Chapter 23: Al and Tanta

Translator: Tseirp

The door bell chimed.

“Red-oniichan, I’m here to play~”

“Go-good afternoon.”

Just as I was thinking that it was about time I prepared lunch, the Half-Elf children pair Tanta and Al came to my shop.

“Yo, Tanta, Al, welcome, I was just thinking of making lunch. Do you want to eat?”

“Yup!”

“A-as long as it doesn’t trouble you.”

“You don’t need to worry about troubling people while you are still a kid. I’ll be done right away so wait for a bit.”

I had the two of them wait in the living room.

Lit was practicing swings in the garden and she would probably return soon.

☆☆

“Wa, meat spaghetti!”

“I like this too.”

Tanta and Lit were innocently pleased.

However, Al eyes swam showing that he was troubled.

“Hey, Lit.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re troubling Al so why don’t you put a jacket on something on?”

Even though it had become slightly cooling, Zoltan’s afternoon was still hot. Lit, having made practice swings in the sun, seemed to have washed away her perspiration in the washroom before coming over.

She was currently dressed casually in a tank top and short pants. That was a little too stimulating for Al going through puberty as he was red-faced stealing glances at Lit.

But, when I told Lit that …

“I-it’s okay! I’m not looking at all!!”

Al raised his voice shrilly.

Eh?

“Red~ You should not have done that.”

“E-eh? Was I wrong?”

“Yeah, you should have acted like you didn’t know even if you noticed something like that. A boy going through puberty won’t want somebody to expose him like that.”

“Red-oniichan doesn’t have tact after all.”

Eh?

“I see, sorry.”

“I-it’s okay! More importantly, let’s eat!”

Al shouted with a beet red face and some tears at the corner of his eyes.

Sorry, I’m really sorry.

☆☆

At first, Al was stiff but as our meal progressed he threw away his reservations.

“You can have seconds.”

His eyes sparkled when I told him that so I smiled to myself thinking that he was still a child after all.

“Then I’ll have seconds!”

Lit immediately replied but she most probably said that in consideration for Al and Tanta so that they won’t be reserved.

“A big serving please!”

She was probably being considerate.

After our meal, Al patted his belly with a satisfied look.

It was the right choice to prepare more servings.

“It was delicious.”

“I eat this every day.”

Lit was feeling proud of it for some reason and Tanta seemed to have finally realized her character as he stared at her with eyes of amazement.

I laughed and spoke to Tanta.

“That’s the kind of person she is. Quite ridiculous.”

“But it is?”

“Cute.”

“Stupid couple!”

Tanta stared at me with reproachful eyes.

Yeah, I was aware that I had become a little silly.

Tanta sighed loudly.

“Al~ I wonder if we are intruding?”

“Ahaha.”

Placing tea and cookies on the table, we peacefully chatted while joking around.

“Oh right, Red-san, I also made contact with my Divine Protection yesterday.”

“Is that so, how was it?”

“I am worried … but I have not felt any impulses as of now. But it is more of an indistinct feeling of unease.”

“That’s probably because you have not decided on what weapon to wield. You probably won’t feel a sudden impulse but more of a gradual feeling of uneasiness.”

“Then if I continue like this, would I be able to remain as myself?”

As expected, he was still worried about his Divine Protection’s impulses.

“But continuing to hang on to that uneasiness will be tough. And if you don’t get the skills given by your Divine Protection, everything you do will be inconvenient.”

“I was wondering if I could just survive with common skills …”

I was involuntarily at a loss for words.

Living by with just common skills huh…?

“It is not impossible but it will be awful.”

“I guess that’s true, ah~ if only I got the Divine Protection of the Warrior like my father.”

The Divine Protection of the Warrior was the most common lowest grade Divine Protection. Their unique skill only raised their physical ability and they do not have any unique abilities.

The advantage was that the corresponding urge was weak. It can be said to be the most sought-after Divine Protection for the general public to have.

Instead of a strong fighter like a Weapon Master, Al wished to be an ordinary person.

“You should at least choose a weapon that would be useful even in daily life.”

“Something useful in daily life?”

“Al, what do you want to be in the future?”

“Hn, I don’t know. I am currently working to unload goods at my father’s pier though.”

An unloading worker huh.

Right …

“For example, a knife. You would be able to quickly cut the ropes tying the goods and you could cut strong ropes that others won’t be able to cut. Although it can’t be said to be that strong as a weapon.

Another choice would be a rope dart. It is a weapon made of rope with a 15cm metal blade at the tip but mastering it would help you with maneuvering rope.

An unusual choice would be a battle ladder. It is a 1.5m ladder originally designed to be used for small sieges but they have designed a martial arts system for the troops carrying it for melee fights. It is made to be narrower than regular ladders and you could use it purely as a blunt weapon or to stop your opponent’s feet and trip them. There’s also the advantage of a secondary effect where you would be better at high-altitude work.”

I taught Al all kinds of unusual weapons.

At first, Al was not interested in weapons but after talking about all kinds of unusual weapons that he had never seen before, he was slowly enthralled and was soon pestering me for a detailed explanation on the kinds of weapons there were.

“Amazing! Even monsters can create weapons!”

“Yeah that’s right, apart from the troll hammer, there are goblin blades too.”

“Goblin blade?”

“As you know, goblins have small bodies but they love large weapons. They want to use greatswords or great axes that humans use which do not suit their physique. But they can’t use them due to the weight. So, the goblins used their brains which they usually don’t use and figured out to punch holes in the weapons to lighten them.”

“Eh …”

“Those are goblin blades. They make holes to reduce the weapon’s weight by about half.”

“Won’t that break the weapon?”

“It will. In exchange for reducing the weight by half, the weapon durability is dreadful. I often heard funny stories where their weapons snap in the middle of a battle and the goblin tilt their head in confusion before being killed.”

Al laughed like he was enjoying himself.

It looked like his interest in weapons has surpassed his worry about his Divine Protection.

“A Weapon Master can only choose his weapon once. You cannot change it after you make your decision. So do not be hasty and take your time to choose.”

“Okay … Thank you Red-san. You taught me a lot once again.”

It was the beginnings of a young Weapon Master.

I could only give him advice for the very start but I prayed that the child would traverse a life where he comes to an understanding with his own Divine Protection.