Chapter 531: An Orchestra For You, Part 13
Author's Preface
Reading a highly concentrated "work that hits exactly on the author's fetishes" revived me from the corpses of the Ancient Battlefield. Impulsively bought all the volumes...!
Where there are people, there are arts; arts are inherited, and before you know it, they're called martial styles... Meaning, my dojo-crashing journey has officially entered its second season on the New Continent.
Dojo-crashing probably trains your skill acquisition parameters or whatever, but in terms of EXP, it's a completely tasteless endeavor with zero flavor, which I can't really accept. Well, I'm not killing them, so... Setting that aside, humanity exists on the New Continent as well. Sure, they might cater a bit to hardcore furries, or have some pretty screwed-up sizing, or sport bug-like joints, but they are apparently still classified as humanoid races, and possess what you could call a civilization, even if it is absurdly primitive.
And thanks to the information from Library—or rather, the strategy sites and BBS—I know that each race has its own martial styles!!
"Now spill it already, Araba! Tell me about the Merman race's mystic martial arts!!"
"You skip the process and jump straight to the ambush as always, my friend... A martial style, you say? Are you talking about the Merman Iron Arts?"
"What an incredibly laid-back name... By the way, is that for empty-handed combat?"
"Don't be ridiculous. It is an art for wielding weapons underwater."
"Alright, dismissed."
I mean, I'm curious, sure I'm curious, but that's a technique I have zero use for right now.
Araba was looking at me with a face that practically screamed, "You're seriously just going to ask and leave!?", but you've still got a job to do entertaining the Yume-joshi players, so hang in there.
I'm starting to get a somewhat bad feeling about this, but my next destination is the Giants, who ended up just normally settling down here since their entire clan marched to the frontline base.
Due to the damage from the Dragon Calamity, the forests near the frontline base were pretty much entirely burned down. Because of that, even though they're physically massive, their population is only about the size of a village, so I hear the frontline base—which is rapidly turning into a holy land for crafters—rushed to build a residential district for the Giants in a hurry.
Well, considering that even their children are blessed with better physical specs than your average player, their work efficiency and whatnot must be insane. Speaking of Giants, I'm acquainted with the younger sister of 'Moralltach & Begalta' duo... or something? I might actually be able to learn about the Giants' martial styles more easily than expected.
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"Who are you!!"
"Ehh............"
I'm having a sword thrust right in my faceee... Since the Giants have a strong attachment to weapons (even if they actually treat them pretty roughly in practice), normally just having the Aspiring Blades of the Hero or the Final Blade of Aspiration's End With the Hero equipped at my waist is enough to make them treat me with a sense of respect, so why am I suddenly being met with full-blown hostility here...
"Sunraku-san, Sunraku-san. I was mostly doing my own thing so I don't remember it too well desu wa... but, couldn't it be that you met them while you were turned into a girl desu wa?"
".........Ah."
Now that she mentions it, maybe I did. Well, it stands to reason they'd be on guard. Even if I pulled out Areadbhair, I'm a completely different gender holding their acquaintance's weapon. Thinking about it normally, it must look like "Sunraku ♂ usurped Areadbhair from Sunraku ♀ and showed up here"...
"Ah... wait five seconds."
"Very well, I will wait! And in six seconds, I shall cut you down!!"
"Okaaay."
"Sunraku!? I am astonished, what kind of magic trick was that?!"
Ah, this overly honest reaction really shares some similarities with Akitsu Akane... Oh man, the Giant-girl lovers are trying to intimidate me. Too bad for you guys, but if you want to grind affection with the Giants, it's way more efficient to do it during a war. Also, keep using your weapons. Let's see, what was her name again...
"Been a while since the Dragon Calamity War. You been doing well?"
"Umu, both my sister and I have been hale and hearty! And you, Sunraku of the Areadbhair, have you been well?!"
"Yup, yup, I've been doing super great."
Just doing great getting my ass beat by Orchestra.
"That's right, I told my sister about you before, and she said she definitely wanted to meet you!"
