Mushoku Tensei – JOBLESS REINCARNATION. Volume. 15.
Adulthood – Man-God Arc.
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‘Chapter 6:- PREPARATIONS’
A MONTH HAD PASSED since my conversation with the Man-God. I’d spent every day of it working on my preparations for the coming battle with Orsted.
Killing him would not be easy, to say the least. He was the single strongest person in the world. Which meant, of course, that he was far more powerful even than formidable figures like Atofe, Perugius, and Ruijerd. And I couldn’t defeat any of those three. I had a less-than-zero chance against Orsted in a fair fight.
With that in mind, I’d worked out three general priorities.
One: I needed to create the Magic Armor.
Two: I wanted to secure some allies.
Three: I had to find a strategy that might work.
First and foremost, there was the Magic Armor project.
Based on what I’d read in that diary, once I had it, I could wield physical power comparable to that of the Seven Great Powers. My future self had grown dramatically stronger after creating it. It seemed outright essential.
The first thing I’d done was buy a small cabin on the outskirts of the city of Sharia. I’d initially hoped to build the thing in Perugius’ floating fortress, but he’d denied me permission. (I’ll explain why later.)
I’d turned to Cliff and Zanoba for assistance with the project. The two of them immediately agreed to help without pressing me for a detailed explanation. I wanted Cliff to create a control system based on that of the Zaliff Prosthesis, and Zanoba to design the armored shell and its propulsion mechanisms. When I explained the general concept of the Magic Armor, their eyes lit up with excitement. It didn’t take long for them to understand what I had in mind. Powered suits weren’t really a thing here, but I guess boys will be boys anywhere you go.
Once Cliff and Zanoba were on board, I asked Sylphie and Roxy for their help as well. Roxy acted as the project’s general overseer and supervisor. I could conceivably have filled that role myself, but I was the only person capable of creating and modifying the ultra-hard plates of rock that would serve as the thing’s actual armor. It was a job that took a lot of time and a lot of mana. I didn’t have time to worry about too much else.
Sylphie was capable of silently casting Earth magic. Also, her research into the Displacement Incident had left her unusually knowledgeable about magic circles. The girl was pretty damn smart and talented in general, for that matter. Since she could handle almost any task, I wanted her as a general assistant to Roxy, running around to help out wherever she was most needed.
When I’d asked her for her help, she said “Of course! I’m on it!” with a big grin on her face. It felt like the first time in a while I’d seen her look that happy, actually. She’d probably been keeping some less than happy thoughts to herself recently. That made me feel more than a little guilty.
Once the Magic Armor project got rolling, I started to spend some time on item two: finding allies.
My initial plan had been to face Orsted alone, but I knew how powerless I was compared to him. I didn’t have my future self’s long years of combat experience, or his knowledge of magic.
Unfortunately, I didn’t track down anyone who seemed capable of evening the odds. Badigadi was nowhere to be found, and neither was Ruijerd. Perugius, unsurprisingly, turned me down flat. His reasons for doing so weren’t exactly comforting, either—
“There are three people in this world you should never try to fight: The Technique God, the Fighting God, and the Dragon God. Even among those three, Orsted is particularly powerful and particularly ruthless. Your determination to protect your family is admirable, and I would love to ask him a few questions about the Man-God…but I shall be staying out of this. I’d rather not die before Laplace returns, you see.”
I’d gone in optimistic about my chances of coaxing him into helping, but it just didn’t work out that way. At least he wasn’t actively trying to stop me, either. I’d have to take that as a win.
Apart from Perugius, I simply could not locate anyone who seemed capable of standing against Orsted. Zanoba was incredibly strong and highly resistant to physical damage, so I briefly considered bringing him along…but Atofe had been capable of damaging him with her attacks, despite his “blessing.” I had to assume the same went for Orsted. The last thing I wanted was to get Zanoba killed. He was my best friend.
Of course, I didn’t want to see Cliff or Elinalise die either. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to drag anyone else into this fight. I did consider Eris momentarily. It was hard to guess exactly when she’d get here. Based on that diary, though, she was probably even more powerful than I’d be with the Magic Armor complete. Was there any chance she’d join me in the fight against Orsted?
It wasn’t even a fair question, really. Before I started dragging her into my battles, the two of us needed to sort out our past and where things stood between us. I had no right to expect her help until that happened.
