New chapter of Single Old Man is out! (1/2 chapters)

 

 

Gentoku, To Test

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

Several days had passed since the cooking instruction. The opening of the restaurants was still some time away. According to Richter, the chefs had already begun cooking in the kitchens of their assigned establishments and had started various improvements as well. It seemed they had also secured sufficient staff through recruitment, and the opening was scheduled for about a month later. It was now the end of January, and the plan was to have a simultaneous opening in late February or around March. I was looking forward to it. Well, as for me, I would continue to enjoy my own homemade rice bowls.

“I also devised a takeout option. I hope the business prospers.” (Gentoku)

At the moment, I was in the office, processing a magic stone. An idea had come to mind, so I was engraving way of magic characters into the magic stone. Since this was a spontaneous idea, I decided to use a one-star magic stone in case of failure. Then, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.” (Gentoku)

“Yaho yaho, Occhan!” (Lind)

“Hm? Oh, Lind, and you too, Ung, Valen.” (Gentoku)

It was the trio from Michaela’s group. It had been a while. After I gestured for them to sit on the sofa, Lind opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of fruit water, and began pouring it into a glass nearby. While I continued to process the magic stone, I asked them a question.

“It has been a while. Have you been well?” (Gentoku)

“Normal, I guess. Actually, Michaela shut herself in, so our contract was terminated. Seems she no longer needs guards.” (Valen)

“Shut herself in?” (Gentoku)

I stopped working without thinking. Since Lind was gulping down fruit water, Valen spoke in her place.

“It is not so much seclusion as that she is busy improving her lightning power. Therefore, she will not be leaving for a while. Our contract was just terminated moments ago.” (Valen)

“I see. Then, you are returning to being adventurers again.” (Gentoku)

“Yes. Since it is a good opportunity, the three of us decided to form a team. We have not yet decided on a team name, though.” (Valen)

“Ooh, how about my idea, ‘Super Very Nice Team!!’?” (Lind)

“Absolutely not.” (Ung)

Ung rejected it immediately. I agreed with him on that. Then Valen looked toward my hands and spoke.

“Gentoku-san, what have you been doing since earlier?” (Valen)

“Ah, an experiment to improve magical characters.” (Gentoku)

“…Goblin, Kobold, and Monkeyman magic stones, is it?” (Ung)

Ung recognized them merely by their color. Lind, curious, put down her glass and came over to me. She picked up one of the magic stones from the table.

“It really is. But Occhan, what are you doing with these one-star magic stones?” (Lind)

“An experiment. Now, return it.” (Gentoku)

“Okaaay.” (Lind)

I placed two each of the Goblin, Kobold, and Monkeyman magic stones on the table. Holding one of each in my hands, I stepped back toward where Valen and the others sat. I placed the Kobold magic stone in my palm, standing about 10 meters away from the table.

“Well then, let us see how this goes.” (Gentoku)

“Hmm?” (Lind, Valen, Ung)

The three tilted their heads. I pinched the magic stone between my fingers, pointed toward the table, and infused it with mana. The magic stones on the table began to rattle and then flew toward me. The one I held between my fingers attached itself to the incoming stone.

“Alright, success.” (Gentoku)

“Eh… what was that?” (Lind)

“The magic stone… flew…” (Valen)

“…and attached itself?” (Ung)

The three were astonished. The ones that attached were the Kobold magic stones. The characters I had engraved were “magnetism”. However, simply engraving that word might cause all magic stones to attract one another. Therefore, I had engraved “Magnet 1” on the Goblin stones, “Magnet 2” on the Kobold stones, and “Magnet 3” on the Monkeyman stones. My hypothesis was that only magic stones bearing the same number would attract each other. As seen, the result matched the prediction, only stones with identical numbers attached. I tried pulling the fused magic stones, but they would not come apart.

“Lind, can you try pulling them apart?” (Gentoku)

“Sure… wow, that’s pretty tough.” (Lind)

Even with Lind’s monstrous strength, they did not separate. Applying any more force might cause them to crack. I took the magic stones back and, like switching something off, touched them. The mana dissipated, and they came apart easily.

“Hmm, quite strong magnetism. For a one-star magic stone, this is impressive. I should try with higher-grade stones.” (Gentoku)

“It’s interesting, but Occhan, what are you planning to do with it?” (Lind)

“Heh heh heh… It is a man’s romance, part two.” (Gentoku)

“Huh?” (Lind)

Lind tilted her head.

Well, this is something I would never do back in Japan.

I explained a little.

“Actually, I have always loved Western films, especially the heroic ones. I often went to see them in theaters.” (Gentoku)

“…?” (Lind/Valen/Ung)

Ah, they did not understand. But no matter.

I continued.

“In one of them, a weapon developer scientist creates a power suit for combat. The suitcase transforms into armor. It was amazing. So, I thought I might try to make my own personal armor.” (Gentoku)

It was incredibly embarrassing to admit. Yes, even at my age, I still admired transforming heroes and special effects series. I watched movies, and even on Sunday mornings, I would normally watch magical girl anime and hero shows. Since this world had magical tools, I thought perhaps I could create detachable armor. It was just a faint idea, but I had planned to work on it gradually. The three tilted their heads again, and then Valen spoke.