"By sister... you mean the chief of the Giants who came here, right?"
"Umu!"
Don't just "Umu!" me. Isn't this totally the classic "called to the rooftop or behind the school building" pattern? No, but wait, getting a connection with the chief of a combat-oriented faction is a huge advantage... Martial styles... But no matter how I think about it, I can only see this ending up as a weapon-dependent martial style... Hmmm, hmmm...
"Alright, I get it. I'll meet her."
"I see! Then I shall guide you!"
Hasn't this completely derailed from the main plot out of nowhere?
......
............
..................
"Haaah, so this is the rumored one!!"
"Well it goes without saying, but he's tiny!!"
"What's this, a toothpick?"
"Don't be a fool, if you compare it to his size you can tell it's a sword."
"I can tell it's a fine blade!"
"Umu, it is well broken in. It seems to have met a good smith and a good wielder."
Emul-san has been stuck in a state of being a convulsing scarf for a while now and hasn't turned back, so I'd really appreciate it if they stopped staring so hard... Dammit, my female mode is already petite as it is, so what's with every single person around me being a Giant over three meters tall!
The physical oppression is insane; I feel like I'm being crushed by air pressure. The Giants seem to be just like normal humans in that the older they get, the larger they become, to the point where there are some massive ones who constantly bang their heads even inside the "Embassy (a convenient designation that stuck)" built under the Giants' supervision.
".........Thank you for coming, Sunraku of the Areadbhair."
A voice that seemed to cut right through all the clamor of the Giants rang out clear and true.
Directing my gaze there, I saw a female Giant who looked exactly like Fione—the younger sister of Moralltach & Begalta—but who was much more mature, or rather, had a far more intimidating aura, both in the intensity of her eyes and her overall bearing, looking down at me.
"My name is Dirnadia of the Peerless Twin Swords... It seems my sister was in your care."
"I just ended up covering her back in the heat of the moment."
"I have heard of you from various warriors. The hunter of the Seven Supreme Species, the roaring archer of the sea, the warrior scarred by the wolf, the one who wields Areadbhair........."
The gazes of the Giants grew heated. Having understood exactly what she was getting at, I gave up and pulled Areadbhair Rebuild out of the Inventoria.
"Ooh!!"
"How beautiful......"
"Dordona's spear, to think it still survived......"
"But isn't it far too small?"
"It was originally a sword forged from a broken spear, so isn't it appropriate?"
"Nay, it has been reforged... Even so, it is the work of a master craftsman who did not spoil the essence of Areadbhair."
"If Old Man Varganzels of the Forging Hammer says so, then it must be true!"
"But this pitch-black blade... Could it be, Amursidian?"
"What! The tip of the Hegemonic Spear?!"
"Silence!!!"
A roar pinned down all the noise. Dirnadia, the elder sister of Moralltach and Begalta... silenced everything with an earth-shattering shout and directed a piercing gaze at me, and at Areadbhair Rebuild.
"Dordona's spear... The whereabouts of Areadbhair had long been lost along with the hero Dordona. Sunraku of the Areadbhair, I wish for you to tell me the story of how you obtained that spear."
"Those aren't the eyes of someone asking for a favor."
Are those eyes... filled with doubt? I get it. A tiny human is parading around with a rare weapon whose whereabouts were completely unknown like he owns the place. Depending on my answer about how I got it, forcing a "return" might be entirely on the table......... Heh, you fools. Roleplayers all have a bit of the bard in them to some extent. Eat this super-dramatization!!
"Do you know of the giant serpent that crawls upon the earth?"
"What......?"
"Do you know the name of the serpent that shatters mountains, flattens hills, and harbors an absolute hatred for all life?"
I've even got Vash's seal of approval. I'll take this guaranteed win and dramatize it even further. Listen and be mesmerized, Giants!!
"Its name is... Goldunine. Now, let me tell the tale of Dordona's final battle."
Author's Afterword
Note: It's 90% dramatized.
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