Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 185
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Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 185
44. Center of the Incident (1)
The next equipment is Arcia's shield and armor.
Both are Force Equipment made of adamantite, and because of adamantite's characteristics, they had a pitch-black, ink-like luster like the previous longsword.
The armament Arcia had been using up until now was Force Equipment named 'Eestro' left behind by Grand Duke Lucas, made of Mithril + Dragonbone, featuring both higher defense than ordinary Force Equipment and being very light.
However, adamantite equipment is inevitably heavier than Grand Duke Lucas's Astro equipment.
Adamantite was a metal characterized by being extremely heavy.
But as weight is a drawback, when made into armor, adamantite equipment displayed defense surpassing that of Orichalcum.
"How is it? Very heavy?"
If one decides to use magic to lighten it, it can be lightened as much as one wants, but adamantite has poor compatibility with lightening magic.
Because that magic reduces adamantite's characteristic rebound resilience.
For convenience, structural lightening would need to be done at the design stage.
However, Arcia's equipment was made with no effort toward lightening at all, focusing solely on maximum defense.
The shield was also not the hand shield she usually favored, but a kite shield capable of covering her entire upper body.
"It's heavy, but I like the feeling of it enveloping my whole body."
The support unit, Heavenly Firmament's Arcia.
Her main combat style has always been defense-oriented from the start.
This is the style in which she displays her greatest combat power.
But she is not a character from the game.
She doesn't have to fight according to a fixed framework.
So beside the adamantite armor, there is Dragonbone armor that focuses solely on lightening.
"The back plate portion separates like this."
"Oh-ho, a dagger?"
"Yes, Dragonbone is a material that doesn't shine even when polished, so it seemed good for surprise attacks using Sword Aura, so I made it this way. However, because of its small size, I had to remove the Force function from the dagger."
"Nice."
It was made from the bones of the Black Dragon that Blake gave as a gift.
The design is sleek enough to reveal her figure, and the shield is also a small hand shield, so she can even use dual wielding while wearing it.
"Both the adamantite and the Dragonbone coincidentally, the armor is all black."
The two equipment sets incorporated Pocket Dimension Magic, allowing for rapid equipment switching.
The cost invested in this equipment switching system alone was enough to outfit five sets of ordinary Force Equipment.
"This one is extremely light."
"Because Dragonbone itself could be called the pinnacle among carbon-based metals."
I smiled at Arcia's admiration.
Dragonbone is bone, so of course it's not metal.
But in Rondel, bones of monsters with high strength, such as Dragonbone, Drake bone, and wyvern bone, are often referred to as carbon-based metals.
And among such carbon-based metals, Dragonbone is the only one that ranks above Mithril.
It's light, strong, and conducts Mana and Aura well, so it could be said to be a complete superior substitute for Mithril.
"I'm satisfied. The completion is high."
"With materials like these, I put in effort to create the best work of my life."
One Holy Sword obtained from the ruin, three Orichalcum longswords, two adamantite longswords, one set of adamantite armor, and one set of Dragonbone armor.
These are the equipment Arcia will be armed with from now on.
The Force Equipment crafted this time not only has superior materials but also contains Grand Duke Lucas's techniques in full, so it can be said to be overwhelmingly superior to the Astro equipment she used before.
"One person is walking around wearing a national-level budget on her body."
I nodded at the dwarf Torres's admiration.
If the other party weren't Arcia, I would have found it hard to entrust these things to anyone.
"Here is your liege's equipment."
Compared to Arcia's splendid equipment, mine was extremely simple.
That's only natural, since what I entrusted was only combining or improving existing equipment.
First, I combined the Holy Lance obtained from the ruin with the Magic Staff left by Grand Duke Lucas.
In addition, with an Orichalcum coating, a Magic Sphere with a pure white sense of unity was born.
And I reinforced the Eestro Robe, which had Force Armor functions, by overlaying it with Orichalcum drawn out in thread form.
Compared to Arcia's, it's an extremely simple enchantment, but I believe its outward elegance doesn't lose to hers at all.
"I tried to add a bit more decoration befitting the position of king of a duchy."
"It looks great."
When I wore it, I could barely feel any difference from before.
I was utterly satisfied.
"Were the materials too tight?"
"No, quite a bit is left over."
I handed him half of my Orichalcum, adamantite, and Dragonbone as materials.
I gave him what I thought was a proper amount, but there was still quite a bit left.
And when I asked how much remained, he said there was enough Orichalcum and adamantite for one longsword each, and enough Dragonbone for two longswords.
"Then please make all of them into Force Swords. Just lower the performance a bit from this one."
"Lower the performance?"
"They're for gifts."
"Ah, I understand."
It's no exaggeration to say Arcia's equipment contains the essence of Grand Duke Lucas.
In other words, compared to existing equipment, it's over-spec.
That's why I ordered the specs to be lowered.
"You've worked hard."
I shook hands with Grand Mage Owen and the dwarf Torres.
And I gave the two who worked hard a gift of elixirs.
Since I was planning to distribute elixirs to the special-class agents at the core of Blue Moon anyway, I handed them to the two of them in the process.
"Oh, thank you. This precious thing."
Grand Mage Owen immediately recognized it as an elixir that helps improve Mana and strengthen mana circuits, and expressed his gratitude.
On the other hand, the dwarf Torres tilted his head at the elixir I handed him.
"It's a physical strength enhancement elixir. As a secondary effect, vitality enhancement..."
Before I even finished my words, Torres, with fire in his eyes, dumped the elixir straight into his mouth.
As expected, no matter the race, men are all the same.
