Chapter 36 - 036_New Source Power
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036_New Source Power
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Before returning to Dedel Territory, Rodney went to Bassam to greet Count Banyusas. He was concerned because he had pushed the matter of the pirates and Baron Menisas onto the Count, and also to show respect to his patron.
「We attacked the pirate base and obtained evidence linking Menisas to the pirates. Currently, we have reported this to the royal family and are awaiting their judgment.」
Baron Menisas, who organized pirates for privateering, might face the death penalty and his house might be abolished.
「I believe there will be questions for you as well, Rodney-dono. Please cooperate.」
Since Rodney himself was the party involved, he understood he would be questioned. So he asked about something that had been on his mind.
「Why did Baron Menisas instruct the pirates to attack me? We had already repaid all the debts owed by our house. Besides that, we had almost no connection with him.」
「With debts, one profits from interest. You are the person who crushed Baron Menisas's profits. Moreover, you defeated the Knight King Ogre that his eldest son summoned and failed to control. You might think it's no big deal, but for Menisas, that might have been a reason to hold a grudge.」
Since Rodney's house had borrowed at a high annual interest rate of 120%, Baron Menisas was reaping easy profits—Rodney could understand that. But he should have been grateful that Rodney defeated the Knight King Ogre. Rodney wondered why he had to be resented.
Count Banyusas believed that the matter of Baron Menisas would be settled by the end of summer. If the evidence was complete, appropriate punishment should be handed down.
Furthermore, regarding the damage caused by the Knight King Ogre, Count Banyusas had also sought the royal family's judgment, so a decision would likely be made on that as well.
The first thing Rodney saw when he returned to his territory from Bassam was a withered apple tree.
He had brought it back from the Labyrinth and planted it in the garden, but unfortunately it had withered. It had already been weak before Rodney left for the royal capital, and he had tried various things, but it seemed it didn't work.
「Teacher-sama also said that plants growing in the Labyrinth won't grow on the surface...」
Most residents of Dedel Territory had knowledge of farming. Even those who didn't own farmland would often help farmers during the busy season. That said, Rodney didn't think he could grow an apple tree just because of that, but since it withered despite his efforts, Sage Daguldor's words that it was hard to grow on the surface were probably correct.
「I'm sorry, Rodney-sama.」
「It's not your fault, Riti. Don't worry about it.」
For several days after returning, he tackled the backlog of work. Once again, many documents had piled up, but he had no choice but to deal with them.
After finishing the documents, Rodney decided to orally ingest the Life Light Stones he had obtained in the Oburosu Labyrinth.
First was the Life Light Stone of the Fish Dragon. It was a Life Light Stone that granted 'Underwater Adaptation'—an effect similar to 'Underwater Life' which Rodney already had.
Rodney ingested the Fish Dragon's Life Light Stone and endured the intense pain by clenching his molars. When the pain subsided, the Source Power he obtained was 'Underwater King'.
Underwater King was a superior Source Power to Underwater Life and Underwater Adaptation. However, none of the books on Source Power that Rodney owned mentioned Underwater King.
He knew from 'Understand' that it was the highest-level Source Power above Underwater Life and Underwater Adaptation, but without Understand, he would have remained confused.
As for the Source Powers obtainable from other Life Light Stones, many were inferior versions of what he already had, so he didn't deliberately ingest them.
However, the Life Light Stone of the Stone Giant was different. After searching through books about the Stone Giant, he found only a two-line description.
「So a stone giant with three faces and eight arms is called Hekatonkeiru.」
It is recorded that a single Hekatonkeiru confirmed decades ago annihilated an army of 300 soldiers. There is no record of it being defeated afterward.
That Hekatonkeiru was not from the Oburosu Labyrinth, so it was a different individual. In other words, that Hekatonkeiru might still be alive today.
「I'll notify Teacher-sama about the Hekatonkeiru, and I also need to ask about that key.」
There was no mention of the key in the books Rodney owned. In Sage Daguldor's mansion, there were dozens or hundreds of times more books than Rodney owned. There might be a book among them that describes the key.
Rodney wrote a letter about the Hekatonkeiru, the key, and Underwater King.
He ingested the Hekatonkeiru's Life Light Stone. Intense pain coursed through his body, and cold sweat burst out.
It was a pain that he never got used to no matter how many times he experienced it, but he was able to obtain an interesting Source Power.
「Since it was the Life Light Stone of the stone giant Hekatonkeiru, I thought it would be strength or defense related, but 'Shape Processing' is a Source Power I've never heard of.」
Even after searching through books, there was no mention of the Source Power Shape Processing. Once he obtained Shape Processing, he could understand how to use it to some extent, but Understand analyzed Shape Processing and told him what kind of Source Power it was.
Rodney decided to first check Underwater King.
「Big Brother, where are you going?」
When he was about to leave the house, Emilia called out to him.
「I'm going into the sea to test the Source Power I got from the Fish Dragon.」
「Then I'll go too.」
「I will accompany you.」
As he was talking with Emilia, Yulin appeared from somewhere.
The three of them went to the beach, where small boats were out fishing.
