ch101-ch120 · 117-ch117

Chapter 117: The Lilliputian Spear

Come the next day.

I skip school and head to the Chiba branch first thing in the morning, and there, waiting for me, is...

"Yo, Haruki."

Weren't you scheduled for tomorrow from noon, Mia-san?

"The Lilli—er, scouting shop locations. And I figured I'd adjust your armor while I'm at it. We never did take your measurements, after all, so a final fitting is in order. Let's head in."

The Lilli...? What was that about?

Armor adjustments, huh...

This means I can finally say goodbye to being called a 【Light Armored Warrior】, a 【Naked King】, or an 'otherworlder.'

Though I haven't even seen the armor itself yet. I did ask for something that wouldn't jangle and clatter, so...

"Good morning, Mia-san. Haruki-san, to you as well. Kasumi-san is already waiting for you inside the dungeon."

Greeting us in the lobby is Hayashi-san.

"Good morning, Hayashi-san."

"There she is..."

Mia-san goes on guard at the sight of Hayashi-san.

Apparently, when Mia-san visited the Chiba branch before, Hayashi-san recruited her so persistently that she's developed a complex about her.

There is currently no 【Blacksmith】 in the Chiba Dungeon.

With the Kasumi-san effect drawing more and more people to the Chiba branch, having a 【Blacksmith】 come to Chiba now means a great deal.

A shop that could take on weapon maintenance orders currently sent outside is about to exist here, and I can sort of understand why Hayashi-san got so pushy with the recruitment.

That same Hayashi-san is in high spirits today.

No, apparently she's been in high spirits for a while now...

"Now, now. Hayashi-san is the one who found my warehouse for me, and she's excellent at her job. We'll be in her care from here on, so don't be so standoffish."

"Ufufu, let's all get along, shall we?"

"Tch. I'll do things my own way. Nobody from the Association gets to order me around."

Mia-san stomps off toward the 'Dungeon Gate.'

Hayashi-san gives my license a beep at the ticket gate for me, I follow, and Hayashi-san comes into the dungeon with us.

As expected of a capable receptionist.

My license is not coming back to me, it seems.

She'll be handing it directly to Kasumi-san.

"Pretty crowded for a morning. So this is the Kasumi-san effect."

"It really is. Ah, the warehouse is this way."

It's my first time back in the Chiba Dungeon in three weeks, and the crowds have grown enormously.

Weekday mornings, one party was considered a good turnout—yet today there's a line in front of the two handsome guys at the counter.

Hayashi-san looks thoroughly satisfied at the sight.

With Hayashi-san leading Mia-san, the three of us head for the warehouse.

"Whoa. Close by, and pretty impressive too. Isn't this bigger than my shop and workshop put together? Pretty cheeky for you, Haruki."

"No need to worry, Mia-san. We have plenty of properties on hand that are even better than this one."

They're not "on hand," they're sitting vacant—but some things are better left unsaid.

Mia-san's shop at headquarters was quite a walk from the 'Dungeon Gate,' other lower-tier production jobs had moved in around it like a shopping street, and the space itself was cramped.

Land prices at headquarters are apparently still climbing like there's no tomorrow.

With Mia-san coming to Chiba, more adventurers will likely settle here too.

If only I'd bought up land in Chiba while it was cheap...

Hold on, it's rentals only, isn't it?

"Good morning. Come right in, please."

Whoops—while I was off thinking strange thoughts, Kasumi-san opened the door from inside.

"Mornin', Kasumi."

"Good morning, Kasumi-san. Ah, wait a moment—before we forget, let's register Mia-san's license."

She takes out the warehouse card key and, with the door still open, gives it a beep.

That puts it in license-registration mode.

"Ohh, sorry for the trouble. Eh, might as well."

Beep—and registration complete.

Now Mia-san can come and go freely.

Watching this, Hayashi-san gives a small round of applause.

The operation to lock Mia-san in is going smoothly.

"Kasumi-san, here is Haruki-san's license."

My license passes from Hayashi-san to Kasumi-san.

Having my photo-ID license handed back and forth like this is a little much...

I should ask later whether I can get the photo retaken.

"Let's begin with 'that,' shall we? Sakura, please stay and watch as well. It may prove useful for instructing adventurers in the future."

'That'?

Kasumi-san picks up the box.

