The dwarves's examination of Honda took around three hours. Some might say it was short, but that was all thanks to the power of alchemy.
While the dwarves were working, Haruka and Penny returned from shopping and looked exasperated after seeing me and the newly improved Honda.
That's right. Improved…
The dwarves got all excited and didn't stop at just examining Honda. At first, the dwarves were simply taking it apart and examining it, so it was my mistake for joining in since I was bored. The only excuse I could make was that all this had happened because the materials I had been given by the dwarves were far better than I'd expected.
They gave me something called 'Pollendina Steel,' which was something they'd developed over the past one hundred years and named after their country's great founder, Jenny Pollendina. It was hard, light, and superbly flexible. Also, the maximum possible level when making golems with it was a shockingly high 400.
The only regrettable thing was that no high-level Alchemist existed in Blutgang who could take advantage of that maximum level. If there were, this country would be well-protected with level 400 golems. It was such a waste.
Of course, I'd be able to make full use of the metal, and since I thought it would make great material for golems, I bought a lot of it. I wanted to eventually make a battalion of mid-level golems to go with the golems I'd retrieved from my grave.
I also reinforced Honda with pollendina steel, but things went a little too far. I ended up teaching the dwarves a lot, sharing a smattering of my knowledge from modern Japan, so we teamed up to remodel Honda. But we probably shouldn't have. While it hardly changed at all in general looks, Honda got even bigger and went from its originally large size to being a full 15m long and 2.8m tall. It was far too big to be able to drive on Japanese streets, and the insides became as luxurious as a high-class hotel.
In other words, it was now incredibly extravagant by this world's standards.
The floor was now porcelain tile. We went out of our way to use wood for the walls and cabinets and even coated them with varnish. Apparently varnish wasn't anything special in this country and could be found at any store it would make sense in. I didn't have to make it myself, so it was a happy miscalculation. I bought cloth, too, so I could make new carpets, sofas, and beds.
We could probably charge a decent amount of money to be able to stay in Honda now. I wouldn't, though.
"It turned out great, didn't it!"
"Hahahaha! That was satisfying!" The dwarves laughed as they looked up at Honda.
At any rate, they now thoroughly understood how the tires and suspension and stuff worked, so modern, car-like rideable golems should be making their appearance in Blutgang fairly soon.
This is off topic, but they sold me pollendina steel and cloth real cheap. I was told it was as thanks for letting them take a look at Honda. The dwarves themselves said that I could take them for free, but that made me feel too guilty, so we settled on making them cheap.
"By the way, Penny, have you found Jaune?"
"I have been waiting for you to ask that. I have ascertained his location."
"Great. Then let's go."
I'd almost forgotten, but the reason we'd come here was to meet up with Jaune as well as to stop Anko. Now that Penny has located Jaune, we should be able to go see him immediately.
I said my goodbyes to the dwarves and followed after Penny.
Once again passing through the gate, we returned to the capital. Then, after walking for several minutes, we eventually found ourselves at a familiar store. It was the restaurant that I'd wanted to visit when we'd first come here, the one with the crab sign.
"…"
Wow. So Jaune was right under our noses the whole time. He even boldly put up a huge crab sign.
Uhh, well… If I were to give an excuse, I'd blame the fact that people tend to have pretty narrow fields of view. The more a person tried to look for something, the less they were able to notice something right in front of them.
Have you ever heard this saying? The one that says that rather than trying to hide badly, it's better to be bold and act natural if you don't want to be noticed?
This proved that point exactly. It's like that one saying: "It's darkest under the lighthouse." Like, you wouldn't expect it, right? That one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians was running a store like this?
"It was right in front of us…"
"Right in front of us…" Haruka and Tayuya both muttered, dealing a final blow.
Hey, come on. You guys didn't notice, either!
"A-at any rate. We should go inside." I hurried everyone inside in an attempt to change the subject.
The walls and tables were made of wood. But it didn't seem like bare wood; the surfaces all had a gloss as if they'd been coated in varnish.
The entire store exuded a quiet air. The tables were covered with a red tablecloth, and the weak lighting actually improved the atmosphere of the place. And lastly, there was a man wearing white hoodie standing behind a counter. He was a tall young man with fair skin, blond hair and dark-blue eyes. Overall, he was a handsome man.
As soon as the man saw me, he suddenly leapt into the air and flipped before crashing into the ceiling and bouncing off it. The sound of him smashing against the ceiling concerned me as he fell, crumpled in front of me, but he immediately got back up and grabbed my hands in his.
"Oh! I was surprised! My beautiful Lady Naru! I see Lunaru Fenris, my most beloved master, right in front of my eeeeyyyeeessss!" the blond shouted. He started to spin on the spot, and for some reason, he was scattering flower petals everywhere.
"Ahh, just how long… How long have I waited for this day? Ever since I, Jaune, lost you, I have never been able to live down the shame and regret of that day! Unable to sleep at night, I resorted to taking naps! Neither was I able to eat, for I believed that I would be able to see you again one day!"
