It had already been two months since Kaguya took [Sentō Namakura]. She was apparently still practicing alone, so there was not much word of it yet—but once she adapted to it, it would only be a matter of time before rumors spread.
Of course, it was not as if I had been resting in the meantime. I finally spent an entire month making the armor I had been saying I would make for ages. Its name: [Black Knight Armor]!
I did not use magic to make it. I simply adapted the heavy armor from my memories in my own way. Calling it an adaptation might be generous, though. All I did was widen the eye section of the helmet a little and remove the gorget, but that alone was enough to make it look ordinary(?) enough. I seriously thought I was going to die trying to preserve those damned embossed designs...
The helmet slit—its eyeholes—had been softened from a Y shape to something between a Y and a T, while the gorget that had risen nearly to the crown of the head had been boldly cut down to chin height. I mean, sure, those jagged protrusions look cool, but when you are the one who actually has to wear them, they are absolutely unbearable...
In truth, Orario's adventurers generally do not wear heavy armor. Most wear light leather armor, or only a helmet and a chest protector, and some—like the Amazons—even wear no armor at all. The thinking behind it is simple: their physical abilities and bodily durability have increased anyway, so why bother wearing heavy armor? Just dodge it or take the hit with your body... At least among famous adventurers, Gareth was about the only one who wore heavy armor. Even among the others who did, many wore only half-plate over their upper body, or just pauldrons and gauntlets.
People who wear heavy armor are mostly either those who value their lives enough to wrap themselves up tightly, or those who still lack the confidence to evade attacks and counterattack. Even those types either quit being adventurers and come back to sell their armor because they value their lives, or sell their heavy armor to buy a good weapon once they have adjusted.
Of course, as you descend, stronger enemies appear, so armor becomes more important. But the adventurers who used heavy armor from the start have all dropped away, while most of those remaining have already grown accustomed to fighting as evasive damage dealers. So even down there, the cycle continues: they hone dodge-focused combat to the absolute limit...
But what did that matter? I made it because I wanted to, and if I wear it, there is no problem. I do not have much talent for landing attacks anyway, so my fighting style is to endure through durability, armor, and sheer toughness, then crush the enemy with one reversal strike.
Heavy armor has two major downsides.
First, its weight. A typical suit of knightly armor weighs anywhere from at least thirty kilograms to as much as fifty. But a body enhanced by Falna can handle that much easily. Pass!
Second, temperature. Armor is made of solid metal, and if you wear chainmail and a gambeson beneath it, you could literally be steamed to death during a prolonged battle. But I have a Skill with extremely high heat resistance, so heat no longer affects me in any way. Pass!
Uh... possible? Totally possible!
The part I worried about most when making the [Black Knight Armor] was embossing those patterns... Fortunately, I remembered the acid-solution etching technique that originated in the Middle East just in time, so I did not have to use the labor-intensive fluting technique. Whew...
Of course, if I had made it skin-tight like the original design, it would not absorb impacts at all. The armor could cave in and compress my lungs, so I made it a little larger. I did not change the armor's silhouette—I just made it roomier.
Hmm... It was about time to put it on and actually use it... Should I head down?
Jingle.
"Smith, are you here?"
"My goddess? What brings you all the way here?"
"Um... well..."
"...?"
"You, come somewhere with me."
"Do you need to buy something heavy?"
"No, not inside Orario..."
"Are we going outside? Do you have business in one of the ore-mining towns nearby?"
"Farther thaaaaaan that..."
"Are we crossing the border or something?"
"..."
"For real?"
"I was thinking of going as far as the City of Sword Emperors..."
"...Have you lost your mind, my goddess? No, why me in the first place?"
"Well... um, Tsubaki told me to show you this..."
I snatched the letter my goddess held out and unfolded it. Let us see what that damned captain had to say.
[No need to beat around the bush. The goddess is going on a trip, so she needs an escort. But you are the only battle smith in our Familia with time to spare. Therefore, you go. Ah, if you do not like it, why do not you become captain? Lol.] —Captain—
"Tsubaki Collbrandeeeee!"
"...You just happen to have some nice armor, too. It is perfect for escort duty."
After sneaking a look at her letter, our goddess apparently realized she had nothing left to fear and began spouting whatever she wanted... Twitch, twitch.
