Chapter 203
Here's the translation without asterisks:
"Finally finished them off!!"
"I'm exhausted. How many were there anyway?"
"......"
"Lady Esmeralda, are you alright?"
It took about an hour to defeat all the enemies. Monsters had been attacking nonstop until then, so we'd been constantly fighting them off.
Amina cheered while Nell sighed, seemingly tired from the sheer number of monsters. In contrast to these two, Ingrid silently supported Lady Esmeralda who was covering her mouth without a word.
"Ingrid, let Lady Esmeralda rest in the carriage. There's water in the canteen - if she feels sick, having her drink some should help. I think it's probably from drinking too many potions.""Understood."
Even if it was to increase extermination efficiency, chugging mana potions isn't good. I get that you're pumped for your first expedition, but you need to follow proper dosage instructions.
"Quite the haul we got. Helmet boar and greyhound pelts. And what's this from the slow monkey?""It looks like a rock, but it's actually iron ore. Gather enough and you can make iron ingots.""No wonder it's so heavy."
Leaving the caregiving to Ingrid, the rest of us busily collected dropped items like magic stones and pelts. Since different monsters drop different items, sorting through everything is quite a chore.
"Speaking of which, we didn't see any mimic armor. Wonder why?""They don't spawn in large numbers. Plus while they're strong enough to hold their own against surrounding monsters, they can still be overwhelmed by numbers.""Ah, so that's why we didn't see any."
There were two types of monsters that didn't appear during our sweep. One was the mimic armor Amina mentioned - a monster with low population numbers that can be defeated when surrounded by other monsters.
"The hunting process for those guys involves first gathering memory stones, clearing out Madalda's monsters, and only then can you begin. After that, you just pray they don't fall into spot tunneler traps."
Those guys in particular tend to be careless about their footing and often fall into pit traps set by hidden spot tunnelers, dying there. When an already small population gets reduced, they become even harder to find.
"What's next?""For now, we'll keep using dowsing to collect memory stones while searching for mimic armor like before.""Aren't we going to look for monster spawn points?""The entire town is a spawn point for mimic armor, so it's faster to search for existing ones."
Given the vast area and low monster count, while the most difficult part of collecting ancient weapons is the drop rate, the second hardest is actually finding them.
"Should I sing to attract them?""That's an option, but the drawback is it would attract other monsters too. Getting mimic armor to drop ancient weapons requires some specific steps."
Amina's songs are convenient for extermination but not ideal for attracting specific monsters. So this time we'll have to try another method.
Namely...
"Preferably, we'd want to fight just the mimic armor."
Which means we have no choice but to search for them the hard way.
"Amina, can you guard the carriage here with the spirits?""Leave it to me!""Ingrid and Lady Esmeralda, please set up a base camp around the carriage. Nell, Claudia and I will search for mimic armor while collecting memory stones."
Since we've summoned golems, we should probably fortify this position. Either way, we'll be staying here for three days. After clearing out the monsters, we should be safe from attacks for a while. Being a military carriage, it's well-equipped for camping.
"Understood.""Leave it to... me..."
With Ingrid and Lady Esmeralda handling the camp setup, I looked up at the sky to check the sun's position.
"About three hours until sunset."
While we don't have unlimited time, collecting a few memory stones and finding two mimic armors would be ideal.
"For now, let's head to the memory stone spot.""Got it.""Understood."
I led Nell and Claudia away from the site.
Having walked through Madalda many times, even if there are minor areas I don't recognize, there's no risk of getting lost.
"Three came out!""Having Nell handle the dowsing was definitely the right call.""I wonder where her incredible luck comes from?""Is it that unusual?""I'd say it goes beyond unusual into miraculous territory."
After just seeing the method demonstrated once, Nell memorized the procedure and effortlessly pulled the maximum number from one spot. Seeing this, even Claudia who's traveled the world admits she's never seen anything like it even if it happened occasionally. But when it's the norm?
Well, even I who's played FBO extensively have never seen such amazing luck, so I can't blame her.
"She might have received some divine blessing...""There's no such status indication though.""That's the strange part. Those with blessings are usually given skills as proof."
If this was a so-called "Gifted" character with unique skills from the start, it would make sense. But Nell had no such skills.
"Nell, can I ask you something?""What?""Have you always been lucky? Like winning first prize in every raffle?""Festival raffles? I've never done them. Dad always stopped me, saying we had plenty of food.""Jink did?""Yes, he said to stop because the stall owners would feel bad.""......"