With my search for allies at something of an impasse, I redirected my attention to the third item on my list—crafting my strategy for the battle. I needed to run through this fight carefully beforehand.
I would be fighting on my own. And I absolutely had to kill my opponent. Given those two premises, I actually had a large number of options available to me.
If there were no allies nearby, and I kept my distance from my enemy, I could easily make use of powerful spells with a wide area of effect. The bigger the spell, the more difficult it would be for him to evade. Something like Lightning, which concentrated all its power into a smaller area, might be more effective at dealing damage, but I had a feeling that Orsted would simply dodge it.
All things considered, barraging him with wide area attacks from a great distance seemed like the smartest approach. The damage would add up eventually. And if I stayed far enough away that he couldn’t perceive me, he wouldn’t be able to interrupt me with Disturb Magic.
There was also a chance that I could catch him unawares and smash through his defenses when his guard was down. Setting up a trap might not be a bad idea. I could lure him to a deserted area, where he’d find something that would catch his attention…something that would explode the moment he picked it up. I could use that as my signal to fire magic at him from a distance.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the right approach. The question was: how would I go about luring him to this location? Maybe I could take Nanahoshi as a “hostage”, or send him a message from the Man-God. Both seemed like they might work.
That said, I wasn’t optimistic enough to think that my initial long-range attacks would be enough to take him down. There was a chance it might work, but I needed to assume otherwise. Once he found his way to me, it would come down to a close-range fight in my Magic Armor. I wasn’t sure how well my mind could keep up with an ultra-high-speed battle…but there was no point worrying about that until I’d actually taken the Magic Armor for a spin.
As I thought all this over, I found myself remembering my childhood in this world. For a while, I spent a lot of time working on a plan to beat Paul in a fight. I’d been hoping to surpass him while he was still in his prime. In the end, though, I never defeated him even once.
Still, the tactics I’d worked out back then were deeply rooted in my mind. I knew how to use my magic in coordination with the movements of my body. I knew how to move in three dimensions. No matter how overwhelming my opponent might be, my basic approach wasn’t going to change. I needed to keep him at a distance, blasting him with attacks while he tried to catch me. I needed to keep the pressure up, and force him to make disadvantageous decisions.
That was how I fought when I was at my best.
Of course, Orsted had Disturb Magic and his Wyrmgates. There were no doubt other tricks up his sleeve, as well. It felt safe to say that this would never go according to plan. The trap and the ambush were a good start. What else did I need to beat him? It was crucial for me to really think this through. I had to consider every possibility, then focus on the more promising ideas.
In all honesty, I knew my mind wasn’t functioning too well right now. I was impatient, and scared, and increasingly obsessed with my task. It would probably have been wiser to take things more slowly, and try out some of my ideas on an experimental basis.
The single best plan would probably have involved cornering Orsted slowly and methodically, over a period of ten years or so. But if I were that lackadaisical about this, the Man-God might change his mind, and I might come home to find I’d lost someone I loved. More than anything else, I was terrified of that.
And one night, as my preparations were proceeding, he came to me again.
***
I found myself in a white space. Presumably, I was at the center of the barren world.
“Hey there! Looks like things are coming along nicely, huh?”
Yeah. I’ll fight Orsted, just like you asked me to.
“Now, now, I didn’t ask you to fight him. I just asked you to kill him!”
You sure look like you’re in a good mood today. Are you that happy to have me dancing on your strings?
“C’mon, this is exciting stuff! Even I don’t know what’s gonna happen next!”
Glad you’re enjoying yourself. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon, though. Does this mean you just made up that stuff about wavelengths aligning or whatever?
“Oh, yeah. Total nonsense.”
You could at least pretend to feel a little shame… So I’m guessing the part about ‘I can only appear to certain people’ was a lie too?
“Yep, pure fiction. But hey, it must have been a nice ego boost to hear you were the chosen one, right?”
Tch… Well, whatever. Within the next few days, I’ll tell Sylphie and Roxy that I’m planning to fight Orsted. If he does ends up killing me, my kids will grow up knowing he’s the man who murdered their father. That should be plenty of reason for them to hate him, so—
“Sorry. That’s not going to be enough to knock destiny off track. You need to kill him, or I’ll erase your descendants—no matter how long it takes.”
