Hone To Issho No Isekai Seikatsu Chapter 25

~ Adventurer's life Day 24 (Wed) Afternoon ~ Comnes Town – Inn – Nessos' Temptation

"… So, you were once a n.o.ble huh?"
"My father's standing as a n.o.ble had been deprived from him, but that is indeed the case."

According to what she said, among the northern of allied nations, the country Rendal had been one of those and her family governed within one of the remote regions.
Her family was known as Barakato (New Rose), and as such Benedetta was a pseudonym she came up with when arriving at Comnes.

"In addition, I had been born illegitimately so I had no way of inheriting the family. Even if there were no problems, once my father pa.s.ses away, I would revert to being a commoner. We were the same as va.s.sals, so life as commoners were normal for us anyways."
"H~mm…"

As a result, she had been familiarising herself with the swords and bows since the age of 12, in preparation for once she leaves to work as an adventurer from the outer regions.
She's also been to learn dismantling from a distant relative of hers who was a former adventurer, and by then end of it all she became as good as he was.

"What changed everything was when the oldest Prince of Rendal staged a coup within the country… Despite being able to successfully a.s.sa.s.sinate the reigning king, the remaining siblings escaped and resorted to asking cooperation from the s.h.i.+ns.h.i.+n Pou, a faction from the Ordered Church… in exchange however, they were given the freedom to oppress any other religious factions within the country."

Religious powers are very weak at Comnes, so it's hard for me to imagine now, but the influence of the Ordered Church is very strong by the northern side to the point that it's even capable of overthrowing governments and n.o.bles.

"They successful in retrieving the throne, and so the deal was given to them. At first, the inquisition was conducted only on the regions close to the capital, however the damage caused was horrible. Factions that do not hold the same beliefs were either chased out of the country or branded as heretics and killed. As the damage spreads, it soon came upon our household as well. Because it would mean that several of the people would be taken from them, our house attempted to resist. But they were quickly overwhelmed. My father was killed during battle, whilst the people and soldiers either fled or were slain as well."

Most likely, her father fought for the sake of helping her and his people to escape from the Church and died doing so, but she continued on how he became an inspiration for other rebels who were also fighting against the royal family.
… That said, to the Order of Church, heretics are those who wors.h.i.+p G.o.ds other than the G.o.d of order Dahka…

"I've used various connections from my family to help me escape. However, the Church's influence grew rapidly throughout the north, so I had no choice but to leave the allied nations and later ended up in Comnes…"

Not to mention, she also holds that ‘Prudia's Magic Eye' in such situations, which in itself an opposition from the Church. There's no telling when someone will kill her if it were to be found out…
This is the first time I've heard of the situation from the north, and to think it was this horrible.

"Despite being able to arrive at Comnes, things didn't really improve much. I planned on making a living for myself as an adventurer once I got my divine protection, but…"
"You've been given the ‘Miko' divine protection is it…"

There's really nothing more to say after that.
Having yourself train as a warrior all this time, only to be given a support cla.s.s you struggle to use, is a feeling I know quite well.
There are no words to describe the feeling of hopelessness and frustration from having all of your hard work put into vain…

"So, what were you planning to do?"
"Before, since I would hardly contribute much in a hunting party with an unknown divine protection, I was planning on moving to the coastal regions down the south once I've earned enough through herb collection requests. s.h.i.+pping there is much more prosperous in that region, so I should be able to earn more there than I could at Comnes, I could also continue my training my swordsmans.h.i.+p for the chance to recover my ability as a warrior…"

Hooh, that doesn't sound like a bad plan…

"However, I was finally able to earn a sizeable income after moving on from herb collection, and that was thanks to meeting you. Even more so, you even gave me a way to develop my divine protection. Though I doubt I would be able to contribute to the party as much as I would've hoped, I thought I would at least remain here until I could finally pay back your kindness. Of course, that is only if you would allow it."

As a party member, she's always been a great deal of help, so there wasn't any need to think upon it…
All my summons have been supported greatly from her 'hymns', and not to mention how that 'magic eye' of hers is an irreplaceable ability.

"… If I would allow it huh… To be honest, I initially invited you simply to help with me in dismantling. However, your magic eye, and Miko skills, they both help me out so much that I've been seriously worried what I would do if you were to leave the party one day… You're really irreplaceable, and I'm grateful for that."
"To be saying such things for me, thank you…"

For some reason, she seemed to have her head down when answered.

Eh? I intended to say it as some sort of encouragement, but it seems like the intention didn't really get across… Aah, that was embarra.s.sing…
However, as if she was shaking off with what happened with the previous conversation, she reverted back to her usual composure.
She looked at me with a strong gaze… those eyes of hers were beautiful, though also somehow pressuring.

"In any case, I'd like to hear more about our party's goals for the future…"

Until now, we've always had this relations.h.i.+p where we always keep each other at arm's length. Always keeping our business to ourselves. Never really opening up to each other.

