Half-Dragon Slave Life Ch. 56

Author: Kaburagi Haruka

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Chapter 56: Delusions

Away from prying eyes, I stow away the femur in dimensional storage, and pull out the fibula in its place.
Returning right away would likely arouse suspicion, so I’m going to spend an hour having tea and wasting time with Amy.
We can’t bring such a huge thing into a store, so we bought a fruit juice beverage and a bit of food from a street stall on the main road, and sat next to the fountain in the square to take a break.
Lugging around a giant human bone in the busy square made us stand out just a bit, but perhaps because rumors about Kevin had been passed around, they soon took on a knowing look and passed by.

“Looks like the rumors this time have spread pretty far.”
“RIP Kevin.”

We silently bring some mutton grilled in sauce and sandwiched between seemingly unleavened bread to our mouths.
By the way, bought five and Amy bought two.
The fragrant grilled meat juice soaking into the baked wheat dough is truly delicious.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time it’s been just the two of us… right Eir?”
“… … …”

I felt a disturbance in the air and took a bit of distance.
At times like this her behavior tends to involve jumping at me and stroking me all over.

“You don’t have to be so on guard, it’s not like I’m gonna pounce on you.”
“Uuuh–“
“If you try to intimidate me like a kitten, I think I might just lose my mind.”
“… … …”

She’s a lost cause. Nothing I say will shake her.

“I mean, you’re always together with Rimuru, right?”
“I’m a slave.”
“You’ve already been freed. An attendant would be more accurate.”
“Sure, but…”

I’m not actually even an attendant. An attendant would receive compensation based on their employment.
I haven’t ever gotten wages from Master. So I’m not an attendant. And I’m not a slave.

“What… am I?”
“–hm? Our partner, right?”
“I… am?”
“Of course!”

Partners… companions who work together, pushing toward a goal.
Trustworthy friends who have your back, and in whom you can entrust your well-being.
I definitely trust Master, and Master trusts me. We entrust our lives to each other on the battlefield. We can probably call ourselves partners.

“I see, we’re partners. Heheheh…”

Master’s partner. Yeah, not bad.
Unknowingly, my lips slacken. To distract from this, I sink my teeth into another bite of the mutton sandwich.
Perhaps in too much haste, sauce ends up spurting out and scattering onto my face.

“Geez, what are you doing… Come on, face this way.”
“Mm, sorry.”

She uses a handkerchief to wipe the sauce clean. Amy always carries a clean handkerchief around with her. She mentioned something about a lady’s etiquette.
If this was the only side of her that she showed, she would be extremely attractive, and yet… the barrier on her rationality is just too weak.

“Well, but I mean yeah. Rather than Eir being Rimuru’s partner… you’re practically husband and wife? Like, you live together.”
“Bufhoooh! L-l-l-live together?!”

I spit up at the unexpected evaluation, and dirtied the handkerchief. With snot.
Do Master and I look that way from an outside perspective?

“W-we ain’t not. Ain’t even lovers.”
“Rimuru’s got it rough…”
“Master Rimuru’s not even taken no likin’ to me.”
“You’re talking kind of weird you know?”
“Ain’t nothin’ weird.”

Living together, or married… I thought of that method when I was released from slavery, but… I’m not thinking that way now.
I’m together with him, and doing my best by working toward the goal of reviving his parents together.
So that’s… wait, but when we achieve that goal, maybe we’ll be together? When that happens, we could do all sorts of this and that.
Come to think of it, didn’t he say “We’ll always be together” or something like that?
Is that what he meant?

“Aaa–, Auau”
“Your face is red? What, at this point? You live together and sleep in the same bed, don’t you?”
“That’s like, as if I’m sleeping next to a cute younger brother type thing–“
“Normally a younger brother wouldn’t get turned on by their sister. Besides, you’re more like the younger sister in this case.”
“Excuse you. I am the older one.”

I proudly puff up my chest and assert my superior age. Right, I’m the older sister. So dignity is important.
I can’t be swayed by Amy’s nonsense. Starting now I switch course from “attendant” to “older sister,” and act on that view.

“More importantly, it’s about the right time now. Let’s head back to the weapon shop?”

Move away from prying eyes, go shopping at the stalls, head to the square, eat and chat.
Just that was plenty of time spent. At this point Master might even be feeling like he’s waiting too long.

“Well, maybe you’ve become a little more aware? The rest is on you, Rimuru.”

Amy is saying something odd, but let’s not worry about it. About eighty percent of what she says in nonsense.

~*~

Carrying the fibula, and the slightly larger tibia just in case, we returned to the weapon shop, only to fight that it had become a battlefield.
Master, Kevin, and the blacksmith Ashe were, even now, in the midst of a tumultuous discussion.

“I want an axe blade on it, and I ain’t budging on that.”
“But the bone she’s bringing is pole shaped, right? So what I’m saying is, rather than forcing it, keeping it as a spear would increase it’s strength.”
“More importantly, both axes and spears have remarkably small effective distance. What if we made the blade portion long and turn it into a long sword shape?”
“My strength has gone up, and even though it’s already light, you’re gonna go makin’ it lighter?”
“Yeah, we’re gonna carve in magic later right? That means we’re gonna need some surface area to do it of course.”
“Then an axe is the only option!”
“And get rid of all that extra length? As an artisan I’d wanna make use of the natural shape of the materials.”
“As a back liner, I’d prefer if the weapon could be adaptable to different situations.”

When all is said and done, even Master is a boy at heart. There seems to be some passion in him when it comes to the act of weapon making.
He should be unrelated to the topic, and yet his eyes sparkle as he participates in the debate. It’s charming in a way.