Ugh. Do you have to phrase it like that? Well, whatever. In any case, it’s going to take me a while to complete the Magic Armor. We’re breaking new ground here, and Cliff’s struggling with some of the theories involved. I’m trying to push things along as fast as I can, but I think it’ll be another six months or so…
“Cliff should already be capable of designing magic circles to strengthen the rocks. You should focus solely on making the joints and the external shell, since that needs to be as tough as possible. Also, when you’re designing the magic circles for the torso, make sure you use the Alistair Method rather than the Wind System. That should help you past the tough parts.”
Uh… no kidding?
“Tell Zanoba you want the thing to be a bit more on the bulky side, as well. You’ll burn more mana that way, but it’ll let you layer more magic circles underneath the main ones. Design the circles on the lower layer to repair the more important ones if they get damaged. That should allow you to keep moving, even if the thing’s half-destroyed.”
Huh? Wait. I didn’t know you were an expert on this stuff.
“Well, I am the Man-God, you know. I’m familiar enough with the Fighting God’s armor to give you a few pointers.”
You know, that reminds me… Don’t the people of the world call you the God of Men instead? Is there any significance to that?
“The God of Men is something like a nickname of mine, I suppose. It just caught on for some reason, I guess! Man-God is my proper name.”
Why do I feel like you’re lying to me yet again? Not that I really care that much about your name…More importantly, do you think I can win? Let’s say I build the Magic Armor, set a trap, and launch a sneak attack. Do I have a chance?
“Ooh, good question… I mean, you’ve got as much mana as Laplace to work with, right? If you go all-out, I bet you’ll put up a good fight.”
That’s not super reassuring. Mind being less vague? I wouldn’t mind if you dropped me a few more hints on strategy…
“All right then. Get yourself some magical implements—the kind that fire off an offensive spell when you feed them mana. Shouldn’t be too hard to find those in Sharia, right? They’re designed to only consume a little bit of juice, so ordinary folks can use them, but it’s easy enough to modify them so they use more mana…just like that Zaliff Prosthesis of yours. Make yourself a few really high-powered ones, the sort only you could use. You’ll get some new attacks for your arsenal, and a way to work around Disturb Magic.”
Oh. Wow. Gotta say, you’re giving me some really detailed advice for a change.
“Well, you’re throwing yourself into this more enthusiastically than I expected. Why wouldn’t I help out? I really do want Orsted dead, you know.”
…Can’t shake the feeling there’s something more to this. For all I know, if I design the Magic Armor according to your instructions, it’ll explode the moment I try to activate it.
“…Whose life would you like to bet on that intriguing theory? Go on, pick: Aisha, Norn, Lilia, or Zenith?”
Tch…
“Like I’ve told you, I can’t see Orsted’s future. That means I can’t see the outcome of your battle, either. I don’t know what’s going to happen to you.”
Okay. And that means you don’t know for sure that I’m going to lose. Correct?
“Exactly.”
By the way… if you can’t see Orsted’s future, how do you know that he’s going to join forces with my descendants in the future?
“I can’t see the man himself, but I can certainly see my own future. It involves your descendants, some man I don’t recognize, and Orsted surrounding me.”
You can see anything you’re going to experience personally, huh? So what happens after they show up? They just beat you to a pulp or what?
“Yep. They kill me rather brutally. I don’t put up much of a fight.”
Hmm… Look, why is Orsted after you, anyway? You sure you didn’t do anything unspeakably cruel to him?
“Oh, who knows. I don’t recall doing anything to the man himself, at the very least.”
Either you don’t want to tell me, or you genuinely don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter which. It’s not like I can trust anything you tell me, anyway. You lie constantly.
“Now that’s a little harsh. The only malicious lie I ever told you was that little fib about the basement, you know?”
All your advice up until then was just laying the groundwork for that moment, right?
“Yeah, true! But you know, if you hadn’t gone and gotten Roxy pregnant, I wouldn’t have needed to do that.”
Why the hell couldn’t you have just told me not to have a kid with her, then?! Why did you have to make this so complicated?!
