Chapter 7

The icon of the Weapon Book in my interface got a red exclamation mark and blinked, getting my attention. I opened that menu and saw that the icon for Orange Small Shield was unlocked, though I still required more Orange Balloon's scraps to meet the requirements to truly unlock it.

"Congratulations for killing your first monster, Hero! How did you do it?" Myne congratulated me and asked after approaching me.

I turned my head to her and saw her curious face. Although she seemed curious and impressed, Intuition told me that she actually felt concerned by how I could kill monsters easily.

"I guess that thing was too weak," I replied offhandedly.

"Isn't the Shield Hero supposedly unable to attack?" Myne asked doubtfully.

"It's not that I'm incapable of attacking… it's just that I have a very low attack stat," I corrected.

Well, that was the truth, but it wasn't everything in this case. I didn't tell her about my cheating skill.

"Really?" Myne was still doubtful.

I guess she was unnerved by what I told her. She was disturbed because I, the Shield Hero, wasn't as useless as she initially believed.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Really."

"I understand." Myne nodded slowly before putting on her sweet mask. "Then…"

Myne was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. We turned to the source and saw Ren and his retinues.

I noticed that Ren was already wearing the equipment set he wore in the anime and manga. He and his retinues looked serious and focused.

At that moment, I saw three Orange Balloons jump at him from the tall grass, but Ren swung his sword in a wide arc, making them burst. However, he and his retinues continued moving, ignoring the drops.

"Ren! Wait!" I called out to him.

Ren and his retinues stopped and turned their heads in my direction. Ren had a frown on his face as if he was annoyed by my call.

"Reinhard? What do you want?" asked Ren from a distance.

"Your drops!" I told him while pointing at where the drops were.

Ren turned his head in that direction. "So, what?" He asked after looking at me again.

"You don't take 'em?" I asked.

"They are trash drops. I don't need them," he replied dismissively.

"Huh? Do you mind if I take them?" I asked again.

"Do what you want! Just stop being a bother!"

He moved away before I could reply. His retinues followed him without sparing a glance at me.

I clicked my tongue in displeasure at their attitudes, though mostly at Ren's.

"Oh, well, his loss, my gain," I muttered and jogged away.

"Wait for me, Hero!" Myne called out to me and followed behind me.

To be honest, I forgot about her. Anyway, I got the balloon scraps and fed them to my shield.

[ Orange Small Shield: conditions met! ]

[ Orange Small Shield +0 (0/10) (C)

Level: 1 - EXP: 0% - Energy: 0%

Ability: physical defense +2

Ability II: Jump +1

Enchantment:

• Item - Lv 0

• Status - Lv 0

• Spirit - Lv 0

… ]

There were many things displayed on my interface, thanks to many power-up methods that I'd unlocked. After examining the complicated menu on my interface, I transformed my shield to the Orange Small Shield and saw its color change from silver to orange.

"So this is how the Legendary Weapons work?" asked Myne after seeing my shield transform.

"Yes," I replied offhandedly.

"I see." She sounded miffed by my offhandedness, but I didn't care about her thoughts as I was trying to use Spirit Enchantment on it with the soul fragments of the Orange Balloons that I'd gathered.

[ Orange Small Shield powered up! Status Enchantment: physical damage -0.1%. ]

'The upgrade is crap!' I complained inwardly.

After that, I turned to Myne and said, "Alright, let's continue."

She nodded with a sweet smile, but I wasn't fooled. Intuition told me that she was annoyed by my attitude, but it's not like I cared about her feelings.

We stayed in the fields until the sun started to go downwards in the sky. We fought any Orange Balloons we came across, and also discovered some Yellow Balloons.

I mastered the Orange Small Shield since I'd equipped it after unlocking it. I also mastered Yellow Small Shield after unlocking that one.

"If we enter that forest, we'll encounter some stronger monsters, but we'll better head back if we want to be in the castle by dark," said Myne after seeing me looking at the forest not far from our position.

By the way, we were resting under a tree's shade at the time. I turned my head to Myne who was sitting on the ground beside me.

"Okay," I said and nodded at her.

