It must have been around three in the afternoon, the time of day when the heat was at its most murderous. Wearing a full suit of black armor made from solid iron, I should have been dying of heat... but I was not. Honestly, I was not hot at all.
More precisely, I could not feel heat. Thanks to the effects of my Skill [Soul of Flame], I had extreme resistance not only to flames but even to heat itself, so unless it was at a truly absurd level, I could not feel heat at all. The downside was that saunas, hot baths, and the like held no enjoyment for me... Strangely enough, if I moved vigorously, I was not hot, but I would sweat on my own. Was that only natural, since my body needed to expel waste? Of course, as an adventurer and a blacksmith, it took quite a lot before I even started sweating.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that no matter how hot this black armor of mine may look, I absolutely do not feel hot.
So please, stop sprinkling water on my armor every chance you get to cool it down. I am telling you, I am not hot. It is a waste of water.
"You do not need to sprinkle water on me. I am not hot, my goddess."
"I am not doing it because I am worried about you getting hot. I am doing it because it is fascinating. The water almost evaporates the instant it touches you."
"..."
So she was not worried about me...
"Let us go buy some snacks over there. They look tasty."
"Yes."
As we looked around the streets, my goddess apparently spotted a stall selling grilled skewers off to one side and said she wanted to go try them.
"Shopkeeper."
"Welco... me!?"
"What do you sell here?"
"Y-yes, as you can see, I sell grilled skewers. We have chicken skewers and pork skewers, and each comes either salted or with spicy seasoning."
"What would you like, my goddess?"
"Hmm... Let us each have a salted chicken skewer."
"Yes. Shopkeeper, how much?"
"Thirty valis per chicken skewer, sir."
"Two, please."
"Yes, sir! I will have them ready right away."
We waited for around five minutes. They must have been par-cooked beforehand and then grilled again, because they came out quite quickly. The scent of simply salted meat seeped through the slit in my helmet.
"Here you are!"
"Thank you. You have my thanks for your work."
"Yes, sir! Enjoy your meal!"
After receiving the two reasonably priced chicken skewers, I took out a hundred-valis coin from my purse, paid him, received forty valis in change, and resumed walking through the streets. The streets here were not particularly different from those of Orario. They had the typical medieval style. The difference was in the races. Humans were overwhelmingly common.
Beastpeople and dwarves occasionally appeared, but elves and Prums were nowhere to be seen. Hmm... I had always seen Orario's streets overflowing with demi-humans, so seeing streets filled entirely with humans was a distinct experience in its own way.
I had slung my shield over my back and was walking along, carefully slipping the chicken skewer in my left hand through my helmet slit to eat it, when my goddess spoke beside me.
"By the way, Talos?"
"Yes, my goddess."
"You... normally tend to speak politely to people regardless of whether they are older or younger than you, do you not? Why are you not doing so now?"
"If it makes you uncomfortable, I will speak to others in my usual manner."
"It is not uncomfortable. I am merely curious."
"Yes. If that is the case... the reason I spoke politely to others while I was in Orario was because I was a merchant. I was the one who needed to make an effort to sell goods to customers, so I naturally occupied the inferior position. That is why I treated others as my superiors and spoke politely to them."
"But now, I am your escort. You could also call me a knight. The only person above me is you, my goddess. If I spoke politely to others and elevated them, I would be placing you on the same level as them."
"I cannot do that. To me as I am now, the one thing that takes precedence over all else is you alone, my goddess."
"I may show others courtesy, or use honorific speech when meeting other gods, but that is all it will be."
"As I am now, I exist only for you, my goddess."
"Hmm... okay. I understand. The fact that this is not a persona but your sincere feeling is a little frightening and a little pleasing... Anyway, I think we have seen most of the city. Shall we return to the inn and have dinner? I noticed earlier that the first floor also seemed to serve as a tavern."
"Yes."
"Then what about being so quiet and speaking so stiffly?"
"...No comment."
