Chapter 113 - A Method On Becoming Stronger

Rishia:”Fueeeeee~~~~~~~!”

A loud pathetic voice echoes throughout the warehouse.

And Rishia begins to run from me like an escaping rabbit.

She is demonstrating her judgement in a strange place.

Naofumi:”Catch her! Bring her back alive!”

Raphtalia:”What is with those strange lines!?”

Naofumi:”It’s nothing, I just wanted to say that phrase.”

Firo:”Okay~!”

Naofumi:”Do-Don’t! Firo, I’m kidding! Catch her normally! Don’t use any power on your feet!”

Raphtalia:”The beak is no good either! Rishia-san will die!”

Oh sh*t, my joke may have turned into a tragic disaster. Let’s be careful.

Firo catches Rishia and carries her back on her shoulders.

Rishia is bahaving violently.

Rishia:”Please release me! I want to go back to my hometown! I want to return to papa and mama! Itsuki-samaaaaaaaaa~!”

Naofumi:”It was only a joke……”

Rishia:”About making me a slave?”

Naofumi:”That was the truth.”

Rishia:”Wh-Why would you do that!?”

Naofumi:”My shield grants demons or slaves growth correction.”

This is the biggest bottleneck.

The correction ability, multiplies with the demon and slave correction.

If I use this, Rishia should be remarkably stronger.

It would be good if there was something for companions.

Naofumi:”Do you want to try it out and see?”

Rishia:”Huh?”

Naofumi:”Rishia, cut your hair a little.”

Rishia:”Sure…….”

Rishia cuts her hair with a knife and hands it to me.

I let the shield absorb it.

Rishia:”Fue!?”

……Nothing happens.

As I thought, the Companion Shield didn’t unseal even though I got the hair from a companion.

Maybe it’s due to my relationship with Rishia not being very deep.

Naofumi:”Anyway, there is no choice other than becoming a demon or a slave.”

Rishia:”Demon? I heard there is a secret dark medicine called Ghoul Powder. Shall I prepare it?”

Naofumi:”You……won’t you die?”

A companion with an immortal attribute huh?……Perhaps it might be strong due to removal of the human limiter.

As expected, my conscience would hurt if I made Rishia a zombie, I would like to avoid that.

I mean, does Rishia want to become strong to the point where she stops being human?

Naofumi:”Well, you are free to choose Rishia, though you won’t really receive any protection.”

Rishia:”But……”

Naofumi:”Think carefully, what is necessary in order to become strong? You must greedily explore every single possibility. I am only showing you how.”

Rishia:”……”

Rishia was lost in thought and was at a loss.

It’s something you have to deal with yourself. There is no other way.

All I can do is supplement here and there.

Naofumi:”Well, since you are already level 68, and considering the speed of level ups, you wouldn’t receive that many benefits anyway, so it might not even be needed. But I still think that the growth potential is better than nothing.”

It would be meaningful to do if we started at low levels.

Doesn’t this feel like a game?

From the start the high level guys were betrayed and killed. Or their growth was just bad.

Queen:”Logically speaking, would putting someone under Iwatani-sama’s care since level 1 be the case for the best growth?”

The queen asks me.

Naofumi:”That’s right. However, there is no method to return to Level 1.”

Queen:”There is.”

Naofumi:”……There is?”

Such a convenient thing exists?

If we could use it, it would be perfect for Rishia.

The problem with being level one is the amount of time and effort required to grow……Wouldn’t it be a problem to have her shoulder such a risk?

Queen:”Yes, originally it was used as punishment to reset the levels of adventurers who commit crimes. The effect of Class Up disappears simultaneously.”

Ah, there is such a penalty.

Thinking about it carefully, it would be a menace to have high level adventurer becoming a criminal and threatening nobles.

The punishment for those people would be to make all of their effort in vain.

That’s certainly scary.

Naofumi:”Where is it done?”

Queen:”It can be performed at the Hourglass of the Dragon’s Era.”

Naofumi:”Is that so…… Rishia, what do you want?”

Rishia:”What do you mean?”

Naofumi:”I have a method that will help you become strong, I will only compel you to fight for me. You are free to choose your Class Up. Consider starting over again from level 1.”

Rishia:”……Okay.”

Naofumi:”Let’s see. The deadline on whether or not you want to return back to level one will be after the coming wave. There is no time now.”

Due to there being no time, I am concerned for Rishia’s life if she would return back to level 1 then. It would be best to at least finish the wave.

Naofumi:”However, You only need to become a slave……Don’t run away! There are no restraints other than—Listen to me!”

Whenever I talk about slavery, Rishia tries to escape. What a troublesome fellow.

Naofumi:”I will not force you to do anything cruel, I just ask you to fight!”

