Chapter 133 - E Float

“Now then…”

I put in a few requests with the Old Man. I could go meet up with Rafatalia and the others, or I could go talk to the Queen. I have some questions about her plan from here on out.

I might be able to get some second-hand equipment as well.

I return to the castle, and ask for the Queen’s location.

It seems that after the meeting ended, she went to her office to do paperwork.

Naofumi: “Queen.”

Queen: “Iwatani? What is troubling you now?”

Naofumi: “Can you spare us some equipment?”

Queen: “Sure, there’s no issues with me doing that. However, much of the equipment we currently have on stock has been heavily damaged during the previous battle.”

Naofumi: “I know, but right now I don’t need anything high class. If you’re not using it, can you hand it over?”

Queen: “It’s for managing your new land, right?”

Naofumi: “Correct.”

Queen: “Oh, right. Iwatani, I have a favor I would like to ask of you.”

The Queen’s tone makes it sound like it is quite a big deal.

Naofumi: “What is it?”

Queen: “I have finished speaking with the other countries… it’s about managing the heroes for the next waves.”

“Fumu…”

Though we still don’t know the meaning behind the blue hourglass, the red hourglass may begin to move again soon.

The red one only had 3 days left on it. It will be difficult to prepare if it suddenly starts moving again.

The other 3 heroes are still missing, so there is a large problem regarding man-power.

Queen: “Many countries want to focus on Iwatani as a main fighting force. There are also plenty of countries that want to deny entry to the other heroes.”

Naofumi: “Of course, after that…”

The information has been hidden from the general public, but the leaders won’t want to let those who caused this calamity to enter their countries.

Even countries unrelated to the incident wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to them.

Queen: “Of course, that only applies if they are still alive. If they are found, can I leave it to you to arrest them?”

Naofumi: “You remember that my stats won’t recover for another 3 months, right…?”

Queen: “I know I may be asking the impossible. I do think that they will return to this country, if they do return, though…”

Naofumi: “Why is that?”

Queen: “Because of spreading rumors, most of the countries besides this one have decided to place restrictions on the movements of the heroes.”

Naofumi: “Doesn’t that mean you can monopolize the heroes?”

… What a fearsome woman. Somehow got to gain exclusive access to a massive fighting force.

Queen: “The belief is spreading that the heroes other than the Shield were false heroes…”

Well I can understand their train of thought. They could have just obtained weapons that change shape.

It seems that in the past, production of such items was possible.

Queen: “The belief is spreading that the summoned heroes other than Iwatani were fakes, and that they should instead depend on the strengths of the Seven Star Heroes.”

What sort of belief is that?

The mindset of people overcome by fear scares me.

…Though I don’t know what sort of people the Seven Star Heroes are in the first place…

Queen: “The contributing factor to this belief was a rumor that began circulating during the last wave.”

Naofumi: “Ah, the fact that all the heroes other than me lost?”

Queen: “Yes, there were many people who witnessed that battle, so it was impossible to stop the spread of such a rumor. The rumor had almost died down, but then they had to go off to another country and cause this disaster…”

Fake Heroes…

It’s the same thing that happened to me before. I have to be careful not to get any bad rumors spread about me.

Queen: “There is also the question of their strength. They are definitely strong, but they are not on a level that is impossible to attain by a normal person…”

I don’t really know exactly how strong those 3 are, so I can’t really say anything in regards to that.

But they are probably still sticking to their own systems of enhancement instead of trying the others.

Queen: “But it will be troublesome if no country accepts charge of them… So I have decided to make this country the only one to accept them.”

Shadow should have told them about how to unlock the other systems, but they stubbornly stuck to the belief that this was the world of the game they knew.

Looking back, their way of doing things was quite half-assed.

If they had only attempted to trust the others, they may have been able to get 3 times the enhancements as before.

Because I was oblivious, I tried out all of the systems and got my weapons to this level…

They’re just like Rafatalia and Firo when they had reached their level 40 cap before classing up.

Though their level rose beyond 80, that doesn’t mean they were getting particularly stronger.

Because I properly strengthened my equipment, I can keep up with Rafatalia and Firo, but I’m not sure about the others.

Naofumi: “Oh yeah, what about Bitch?”

Queen: “There’s still a faint response from her… If I want to, I can still activate her slave crest.”

Naofumi: “I wouldn’t really care if she died, though…”

Queen: “… Bitch has some uses while alive, so it would be troublesome if she died. And she still owes me some money.”

Naofumi: “Uses?”