Sigh... I needed to field-test the armor anyway, so it was not necessarily a bad thing... If I did not think of it that way, I felt like my insides would burst...
"...When are we leaving?"
"Hmm... You need time to prepare too, so within three days? We will be traveling around for at least four months, so make sure to bring plenty of money."
"Y-Yes? Wait a second, is that not supposed to come out of the Familia funds?"
"...Ahem! How dare you talk back when your goddess is speaking!"
"No, I am asking why you are making me pay for the travel fund."
"...This is my vacation, you see."
"...So this is not a Familia business inspection trip. I am being dragged along because you want to skip work and have fun by yourself?"
"Th...that is right?"
"...Then you should pay for your trip yourself! Why are you taking your member's money?!"
"Well... I found a new investment opportunity and put my personal funds into it... Hahaha..."
"..."
"...Ha... haha?"
"Today, I will kill my goddess and then kill myself."
"Eeeek!"
"Come here, my goddess. I will send you off without pain. Let us send you back to Heaven!"
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A young man attempts the great feat of godslaying...
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"I do not care about anything else, but bring at least thirty percent of the travel costs, even if you have to borrow money or sell something. I cannot overlook any more than that. Do not even think you can come empty-handed and smooth it over by saying you will repay me after the trip, or give me an item or something. I will cancel the trip outright."
"Okay..."
Grabbing my goddess by the shoulders, I shook her back and forth like a piggy bank that only rattled with coins and delivered my final ultimatum.
Let us see... If we are traveling for four months... There are no planes or buses here, and the best transportation available is probably a carriage. Hmm, five thousand valis a day, plus twenty thousand valis as emergency funds... Six hundred and twenty thousand valis should be enou... Actually, probably not. I could already see her losing her mind every time she spotted a new weapon and trying to buy it... Let us make it a nice, round one million valis.
"Bring three hundred thousand valis. I think one million valis should be plenty for our travel expenses."
"Eek... Is that not a little much?"
"You said this was more like sightseeing than an inspection or technical exchange trip. When else are we supposed to spend money if not when we are traveling? Oh, and I will manage the money. I refuse to watch you blow it all because you went crazy over some ore or weapon."
"Hey... I am still your goddess..."
"Who was it that said she had no money because of her personal investments, then tried to take travel money from one of her members for a private trip?"
"Urk..."
"Who~ was~ it~?"
"Ghh...!"
"Oh, if you do not like it, you should have brought the travel expenses. You cannot even pay me for serving as your escort, yet you have the nerve to shake me down for money! What are you so proud of?!"
"Kahk!"
"Hello? Hello? Are you alive?"
Twitch, twitch.
There was no answer. It seemed to be an ordinary corpse.
"Enough. Get up already. Starting today, we need to close the shop, put out the forge fire, and go around telling people that we are leaving on a trip."
"A goddess with no money... Sorry..."
"If you know that, get up. The day after tomorrow, we are going shopping for necessities, dried food, preserved food, and outdoor supplies, so clear your schedule for the day. You were not planning to leave all of that to me too, were you? You are the one who will have to sleep on the ground if we camp out."
"Hey, I am not that bad."
"Good. Oh, right, did you get permission from Uranus? Adventurers of Orario cannot leave Orario without a special reason, after all."
"I will go get it now. Saying that I need to serve as an escort should be enough. Ah, are you going to wear that armor when we leave? It stands out and looks intimidating, so I think it is a good idea."
"Sure."
"...Really?"
"It does not weigh on me at all even if I wear it all day, and I am resistant to heat, so I will not turn into a steamed dumpling. Unless I need to move urgently, it would be more convenient to keep it on. Besides, this is an overland escort, not the Dungeon. Do you think anyone will see this armor and still pick a fight?"
"Hmm... I suppose so... You are the type who can wear the same outfit all the time, huh? The type who does not care about wearing the same clothes over and over."
"I am not particularly interested in fashion, yes. Oh, and you are bringing that Hermes Backpack you mentioned last time, right?"
"That space-expanding bag I mentioned? Why?"
"Just in case, we need to buy food, a tent, and camping supplies in advance and fill it up. I told you we would be shopping the day after tomorrow."
"Got it, got it."
"Then that is settled. Go find the money somehow."
And so... my sudden overseas trip in another world began... Damn it!