can't stand having a shield with a man's voice."
Lupinus said, pouting.
"And I'm not exactly thrilled about being used by some milky little elf brat, either!"
"It smells like milk because of the soap I use!"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?!"
"You two sure get along."
"We do NOT!"
"We do NOT!"
They sure get along.
"More importantly, witch. Can't you do anything about it?"
"Hmm, hmm. Can't be helped, I'm afraid."
The witch said it so casually.
"Th-that can't be..."
"That can't be..."
"So even a witch couldn't help me to begin with?"
"Well, well, that's about right. If you want to do something about it, it'd have to be dismantling the shield."
"That's... going a bit far, even—"
"Wait. If that happens, what about me? Will I be freed?"
"Yes, yes. You'll be freed."
"Oh! Then let's dismantle it!"
"I suppose there's no other way."
"Oh dear, no. I meant freed from this world, you know."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"So it really does come to that, after all."
"That means... you'd die?"
"I... die...?"
"Yes, yes. Because you've completely become the shield itself. If Conan's reading is right, your soul has spread to every last corner of the shield and been fully incorporated into it. Dismantling the shield is the same as destroying it. You'd die."
"Th-that's really going too far."
"But if dismantling is the same as destruction, then the shield would be unusable, right?"
"Th-that would be a problem too!"
"I did go to the trouble of making it, so I'd rather it be put to use."
"Well then, why not just keep using it as is? You can live out your purpose as a shield, and that'll be that."
"To live as a shield, huh. Hey. You, elf girl."
"...What is it?"
"What's your name?"
"Lupinus. Lupinus Road Denton."
"Not a bad name. I am Placidum. Kalum."
"Which one is it?"
I couldn't help but jump in with a retort.
"Kalum. Placidum is my clan name."
Who even cares about that.
"Then I shall be Kalum's shield," she said.
Lupinus picked up the shield as she spoke.
"With one hand!? Do you have any idea how much that weighs!?"
"Put some muscle on me, why don't you. Nice to meet you, Kalum."
"O-oh, likewise. Lady Lupinus."
Was he getting a little nervous?
"There were some incidents along the way, but it all worked out in the end. Oh—hey, witch!"
"Hm hm. So this is the Archive. A data listing, huh."
The witch was tapping at the console panel with practiced ease.
"You know how to operate it?"
"There was something similar on the Etranger's bridge, so I picked up how it works."
As expected of the witch.
"Well then. I have no choice. Witch—I need you to help me build a body to house the will of Hyzen's dungeon."
"Oh my, oh my. How interesting. Of course, I'll join in."
"Before that, we need to hammer out the details with the client and the request."
Hyarn, talking like a businessman.
Well, he used to be one.
After that, Lupinus said she wanted to use Kalm's Shield.
She had initially requested the dungeon. But this lab had a training room.
She was insistent about gaining real combat experience and had been reluctant to train, but Kalm convinced her.
According to Kalm, Kalm's Shield was an entirely new kind of shield that far surpassed conventional ones.
Its performance and functions were too dangerous to use in actual combat without getting used to them first.
Reluctantly, Lupinus was convinced.
And since her current casual clothes wouldn't work for training, she went to change.
Dressed in pure white armor, she raised the shield and took on the training.
Fortunately, there was a training program in the data for shields with a "tank"-like role.
I set it to start from the easy parts and gradually increase the difficulty.
But Ms. Lupinus was just bewildered by the Karm Shield's performance and capabilities, struggling in vain.
"Th-this shield. I've never handled anything like it!?"
'Calm down. Don't panic. I understand how you feel.'
"But!"
'You can do it. That's why you need to calm down.'
"Y-yes, sir. Please, let me try again from the beginning."
Hyaern, in the control room of the training area, pressed a button.
"Oh, oh my. That's impressive. I've certainly never seen a shield like that before."
The witch and I were in the observation room.
"That was Wof's idea."
"Oh, ho ho. As expected of young Wof."
"Now that you mention it, I do remember coming up with that idea."
It suddenly came back to me.
That idea was borrowed from manga, anime, and games from my past life.
To me, it wasn't a particularly unusual feature.
But the witch showed deep interest.
Hyaern murmured.
"Still, it's properly an OOPArt, isn't it."
"But... Ms. Lupinus didn't obtain a new Relic."
The Karm Shield was indeed—or rather, properly—an OOPArt.
But it was exactly the same as the previous Aquilane Shield.
It boosted the defensive power of Lupinus's Relic, Solid, while reducing its weight.
"But, but, she said the performance of Solid improved so much there's no comparing it to before!"
"Looks that way."
She'd been saying, with obvious delight, that Solid had improved to a level beyond comparison.
Hiyarn grumbled.
"Well, that's how I designed and built it, but it's entirely a dedicated shield for Ms. Lupinus. Mass production is out of the question."
"Oh my, oh my, how shrewd. Were you planning to turn it into a new product?"
"I'm still a consultant for the Hiyarn Trading Company, you know."
"A dedicated shield. Isn't that fine enough?"
Right. That was fine.
This was a shield only for Lupinus.
"Lupinus. That's right. Keep it up. Good."
"Of course! I am Lupinus Road Denton, you know!"
It was a shield for the "tank" she aimed to become.