By the time we returned to the inn while exchanging such pointless chatter, the place was packed with people, apparently because it was one of the city's renowned restaurants. Fortunately, there was room for two in a corner, so I had my goddess sit down first. Then I went directly to a server and ordered two servings of the most popular dish and two mugs of beer. There was no need to tell them where to bring it; one look at my armor would tell them exactly where I was.
Once I had placed the order and returned to where my goddess was seated... some punk bastards were hovering around her. If they had merely been talking to her, that would have been one thing, but...
"Hey, miss! What are you doing here all alone? If you are bored, why do you not come somewhere nice with us?"
"Hey, hey, she came looking for a good match because she does not have a man, right? Let us be that good match!"
"Ooh, this bastard is a genius!"
The reek of alcohol was thick in the air. They must have been drunk enough not to realize that the person in front of them was a goddess. But that was no reason to excuse them. My goddess looked displeased as well... There was no need to hold back.
I wanted to tear them apart and kill them right then and there, but... I would deal with them without killing them.
"Have you finished your last words?"
"Huh? Who the hell are you..."
They saw me at last and shut their mouths, but it was already too late.
"Have you all taken your piss? Said your prayers before bed? Are you ready to cower in a corner, trembling and begging for your lives?"
"Uh... Sir Knight, I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding..."
"Shut your mouth. You are dog food."
With that, I drove an uppercut into the solar plexus of the blond punk with the piercings standing before me. He was apparently not an ordinary man but someone who had received a Falna, because the feeling against my gauntlet was harder than expected. Still, he collapsed without being able to do anything.
I would have plenty of time to beat the fallen one later, so I grabbed the remaining two by the hair as they tried to flee, yanked them back, and slammed them straight into the floor.
"Urghk!"
"Aaaagh!"
"You all received Falna, did you not?"
"Ghk... Th-that is right. We are all proud... urk... members of the Tyr Familia!"
"If you kneel and beg even now... huff... we will forgive you... if you give us that woman and your armor...!"
"..."
"Ha ha..."
"Hahahahahahaha!"
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"I have decided. As of today, your Familia is extinct. If there are only the three of you, I will sever the tendons in your arms and legs."
"If there are more of you, I will sever all of theirs as well."
"If any of you run, I will chase you to the ends of this world and crush your arms and legs."
"Except for children and the elderly, every one of you will live as worms crawling upon the ground."
"[Let us begin.]"
I kicked the already fallen blond punk out the door, then dragged the blond fat man and the skinny brown-haired man outside by their hair after him.
"Talos."
"Yes, my goddess."
"Just do not kill them. Just do not kill them."
"Yes. I will be back. Please eat first."
I gave my mealtime farewell and walked straight out. The blond man with the piercings, whom I had kicked outside, still had enough instinct left to know he should flee, and was staggering toward an alley. Where do you think you are running?
I hurled the skinny brown-haired man I was holding in my left hand at him, then approached while dragging the fat one along.
"Where are you going?"
"The night is still young."
"And we have much left to discuss."
"Urk... I-I was wrong... I did not... ngh... recognize someone of your stature... p-please forgive me..."
Only now realizing he had committed a crime worthy of death, the blond man with the piercings bowed his head as he vomited pathetically.
But...
"Too late. Still, because you lowered your head relatively early, your sins will end with you. This is the only mercy I will grant."
"Ah... Aaaah..."
That night... the sounds of dull impacts and something being crushed reportedly did not cease from the back alley for quite some time.
A red stain lingered upon the walls, while pleas for mercy flowed from the sinners' mouths.
The Black Knight merely delivered punishment to sinners in place of his goddess.
.
.
.
.
.
Late that night, even as [Talos] returned with blood dripping from his gauntlets, Hephaestus did nothing but remain seated, guarding a cold single serving of dinner.
"You are still awake?"
"Of course I had to wait when my follower was delivering punishment in my stead. Your food has gone cold, so hurry and eat."
"Yes..."
And so the night deepened.