Queen: “Well, her punishment helps entertain Iwatani… plus if she never repents, there is still something we can have her do…”

Naofumi: “Hmm…”

What will you make her do?

I think I will feel motivated to find her if you tell me.

Queen: “Do you want to know what I plan to do to her?”

Naofumi: “No, I feel it will be more fun to find out when the time comes.”

If it’s something cruel, I think it is better to hear it whilst in front of her. It will give off a ‘surprise party’ sort of feeling.

Naofumi: “Ah right, have you already gathered the necessary materials from the turtle?”

Queen: “Yes. I was just about to call you to collect them. They are lying around the training grounds in front of the warehouse. You may do as you wish with them.”

Naofumi: “Got it.”

I part with the Queen, and look around the front of the warehouse as instructed, and begin to feed the large mountain of Spirit Turtle and Spirit Turtle Familiar materials to the shield.

…

As I was doing it, I noticed a giant eyeball, and a chunk of a brain matter inside of the mountain.

Did they go as far as to take apart the head and bring it all the way here?

This head is probably the one that Rafatalia and Firo were able to cut off during the Recon Battle.

There were also things that looked like parts of the heart, and a moss like substance. There’s even some lumber.

If I want to feed the shield all of this, I’ll have to stay up all night. I’ll leave some meaty bits to cook later…

–

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Carapace Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Skin Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Flesh Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Bone Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Blood Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Bodily Fluid Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Leukocyte Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Muscle Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Heart Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Myocardium Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Capillary Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Heart Eye Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Iris Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Sacred Tree Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Familiar (Bat Form) Shield

You have unlocked the Spirit Turtle Familiar (Yeti Form) Shield

…etc

I unlock a ridiculous amount of shields from the Spirit Turtle Series.

All of them have really high base defense.

The one with the highest defense is the Spirit Turtle Carapace Shield. It’s base is many levels above the Chimera Viper.

I guess enhancing this weapon will be fun.

Now then… to look at its stats…

It seems that a skill can be unlocked by awakening it.

–

Spirit Turtle Carapace Shield 0/40 C

Ability Bonus

…

Equipment Bonus

Skill: E Float Shield

Gravity Field

C Soul Recovery

Magical Barrier (Large)

Weapon Proficiency 0

–

E Float Shield… Is that short for Erster?

What sort of skill is that?

I should probably test it.

「E Float Shield!」

The word ‘On’ appear in my field of vision. In the air, a shield manifests.

… Is it something like Air Strike Shield?

I think this as I try to approach the floating shield…

As I walk forward the shield moves as well to match my movement.

Is it a wall that moves with me as the base? It’s like a combination of Air Strike Shield and Meteor Shield.

I wait for the skill to wear off.

…It’s not disappearing.

Its effective time is quite long. I don’t have time to wait for it to vanish. I’ll figure out its effect time later.

C Soul Recovery is probably the ability that the Spirit Turtle had. The ability to steal and recover SP as you attack

Gravity Field is an ability that seems to be common in the Spirit Turtle Series.

I believe it will force objects to be drawn to the ground, but as I am the only person here, I can’t really test it.

…

As I am deep in thought, the E Float Shield begins to spin in the air in front of me.

What is this?

It’s getting in the way. Go away.

And with that thought, it does indeed move away.

…So it can move to whatever location I command it to move to.

This might be quite useful.

Its effective range is 1 Meter from me.

The on-off icon that appears makes me think it is probably a Semi-Passive skill.

My SP is slowly decreasing over time.

I think I will be able to keep it up for quite a while. As expected of something made of Spirit Turtle Materials.

Naofumi: “Change Shield!”

I change my equipped shield. And instead of disappearing the floating shield changes to match my new shield.

Hmm… This could have quite a few uses. The only flaw is that I can only bring out one at a time.

This shield may become part of my main repertoire. But that depends on the quality of the shield the Old Man makes for me.

The other Shields are… There are some with nothing but high base stats, and others with plenty of Stat Increasing effects.

I spot an abnormal shield within the list.

–

Spirit Turtle Heart Shield 0/45 C

Ability Bonus

…

Equipment Bonus

HP Recovery Increase (Small)

C Magic Snatch

C Gravity Shot

Tenacity Enhancement (Note: Literally Life Force Up)

Weapon Proficiency 0

C Magic Snatch… It probably lets me steal magic power. C Gravity Shot seems to be an offensive ability.

Tenacity Enhancement? If this were a game, it would increase my endurance.

There are still plenty of shields to examine. I’ll look through them later.