“It wouldn’t have worked. No matter what I said, you would have knocked her up. That’s just the way it had to be, I guess. No matter how many times I tweaked and prodded at the future, it just didn’t want to change…”
Maybe so, but you could have at least— Agh. Never mind. Sorry for yelling at you. In the end, I did marry Roxy, and I did get her pregnant. Now that I think about it, some of the things I did to end up here felt a little strange to me. Out of character, even. I guess that’s how this destiny thing works. And I get why you want to change it.
I’ll do what you want, Man-God. I’ll follow your orders. I’ll kill Orsted. But before I do that, there’s something I need to say to you.
“What’s that?”
Once Orsted is dead, I want you to leave me alone for the rest of my life. Don’t meddle with my family, either. Please. I want you to promise me that.
“What’s this? Hmm. And here I thought you didn’t trust my promises anymore.”
I don’t. Of course I don’t… but I have to believe you’re not lying about this one thing. If you’re not going to let me off the hook no matter what, maybe I’ll just join up with Orsted and start working against you.
“Oh, go right ahead. I can’t kill you, sure, and I can’t kill him either. But you don’t want to see what I can do. You’ll find out exactly what it means to make an enemy out of me.”
You might be bluffing right now. Maybe threatening me is the best you’ve got. I mean, you had to manipulate me for years before you could get me to make one little mistake… For all I know, you might be talking tough because you’re terrified to have me as an enemy.
“Please. You’ve got a very strong destiny, so I was just trying to nip things in the bud as subtly as possible… Oh, forget it. It’s not like you’re going to believe anything I say, right? Go ahead, underestimate me all you want. Bye now! You might live to regret this.”
Uh… no. Sorry. I take it back. Give me a minute here. Look, all I want is a little reassurance. You say you’re going to kill my family if I lose to Orsted. But even if I win, it feels very possible that you’ll turn around and kill them anyway. That’s not great for my motivation, you know? I need to know there’s some point in me doing this.
“…Sigh. I suppose you’re right. Here goes, then: In the name of the Man-God, I swear to honor my promise. Once you defeat Orsted, I won’t have anything to worry about. That means I won’t need to bother you ever again. I won’t speak to, harass, or attempt to harm you, your wives, your mother, your sisters, your descendants, or your pets.”
You really mean that, right? I’m going to hold you to it.
“Sure. If you’d like, I’m even willing to offer a little helpful advice if your family ever finds itself in a crisis.”
…I’ve had enough of your advice for one lifetime, thanks.
“Oh yeah? Well then, good luck with Orsted.”
With those final words echoing in my ears, I felt myself sink into unconsciousness.
***
Another month flew by.
The construction of the Magic Armor was coming along smoothly. Following the Man-God’s recommendation, we’d made it larger than I originally intended. The thing stood a good three meters tall…about half the size of an Aura Battler, come to think of it. The Magic Armor described in my future self’s diary had been more like an ordinary bulky suit of armor. This version would be significantly bigger. Increasing its size had led us to several discoveries: not only was it was easier to design this way, but we could also increase its durability.
The Man-God’s advice had been completely legitimate, in other words.
When I passed along his other suggestions to Cliff, his eyes lit up with understanding, and he immediately threw himself into his work with redoubled vigor. In no time at all, he resolved the thorniest problems he’d been struggling with. I’d expected the project to take at least half a year, but our progress was accelerated significantly.
At this rate, we’d be done in another month or so. The entire job would be over a mere three months after we’d begun. Under any other circumstances, I might have been full of gratitude toward the Man-God.
It was ironic, in a way. My future self had created the Magic Armor in order to kill him, but now he’d helped us create it… When I thought about it that way, I couldn’t help wondering if he really was up to something devious here. But Cliff and Zanoba were the ones actually making the thing. I trusted them completely.
I’d also hunted down the magical implements the Man-God had mentioned. Roxy had helped me out with this.
We’d found what we were looking for quickly enough. The implements in question were small wands, activated by the word “Fire,” which launched Beginner-tier offensive spells at your target. They were a fairly popular, affordable product, and weren’t particularly powerful. You’d sometimes find Thieves who lacked other ranged attacks carrying them.
In sum, the Man-God said that if we modified these so they could withstand my mana output, it would be possible to make them fire off the sort of Stone Cannon spells I frequently used in battle.
As I considered this, an interesting idea had popped into my head. While we were modifying their power, what if we also made it so they could fire a continuous stream of spells, so long as they kept receiving mana? And what if I then bundled ten or so of them together? I’d have myself a Gatling gun of sorts, capable of pumping out a constant stream of deadly projectiles.
