Chapter 18 - Vulcan’s Armor Shop

____________________“Vulcan’s Armor Shop”

An adventurer-owned shop found at the corner of Labyrinth City’s commercial district. Most of the armor sold here is thought of as looking boorish, but at least it’s cheap, and the store established itself as having a focus on practicality.

A guest just arrived at that very shop.

「Nya~! Welcomyaa~!」

The door to the back opened, and out came a lively young girl. She had a somewhat young—no, it was practically a loli face, framed by deep golden hair and appended by cat-like ears growing out of her head. The girl’s skin was light brown with a healthy glow to it, but counter to her childlike face she was wearing little more than an overall dress and apron, and her frontal assets were generous enough to show off out of the top and sides.

This is Vulcan, a tiger demihuman and proprietress of Vulcan’s Armor Shop.

「Good morning, Vulcan. It’s rare seeing you tending the shop this time of day. Are you not going dungeon diving today?」

The bell-like voice that addressed her belonged to a girl with platinum blonde hair that glittered in the sun, icy blue eyes, a pair of pointy elven ears, and… a small animal, resting atop her chest.

Naturally, it was Aria and Tama.

「Hmnya~, Aria. A special request came in, so I took the day off to take care of it. But, I finished early, nyaa… I guess maybe I’ll go to the dungeon after this?」

Upon closer inspection, a silver tag hung around Vulcan’s neck. As a smith, customers either bring in the materials for use, or the smith goes to the dungeon and gets the materials themselves. Vulcan is the latter kind, and earned her way to C rank as an adventurer.

「So Aria, did you stop by for weapon maintenance? Also, that cat is…」

「Yes. I came by to repair my knives. And the kitty here is named Tama. He’s an elemental cat who became my pet yesterday.」

Aria proudly introduced the kitten, subtly hiding the fact that the only reason she didn’t visit the store any earlier today was because she got nearly blackout drunk last night and had to suffer a nasty hangover.

「Nya~! Elemental cats are super rare! Nyaa, Aria, can I hold him?」

「Of course. Tama, Vulcan here is always helping me. Promise you won’t scratch her?」

For some reason Vulcan seemed restless while looking at Tama. She clearly wanted to play with him quite a lot.

For Aria’s part, she happily agreed and set him on top of Vulcan’s chest as he just was on her own, while Tama gave his master’s request an affirmative meow. After all, Vulcan appeared to be quite close to Aria, and a friend of Aria’s was a friend of his. Besides, the only time he wanted to go on a rampage was whenever some disgraceful lech was molesting his master with their eyes.

Boing.

His paws bounced gently against Vulcan’s skin as he settled in. They weren’t as big as Aria’s, but they were still more than enough to act as a bed. Her breasts were soft and plush, and wonderfully warm.

「Nya~! So docile, he’s adorable!」

「I know! Having such a cute kitty for a pet, it’s like a dream!」

That’s my line. Being pampered by such a lovely girl like Master… I’m really thankful. Come to think of it, this is really pleasant. A beautiful elf master and a cheerful beastman having a friendly chat… And to top it off I’m enjoying their soft bodies to my heart’s content…

He was the envy of all men, barely holding back his excitement, and while he was having his fun on Vulcan’s bouncy breasts Aria started talking about him.

「By the way, Vulcan, I wanted to ask you something…」

「Nyaa? What is it?」

「Actually, it’s for him… I was wondering if you could make some special armor for Tama.」

「Custom armor for a cat… Nyaa, I can do that! Does that mean you want to fight with this kitten as your partner?」

「That’s right!」

And thus was Aria’s second goal for visiting Vulcan. If Tama was going to protect her, it’d be best if he didn’t have to rely on his fur alone.

It wasn’t strange for adventurers to have animals for teammates either. So to keep them a little safer, adventurers commissioned custom armor that left them able to move naturally.

Master! To go so far for me…!

Though he decided to keep Aria safe, for his own sake he had to restrict himself to his elemental skills. Without ?Iron Body?, he remains as vulnerable as… well, a kitten. Now that he’s getting armor, however, he won’t need Iron Body to bodyblock for her!

I’ll still use Iron Body if I really need to, though.

「I’ve never made custom equipment for animals, but it sounds interestinyaa! The kitty’s still growing, too, so I’ll need to add a size adjustment enchantment so it grows with him. As for the shape…」

Vulcan immediately got to work, busting out materials and writing down others she needed, and drawing up a bevy of blueprints. The creation process continued late into the night.