Chapter 358

Gleipnir

Even through my dreams, I could feel the sensation of someone attacking my cheeks. I brushed them aside, turned over, and rolled into a defensive ball. And yet the enemy persisted in their relentless assault. Ugh, why didn’t they understand? I wanted to sleep…

“…Hey. Asagi! Get up!”

“Wah?!”

Slap! The blow landed heavily on my back, and I jumped up. My mind was quite clear though, and sensing an enemy attack, my hand reached for my belt. But there was no sword there.

My body was still tired, but I forced my eyes wide open and scanned the area.

“Huh…? Where am I…”

A blue sea spread out before me. White clouds. Beautiful sand. And behind me, a mountain. Smoke could be seen rising from its peak.

We were clearly on an island.

□ □ □ □

Daniela had already been awake, and when I asked her what had happened, she said that she too had awakened to find herself on this beach. It was quite dangerous. We could have easily been attacked by humans or monsters.

“Well, it is almost certainly the work of Rachel.”

“There’s no other explanation…”

That ill-natured wolf had launched us into the sky for no reason. And we had been teleported unconscious to this beach. We had been in the sea of trees before that. Who knew how much longer that journey would have taken? And now we were on the island.

But I had been looking forward to traveling by boat…

Well, it was no use. We were here now, and it wasn’t as if I would want to go back in order to travel more conventionally. Funny how your mind works.

“Now that I think about it, she did say that she would be finished by morning…”

“But I don’t see her anywhere.”

“I am right here.”

“Woah?!’

She hadn’t been here a moment ago, but I suddenly heard her voice from behind me.

My hand clutched my chest as I took in a deep breath in order to calm myself.

“What an exaggeration.”

“You really shouldn’t do that. I’m already in a bad mood.”

“Hmph. And to think I came all this way to bring you something that would make you feel better.”

Rachel said as she pushed a box into my hands. I hesitantly accepted it and looked inside. It was filled with clothes and armor.

“This…”

“Yes. Your new equipment. I call it the ‘Super Ultra Hyper Miracle Fenrir Set’!”

“That’s just stupid.”

I wasn’t going to wear something with that kind of name.

“Hmph. Then just call it Gleipnir and be done with it.”

“Sure thing. Anyway, where did this armor come from? I just gave you wolf skins.”

“And that’s why you should be grateful. I made it out of materials specially selected from my storage. Of course, they are wolf materials. There wasn’t much, so it’s not a full set of armor…”

I see. I was indeed grateful… Though, her name for it still sucked.

In any case, I took the items out of the box. The clothes were black and had a smooth texture. It reminded me of clothes I used to wear back home…

“How were you able to make this out of leather?”

“It’s a trade secret.”

“Sure it is…”

“It’s taken me hundreds of years. Why would I share it so freely?”

I suppose so. Hundreds of years, huh…?

Regardless, they were great. They fit my body perfectly, and the lack of sleeves meant it was easy to move in. It had a high neck as well.

When I turned it over, I saw that a crest had been painted on the back. It was the profile of a rather intimidating wolf. A fenrir, perhaps. The idea of having a visible God Wolf on my back made me a little nervous.

I folded it and looked at the other stuff. Hmm. These were the trousers. They looked like ordinary trousers, but they were made by Rachel. Surely there was something unique about them.

“Well, those are ordinary trousers. Though, they should be durable, as they were made from wald wolf materials.”

“Aren’t wald wolves a subspecies of forest wolves? I thought they were really rare.”

I was reminded of Marco from Dana village. That friendly monster was a forest wolf mutant. I doubted there were so many that they could just be turned into clothes…

“Ahh… This isn’t just about wald wolves, but I went through a phase where I hated the fact I was born as a wolf so much, that I spent my days hunting other wolves down. I used quite a bit of those materials on this occasion.”

“What a grim past…”

“Do you want to be reborn as a wolf? Eh?”

“No thanks.”

Yes, she had been through a lot. Even when we joked, there was a deep darkness that I could sense. Still, I was the one benefiting from it now, so I would appreciate it.

The next thing I picked up were pants with holes in them. The hell?

“Is this unfinished?”

“You idiot. They’re called chaps. They are to protect your legs. …Have you never seen a western?”

“Ah…oh…oh..! I see!”

Now I remember. Those things that gunslingers wore. I believe they were for horseback riding. Was she saying that I was so bad at protecting my lower half? How rude.