“So… you are saying you will create a weapon?” (Valen)

“Not a weapon, but armor. Lind, in your experience, what is the hardest material you have ever encountered?” (Gentoku)

“The hardest, huh… Let’s see. Harder than orichalcum was the shell of that ‘Wurtzite Metal Dragon’ we fought in the volcanic region.” (Lind)

“Now that you mention it, there was such a thing. Even Valen and I could not touch it, an SSS-rated magic beast.” (Ung)

“I remember bleeding from my fists for the first time. I got excited. In the end, I crushed its head with a headbutt and won.” (Lind)

“Ahaha, nostalgic indeed.” (Valen)

That story was terrifying. SSS-rated meant a threat that required an entire nation’s military force to defeat, a disaster class. These three really were beyond normal. Lind’s eyes sparkled.

“Occhan you want that Wurtzite Metal Dragon’s shell?” (Lind)

“I would not mind having it, but even if I obtained it, I am unsure whether it could be processed.” (Gentoku)

“I see. If you go hunting, I’ll come. Oh, hey, Valen, didn’t we have some subjugation request like that?” (Lind)

“Now that you mention it. Ung.” (Valen)

Ung took out several request sheets from his pouch. Upon inspection, terrifying drawings of magic beasts were depicted.

“These are subjugation request sheets from the Adventurer Guild, marked ‘impossible to subjugate’. Most are SS or SSS-rated, and the Guild entrusted them to us, the Arc-en-Ciel, in hopes that we might defeat them.” (Valen)

“…Ao’s team has the same ones. Well, neither we nor they are particularly eager to hunt them down.” (Ung)

So, they are like hidden bosses unlocked after finishing a game. To think this world has such magic beasts.

Then, Valen handed one of the requests to me.

“Here it is. SSS-rated ‘impossible to subjugate’ magic beast, ‘Steel Dragon King Wurtzite Metal Dragon’.” (Valen)

“What the, the reward’s a hundred and 20 billion Sedols?!” (Gentoku)

“‘Impossible to subjugate’ magic beasts usually exceed 100 billion sedols. Though honestly, even for us, it would be life-threatening.” (Valen)

Terrifying. There are 12 of those “impossible to subjugate” beasts in total. I definitely do not want to encounter one.

“Occhan, you want this one’s material?” (Lind)

“No, no, no, absolutely not. Stop raising flags like that.” (Gentoku)

Before this got out of hand, I had to redirect the topic.

“Since we have been inactive lately, how about making this SSS-rated challenge our first quest as a team?” (Valen)

“Sounds great. We’ve been taking lukewarm jobs lately. Time to fire up.” (Lind)

“I’m in.” (Ung)

“No, no, no, no, no! Wait, stop, don’t do it!” (Gentoku)

“Hey, Ossan, oh, they’re here too.” (Rosso)

Why did Rosso and her group have to show up at this exact moment?

As Rosso and the four entered through the door, the air turned awkward.

“Hey, Rosso. Perfect timing. We were just discussing taking on a request from Gentoku-san, defeating an ‘impossible to subjugate’ magic beast.” (Valen)

“I never said that!” (Gentoku)

“Hah? You lot, taking on an ‘impossible’ one?” (Rosso)

“Don’t take it seriously, Rosso! Hey!” (Gentoku)

“We decided to form a team. This will be our warm-up. So, Oyaji entrusted us, not you, with defeating the ‘impossible to subjugate’ one.” (Ung)

“What are you talking about?! I never said that!” (Gentoku)

“Oji-san. Ung’s group cannot do it. We are needed.” (Blanche)

“Am I invisible here? Is no one listening to me?” (Gentoku)

“Ahaha, Blanche, we’ve just been requested by the Occhan to defeat the ‘Steel Dragon King Wurtzite Metal Dragon’. You get it, right? That means our firepower can destroy its armor.” (Lind)

“Excuse me.” (Gentoku)

“How strange. Do you truly believe your strength could destroy that armor?” (Ao)

No one is listening. And where is Verde when I need someone sensible?

Then, Rosso pointed at Valen.

“Three versus three. Perfect. I challenge you to a contest.” (Rosso)

“Oh? I like it. The condition shall be whoever defeats the Wurtzite Metal Dragon first.” (Valen)

“Agreed.” (Rosso)

“The rule, start at sunrise. We each prepare, travel to the dragon’s location, and subjugate it. Whoever delivers the final blow wins.” (Valen)

“That’s fine. If we win, you will kneel completely naked and say, ‘We are terribly sorry. We shall never defy Rosso-sama again’.” (Rosso)

“Ahaha. Then, if we win, you will do the same.” (Valen)

The tension was suffocating.

How did this escalate so quickly?

Then, simultaneously, both Valen and Rosso turned toward me.

“Ossan.” (Rosso)

“Gentoku-san.” (Valen)

“Yes?” (Gentoku)

“Look forward to the material.” (Rosso)

“We shall bring you the finest material.” (Valen)

With that, both groups left without another word. I could only collapse where I stood.

 

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