I felt exasperated, and suddenly the shop went dark. But it was only so something like a spotlight could light up Jaune.
"But I have always believed! Believed that you would never go out like that! I was certain that I would see you again one day!" Jaune said as he wrapped an arm around my waist and grasped my hand. Then, he did that thing where a man supports his female partner by the waist, like in a formal dance. What was it called…? Drop Oversway?
But while I was still processing what had just happened to me, I was returned to my former position, and Jaune ended things off by kneeling before me, taking my hand, and kissing the back of it while I was still reeling from what he'd just done to me.
"Thank you for coming home, my beautiful master. My gratitude for this wonderful reunion. And once again, I offer you my undying love and loyalty, which hasn't changed even after one thousand yea—" Jaune continued to speak, but his speech was suddenly cut off.
The reason for that was simple. Penny had expressionlessly pointed her blade of light at Jaune's throat.
"It has been a long time, Jaune. Excuse me for setting aside the pleasantries, but I will have your defense for putting your arm around Master's waist without permission."
"Umm, well, you see… we are comrades, no? So why not overlook this one instance…"
"So those are your last words? Understood."
"NOOOOOOOOO?!"
Penny didn't hesitate to swing her sword, but Jaune dodged it by doing a bridge. He then opened up some distance by moving in that position like a crab.
Jaune quickly stood back up once he got away, but Penny was already on him and attacking.
I heaved a sigh as I watched Jaune run around avoiding Penny while shouting, "HELP!"
…Why are none of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians normal…?
**"
[ Twelve Zodiac's Guardians: Jaune of Cancer Constellation ]
[Level]: 800
[Race]: King Crab
[Attribute]: Earth
[HP]: 105000
[SP]: 4500
[STR (Strength)]: 4850
[DEX (Dexterity)]: 2228
[VIT (Vitality)]: 10503
[INT (Intelligence)]: 1180
[AGI (Agility)]: 2134
[MND (Mind)]: 4160
[LUK (Luck)]: 4050
Yep. He's tough.
Seeing Jaune's stats, I was once again impressed by his toughness. The VIT stat was a measure of how much of an enemy's attacks a person could withstand, according to the game. Basically, it was the defense stat. High VIT = a tough body = hard to kill.
So, Jaune had the toughest defense among all of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, and these were his stats. His VIT stat alone matched mine, as a stat-boosting level 1000 player. He had a huge amount of HP, too.
Jaune and Penny's game of tag had settled down for the moment, so I took the chance to ask Jaune, "So, what were you doing in a place like this?"
All of us were sitting in front of the counter with crab soup that Jaune had made in front of us.
Yep. It tastes like crab. I wonder just how he managed to get crab in a place like this…
No way. Did he actually serve up parts of himself?
Jaune looked like a human at the moment, but he followed the trend of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians and was a monster. His real form was that of a giant crab. His species name was king crab. King crabs were the strongest monsters that crabs were able to mutate into. They had stupidly tough defenses and annoying counter abilities which had made many players suffer.
It's impossible for him to cut off pieces of himself…
But Wendy said, "Ah. This is barometz."
I looked to my side and saw Fiona looking pale, since she'd already started eating.
Hey now, Jaune. What're you thinking, committing fraud like this?! Don't pretend barometz is crab!
"Nicely spotted! After Lady Naru was defeated, I started to travel around the different countries to gather information, believing that the day would come when my master revived. But at some point, I realized that it would be better to make a place where information gathers rather than go around gathering information myself."
"And thus the restaurant?"
"Yes, that's right. Sometimes in Hrotti, other times in Ydalir or possibly Svel. And right now, in Blutgang. I've gone around every country, set up shops, and collected information, believing that one day, I would hear something that would lead to Lady Naru's revival."
"And while you were doing that, We came in."
"Yes, yes, yes! I felt destiny in our encounter! It proves that me and Lady Naru are bound by a red string as master and servant!"
Hmm… Well, the idea itself isn't bad, I think…
His mistake lay in setting up shop in Blutgang, a capital that was literally enclosed and separated from the outside world. For example, if he'd stayed in the trade city of Ydalir, where merchants and travelers from every country visited, then he probably would have heard of my revival much earlier, and we'd probably have reunited much faster. The idea itself wasn't bad. He'd just made a critical mistake in his choice of location. If I told him that, he'd probably get depressed, though, so I won't.
"You've completely failed in your location selection. If you were going to open up a shop, you should have done so in Ydalir."
As soon as I'd finished processing my thoughts, Penny went and said exactly what I hadn't been going to. Jaune froze in shock, and just like that, he fell to the floor.
"…To tell you the truth, I was beginning to notice my mistake already… I thought, I'm really getting no information here…"
"Come on, you should have noticed a long time ago. You're as stupid as always, you dumb crab." Tayuya mercilessly dealt a follow-up blow to Jaune, who was already down for the count.
At any rate, we'd now managed to link up with Jaune.
I'd started getting used to the pattern of every single one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians stirring up some sort of trouble, but this time, it'd gone surprisingly smoothly.
…It'd be great if the rest of them aren't weird as well, though…