Ch.384Winter Armor

“This warrior was your acquaintance, Haschal… no, your former subordinate?”

“He looks fierce.”

“Ophelia, isn’t that comment a bit rude…?”

The group showed various reactions upon meeting Jahan.

Demian seemed somewhat wary, while Ophelia let out a hollow laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

Overall, the atmosphere wasn’t particularly welcoming.

It wasn’t because he was Ka’har, but rather because Jahan’s appearance itself naturally evoked caution.

Regardless of his personality, his appearance alone made him look like a terrifying serial killer who couldn’t sleep unless he murdered fifty people a day.

Jahan himself seemed surprised that all the members I was introducing him to were young people around my age.

Of course he’d be surprised. Even among the Ka’har, reaching Champion status in your teens would mark you as a genius, and all three gathered here were Master-level fighters.

Including me, that makes four geniuses gathered in one place.

“Hmm…”

Jahan nodded slightly with his mouth partly open.

Seemingly pleased with the strength of the people he’d be working with, he grinned and greeted Demian’s group.

“Pleased to meet. I am Haschal’s slave Jahan. My master say you always killing strong. Good request in front.”

What the hell is this guy saying?

“Huh…?”

“…killing strong?”

Everyone’s faces filled with bewilderment at the strange Imperial language coming from Jahan’s mouth.

Even Jahan himself seemed to wonder if he’d said something wrong.

Ah, right. That translation magic works proportionally to the person’s knowledge of the Imperial language.

He must not have studied Imperial very diligently. It’s still a complete mess.

“What were you trying to say?”

I asked Jahan in the Eastern language as he looked troubled.

“Well… I meant to say, ‘Pleased to meet you. I am Jahan, subordinate of Lord Haschal. My lord often praises your martial prowess. I look forward to working with you.’… It doesn’t seem to have been conveyed properly.”

It was a more decent statement than I expected.

Though it became a mess after going through the translation magic.

I translated what Jahan had originally intended to say into Imperial for the group.

“Oh, so that’s what he meant. I was wondering about the slave and master talk…”

Demian showed a smirking expression while shrugging his shoulders.

What kind of misunderstanding did this guy have?

I decided not to probe further, as it might lead to the tragic death of the future hero right here and now.

—-

After completing their introductions, Jahan and Demian’s group sat around the reception room sofa, engaging in casual conversation.

To be precise, only Jahan and Demian were actually conversing.

Having spent his time surrounded by women, Jahan seemed delighted to finally meet another man and showed great interest in Demian.

He asked all sorts of questions: when did he reach his level of mastery, what weapon did he use, was he in a relationship with the young lady beside him, how did he meet Haschal, and so on.

Of course, since he was speaking in the Eastern language, Nigel had to translate Jahan’s words for Demian.

Unlike Demian, the other two didn’t say a word to Jahan.

Millia just kept glancing at him with a face that said she didn’t know how to interact with him, while Ophelia showed no interest and just kept smoking her Mana Herb.

Jahan likewise didn’t even glance in Ophelia’s direction.

Though he’d need to get used to having a mage as a colleague now that he’d defected to the Empire, unlike his time in Clan Aishan, he still seemed uncomfortable with the idea.

Well, it’s hard to expect people to become friends right away.

It’s already good enough that they’re not fighting.

—-

After chatting for quite some time, Jahan and Demian, having hit it off, headed to the training room to test each other’s skills.

Considering Demian’s mental state, it was probably just Jahan who was excited about it.

Nigel had to follow the two men to translate, and Millia also got up from her seat to follow, saying she was worried about Demian.

As a result, only Ophelia, Minea, Lena, and I remained in the reception room.

“Lena. Could you please treat them if they get hurt? I’ll be back after taking Minea to the Rose Pavilion.”

“Leave it to me, unni!”

Lena clenched her small fist and smiled brightly.

Now it’s just “unni” instead of “Haschal unni.”

“…Unni? Hmm. So that’s your relationship. No wonder you’re always together.”

Ophelia exhaled white smoke with a meaningful smile.

What kind of relationship? Not all sisters display the kind of crazy affection that you and your sister do.

“Don’t talk nonsense… Let’s go, Minea.”

“Ah, yes!”

Minea, who had been sitting with her head bowed in silence amid the gathering of Master-level fighters, jumped up to follow me.