It looks like the souvenir-ish thing Mia-san handed her yesterday.

"Haruki-san, have you ever heard of the 'Lilliputian Spear'? Inside this box is a weapon known as the 'Lilliputian Spear.'"

"'Lilliputian'? No, I've never heard of it."

I wonder what it is? 'Lilliputian Spear' because Mia-san made it, maybe?

"The 'Lilliputian Spear' is what's inside this box. Please, go ahead and open it."

Handed the box, I open it up.

Inside lies a spear even shorter than a chopstick.

It is, in fact, a spear.

"So this is the 'Lilliputian Spear'..."

"Yes. A spear used by the little people from Gulliver's Travels and the like. Can you enhance it?"

Well, it IS a spear, so presumably I can enhance it...

First I give it a flick with my fingernail, unenhanced.

Tok-tok. A light sound—the shaft is wooden, after all.

"Okay, here I go."

(【Charge・Spear】, 【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】)

Another flick, and the sound has changed to a ringing kinn, kinn.

The feel coming back through my finger is harder too, so I'd call that a success.

Applause breaks out from Mia-san and Hayashi-san.

Come on, don't cheer this much...

Whoops—dispel the charge, dispel!

"As expected of Kasumi-san."

"Magnificent, Kasumi-san."

Huh? For some reason, both of them are praising Kasumi-san.

"It appears to have worked. I'm so glad. Haruki-san, this was a reenactment of the famous experiment story known as the 'Lilliputian Spear.'"

Suggestion? What do you mean?

"In that experiment, they first gathered ten adventurers who could use 【Weapon Enhancement・Spear】 and split them into two groups of five. One group was told nothing beforehand and simply asked to try enhancing it. The other group was told that it was a spear used by the little people from Gulliver's Travels, and only then asked to perform the enhancement. The result: of the first five, only one managed it, while all five of the second group succeeded. Incidentally, even after the experiment ended, when the four failures from the first group were told 'this is the Lilliputian Spear,' not one of them ever succeeded afterward. Those are the results of the 'Lilliputian Spear' experiment."

I see. So they succeeded because the story let them form a clear image of it as a spear.

And once you've succeeded once, you've got the knack.

(【Charge・Spear】, 【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】)

Kinn-kinn.

Yep. Dispel, dispel.

"That story's pretty famous, though. 'Course, the whole thing kinda requires you not to know it in the first place. Good thing you're an idiot, Haruki."

The idiot part was uncalled for, no?

"Kasumi-san, that was like something out of a hypnotist's act. Keep this up and the legendary 【Hypnotist】 job might actually appear. Let's adopt it at the branch right away and have our instructors aim for 【Hypnotist】. No—better yet, perhaps I should..."

Belief matters when using skills.

That's something people say all the time.

If you can make someone believe, that belief becomes the ultimate buff.

Which is why the greatest buffer is the 【Hypnotist】.

So the theory goes, anyway—it remains a legendary job whose existence has never been confirmed.

"Sakura, the important thing is that this is a 'Lilliputian Spear.' Which means they must be able to use 【Weapon Enhancement・Spear】... I trust you understand the rest?"

"Recommend spears to beginners who presumably won't know the 'Lilliputian Spear' story... And that becomes the shortcut to 【Hypnotist】."

Hayashi-san steels herself, resolved about something.

Honestly, this whole problem would be solved by having Mia-san make a 'Lilliputian Sword' or two... but Kasumi-san looks so pleased with Hayashi-san's answer that I'd better keep that to myself.

"No—the point is what you can DO once this 'Lilliputian Spear' works. Succeed, and you can enhance small weapons too. Widen your skill range and shave down the danger to your life, even a little—that's the whole purpose."

A tsukkomi from Mia-san.

She's right—on my end too, unless the shaft is at least a certain length, I can't enhance it. Or rather, 【Charge・Spear】 wouldn't activate.

If I practice with this 'Lilliputian Spear' a while longer and get the knack, I might be able to wield a small spear like a knife.

Hidden weapons, thrown knives, dismantling—the applications really do broaden.

"And it'd be nice if it cut down on the idiots who try to return weapons claiming 'it won't enhance.'"

I shoot Mia-san an envious look—as expected of Mia-san—and she turns her face away with a "Hmph!"

Yep. She's just hiding how pleased she is.