Chapter 17: Reinforcements The next few days were uneventful. After the battle with the Demon Lord’s army, nothing happened after that. The next 19 days passed with a breeze aside from Scharla opening her mouth. Occasionally, Kasune and Jerry would talk about things but nothing really interesting or useful came from it. After the 19 days passed, a few wagons could be seen in the distance along with many more men behind them. Jerry ran towards the wagons and met with the leader. “Is this for the army?” Jerry asked. “Yes it is” The man said. “You’re the leader of this?” “Yes I am” “Are all the things that I’ve requested here?” “Yes it is” “Great. Unload them near the armory and have the men wait here. Ill take the wagon with medals” “As you wish” The man then beckoned to a soldier that was near him and then he scrambled back. The entire wagon column stopped and a wagon was brought forward. “Get the men in formation. When a loud bang is heard, bring the men and wagons up.” “As you wish” the man said with little enthusiasm. Jerry embarked the wagon and sat next to the driver. “Follow the road into the camp” Jerry told the driver. Soon, they were inside the camp and the men inside looked at the wagon. “Attention!” Jerry shouted as he stood up. The men quickly stood up and gathered around the wagon in formation. “You have served the Empire well over the last few years or however long you have served. For this, the Empire has decided to hand out medals as recognition in your achievements. The Infantry will get 4 boxes, Archers get 2 boxes, Cavalry and Mages will get 1 box. Now, return to your assigned areas and receive your medals. There’s enough to go around so no need to rush. When you get them, report back here. There’s even better news." Jerry said. The men cheered as they returned to their tents. A few hours passed and all the men were in formation with their medals on their shirts. Jerry took out his pistol, and pointed it away from the men, and off into the distance and squeezed the trigger. A large bang could be heard, and then the wagons and men could be seen marching towards the camp. The men looked on in awe as they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. “Congratulations men. You made it past the 20 days. Although the worst has yet to come, it’s time for us to unwind a little. Dismissed” Jerry said. The men quickly fell out of formation and went towards the new recruits, and wagons going to the Armory. Falk quickly came out from the command tent and saw the wagons and men and his jaw dropped. “This? This is what that letter got us?” Falk asked. “Yea. Cool ain’t it?” Jerry said as he grinned. “Holy shit” “Go. Unwind a bit” Jerry said as he signaled towards the carts. “How?” “There’s food but a bit unusual in taste. Bit salty but still meat. Get us a piece yes?” Falk quickly broke into a sprint. It seemed that it had been a while since Falk had meat. The diet that Jerry had seen around here mostly consisted of potato, and vegetables in hot water to either make stew or soup. Just then, what seemed to be a messenger approach Jerry. “Has anything happened?” He asked. “We defeated a 4000 strong army. Does that count?” Jerry responded “Is that it?” “Yep” “Well, the king has requested that Larmen, Scharla, Elizabeth, and Janice be pulled back into the Royal Palace. Commander Reeves has been reassigned to act as their bodyguard” Jerry looked at the messenger for a moment. Staring into his eyes. “You serious?” Jerry asked. “Sadly, I am. Now, where are they?” He said. Jerry sighed before pointing to the tent next to the command tent. “There” Jerry said. Jerry looked around for the leader of the convoy and found him distributing food to the men that were grabbing an begging for some meat. “Hey, can you bring back the wounded as well? They can’t fight and we can’t waste the resources” Jerry said. “Yea sure. Let me deal with this first” He said. Just then, someone snatched a piece of meat from his hands, “Hey! Theres enough to go around. Back in line!” The man said. “Attention!” Jerry said. The men quickly turned into attention and faced Jerry. “This will be quicker if you all got into a line. Now, into a line so this line can go quicker” Jerry said. The men quickly got into a line for the man that was distributing food. “Thank you” He said. “No problem” Jerry said as he walked away. Jerry walked towards the outskirts of the forest that surrounded the camp. The light was still out, and Jerry sat down and took his helmet off. He was greeted by the fresh air, and was nice and cold. Inside the helmet was a bit hot from all the fires being started to cook the meat. Just then, Kasune stepped out from the forest. “Hey” Jerry said. “Hello there, Jerry” Kasune responded. “Anything interesting happening?” “Nothing in particular. The 10 Demon Commanders are wondering where that army went” “That was an actual Army?” “Yes. Why?” “It felt way too weak” “Well, it was mostly a quick reaction time army, but an army nonetheless” “What’s the best army equipped with?” “Mostly with Adamantum Armor and Swords. Archers