Clean Grail Obtains A New (Used) Shield

One month passed after that, and I reached level 14.

“They’re all useful…”

But I had no hesitation.

“Backstab.”

The elements needed as countermeasures against Largorin—Silent Step, Backstab, and a fire dagger. Out of the three types, I had gathered two.

…Now all that was left was the dagger…

“Nishishishi! You did it!”

“Yeah.”

After nodding, I said this.

“Should I return to my main class?”

We were going after the B-class monster, the Flame Tiger Brennen Tiger. A scout still in training would be no match for it.

And so, we returned to the Adventurers’ Guild and changed classes.

I became a warrior, and Misha became a mage.

A warrior for the first time in a while—no, actually, I was a Sword Saint… but as expected, this felt more natural.

As Misha and I walked through the guild in our main-class equipment, someone called out to us.

“Oh, if it isn’t Ios and Misha.”

A man about the same age as us was standing there.

The friendly Misha fluttered her hand and waved.

“Oson-san, long time no see~”

Oson. He was a warrior at about the same level as us when we had just arrived in Piptat.

Oson was also an adventurer and the leader of a party.

I had never met the other members, but I often passed by Oson at the guild, and before I knew it, we had become close enough to chat while standing around.

“You two are a warrior and a mage? Hm? Weren’t you a scout and a warrior?”

“Ahahahahaha—”

I scratched my head.

“Actually, this is our main class.”

“Hoh…?”

He looked at me as if looking at something strange—

“…At that young age, you own Blue Firebird Chainmail and a Demon Wolf Broadsword. I’m sure you’re hiding all sorts of mysteries.”

Urgh, he was probing something…

“No, …not really…”

While I answered incoherently, Misha cut in.

“Hey, hey, Oson-san. How have things been for you recently?”

“Hm? Us?”

“Didn’t you say before that someone with the Swordsmanship skill joined your party? How is he?”

“Ah! He is wonderful! Both in strength and character! You could call him a model for all adventurers! To think such a good person existed!”

So there were Swordsmanship skill holders like that too…

To me, the Swordsmanship skill equaled Grail. I only had the image of someone rough, overbearing, and arrogant beyond measure.

Misha clapped her hands.

“That’s great, Oson-san! The Swordsmanship skill holder we know has such a trash personality that he’s a failure as a human being, so we were worried! There really are decent Swordsmanship skill holders too!”

“I was also worried about his personality until I met him, but… he is a wonderful man, humble and willing to work for his companions. He’s a saint.”

…He really seemed to be someone at the opposite extreme from Grail. I almost wanted to brew the dirt under his nails and make Grail drink it.

“However—”

At that moment, Oson made a gloomy face.

“Because he’s such a good person, something regrettable happened. The high-quality large shield he had been using broke.”

“What!?”

“It happened when he protected a companion and took an attack. …He himself laughed and told us not to worry because it was a used item that had already been falling apart.”

Oson continued like this.

“…We want him to keep doing his best from now on too, so we were talking about everyone chipping in to buy a high-quality large shield. …Though it’s a pretty harsh amount for fledgling adventurers…”

…I see.

Misha whispered into my ear.

“Hey, hey, Ios. What do you think about giving my high-quality large shield to Oson-san’s party?”

I thought it was not a bad idea.

…Misha would not be a warrior for a while. And to us, it was not that huge of a sum. If they could put it to use, we would be grateful.

“Sounds good to me.”

After I said that, I told Oson this.

“Please wait a moment.”

I moved away from the two of them and went to a place with no people around. Then, I took the “high-quality large shield” out of my item box.

It was ridiculously huge, but I had changed my backpack to one with an elastic, wide mouth so anything could fit inside. As long as it went into the bag, I could compress it with my Schrödinger’s Cat.

Then, I headed back to Oson and—

“Please take this.”

I held out the high-quality large shield.

“T-this is—!?”

“For the good-natured Swordsmanship user. It’s a present.”