When I mentioned the idea to Roxy, she nodded with a neutral expression on her face. “Your spells are very potent, but you can only fire one of them at a time. This might be a way around that limitation. Fortunately, I happened to meet an excellent creator of magical implements recently. Let’s see if they’ll take the job.”
That same day, Roxy arranged a meeting with her acquaintance. I was slightly surprised when she turned out to be an elvish woman. There weren’t many of her race in Sharia. Elves have pretty faces as a general rule, but hers was caked with soot, and her fingernails were black with grime. She was clearly devoted to her job.
When I explained my idea, her eyes widened with surprise. “Uh, are you sure about that? If I make this thing like you described it, every shot is going to take way too much mana. It might drain you to death if you’re not careful.”
I hadn’t even considered the idea. Was that what the Man-God had in mind when he suggested this? Stone Cannon didn’t consume much mana, but this thing would be capable of firing off tens of thousands of them in a single day…
I couldn’t bring myself to worry too much about it, though. If I ran out of mana without killing Orsted, I was as good as dead either way. And I needed to push myself to the very limit if I was going to stand a chance against him.
“That won’t be a problem. Please make it exactly as I described.”
The elf shrugged, but took the job nonetheless. I would have my short-range weapon. Now I just had to pray it would be capable of damaging Orsted.
“Rudy…”
On our way back from the workshop, Roxy struck up a conversation.
She said: “I don’t know who or what you’re planning to fight, but will you really need a weapon like that to defeat them?”
“No, no. I’m sure I’ll be fine either way.”
I was just trying to be reassuring, of course. It didn’t work. Roxy narrowed her eyes and pouted in displeasure. “You used to be such an honest, sweet kid, Rudy. But lately all you do is lie and hide things from me.”
The words stung quite a bit. In all fairness, though, I’d done plenty of lying and deceiving even when I was a kid.
“Sorry, Roxy…”
“Oh, that’s all right. I’m hiding something from you too, after all. But you know, Rudy… I am at least discussing that matter with people I can trust. I’m not saying it has to be me, but I hope you’re confiding in someone. You’re not trying to face this all alone, are you?”
“Nah. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”
I had a good idea as to what Roxy’s secret was. Lately, she hadn’t been letting me do anything too… active in the bedroom. It was partially because I wasn’t asking, but I noticed she was actively steering me away from making the suggestion. Given what I’d read in the diary, she was probably starting to suspect that she was pregnant. She wasn’t getting morning sickness yet as far as I knew, but I’d noticed that her sense of taste seemed to be changing.
When was she planning to break the news? Maybe she was waiting for the second trimester… or maybe she was planning to keep quiet until I dealt with my current mission.
Either way, I couldn’t help hoping that she’d speak up before I went off to fight Orsted. That way, we could have a big party to celebrate.
It might be my last chance to throw one.
The following day, I paid a visit to Nanahoshi.
I’d half-expected to be refused entrance to the floating fortress, but they let me in surprisingly easily. Given how scared he was of Orsted, Perugius was being pretty lenient toward me.
I ended up asking Sylvaril about this, and received a prompt reply.
“I kind of thought you wouldn’t let me in after last time, you know?”
“Lord Perugius always shows great compassion to those going to their deaths. He has no objection to you saying your farewells to Miss Nanahoshi.”
Apparently, they were already convinced that I was going to lose. And also die. I was being allowed into the castle as an act of charity.
I wasn’t complaining, though. It beat getting chased away at the door.
I found Nanahoshi looking much livelier than before. Someone had brought a number of her possessions from the University up here, so her room was a bit less barren, too. The Ruijerd figurine sitting on her windowsill was presumably a gift from Zanoba, and the small decorative cross next to it must have come from Cliff. That was thoughtful of him. It never hurts to have something to pray to when you’re struggling. I never had much interest in any gods or relics in my previous life, but my opinions on the matter had… evolved a bit.
“So basically, my preparations are coming along nicely. I think it’s time to talk about how we’re going to lure him to me.”
“…All right. But first—as I’m sure you’re well aware, Orsted is extremely powerful.”
“I know.”
“He’s also ruthless. I’m not sure how he picks his targets, but when he intends to kill someone, he doesn’t hesitate.”