On the other hand, Owen, seemingly intending to take it later when resting, stored the elixir in his subspace.
"Uoooh! Power is surging!"
Thanks to Torres, the atmosphere was warm and friendly.
Thinking it was about time to return to the duchy, I got up from the sofa prepared in the research lab.
"My liege, may I ask one thing?"
"Yes, go ahead."
But Grand Mage Owen caught me and asked a question.
"I want to know why you urged the equipment production at this time."
As he said, I gave orders to have the equipment made as quickly as possible.
With the materials being what they are and the techniques applied being what they are, equipment production could hardly be easy.
Originally, with my personality, I would have understood even if it took a bit longer.
In other words, in his eyes, it could only look like I was preparing for some kind of battle.
In that sense, Owen's question hit the core of things.
"I believe the current international situation is stable. There's no situation that would threaten the two of you right now either. So seeing the two of you quietly preparing for battle makes me uneasy."
It was an entirely natural concern.
But I smiled.
As if there was no need to worry.
"It's just preparation. It's not that I'm preparing to cause an incident or pull something off."
"Preparation?"
"Yes, lately the Holy Land has been fervently searching for demon race puppets. Since the starting point of that was the Holy Relic I handed over, I'm just preparing for the worst."
By common sense, unless the Demon King directly descends, demon worshippers are no match for the Holy Land.
In that sense, this preparation could be seen as needless worry.
But for some reason, at my answer, Owen's expression grew even stiffer.
"With my liege saying that, I get the feeling something big will happen regarding demon worshippers."
"Huh?"
"Whenever my liege prepares something, doesn't an incident always occur?"
I wore a blank expression at his words, then let out a wry laugh.
"Haha, this time the chance of a problem arising is very low. The current period of transition between Saintesses and Holy Sons is practically a disaster for demon worshippers. After all, there are two Saintesses and two Holy Sons right now."
The Saintess and Holy Son possess combat ability at the 8th Circle, Grandmaster-class level.
But if the enemy possesses black mana, that combat ability gets greatly inflated, and it's no exaggeration to say it becomes 9th-circle, Lordmaster-class.
Right now is the time when, even if a true Demon King descended, the Holy Land's power alone could handle it.
"True...."
Because of that, Owen also nodded, admitting that was indeed the case.
Yet even as he seemed to accept it in his head, his expression did not relax.
It was a moment that made me realize anew that my subordinates saw me as a troublemaker.
* * *
Religion in Rondel isn't something you can choose to believe or not like on Earth.
It's utterly natural.
That is the position of the Sepia Faith, the world's only religion.
It couldn't be helped since the creator Sepia constantly performs miracles, speaks aloud, and even descends, disbelief was simply impossible.
Of course, the depth of faith in Sepia varies somewhat by nation's disposition, but no one denied that their creator was Sepia.
If you were to pick the nation with the least faith in the world, everyone would choose the Elysian Coalition.
After all, they tended to place meaning on the work itself called Rondel rather than on the creator who made it.
"Donations to the church from the Elysian Coalition have been shrinking every year. They're the world's second-strongest power, yet the scale of their donations is at the level of a mid-tier nation."
Right now, I'm sitting across from Saintess Sharon Sylvester, who came secretly to the duchy, discussing the Elysian Coalition's view of religion.
As for why this is suddenly happening it's because the Elysian Coalition is the only nation that blocked the activities of the demon worshiper investigation team dispatched by the Holy Land.
"I hear many of them consider loving and cherishing this world to be the true religious act, rather than loyalty to the goddess Sepia. Perhaps that's why? It's a place where troubles large and small break out surprisingly often. As expected, being a different race, their way of thinking differs greatly from humans."
I couldn't quite grasp what she was trying to say.
I had essentially requested the investigation by giving them the compass that tracks demons, but it wasn't as if I had such deep ties with that nation that I ought to hear a tirade against the Elysian Coalition out of nowhere.
"Ah, I've been venting complaints without any preamble. I apologize."
"Not at all. Haha."
But at the Saintess's next words, I narrowed my brow.
"I believe our church's intelligence network is at least on par with the Bringham Empire's, if not superior. But recently, that intelligence division came out with a surprising assessment."
"Yes?"
"An evaluation that the Duchy of Lawrence's intelligence capability may rival our church's."
Taken aback, I had to check her emotions with the Myriad Mirror.
[Relation: Interest / Alliance]
[Status: Observing / Curiosity]
A sense of crisis briefly flared at the fact that Blue Moon had been caught, but judging by her state, I could tell she wasn't approaching with any ill intent.
So I feigned composure and replied.
"Thank you for the high assessment."
"The more I learn of Your Highness the King, the more remarkable I find you. For someone who rose to prominence so suddenly, your foundation is far too solid."
At this point, I could tell what she was circling around.
"In short, you're asking for help because searching within the Elysian Coalition is difficult, right?"
"Correct."
She had come to the right door.
As she said, Blue Moon held considerable influence even within the Elysian Coalition.
But I couldn't help but question it.
"Do we really need to pay that much attention to the Elysian Coalition? They just don't match with demon worshipers at all...."
Just because they don't place much weight on religious activities doesn't mean they deny the church.
If they did, would they have participated in the Saintess contest in the first place?
Moreover, the idea that the Coalition's otherworldly races, who love the natural world, would have any connection to the demon race that revels in destruction and chaos simply didn't add up.
Saintess Sylvester answered my doubt with a vague expression.
"I think so too, but unfortunately, the compass is pointing at the Elysian Coalition. And quite strongly at that."
"What?"
At such an unexpected statement, I had to open my eyes wide.