However, I now know a lot more about her. So in return, I should also loosen my restraint in speaking out my mind…
Now that she's showing some interest in our future actions, this could be a chance for me to finally tell her what my plans are.

"For the time being, I'm aiming to bring all my divine protections to level 6 first."
"Why is that?"
"Thing is, for every 3 levels, there's a possibility of acquiring new skills."
"… I see. So then, you've also acquired new skills back when you reached level 3 before."
"That's right. And by level 6, I would be able to get some new skills like that Golem and Bone Manipulation skills… but I'll have to look into the mechanics of those skills first. Hunting would be finished a lot quicker after that."
"So you'll receive more skills that would make the hunting even faster is it… it would be nice if the Golem would still remain as our guard… Then once you've managed to obtain your skills, have you thought about moving into a different hunting ground?"
"To be honest, until now I've been hunting so as to secure an income and experimenting with my skills, so since I'll still need some time in strengthening all the equipment and trying out new skills, I'm thinking of just concentrating on hunting for now."
"I see, alright. During that time, do tell me on any changes if you could please."

… Urm, somehow it's gotten a lot more stiffer than before… Was what I said really that bad…

"Alright, let's talk about your growth Benedetta. Though I can't say for certain right now, but say you just don't have the level up effect, you can apply your ‘Hymns' to the skeletons so that they can quickly defeat enemies and help grow your divine protection much more quickly. And then when it gets high enough, there's a strong chance it help you recover your warrior skills you've always been training for."

To ill.u.s.trate that, let's talk about the difference in physical strength between ‘Magicians' and ‘Warriors'. Even with the difference in cla.s.s, a high levelled ‘Magician' can be more physically able than a lower levelled ‘Warrior'.
It's a system that's possible in many other rpg's too.
And so perhaps, it may be the same for this world too.
If this were to be the case, Benedetta should be able to get stronger quickly if she were to apply her skills onto the skeletons before they fight.

At hearing that, Benedetta's face seemed to brighten up.

"Last thing I wanna mention is that later in the future, I'd like to camp out in the western hunting area. There's a couple of things I want to find out when doing it."
"… Like what?"
"Let's say for example if I were to be sleeping, and my skeletons and Golem are unable to move, our party's battle prowess will make a steep dive from that."
"Ah… !"

In order for me to do this sort of investigation, I'm going to need to build a trusting relations.h.i.+p with her… I don't plan on taking it on right away, but I'll make some preparations for it soon.

~ Adventurer's life Day 25 (Thur) Morning ~ Comnes Town – West – Gravel Field

That was quite a worthwhile talk last night…
It finally feels like the distance between us as a party had been reduced somewhat. I actually feel much more uplifted from this, even more than the first time I summoned my first skeleton…

"This short sword feels so much lighter than before! Thank you very much!"

Benedetta gave a few swings with the sword she had originally and cheerfully gave me her thanks.
I've been ‘plating' and ‘engraving' all of our party's equipment last night, including ours as well… though it doesn't seem like I could ‘engrave' leather armor.

Though we've been doing this a number of times before, it feels surprisingly refres.h.i.+ng this time.

… Alright! Let's put in our best effort today!

"Gyaaagh!"
"Ah, ‘Alchemist' levelled up to 5"

… I guess this pain never changes…

—- Divine Protection and Skills —-
Necromancer level 5: Undead Servant 15 Summons; Bone manipulation; Bonuses < bone="" weapon;="" bone="" armor;="" gathering;="" night="" vision="">
Alchemist level 5: Health potion create; Extraction; Plating; Poison potion create; Bonuses < throw;="" gathering="">
Sculptor level 5: Engrave; Golem (Wood/Earth); Bonuses < dagger;="" hammer;="" sculpting;="" gathering;="" mining="">

—- Summon Equipment —-
A: Hatchet + 3/3, Kite s.h.i.+eld (metal) + 5/3, Blood stained leather armor + 0/3.
B, C: Mace + 3/3, Shabby round s.h.i.+eld (wood) + 3/3
D-F: Club + 3/3, Shabby round s.h.i.+eld (wood) + 3/3
G-I: Club + 4/3, Heavy round s.h.i.+eld (bone) + 5/4
J: Club + 4/3, Round s.h.i.+eld(wood/metal) + 5/3
K-O: Club(bone) + 4/4, Heavy round s.h.i.+eld (bone) + 5/4

—- Equipment —-
Pig femur Bone dagger – 2 sets + 0/3
Barbarian robe + 0/3
Half-face guarded Viking helmet (bone) + 5/3
Heavy Round s.h.i.+eld (bone) + 5/4

※: + X/Y Arbitrary level of engraving and plating respectively.

Oh dear… It's only been 2 weeks since I started drawing again and I'm already beginning to procrastinate.
I blame Berserk…

TL Note: 秩序神信奉派 – I'm not sure how to translate this to English, so I just called it s.h.i.+ns.h.i.+n Pou… Sounds a bit off for a church to have a Chinese sounding faction name.