This allowed us access to one of those strange light-based suits of armor I saw. As Raphael put it, it provided the wielder’s magical force to a spiritual life-form, letting them manifest it into a physical object. The one gifted to us had been overused and broken, so we traded it for a new Garm-produced armor set. The paladins, still feeling a bit indebted to us, gladly let us have it as part of their general apology, and while I expected Hinata to whine about it, she was actually fine.
I decided to reciprocate by giving her a sword I had made.
The sword Hinata used is called Moonlight. Luminus gave it to her herself, and it housed untold amounts of power—too much, really. I asked her, and she called it a Legend-class weapon, beyond even the Unique level that I thought was the highest.
Kaijin and Kurobe taught me that magisteel can evolve over many years, allowing well-worn, first-class weapons and armor to continue honing and polishing themselves. This evolution can provide a massive boost out of thin air, something proven by the way ancient weapons found in ruins sometimes boasted out-of-this-world abilities that modern technology couldn’t replicate. This was the so-called Legend class, and apparently they were usually kept away from general access.
It was Kurobe and Garm’s goal to craft equipment along these lines. They stared at Hinata’s Moonlight, transfixed by it. I hope they’re up to the task.
The thing about a sword this all-powerful is that you can really only use it when absolutely needed. If you decided to whip it out on the street in the afternoon, you could raze the entire city block to rubble before you realized what was happening. It’d be like carrying a machine gun instead of a pistol for self-defense—just not the kind of thing you’d go bandying around every day.
It was the equivalent of a pistol that I thought about gifting her, and she liked it much more than I anticipated. It was a new version of the broken rapier I had consumed earlier, analyzed and improved for her. It was in the Unique class feature-wise, and I’m sure it felt the same way in her hand. I even re-created the unique ability it had to always kill its target on the seventh attack.
They also gave me a broken longsword—the Dragonbuster is what they called it. It was even more feeble than I thought, and I wasn’t really sure you could slay someone like Veldora with it. I also inquired about her Holy Spirit Armor, but she sadly replied that she couldn’t show that to me. It was an original, one-of-a-kind piece made just for Hinata, and I really wanted to analyze it, but…
Report. It has already been analyzed and assessed from the information gathered during battle.
…Whuh?!
M-man, does anything ever get by Raphael? Should I start calling it Professor or what?
…
Oops, got on its bad side again. Better just give it my thanks and move on.
I really had no idea, though. This is a huge feat. I can’t get enough of that guy. According to it, we could take the assessment from some inferior spirit armor, then combine it with Hinata’s battle data to re-create Holy Spirit Armor. This belonged to the holy element, but you could also tinker with the fundamentals of it to turn it into a demonic piece.
Sorry, Hinata. I guess this Holy Spirit Armor’s a national secret, but a quick bit of Analyze and Assess and it’s mine. I would need to think about who to grant it to, though. It seemed kind of difficult to use. Now, though, our battle gear would be more polished than ever before.
Between this, that, and the other thing, we were now even with each other. It was evening, and with the day’s work behind us, I figured the paladins would hit the trail soon, but I thought I’d at least be polite and offer them one more meal.
“Hey, uh, it’s getting late, Hinata, so why don’t you and Luminus save your departure for tomorrow?”
It was kind of silly. Luminus could go home with Spatial Motion anytime she liked, and I’m sure Hinata had a Warp Portal set up somewhere in Lubelius. The same was true of all the paladins, each one an A-grade fighter; I’m sure the journey home was no great effort to them. I imagined they’d just say “Sorry, but our work’s done here, nice knowing ya” and be on their way.
“Sorry, but—”
Yep. There it is.
“—if you insist on it, would you be willing to host us this evening?”
“Ah yes, I did like that hot spring of yours, and the food was simply excellent. What fun will we have tonight?”
Huh? Huhhhh?
I suppose neither Hinata nor Luminus was in any hurry to go anywhere. The paladins saw this, of course, and now they’d all need quarters for another night, too. They were all smiles now, chatting over what could be on the menu tonight. I wanted to ask if the Crusaders were really a bunch of freeloaders like this all along, but it was too late to whine about it. If they expect that much from us, let’s give them the time of their lives.
.........
......
…
“Okay, today’s banquet will feature sukiyaki, a big bowl of beef simmered in vegetable broth!”
“““Yeaahhhhh!!”””
“…”
I wasn’t sure what this feeling in me was. The paladins and my staff, mortal enemies until the previous day, were now salivating over the hearty meal they’d share shortly. They were happy, no doubt about that… But part of me wondered if this was really the right thing for them. I guess there were no rules about religious figures giving up meat or whatever in this world—it was hard enough to keep yourself fed at times without inventing restrictions for yourself.
So we decided to treat them to the cowdeer and chiducken we had started to raise, pairing their meat with some fresh-picked veggies. Tossing all that into a pot of boiling broth would