“Um, Oson-san, sorry about the doodle, okay?”

Misha apologetically pointed to one corner of the shield.

There was a drawing of a cat that Misha had drawn, and it even had a speech bubble saying, “Meow!” attached to it.

It was a picture Misha had drawn on a whim while drunk, saying something like, “I’ll draw Nyankoro-chan for you~”

“This was drawn with ink that doesn’t come off, so it won’t disappear…”

“No, no! It’s all right! He won’t care about such a small thing! He’ll be grateful for your kindness. That’s the kind of man he is!”

…So there really were broad-minded Swordsmanship users…

“We’re giving it to you.”

“Thank you! I’ll definitely hand it to him!”

To Oson, who happily received the shield, I added this.

“Ah, right. Please keep us a secret from that Swordsmanship user. It would be bad to make him feel obligated.”

After saying that, Misha and I left the guild behind.

Grail was stewing irritably at the inn.

That was because his beloved “high-quality large shield” had broken.

If it had only broken, he could have endured it, but since it was due to the effect of blocking an attack in a strange posture while protecting a slow-witted companion, he was also furious.

Kuruaaaaaaaa! My shield broke because you were moving so slowly, didn’t it!? Pay me back, you hear meeeeee!?

He nearly shouted that, but Grail instantly remembered.

(Clean Grail!)

Grail smiled brightly and said this.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Thanks to that, his stock in the party skyrocketed, but Grail’s stress had not vanished.

As he was brooding with such unpleasant feelings, someone came to visit Grail.

“Grail, are you there? It’s Oson.”

The moment Oson entered the room, he presented Grail with a shield.

“It’s a present.”

“T-this is—!?”

“A high-quality large shield. I received it from a kind person.”

“O-o-oooooooooh!”

Grail raised an excited voice.

(I really do have it!)

It was a very beautiful shield. It seemed to be used, but it did not look like it had been used much. It also did not have “dents” like his previous one.

What he had lost had returned powered up!

(Iiiiiioooooooooos! This is it! This is the good fortune of Grail, the man who has it! A misfortune-prone person like you could never understand! A man who has large shields fall to him just by sleeping—that’s me!)

In high spirits, Grail picked up the large shield.

“…Right, Oson. Who was this kind person?”

Oson did not answer immediately, and after thinking a little, he replied like this.

“I don’t know their names either, but they were a man-and-woman pair. The man was a warrior clad in Blue Firebird Chainmail, and the woman was a mage.”

—!

Grail felt a shock as if a knife had been stabbed into his chest.

A warrior in Blue Firebird Chainmail!?

His fiery admiration for that man still remained in Grail’s heart.

If the man was paired with a female mage, it could not possibly be anyone else.

(…It’s fate… To think fate would intersect in this land after I left Piptat…!)

Grail stroked the shield in rapture—

And then, he noticed.

The cat doodle drawn on the shield.

At the same time, he remembered. When Grail had tailed the pair, they had brought a cat along with them.

Oson opened his mouth.

“Ah, sorry, Grail. That doodle is—”

Grail stopped Oson’s words with his hand.

“It’s fine… To erase this ‘doodle’ would be unthinkable! This is what makes it good! Isn’t this doodle ‘good’?”

With eyes full of affection, Grail touched the cat doodle with gentle fingers.

(…No doubt about it! Truly! The ones who gave me this shield were that pair!)

Moreover, if it was a hand-me-down shield given by them—

(Does that mean it was a shield my admired man used lovingly!?)

On top of that, it even came with a signature.

Grail nearly fainted. How lucky was he!?

(Iiiiiioooooooooos! I’ve finally obtained an item from the person I admire!? The warrior-sama in Blue Firebird Chainmail! It’s a hand-me-down from a high-spec adventurer-sama who’ll have nothing to do with you for your entire life! How about that, are you jealous!?)

That day, Grail was in a good mood without end.