with Orcium Arrows and cavalry with Dark Metal gear” “Dark Metal?” “Metal that only the Demon Lord’s blessed forges can make. They’re extremely durable and have been said to be enchanted” “And what are the Demon Commanders equipped with?” “That’s up to them. They have to find or make their own equipment” “What a Demon Lord” “Well, he can’t exactly spare the costs. The reason we haven’t fought the Dark Metal equipped army is because they are few in number and expensive to make” “That reminds me. You need to get something less exposing” Jerry said as he snapped his fingers. “Ahh, you did say that did you.” Kasune said as he looked at Jerry. “What? You don’t want to change armor? Isn’t it a bit chilly for you?” “Ha, us Demons have no such feeling. We Demons have naturally high resistance to the elements” “Ah, I see. Then we don’t need to change anything” “W-Wait, It would be nice to have a little variety. Besides, this armor is a bit… embarrassing” Kasune said. “Okay, wait here. I need to get a few things” Jerry said as he got up. “What are you going to get?” Kasune asked. “Some materials and a box” Jerry said as he walked towards the camp. Jerry entered the command tent. He wanted to make a different armor for Kasune, but he also needs to get her something to wear besides the armor. Maybe a bit of cotton? Jerry picked up his backpack and looked around the tent for anything he could use. There were extra swords around and were fairly dull. No one would miss them right? Jerry picked the swords up and tucked them under his armpit. He went towards the leader of the caravan and saw he was loading the wounded on the carts. “Hey, got any cotton by any chance?” Jerry asked. “Yea. They’re on sale” The man responded “Sale?” “Yea, the King employed us to transport these guys to the frontlines. We sold some things on the way here” He said. “I see. I’ll take a bag” “That’ll be a gold coin” Jerry took out his coin purse he took from the bandits a while ago and was able to procure 13 silver coins and 5 bronze coins. “You know my situation here. Just take however much a gold coin is” Jerry said as he raised his hands to the man. The man took 10 silver coins and then hopped off the caravan and got a bag of cotton from another wagon. “Here it is. Thank you for shopping with Traveling Maiden” The man said. Jerry took the bag of cotton and quickly turned around to face Falk who had a large piece of meat in his hands. “Look at this one! It’s huge! “ Falk said. “I know right, I found a place where we can eat. I also have a friend I should introduce you to” Jerry said. Jerry wanted to not hold secrets from Falk as he would be working with him for a while. He couldn’t run the risk of his relationship turning sour with him down the line. As the approached where Kasune was, it was apparent that she wasn’t there. “Wheres your friend” Falk asked. “Set up the fire. I’ll get’em” Jerry responded. Jerry put on his helmet and did a pulse scan. He found Kasune on top of a tree, eyeing Falk. Jerry set the swords down and entered the forest hoping that Kasune would not keep her eyes on him. Luckily enough, she didn’t and Jerry climbed up a tree behind Kasune like a spider. Jerry got into a pouncing positioned and then jumped and tackled Kasune. “Gotcha!” Jerry shouted as he jumped. As they landed in front of Falk, Kasune screamed as she was falling down. Jerry immediately regretted his decision as he quickly felt a jet of pain in his stomach, causing him to be launched into a tree, back first. As he hit the tree, he could feel his back go into pain and Jerry let out a short, quick scream. “Oh my god, Jerry, are you okay?” Kasune asked as she approached Jerry. Jerry could only raise a thumbs up before the pain kicked in. “Here, let me help” Kasune said as he rolled Jerry onto his stomach Jerry couldn’t understand what happened next as the pain was too much, but he did remember the pain quickly fading as a green light appeared from Kasune’s hands. Jerry quickly felt better and stood up. “What was that?” Jerry asked as his vision retuned to him. Falk stood there in shock. “Giving Hands” Kasune said. “I give my life force to you” “Why can’t you use it to heal yourself when I shot you” Jerry asked. “I can’t give myself something and expect to gain something. I said give my life-force. Means it doesn’t run on mana” Kasune said. “Sounds dangerous” “It is” “Don’t do it again” “What if your life is in danger” “Do just enough to keep me alive but never more that it will put your life in danger” Falk could let out a whimper ever since he saw Kasune. “What is it Falk? Spit it out.” Jerry said as he stretched his back. “T-That’s one of the 10 Demon Commanders! Why is she here? Moreover, why aren’t we dead?!” Falk asked. “Look, Falk, I came here for a good time. Not explaining time. Just cook the damn meat. She can explain it if she wants” Jerry said as he took the fabricator out of his backpack and picked up the swords up along with the bag of cotton. There were 5 short swords in total, so he should be able to make a long sword with 2 or so