Chapter 451: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 28

Time rewinds just a little.

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"By any chance, Saint-sama, are you the type to get bitten by bugs easily?"

"Pardon...?"

If that isn't the case, I can only assume there's some kind of commonality between the White Dragon and Josette. Like, something that automatically aggros toward Saint-chan...

"Dammit, I feel like we're being weirdly targeted!!"

Not me. Saint-chan. Is it a quest modifier? Or collateral damage from the Scar? The Small Dragons are actually showing clear signs of focusing their aggro entirely on Saint-chan.
Given our location, it's not like we're getting surrounded or anything, but even so, by the time we advance five meters, about ten of them jump us. What is this, a trash-tier encounter rate?

"Saina, top priority is Saint-cha—sama's safety, take that into account and annihilate them."

"Understood (Aye Sir): Using currently available armaments to guard the target."

Whether it's due to the passage of time or because players have been slaughtering them in massive numbers, the ant-types among the Small Dragons that Bryreinyego keeps spawning have mostly been weeded out at some point, and now the main force is Humanoid Small Dragons whose movements are clearly more refined compared to the early ones.
Their behavior looks like a player unaccustomed to the controls just moving randomly, but they even throw in parries, making them an absolute pain to deal with.

"Saint-cha-sama! Don't stop walking, keep moving forward! This level of mobs is a total breeze, a total breeze!!"

"Affirmative: With my current specs, the probability of any interference reaching the escort target is less than 5%."

"That is very reassuring. The steel dragon armor is amazing as well, but... Sunraku-sama, that sword of yours...?"

"This? This is... yeah I can see you right there, oraah!!"

With a vwoom, a crimson trajectory is drawn in the air, and the line tracing that trajectory turns into an attack effect that slices through the night air and flies forward.
It almost makes me want to think I'm playing a shoot-'em-up, but the brilliantly landed "attack" carved a deep strike into the neck of a Humanoid Small Dragon trying to flank around to our rear.

"Its name is the Treasure Sword of Boundary Light (Lumeridian). Made from the materials of a certain monster... right now it's in Night-Glowing Blade (Katana) mode."

Personally, I don't actively use katanas as weapons. I wouldn't mind it in a game like Bakumatsu where one-hit kills are the norm, but in a game like this where you have to attack over and over, this single-edged structure is exquisitely annoying... Unless you're aiming for a strike with the back of the blade, you have to change the direction of the edge every single time you attack.
It'd be one thing if it was a short sword, but when it's a size that can be held with both hands, a double-edged sword like the Yearning Blade for the Master Sword [Duxram] is way easier to swing around aggressively.

Of course, single-edged swords have many advantages too, but the fact that I can't fully utilize them with Sunraku's stats is another reason why I haven't actively sought out katanas, even if I wasn't outright avoiding them.

"Hmm, hmm. So, what kind of abilities does it have? I saw you sending slashes flying just now."

"Basically, this guy has two forms, and its abilities fluctuate based on how much moonlight and sunlight you bathe it in respectively... Wait, you're the one asking, Imron, not Saint-chan?!"

That man (woman) is a blacksmith, but also a Hero at the same time. Since she's the Hero of the Holy Hammer to begin with, you could call her a production class that possesses combat capability. Therefore, it's not actually that out of place for her to be out here on the front lines rather than providing equipment support from the rear, but...

"I know, it's the work of that Vorpal Bunny blacksmith who's trying to compete with me, isn't it? Fufufu..."

Is her roleplay instantly collapsing into pieces already a form of stylistic beauty or something?

"Ah... yeah, pretty much. Oh, speaking of which, I tried using Glitter Grit and it felt pretty good; the STR scaling was a bit tough, but I can manage that much."

"Much obliged. And? That's not all, is it?"

"Well... Tch, Giant-type...!!"

You bastards are coming over here too? Because of its massive body, its hit rate is high and the surrounding players have been chipping away at it, but even so, taking it down in one blow right now would be a real pain in the ass.
Every time I swing the crimson, single-edged Treasure Sword of Boundary Light, a slash flies out. But the enemies aren't just Giant-types; even though Imron is fighting along with the flow, I still have to deal with the Humanoid Small Dragons too.
And then...

"Gah, it broke!!"

With a crystal-like snap, the Treasure Sword of Boundary Light easily snaps cleanly in half. For now, I kick down the Humanoid Small Dragon I was dealing with and backstep, while Imron, watching this, mutters suspiciously.

"Weapon destruction... no, only the grip is left? Don't tell me..."

"Huh? It's exactly that 'don't tell me'... Redeploy!!"