"Let's head back, and use the extra time to revisit the weapon shop. If I get some new equipment now, we could go that much further tomorrow," said Myne to me who scoffed inwardly.

"Let's do it tomorrow. We should get rooms in an inn for the night instead," I countered.

Myne's face warped hideously in frustration. It happened for an instant, but I still caught it.

She had often slipped because I always refused to agree with her plan. Granted, I wasn't the naive Naofumi, so I wouldn't just agree when she shot me a pretty smile or pressed her body to seduce me.

In the end, she relented as if she decided that manipulating me wasn't worth the hassle. We stopped adventuring for the day and began our journey back to Castle Town.

***

After entering the Castle Town, Myne took me to an inn. The first floor was a bar, and I could see many customers, including the idiot trio and their retinues.

Myne took me to the counter manned by a man where she rented two rooms for 30 pieces of bronze each. Meals weren't included, and one meal would cost me 5 pieces of bronze.

In the end, I paid 70 pieces for two rooms and two servings of dinner, after which the innkeeper took us to our rooms on the second floor. After we checked our rooms, we went down for dinner.

"Hero, would you drink with me to celebrate our successful first day?" asked Myne while offering a glass of wine at me after we were done dining.

"Thanks, but I like to pass," I replied.

"Why? Do you dislike wine?" asked Myne.

"Yes," was my curt answer.

I was tense because the time was approaching. Time for what? Myne's betrayal, of course!

"Is that so? You could just have one glass?" she tried to persuade me.

"No thanks. I really don't like it."

"But…" she still tried.

"No thanks," I refused firmly.

"Oh… All right, then." She finally gave up, though she looked upset as she retracted the glass of wine.

"Let's get to bed early tonight. We'll be very busy tomorrow," I said and got up.

"Sure. See you tomorrow." She nodded her head at me.

I got up from my chair and turned my back on the loud restaurant to go to my room. After entering my room, I took off my chainmail and flung it over the back of a chair.

I also took off the other pieces of armor I wore and put them on the table. After that, I lay on the bed and pretended to sleep.

A few moments later, I sensed someone entering my room. I kept pretending as this trespasser approached my bed.

I heard shuffling sounds and a familiar voice muttering "Heh, heh, men are fools. So easily tricked."

That voice, of course, belonged to Myne Sophia. Or rather, Malty S. Melromarc, the bitch princess of this godforsaken land.

Anyway, I decided to stop my acting and pounced on her. At the same time, I erected a sound-proofing barrier around the room.

"Wha-fft?!" Myne was taken aback by my sudden action and was almost screaming in shock, but I covered her mouth with my hand.

I threw her to my bed and pinned her under me. She fought against my hold, but it was futile since my level and stats were higher than hers, thanks to my passive EXP gain.

Anyway, I used another skill that I'd prepared for this moment. Her struggle ceased at once as her spirit was affected by my skill.

[ Binder Mk. II: The user can mark any living or undead beings. After being marked, the marked individuals will become infatuated and devoted to the user. If the marked individuals die, the user can resurrect them. The user can exchange telepathic messages with the marked individuals, sense the whereabouts of the marked individuals, and use their senses to perceive the surroundings of the marked individuals. The user can teleport to the marked individual or summon the individual, consuming SP according to the distance. No cooldown. SP Consumption: varies. ]

That skill was inspired by Essence of the Binder from Essence Meta CYOA. I'd created three versions of it - Mk. I, II, and III.

The Mk. I version lacked the brainwashing function, and I created it for the safety net of my less problematic future companions. The Mk. III version would turn the marked individuals into my fanatically loyal minions.

"Huh? Why does this skill consume so much energy?" I mumbled in confusion as the skill kept consuming my SP for a while.

Supposedly, binding Malty wouldn't consume so much SP. She was still weak, after all.

I didn't know what happened, but I didn't stop trying to bind Malty. But, then, Malty's dazed eyes started glowing.

I was surprised and unnerved. I used Appraisal on her and became speechless.

[ Name: Medea Pideth Machina ]

'Well, this is unexpected,' was my thought.