“You put these on over those pants.”

Extra defenses below the waist. This was rather unexpected.

“This isn’t to raise your defense ability. It’s for protection against your skill.”

“My skill… So they don’t break or tear?”

“Yes. You tore up your dragon trousers before, didn’t you? Don’t worry, it won’t happen with these.”

I see. So it was to protect me from my skill. It had nothing to do with…anything else. Of course, not.

“And there is more. For your waist.”

What came out next was a waist mantle that was made of iron ore and monster materials.

“You don’t look right without one of these, and so I made it. Be grateful.”

“Ah, thank you!”

She had prepared something I was very fond of. It was practically part of my identity at this point. It was like a belt that I could wrap around over my pants. There was a piece of armor that covered my thigh on the right side, and on the left, there was a leather belt to hang my sword on. I liked that each side was different. It looked cool.

“I used a belt there so it can be adjusted depending on what kind of sword you are using. It should be easy enough to use.”

“I see. You sure put a lot of thought into this…”

This was good, as I preferred having my weapons on my belt, rather than in the hollow bag.

And there was a tail in the back. Of course, it served no purpose other than decoration. It was cute. It reminded me of those key chains that people used to hang on their bags.

“Yes, it was the trend when I was young. Though, I would never do such a thing myself.”

“Hmm…”

I suppose she had been the more cynical type. But then again, judging by how she was now, she had probably been a huge nerd. So it wasn’t hard to imagine.

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“Not at all. Is this it then?”

“No, there are still the gauntlets and the jacket. Also the shoes. That’s all.”

The gauntlets were leather with metal plates. They were long gloves that were open at the fingertips. Of course, there was no fur on the palms.

The jacket had been made with leftover materials, as she thought I would be cold. It didn’t have a hood like the wind dragon poncho had, which was a little sad, but it looked great otherwise.

The boots were also black leather. They had laces and turned out to be incredibly comfortable. My feet felt firm when walking over the sand, as it had a good grip.

“Well, that’s all then. It seems that the size was right…”

“Why do you not try them on?”

“…Huh? Now?”

But we were out on the beach.

“I am already bored of seeing whatever it is you have to show.”

“Who cares? No one’s here.”

“You know, I’m quite hurt by these comments.”

“Just shut up and get changed.”

As that made things worse, I took the box and rushed to the nearby forest to quietly change in private.

□ □ □ □

After I was done, I picked up the box and walked out of the forest. It felt quite comfortable. It was almost eerie how well it fitted. When had she taken measurements? Perhaps it was some secret art that only the fenrir had.

However, my lower half had been a bit of a nightmare. There were too many belts. It was clear what kind of tastes she had. And while it was difficult, it did feel right, and I could see how carefully it had been crafted. But most importantly, the nerd in me just thought it looked cool.

I pushed my way through the grass and returned to Daniela and Rachel. They had brought out a table and were drinking tea. There were even some scones on the table that looked delicious.

“Give me one.”

“Mm.”

Daniela pushed the plate towards me, and so I grabbed one and stuffed it into my mouth. It had a mild, sweet flavour and was very good.

“It looks good.”

“Of course, it does. I made it.”

“Mmmggg…mmgg… Yeah, it’s great. Thanks, Rachel.”

“Hmph.”

She could never just take a compliment. My master could be rather cute.

When I was finished eating, Daniela gave me a cup of tea. It was hot black tea. Perfect for scones.

“Well, since you’re finished changing, I should tell you about the enchantments.”

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

“But first…here.”

Rachel placed a single bracelet in front of me.

“It’s a hollow bracelet.”

“Huh? Really?”

“These things with dimension magic. I just made them to make money for the road. It’s nothing to me. I could easily make more.”

Now I had one like Daniela! I had actually been quite jealous of hers.

“I think you would look better without that bag. Of course, it’s up to you if you want to change.”

“Hmm. The bracelet is more efficient…but I’m quite attached to the bag as well…”

It was a gift from Russell. And it even had the little doll I got from Merica attached to it.

“I didn’t say you have to throw it away. Just put it inside of the bracelet.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.”

I put the bracelet on and touched the bag that was on the table in order to store it. You served me well. Now it’s time to get some rest.

“There is no point unless you take the contents out first.”

“…I’ll do that later.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you about the enchantments then.”

That was important. I straightened my posture and perked up my ears.