“So, will I be staying at the Rose Pavilion instead of here?”

“Yes. This mansion is exclusively for Master-level fighters. Why, are you a bit disappointed?”

What could you do even if you were disappointed? It’s my principle that if you want good treatment, you need to show ability, and if you have ability, you should receive appropriate treatment.

If you have complaints, become a Master-level knight.

Though it seems unlikely for you, who knows? If you keep at it, maybe it’ll be possible in your late thirties or early forties.

“D-disappointed? Not at all! I’m actually relieved. This place is too shiny for me to feel comfortable…”

Minea looked fearfully at the chandelier on the ceiling.

For someone with modest sensibilities like her, a mansion gleaming with gold and jewels everywhere was more intimidating than desirable.

I felt the same way, actually.

—-

When we arrived at the Rose Pavilion, as luck would have it, most of the Rose Cross Knights, including Leonore, had been dispatched to subjugate monsters.

Talk about bad timing. There were only about four knights remaining.

“You don’t know when they’ll return?”

“Based on the distance, I’d say it will take about ten days.”

Ten days. That’s quite long. Can’t be helped.

I entrusted Minea to the knights and ordered them to train her as an apprentice knight.

I told them she had a good personality and decent potential, so they should take good care of her as a junior.

After saying all that, they shouldn’t give her a hard time.

“Well then, work hard and learn here. Until you have the skills to stand on your own as a knight. Understood?”

“Th-thank you!”

Minea bowed deeply in gratitude. Her expression was full of expectation and joy.

Of course. Going from a mere adventurer to a candidate for a marquis family’s knighthood is something to be happy about. For her, it’s a life-changing opportunity.

After waving my hand lightly, I left her and exited the reception room of the Rose Pavilion.

In the corridor, I could smell flowers and rye bread.

…Rye bread?

Suddenly, I remembered the bad practices of the Royal Guard that Percival had told me about… No, it couldn’t be.

Although Leonore is of royal descent, she wouldn’t have brought the Royal Guard’s culture to her own knight order.

—-

On my way back, I briefly stopped by Asha’s workshop.

I wanted to pay in advance for Ophelia and Jahan’s armor orders and also ask when my armor would be completed.

“Ah, Haschal! I heard rumors you’d returned. Perfect timing!”

As I entered the workshop, Asha approached with a bright smile, carrying a heavy bundle of clothes.

“Look at this! Your armor has just been completed!”

“Really? That’s great.”

I took the bundle from Asha.

It looked quite heavy, but when I actually held it, it wasn’t as heavy as it appeared.

The snow-white fur was even more lustrous than when the animal was alive, and I could feel a subtle warmth just by holding it.

It would certainly be much warmer than Boris.

“How is it?”

“As expected of you, Asha. It’s really good.”

Scaled pauldrons and breastplate, right gauntlet and a pair of boots. Scale skirt and fur cloak too. The design itself wasn’t much different from my previous armor.

Except that the metal scales were a bit darker and thicker.

Not just armor, but clothes to wear underneath were also prepared.

Though the underclothes consisted only of a dark brown chest covering and pants.

“Is this were-beast hide too?”

“Yes. It’s Rurik’s hide dyed dark brown. I removed the fur and made it thinner for comfort when worn underneath. Still, it should easily block daggers.”

I thought it was from a different were-beast because of the color, but surprisingly, this was also Rurik’s hide.

So basically my entire body except for underwear would be covered in Rurik.

“Winter Armor No. 1. My greatest masterpiece, with shape-memory alloy scales with a higher ratio of black iron added over leather with self-repair capabilities! The scaled parts can defend against even a Master-level knight’s attacks, and even the fur parts without scales won’t be damaged by ordinary spears or swords. It also has a heating function that emits more warmth as the climate gets colder.”

I gave a thumbs up to the smiling Asha.

“Perfect.”

With armor like this, I’d rarely get injured.

Even Hersella from the original work probably didn’t have such defensive gear. I was right to befriend her.

“Oh, and I’ve also completed the portable purification device. Here it is.”

Asha took something from a shelf in the workshop and handed it to me.

“Oh, this is nice too.”

The purification device Asha made was a metal mask that covered from below the nose to the cheeks and chin.

With a design motif based on beast fangs and a reddish-black painted metal sheen.

It was a design Hersella would like in many ways. I quite liked it too.