/
The Jijii’s house is on the outskirts of town.  Forsome reason or another, it’s a strange building.  Something that looks like a chimney is on theoutside and connects to something that looks like a furnace.
Whatis this place?  Seriously, Jijii, whatkinda person are you?
I say, “Alright, with this done, we’ll begoing.”
The Jijii says, “Wait, wait, wait, wait!  Stay forsome tea!”
“Pass, we’ve got other stuff ta…”
The Jijii pushes us inside as he says, “It’s fine, it’s fine!  Come in!”
Dang,this Jijii’s pushy.
Various things are placed around insidethe Jijii’s house.  I see things like weapons and armor here andthere.
The Jijii says, “ Oh , something catch youreye?  As you can see, I’ve been ablacksmith for many years!  Well then,it’s time I introduce myself.  My name isElji!”
“Call me Zero and this place is prettykickin’.  As a man, this is what I livefor.”
“My name is Grace.  This is a pleasure to meet you.”
“ Umu ,a pleasure to meet both of you as well!  Still,this is what you live for?!  I understandwhat you mean!”
Gusu-oyake sips tea as me and El-jijii [1] get excited.  Her eyes show that sheisn’t following in the slightest.  Well,this ain’t something women and children get.
Either way, someone like this El-jijii ispretty weird, if I say so myself.
The Jijii says, “I see now!  Are my two lordsadventurers?  Pick out some weapons andarmor and consider it my gratitude!  So,how long you going to be in town for?”
Adventurers?  Nope, don’t know that word.  Maybe I should ask Gusu-oyake about it later.
Gusu-oyake says, “No, we actually plan onleaving tomorrow…”
“ Mu ,that how it is?  In that case, I won’t beable to make any deliveries.  No matter,you can just take a look at my warehouse instead.”
I say, “No, there’s no way I can acceptsomething like that.  This tea isenough.”
El-jijii is shocked by my words.  He then begins to laugh.  “Straight forward youngsters like you are ararity nowadays!  I like it!  Name your request!  With these arms of mine, I’ll make sure youreceive it!  Count on it!”
“No, that’s…”
El—jijii ignores our words, and whilesaying, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” takes us to his warehouse.  The number of weapons and armor in his housedon’t come anywhere close to the amount here.
I say, “Amazing…”
“ Ka kka kka ! [2] Go on in and take a look!”
“No, we don’t have enough money.”
Gusu-oyake says, “Zero-san, accept hisgenerous offer.  I regards to money, Ihave plenty.”
That’snot good, Gusu-oyake.  I’ll need to paythat back one day.
Despite my thoughts, El-jijii getsangry.  “I-di-ot!  Something like that!  You think I want money!?  That I’d demand payment from my benefactor!?”
“Eru-jijii…  Thanks man, I mean it.”
“ Kakka kka kka !”
IfEl-jijii is gonna go that far, then I have to accept his generosity.  So, what should I pick?
I say, “So, got any recommendations?”
“A recommendation?  Well, everything!  …Is what I want to say, but that’suseless.  How do you usually fight?”
Howdo I fight?  I’m something like abrawler?
With that in mind, I give a quick, “I likepunching and kicking my enemies without a care in the world.  After that, I guess I’d like to be able towalk around without any trouble?”
“ Fumu ,in that case, light armor sounds like a good fit.  As for the size…”  El-jijii presents a sort of mannequin inarmor. “How about this?  Try it on!”
He takes the armor and straps it to mybody.  The gauntlets and leg armor are aperfect fit.  There’s even a chest piece.
I say, “ Ooh , this is great.  It ain’theavy at all.  No trouble movingwhatsoever.”
“Good, good!  Although, your abdomen and back are a bitexposed.  Ya want some more protection?”
“No, this mobility is good.  I like it!”
Gusu-oyake says, “Zero-san, you lookgreat!”
Getting wrapped up in silver gear reallyfires me up some reason.  My tension isjust spiking.
El-jijii says, “How about yourweapon?  Tell me what you need!”
Aweapon?  An idea did pop up while I wasgetting into armor.
I say, “You might not have it, but issaying it still fine?”
“Don’t mind it!  Don’t mind it!  You can say anything!”
“In that case, it’s gotta be somethinglight and solid.”
“ Hou !  Is it a sword?  A spear? No, I see you’ve got a stone ax there. Then, do you want an ax?!”