with some metal left over. As he set up the fabricator and went through the main menu, he first selected cotton gloves and put in a couple handfuls of cotton before the slot closed and noises were made. Eventually, another slot opened and cotton gloves came out. He put them on before selecting a longsword next. He put in the two swords and then out came a long metal sword that seemed well made. It was nice and light but still felt like it had the weight to strike and kill someone. With the remaining metal left he could use, he got himself a knife. He looked over the type of knives he could have going through karambits, cyclone style knives, but ultimately settled over a tanto knife with a wooden handle and a minimalistic steel holster that only covered the blade. The knife soon came out and it looked beautiful. The blade looked like it came from home and didn’t look like something from the medieval era. He put the knife in it’s holster and clipped it on his pants before taking his longsword and leaning it against a tree. He then chose clothing for Kasune but ran into a quick problem. He didn’t know what size Kasune were. Jerry quickly became embarrassed by this thought. Normally, if this was a one time thing and he’d never have to see them again, he’d be fine. But, Jerry knew that Kasune was gonna be with him for a very long time. He didn’t want to be seen as a creep by someone that would be with him for next few years. He checked the menu to find what parts he needed to measure and was greeted with a prompt. Scan Manual Input Jerry was relived and pressed scan only to be horrified. Please remove clothing and stand in red box A red box appeared on the ground by what seemed to be a laser scanner. Just then, Kasune appeared. “The boy told me he had something to do and never came back. What’s this?” Kasune asked with a curious voice. “You uhh. Strip and stand in the box.” Jerry said. “Is that it?” Kasune asked. “Yea” Jerry said. “Alright, go enjoy your meal. I’ll do it” “What happens after you do it?” “Ill come back and you can finish it” “R-Right” Jerry stood up and went back to the fire. “No peeping” Could be heard behind Jerry as he walked away. Jerry sat at the fire and took the cold piece of cooked meat from the pan. “Scanning” could be heard. It sounded robotic and it only meant one thing. Kasune was naked and was being scanned. Jerry really wanted to peep at the beautiful body that Kasune had. Jerry turned around to be met with Kasune death staring Jerry. Jerry turned around quickly and ate his piece of meat not catching a glimpse of Kasune’s body at all the than her death stare. “Finished. Please insert material” The robotic voice said. A hand could be felt on Jerry’s shoulder and Jerry’s body temperature dropped dramatically. “Hey there, Jerry. I thought I said no peeping” Kasune said. “I uhh” “If you wanted to, just ask next time” Kasune said. “What?” Jerry was confused for a moment “I’m joking. Next time you do that, I’ll hurt you. Now go finish what you were doing. The armor is also there.” “Yes ma’am” Jerry quickly said before sprinting towards the fabricator. Jerry arrived and was put in the cotton in and quickly took the clothes out. After he set them aside, selected the plate chest piece. He was greeted with checklists [] Layered | [] Combine Materials [] Padded [] Front

[]Back Jerry selected layered and then the rest of the three before was told to select the size. There was a third option this time. Scan

Manual Input History Jerry selected History and was greeted with Kasune’s naked body. It was a marvelous thing. There were curves at the right places and had a wonderful chest. However, he could feel her death stare happening and quickly proceeded. He inserted Kasune’s old armor, some steel and some cotton. Soon came a chest piece that was layered with steel in the outer and Kasune’s old armor in the middle. The chest piece soon came out after a while. When Jerry picked it up, it was a bit heavy and covered the entire chest, a bit of the shoulder, a neck protecter and a section extended down to cover more of the crotch area.. In the center, it was very hard to notice but it was less protected and had a slit that seemed to be made so the wearer could move their torso easier. Jerry put the chest piece down on top of the clothing and looked at the menu. There was still more so he made a helmet with the rest of them with the same option. It was a helmet that resembled a Roman helmet and had a mask that could be raised and lowered to protect the face. The mask had some spacing between it and the wearer’s face and had a single, long eye cut out. Jerry took the helmet and the rest of the equipment and took the equipment and went back to the fire and set them down in front of Kasune. “These are for you” Jerry said. He kept looking down, since Kasune was indeed naked since the armor was the only thing she wore. “I’m gonna go to the command post now. See ya” Jerry quickly left the camp, leaving Kasune by the fire. Jerry was scared about what would happen to him if he looked back at Kasune.