Rishia:”Fueeee~~~~~~!”

Naofumi:”Fine, Rishia I’m just showing you a method to become stronger. What are you going to do?”

At my words Rishia’s eyes swim around.

Her answer is equivalent to whether or not she will become a slave.

……Is it Raphtalia?

Naofumi:”By the way, Queen, would it be possible to apply the same slave crest that you did to Bitch?”

Queen:”Yes, if that is what Iwatani-sama desires.”

Naofumi:”Then that means. Although I will hold the reins, I swear that I won’t bind you to do anything.”

Raphtalia:”……Unless you are being extremely selfish, he will not do anything. I can prove it.”

Rishia:”Raphtalia-san……”

Firo:”Master. Is Firo being binded?”

Well, the words of Raphtalia and Firo that I have brainwashed will probably not reach Rishia.

Naofumi:”I won’t force you. If you hate it then we’ll leave it at that. Think about it until then.”

The conversation ended here, and I turned to face the queen.

We’ll let Rishia’s matter slide for now, moving on to Trash abandoning the power of being a Seven Star Hero and staying in this country.

I wonder what the reason of doing something like that and not complaining.

That reminds me, the queen did say this to Trash before.

[Fight as a commander at the front line of this country against the wave, or lose your position and become an adventurer.]

From a different viewpoint, that’s telling to fight with the Power of the Hero of the Cane.

The bottleneck of this country, it’s general.

In the first place. That manner of speech was as if the whole world recognizes him as a hero, wouldn’t it be impossible to bind a hero?

For instance, if Melromarc lost the right to Trash who is a Seven Star Hero, Melromarc would then have to beg Trash to remain.

In short, that would mean recruiters coming from every country while Trash continues to stay here.

Was that parade meant to get them to leave?

However, seeing Trash’s attitude, it doesn’t seem like he will leave.

But why? Unlike me, he is probably not ignorant about this world’s common sense.

To be made an ice pickle, and a naked king, some thought must have went into it.

Does he like the queen that much?

He did say “A bastard like you wouldn’t understand your whole life.”

Let’s change my thinking for a second.

There is a possibility that Trash is troubled by the appearance of scouts.

In short, he already doesn’t want to be a hero anymore.

When I look, I don’t see a cane in his hands.

It could simply be that he doesn’t have the will to fight anymore due to old age.

Oh well. Let’s fix and prepare our equipment for the wave now.

Naofumi:”I’m going to go and order weapons.”

Queen:”Understood. I will entrust it to the weapon shop that Iwatani-sama relies on.”

Rishia:”Ummm–”

Naofumi:”Hm? What’s wrong?”

Rishia has her hand in front of her chest…… I can’t see her expression, but her voice is full of determination.

Rishia:”I have decided……Please enslave me!”

Naofumi:”……Are you fine with it?”

She came to a conclusion quickly.

I thought that it would take longer, since it was Rishia.

Rishia:”Yes! I want to become strong!”

Rishia:”U…..Ku……”

The ceremony finished without any problems.

A High-class slave crest was engraved on Rishia’s chest.

Just like Bitch, after a while it turned invisible and won’t be seen again unless invoked.

A prohibition list appears in my view.

However, I take off all the checked items…… and, it was rejected.

Apparently, if I remove all the restrictions to activate the slave mark, it doesn’t work.

I’ll just check off a trifling item and be done with it.

……I’ll check down her ability to lie to me.

I also thought about the possibility of her doing something like Bitch.

Or in the case of her being a spy sent by Itsuki.

Though those possibilities were mostly gone when she selected to become a slave.

Rishia:”Haah……Haah……”

Naofumi:”Are you okay?”

Rishia:”Yes. I’m fine.”

Naofumi:”I see, then that’s good.”

While thinking that it’s wrong, I confirm Rishia’s Status.

Naofumi:”Tsu—”

Rishia:”What’s wrong?”

Naofumi:”N-Nothing, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.

I was involuntarily at a loss for words.

What is this…….This is fatally low compared to Raphtalia, Firo, and I.

Although she is level 68, her stats are 1/5th that of Raphtalia’s.

I understand the reason Itsuki dismissed her as weak.

However, I will not abandon her. This is a chance for me to see just what I can do.

Are commoners the same?

Surely……These stats are the same as Rapthalia’s early period……

A peculiar trait is that all her stats are around the same.

There isn’t any weak or strong points.

However, due to it being originally low, the feeling now is that everything is lacking.

Are you really level 68?

If she didn’t earnestly accept the strengthening method, it would have truly been dangerous……

Naofumi:”Th-Then let’s go to the weapon store.”

Rishia:”Okay!”

Raphtalia:”Sure.”

Firo:”Go~”

After a long absence, we headed to see the old man at the weapon shop.