“…”
“I spent several years travelling with him, and I never saw him break a sweat in battle. He kills giant dragons in a single—”
“Can you stop trying to scare me, Nanahoshi?”
“I’m sorry. But I do want you to reconsider this, in all honesty. It’s madness, plain and simple…”
“Look—”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
Well, now she had me feeling even more anxious than before. Did I really have a chance of winning here?
“What I’m trying to say is: I don’t recommend fighting him head-on.”
“Sure. Yeah. I can’t see myself beating him in a fair fight, no matter how much I enhance my strength and speed.”
“If I were you, I would lure him to a specific spot, and then attack him with your magic from a distance… while remaining hidden, of course.”
“Hmm. Anything else come to mind?”
“Let’s see… Oh.”
“What? Did you think of something?”
“I’d almost rather not say…but I did decide to help you, I suppose.”
“Right…”
Nanahoshi swallowed loudly before continuing. “Poisoning him might work as well.”
Poison, huh…
Detoxification magic could deal with a wide range of toxins, but there were certain diseases and poisons which no known spell could counteract. It was hard to know how effective most of them would be against a monster like Orsted, of course… but there had to be something out there that could harm him. Maybe Ariel could hook me up with something suitable. I had a feeling that everyone in the Asuran royal family was well-versed in this kind of thing.
“Okay. So I set a trap, poison him, and then attack from a distance… Ah, right. Nanahoshi, could I use you as a hostage?”
“A hostage…? I suppose so. I’m not sure how concerned Orsted would be with my safety, though.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point… We don’t want him figuring out you’re working with me, either. No reason to put your neck on the line too…”
“O-Oh. Right. I hadn’t even thought of that.”
Hmm, yeah. Let’s not do the hostage thing.
The Man-God was using my family as hostages at the moment. I knew it was a highly effective way to manipulate someone. But it was also a great way to get them furious and highly motivated. That could seriously backfire on you in battle.
“Any other ideas, Nanahoshi?”
“Hmm, I don’t know… Did you read a lot of manga back in Japan? There were plenty of powerful enemies in those, right?”
“I don’t think those strategies are going to be too helpful here…”
The two of us talked it through for a while longer, managing to think up a few somewhat promising ideas. Without exception, they were sneaky, underhanded tricks. It was hard to imagine them doing much against someone as formidable as Orsted.
Then again, even the deadliest techniques are just a combination of devious little maneuvers. I had to believe I’d get some results from all of this.
“Well then, uhm… good luck, Rudeus.”
“Thanks.”
“Try to come back alive, will you? I don’t think I’ll ever get home without your help.”
By the time I left Nanahoshi’s room, we’d worked out our plan to lure Orsted to me.
Next, I turned to Ariel for help.
When I explained that I wanted poisons no spell could neutralize, she grimaced openly. But nonetheless, she set up me with an introduction to a local underworld organization that she was on good terms with.
This group was larger and more sophisticated than your typical pack of bandits; it had grown into something more like a gang or a mafia family. Drug smuggling was their main business, but they also made and sold a variety of poisons.
When I got in touch, they directed me to a dilapidated house in a quiet corner of Sharia, where I was escorted to a specific room in the basement. The air was thick with sweet-scented smoke.
My contact, a man with one eye, was already waiting for me inside.
“Hello there, Mr. Greyrat. Nice to meet you.”
I hadn’t introduced myself, but the man clearly knew who I was. With a big, crude grin, he got right down to business.
“So tell me, what can I do for you today? You want to make ’em really suffer for a while, or just keel over right away? Maybe something to make the legs go numb, or swell up some magician’s tongue? I’ve got a little potion that can drive any woman wild, too. Perfect for when things start to get a bit perfunctory!”
Based on that spiel, his inventory ranged from poisons to anesthetics and aphrodisiacs. That suited me perfectly.
“I’ll take everything you’ve got.”
“Uh, everything? Now, I’m not complaining, but that’s gonna get a little pricey…”
“That’s fine by me.”
“Whoo. Okay then! Guess you really want someone dead… Oh, what about that love drug? You want that one too?”
“Well…”
A thought flitted through my mind: What if Orsted’s immune to poisons?