The Treasure Sword of Boundary Light (Lumeridian) has a slightly different durability reduction applied compared to normal weapons.
Basically, no matter how roughly you use this sword or if the blade snaps in half, its durability value does not decrease. So does that mean it's an invincible weapon whose durability never goes down like the Yearning Blade for the Master Sword? No, it doesn't.

"Don't tell me, it uses the durability value like a gauge...!?"

"Exactly!!"

The slightly remaining broken blade shatters and scatters, and as if the process of an icicle forming was put on double speed, a new crimson blade forms into shape.

"Furthermore, the current Treasure Sword of Boundary Light recovers its durability... by bathing it in moonlight!!"

The recovery amount isn't exactly dramatic, and it's really just a bonus feature, but......... Bilac, you went and made another stupidly finicky weapon.

"Giant Killing time, oraah!!"

The deployed blade has a durability value separate from the main one, and by consuming it, it executes a unique action. In this case, it's the flying slash. Today... no, wait, it's already yesterday; since I bathed it in sunlight at Rabituza yesterday before coming here, it's capable of outputting a decent amount of power, but requiring sun-drying and moon-drying makes this completely restricted to the outdoors, doesn't it!!
That aside, Giant-type destroyed!!

"Well, that's the gist of it! When the morning sun comes out, a new blade pops out from this side, from the butt!!"

"A special spec for... parameters... NPC exclusive? No, that's wrong. This game basically has players and NPCs operating under almost the exact same conditions. A defeat... in sheer creativity...!!"

I feel like "creativity" doesn't even apply to an NPC connected to the server, but I don't really get it; to Imron, it's apparently a defeat. Also, excuse me, but could you at least fight?

"Ah, speaking of which, Bilac... the one who made this had a message for you."

"...Let's hear it."

"Umm... 'Pops' way more amazin' than this,' she said."

".........Izzat so."

Ah, you really only cared about the weapon? You aren't going to help me? Izzat so.
Watching Imron wander off aimlessly, I'm short on hands again, so I hurriedly swing my sword around.

"Ah."

"Is something the matter?"

"Ah—no, I just realized I can go pick up something I forgot..."

Given our location, can I go retrieve Brunbas, which I left sitting out? It'll be a bit of a detour, but it's not a huge deviation from the route...
Glancing back, Saint-chan looks like she doesn't mind. Then I shall take her up on her kindness.

"There it is, there it is."

Even if it's the size of a cruiser, a ship sitting on the ground really stands out. Right now, there's nothing in the clan's shared inventory box, so I can retrieve it... Hm?

"...『Cannot be stored because a player is currently on board』... Are you kidding me?"

Haaah? Oh, so some cheeky bastard boarded someone else's ship without permission, huh. I have ownership rights, so they shouldn't be able to vandalize it or anything, but... I've gotta go give them a piece of my mind... Ah, crap, a Small Dragon is attacking Saint-chan!!

"Well, well. It's been a while... Sunraku from the 'μ Server'."

A single streak cuts through the air with a thwip. A chunky arrow accurately pierces straight between the eyes of a Humanoid Small Dragon with seemingly higher VIT that was about to pounce on Saint-chan. Unable to resist the kinetic energy packed into the arrow, the Humanoid Small Dragon's head bends backward at a pretty gnarly angle as it gets blown away.

"That way of calling me..."

Looking up, there is a single man standing on the deck of Brunbas. A lightly armored archer giving off an atmosphere that feels slightly out of place in the Western fantasy world of ShanFro, starting with a cowboy hat that evokes a completely different kind of "Western"—the wild west.
I don't know that man, but I know one guy who knows my server affiliation and wears clothes like that.

"We technically met on 'that island', but I wonder if you remember? Didn't you hear from 'Vival? Hello, I'm 'Atobird', formerly active on the γ Server. Though I go by 'Yashirobird' now."

"Yashiro (Company President), bird...? Ah, congratulations on your appointment?" [*1]

"Thanks, thanks."

The identity of the insolent scoundrel who had boarded my ship without permission was someone who was once on that island—a Saba-Gan player, just like Survival and me...

Author's Afterword
Oh? Something is happening to Imron......?

Translator's Note

• [1]

  • The First Name ("Atobird"): In Japanese, the word for "heir" or "successor" is Atotori (跡取り). The Japanese word for "bird" is tori (鳥)

  • The Second Name ("Yashirobird"): In Japanese, the word for "Company President" is Shachou (社長). The first kanji (社) means "company" and can be read as Sha or Yashiro. The word for "bird" (鳥) can be read as tori or chou. So, if you write "Company Bird" (社鳥), it is pronounced exactly the same as Shachou (Company President).