“I brought the bone.”
“Ooh, this one? This one’s a bit large.”
“That’s the tibia. Brought it just in case.”
“I see. Good work young lady. Have a drink and take a load off.”

Ashe offers me a glass placed on the table.
Kind of a strong smell to it. This must be…

“Ashe, that’s alcohol!”
“Yeah, a little bit won’t hurt, right?”
“No, don’t. She has a habit of stripping.”
“Well that’s no good. Missy, get it all down in one gulp!”
“Don’t encourage her!”

I felt like I’d seen someone like this before… and then I realized, it was Seele. The only daughter of this country’s archbishop, and second seat of class one.
This is the type of attitude she had at the party.

“I can’t have alcohol until I’m an adult. I’m good.”
“I see. Too bad.”
“In what way?”
“I’m not saying.”

Is Raum just filled with people who lose it over alcohol?
More importantly are they going to decide on the weapon?

“Sorry, we’ve run into a bit of trouble.”
“Weren’t you going to make a halberd?”
“Yeah, that was the plan at first, but it seems like close range will become a problem.”

A halberd, with its axe blade attached to a long spear, is sure to appear threatening, but it’s actually weak if you get in close.
Due to the difficulty in wielding its offset center of gravity, plus the weapons effective range being near the tip, you end up with no power if the enemy gets up in your face.

“So Master Rimuru is against it?”
“Yeah. And then Kevin said an axe would be best after all, and Ashe said since we have all that length he recommends a spear… and here we are in this sorry state.”
“Hmmm…”

I’ve personally felt the effect of one’s talent development on weapon aptitude recently.
Kevin, focusing on power, has been using an axe up until now, but with his strength increased nearly three fold by Yig’s blood now, there shouldn’t be any need for him to be so stuck on axes.
Recognizing that, Master must have suggested a highly adaptable sword.

“So this is a titan bone… Sure is big.”
“You saw one just a bit ago.”
“Well, the qualities of the material are different. The earlier bone was mostly notable for its hardness, but while this one is less hard, it has flexibility to it. Not as much as wood, but it’ll bend quite a bit.”

The fibula is the thinner of the two bones in the calf, and acts as a type of suspension as well… apparently.
As such rather than its robustness, he must have taken notice of its flexibility.
Of course since its a leg bone supporting the body’s weight, its strength is also guaranteed.

“Both solid and flexible… It’s too bad. I absolutely wanted to make this a spear.”
“I get where you’re comin’ from. But for me I’d be thrown for a loop using a weapon I’ve never touched before.”
“There is that. Well, I’m a craftsman; I answer to my customer’s desires.”
“In that case–wouldn’t something like a naginata work?”

Naginata; a weapon invented about five hundred years ago, with a curved sword coming out from the tip of the spear.
It can be used as a spear just fine, but you can also hold it closer to the business end and use it like a sword or an axe.
It has an adaptive effective range, makes use of the flexibility of the materials, and retains an axe-like use.
Originally it was apparently thought up principally for powerful attacks by otherwise weak women, but we can probably alter the blade at the end to make use of Kevin’s muscle strength.

“Hold on, in that case…”

Ashe mutters, and then fiercely drew on some paper.
This guy looks rough and clumsy, and yet he was ridiculously good at drawing.

He made a drawing of a weapon.
It looks like a spear, but there’s a long, thin blade until about half-way down the handle.
Almost like the blade of a ji ((tl note: Chinese halberd)) extended down to the grip.

“What’s this?”
“A weapon I saw a long time ago. I believe it’s called a couteau de breche. With this we can make use of the base bone’s flexibility while having the ability to use it like an axe. It has reach, and can be used in close range too.”
“Yes, with this… But wouldn’t it be heavy?”
“If it was all iron, it’d be heavy as hell and not something to carry around. But it’s made of bone. It’s light, and sturdier than iron. This… I can make.”

This would certainly make use of the bone’s qualities, and with Kevin’s strength he’ll be able to wield it just fine.

“How about it Kevin?”
“… Doesn’t look bad. But are we keeping it as long as that bone?”
“That’s out of the question, obviously. We’ll cut it in half, and use one half as the blade. Even at half the length it’s still three meters; which is still frankly too long.”

Kevin seems to be on board by the looks of him. I guess the weapon type is decided then.
The three of them will further hammer out the details.

“Then what about bringing the fulcrum of the blade closer to the tip, to make better use of its flexibility?”
“Oh, you’re taking to my thoughts? I’m grateful… But there’s an issue of material strength–“
“Then what about the femur from earlier… right, too thick. Then how about using this tibia and attaching the blade to the other one? That should increase its strength.”
“It sure would, and I suppose the thickness is just right.”
“Yeah, it’s way harder then the fibula.”
“Then I’ll use it for the blade. May I?”
“Please, be my guest.”

I brought it just in case and it was appropriately utilized. Well that’s fine.

“We’re only gonna be usin’ half of that thing, and heck, we’ll only be usin’ about a third of the tibia Kinda feels like a waste.”
“Then could you make a spare as well? She’s actually an axe user too.”
“Master Rimuru…?”
“Eir, you’re always giving it your best. It’s a present.”

Master says to me with a smile. That smile brought Amy’s earlier remarks to mind.
Blood immediately rushes to my head.

“Au… thanks.”

But Master Rimuru, I’m not so sure about giving a girl a gigantic axe as a present.

~*~

Translator’s note: The author had a link to the type of weapon design he had in mind, but the link is now dead.

Author’s note: Part three should end with chapter 60.

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