Could Jink know something about Nell's incredible luck? Though if that were the case, I think he would have said something to me.
I feel like there's something there, but I don't know what.
"Hmm... I'll visit Jink's shop when we get back. I need to place orders for next live's goods too."
Not knowing is bothering me, so I'll make time to check later.
"Hey hey, Liberta, look!""Ah, mimic armor."
In the distance, I spotted armor moving slowly, holding a rusty drawn sword.
"Great, since we found one, this is a good chance to explain the mimic armor's drop mechanic.""Okay!""Understood."
Mimic armor is a special monster that normally only drops magic stones when defeated. So how do you get them to drop ancient weapons?
While I mentioned using memory stones, it's not as simple as loading them into a slingshot like with the haniwa.
"The mechanic isn't that complicated. First, pick up a suitable stone to lure it over.""Okay.""Then throw it!"
First, we need to draw the distant mimic armor into combat. I picked up a random stone and threw it overhand, hitting the mimic armor's head.
"Lure the enemy over!""Why do that?""It's not just to avoid the hassle of chasing it down - this way we can prepare while it comes to us."
The thrown stone flew straight at the mimic armor at tremendous speed. With my current shoulder strength, I might be able to throw a fastball that would play in the majors.
The stone hit exactly where I aimed with a satisfying clang. Recognizing the attack to its head, the mimic armor turned toward us and began clanking its way over.
"Next, prepare a memory stone.""Here."
We had about thirty seconds until engagement. During that time, I took one of the memory stones Nell had excavated.
"Then channel magic and chant the spell.""Spell?""Yes, spell."
Placing it on my palm, I examined it carefully. This is a spell anyone can obtain by properly interacting with NPCs through the correct steps. While the mechanic is fairly standard, it's slightly embarrassing for someone who's gone through and recovered from chuunibyou.
"Memories of the past imitate, intertwine and manifest here now."
Memory stones are inherently unnatural phenomena - the materialization of memories is fundamentally strange. As if to emphasize this unnaturalness, merely uttering this phrase caused the material to dissolve into particles of light.
"The effective range is only three meters, but that's enough if you can make contact."
The particles flowed toward the mimic armor and seeped into its body.
"This is...""The rust is falling away?""More accurately, it's regaining its past."
The light restored the heavily rusted mimic armor to like-new condition.
"Regaining its past?""The reason mimic armor takes the form of armor in the first place relates to this, but explaining would take a while. Let's defeat this one first.""Agreed. Judging from its appearance, it seems to have grown stronger."
Let's call this "True Mimic Armor." Now it will finally drop ancient weapons.
"Claudia and I will support Nell. Nell, you handle the finishing blow.""Got it."
Why does this transformation occur? Progressing through Madalda's quest story reveals information about mimic armor from an NPC researcher studying the monsters appearing in the ruined ancient capital.
According to that character, while initially thought to be ghosts, mimic armor are actually monsters that are drawn to lingering emotions and imitate those emotions to form their shapes. After showing me the research verifying this, he explained these emotions belong to those who died in Madalda.
Unlike undead, mimic armor are monsters that absorb these emotions to take form. So the souls of the dead are treated merely as data. These monsters that imitate memory data to assume shape are what we call mimic armor.
"With the rust gone, its movements are sharper. But if it doesn't use any skills, it's not a problem!"
It attacked with a standard sword. As its movements became sharper with the rust gone, I used my spear to keep it in check, engaging in a sword vs spear exchange.
Mimic armor's imitation skill copies any skill it sees even once, so sticking to basic attacks prevents it from copying techniques. With superior technique, we can push the advantage.
"Crushing Fist!"
A surprise attack knocked it off balance.
"Neck Hunter!"
Then a leg sweep slowed its movements.
"Ten-Zeni Gold Smash!!"
With its defenses weakened, Nell's attack came crashing down from above. Even with its boosted stats, the mimic armor couldn't withstand the blow and was cleaved in two, turning to black ash.
"Oh!""It dropped!""We did it!"
From within the black ash appeared a sooty breastplate. Though it had been full metal armor, what appeared was aged leather.
Let's set aside questions about the discrepancy for now.
Thus we obtained our first ancient weapon drop. And Nell got the last hit - this has me feeling hopeful.
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