Killing him with a poison no spell could cure was a simple enough idea. Anyone could have thought of it. And Orsted was cursed to be hated by everyone he encountered. It seemed likely he had some countermeasures in place against this sort of thing. Maybe he was naturally resistant…or maybe he had some kind of miracle potion that could purge any toxins from his system.
“Yeah, I’ll take that too.”
“Heh heh heh! Sure thing. You wanna see that cool, collected beauty of yours melt into a puddle, huh?”
“My wife’s sweet as a kitten in bed, actually.”
“No kidding? This is Silent Fitz we’re talking about, right? Kinda hard to believe, honestly!”
I had no real reason to believe an aphrodisiac would work on Orsted if poison didn’t, but it couldn’t hurt to try. Anything that could affect him or distract him was worth a shot.
With that thought in mind, I bought everything the man had to offer.
In between all of my other preparations, I also took the time to scout out potential battlefields.
I intended to fight him on my own, with no one else around. That meant going outside the city, of course. It had to be a spot outside Sharia’s walls, where no one was likely to go, that offered opportunities to set up traps. I did some research into potential candidates at the Adventurers’ Guild; and when I found a place that sounded suitable, I headed out to study it in person.
I also had Elinalise introduce me to an adventurer acquaintance of hers, who gave me detailed lectures on laying and creating traps. The adventurer in question was apparently a former assassin, with knowledge of many different techniques for luring people to their deaths. Many of these traps exploited weaknesses of human psychology in devilishly clever ways. I got some hands-on experience with a few examples. Even though I knew what to expect, I still ended up blundering into them. Personally, I wasn’t convinced Orsted would fall for any of them, but they would still give me something of an advantage.
On a different note, Elinalise gave me some personal lessons on close-range combat. She was an expert at fighting in the front lines of a party, and even though I wouldn’t say she was that strong in a one-on-one duel, she’d been alive for many years, and she had a wealth of practical experience. In her time as an adventurer, she’d faced opponents more powerful than herself on numerous occasions. And despite her relatively average physical capabilities, she’d come out alive every time. That made her knowledge valuable.
In that sense, it was a real pity I had no idea where to find Ruijerd, considering everything he’d been through… but there was no point dwelling on it, really. Perugius wouldn’t be helping either. I’d just have to manage.
Over the course of these lessons and strategizing sessions, I tried my best to visualize how I would move around and fight inside the Magic Armor.
My basic method of attack would be a constant barrage of Stone Cannon spells, fired from the numerous magical implements mounted on my armor. I would probably want to be moving backward, for the most part. While keeping up a steady barrage, I could also slow Orsted down with spells like Quagmire and Deep Mist. And if he eventually slipped up, I’d be ready to take advantage.
That seemed simple enough. Simple was good.
Finally, I unsealed the basement and prayed at my altar for victory in the coming battle.
Two months had passed since I’d killed that diseased mouse. If the words of my future self could be trusted, the virus or germ that caused Petrification Syndrome would be long dead. Still, I asked Roxy not to enter the basement for now, and required anyone who did to wash their hands and rinse their mouth immediately afterward. It was more for my own peace of mind than anything else.
Since I was already down here, I decided to poke around and see if I could find anything that might prove useful against Orsted.
The Magic Items in the basement were mostly pieces of junk. They’d also been frozen solid by my Frost Nova two months ago, but this apparently hadn’t damaged them. They all seemed to function as before. We had a hat that would splash water on your head when you tried to take it off; a helmet with a gem mounted on the front that shone like a flashlight when you put it on; a little box that would belch clouds of smoke when you opened it; a shortsword with a blade that turned to rubber when you tried to stab something; a pair of shoes that would emit a foul odor every time you took a step in them… etcetera, etcetera.
I’d tossed them into storage just in case, but I didn’t see how any of them could be useful, other than as props for some kind of street performance. Maybe that little box could provide a smokescreen, at least. Theoretically. It would be nice to somehow replace all of Orsted’s equipment with these stupid things, but I couldn’t see how I would manage that. Also, he’d probably just take them off.
I grabbed a few of them at random anyway. You never knew what might come in handy.
Before I left the basement, I turned back to my altar and said another silent prayer for victory in battle.
It’s always best to ask twice for the really important stuff.
All of my preparations were coming together. And yet the lingering sense of anxiety in the back of my mind never went away completely. Not even for a moment.
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Diamond. Diamond. Diamond.
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