“Can I get a pipe?”
… Ahre?  Why’d everyone get quiet?  Something happen?
Gusu-oyake says,“Zero-saaaaaaaan!?  Isthis not a weapon’s shop!?  Pipes aren’tweapons!?”
“ Ahh ?  I’m pretty sure pipes are weapons…?”
“They aren’t!  Not one bit!   Seeeeeeriouslyyyyy!”
She’swrong, pipes are weapons.  Bats areweapons too.  Or maybe something’s wrongwith this world?
El-jijii, however, starts to laugh.  “ Kufuu kufuu ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Apipe?!  You’reseriously one strange kid.  Understood!  If that’s what you want, then I’ll make oneat once!”
“You’ll make me one?  What about the time?”
“What? Something like that won’t take long at all.  Just tell me how long you want me to make itand wait!”
I tell El-jijii what he needs to know andhe immediately gets to work.
He says, “It’ll take about one hour to finish.  Feel free to wait or do something to killtime!”
“Right, what do you think, Gusu-oyake?”
“Hmm, what to do…  We already finished our shopping, so how aboutwe go get something to eat?”
“Got it.”
Me and Gusu-oyake leave El-jijii’s place andhit the town to grab a bite.  The chibiseemed interested in El-jijii’s work, so they stayed behind to watch.  Since it looked dangerous, I warned themabout keeping a safe distance.  Theyresponded with sharp nods.
Seriously,those guys are great at understanding others.
We get a light meal and then move ontobrowsing stores for some bandages. Gusu-oyaka says something along the lines of, “You need bandages?”
They ain’t for injuries.
Well, that’s more or less how we spent ourhour.
El-jijii says, “Finished!”
I say, “ Eh , you’re done already?”
“Something like this is easy!”
I’m given a pipe with a dim, azure, shine.
Whatis this?  It’s super light!
I test it out by swinging it around andhitting the ground, but it’s totally fine.
“Wicked! Just listen to that chime!”
“ Kakka kka .  I reckon this is the bestpipe in the world!”
Mn?  Gusu-oyake has been quite for a whilenow.  Why’s she just staring at me for?
She says, “ Ano , Elji-san, is that pipe perhaps… mithril?”
“ Hoo !  You’re well informed.  It’s as you suspect!”
“ Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh !?”
I say, “Mithril?  What’s mithril?”
“An outrageously expensive mineral that’sboth infinitely lighter and more durable than iron!  Something that’s used by organizations likethe Chivalric Order to create armor and weapons for their knights!?  You used that to make a pipe?!?”
U-uh?  Like hell I get what any of thatmeans, but I’m pretty sure making a pipe out of that was flat out ridiculous.
I say, “I don’t really get it, but is thisokay?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry!  Like I said, I like you!  Use this as you like!”
Hehee,my bad.
I wrap the bandages around the mithrilpipe’s handle.
Great,now it’s perfect.
Gusu-oyake says, “ Ooh , so that’s why you bought bandages.”
“Exactly! Now it’s complete!  It’samazing!  My tension is bursting throughthe roof!”
“I- I understand.  Please keep from swinging it around.”
I stop at Gusu-oyake’s request and then,together with El-jijii, go back to his place for some grub.
I say, “Thanks a lot.  I’ll use that pipe well.”
“ Kakka kka , come back any time if there’s ever any trouble!  I fix it right up!  And if you ever need more weapons, I’ll makethem for ya!  Today was a blast!”
Gusu-oyake says, “For real, for real real,thank you so much.”
El-jijii sees me and Gusu-oyake off and wereturn to the inn.  Tomorrow we’ll besearching for spirits.
That’sgot a nice ring to it.
………
Manai Zero
Skill:    ThePerson Loved by Spirits
Special Feature: Intimidating Eyes
Items:   StoneAx
(Mithril)Pipe
LightArmor
Objective: Assist Gusu-Oyake
T/N: And finished!!  I’d like to note that thug talk is still hardfor me.  Anyway, been a while since wesaw this story updated.  I’ll be updatingthis one more often now.  Look forward toit~
[1] This is a bit of a pun.  His name is Elji.  Jijii means, “old man/geezer”  Zero is combining the two word to create Eljijii.
[2] I think he’s laughing.  かっかっか！
<<6. Ugh, I’ll see you home!
8. Seems like you get it, I guess.>>