「I'm going into the sea, so you two wait on the beach.」
「What are you talking about? I'm going too.」
「I can go naked, but you two can't do that.」
Since they had no swimsuits, it would be hard to move in the water with clothes on. When Rodney said that, the two exchanged glances and grinned.
「Hehehe. We prepared properly!」
As the two started taking off their clothes, Rodney hurriedly covered his eyes with his hands. But he was a teenage boy, so he peeked at Yulin through the gaps in his fingers.
「Ta-da! How do I look? Does it suit me?」
Emilia, who had stripped off her clothes in one go, was wearing a swimsuit that looked like a wetsuit. Of course, Yulin was also wearing one, so Rodney felt a little disappointed.
「How is it? Does it suit me?」
When she wore armor, it wasn't noticeable, but Yulin's chest was quite large. When she moved, her breasts swayed, which was quite a feast for the eyes.
「O-oh. You look good in anything, Yulin.」
「Big Brother, you're terrible at giving compliments! And on top of that, you're staring at her chest.」
When Emilia criticized his complimenting skill and pointed out that he was staring at Yulin's chest, Yulin covered her chest with both hands. Rodney couldn't help but think that gesture was also erotic.
「But where did you get such swimsuits?」
「I had them made while we were in the royal capital. I asked for clothes that were easy to move in even in water. Borden-san introduced us to a good shop.」
Borden was their cousin, the older brother of Shima who was training at a shop in the royal capital under Hacklehoff's orders. He was still young but seemed to manage the shop in the capital well, and Hacklehoff said he looked forward to his future.
Hacklehoff doted on his grandchildren, so it was best to take his words with a grain of salt, but Rodney himself also thought Borden was capable.
「Did you cause any trouble for Borden-san?」
「It's fine! No problems at all!」
He had a slight unease. Rodney decided to write a thank-you letter later.
「Alright, let's go into the sea.」
The three walked into the incoming waves. Thanks to their Source Powers, they weren't affected much even when waves hit them.
Underwater, there were no waves like on the surface. In some places the currents were fast, but near the shore the currents weren't that strong.
The three sometimes swam and sometimes walked on the seabed, testing their Source Powers.
「Even though we're in water, we can actually breathe, huh?」
「We don't feel uncomfortable either. Underwater Adaptation is amazing.」
「You two need to train so you can fight in water too.」
「I know, Big Brother.」
It was a casual reply, but Rodney knew Emilia was the type who got serious when needed.
Rodney moved his body to confirm the difference between Underwater Life and Underwater King. Emilia and Yulin started a sparring match on the seabed.
Emilia and Yulin's sparring was impressive. They moved as if on land.
「As expected, those two are special...」
It took Rodney considerable time to master underwater combat techniques to a certain extent. However, Emilia and Yulin understood how to move their bodies in about two hours and were already sparring as if on land.
Rodney's Underwater King was superior to Underwater Life in every aspect. The responsiveness when kicking water, speed, posture control when handling a sword—everything had improved.
「This is good. I can move exactly as I imagine!」
He decided not to watch Emilia and Yulin. He might lose confidence.
When they returned to the surface, fishermen were making a bonfire, so they joined them. Though it was summer, summer in Dedel Territory was quite cool compared to the royal capital.
「Rodney-sama, here are today's fish. Please take them.」
「Is it okay?」
The fishermen offered Rodney a large fish that looked like a sea bream, so he gratefully accepted.
Thanks to the strong sales of Galim Syrup, the wages of the territory's soldiers and widows had increased. With the construction of the Galim Syrup workshop, beer workshop, blacksmith workshop, and a new lord's mansion, the economic activity in the territory had improved compared to before.
When there was no industry, the lives of the people in Dedel Territory, a desolate borderland, were harsh. But even the fishermen could feel that life had become easier since Rodney became the lord.
Before going home, he checked the progress of the new lord's mansion construction. It was nearing completion, so he was looking forward to it.
The exterior of the new mansion was finished. He was told that interior work was currently underway.
Next, he headed to the workshop of the blacksmith Pelt. When he entered, Manica was drawing water from a well.
「Hello, Manica. Is Pelt here?」
Though they weren't married yet, Manica took care of Pelt, so she was at this workshop during the day.
「Oh, Rodney-sama. My husband is in the workshop. I'll call him right away, so please go inside and wait.」
「No, I'll go to the workshop.」
Inside the workshop, Manica had kept everything tidy. In that easily workable space, Pelt was swinging a hammer, forging metal.
Rodney stopped Manica as she was about to call out to Pelt, and instead watched the work scene.
Pelt's back, as he focused single-mindedly on the metal, was not that of someone incapable of daily life, but that of a splendid craftsman.
「Did you fall for that back, Manica?」
「Yes. My husband's back is very sturdy and reliable.」
Manica unabashedly gushed.
When Pelt reached a stopping point in his work, Rodney called out to him. Pelt greeted him and immediately brought out something.
It was the composite armor made of Crimson True Steel and Bermuda leather that Rodney had ordered. Since the white leather was reinforced with Crimson True Steel, it was much lighter and easier to move in than a full Crimson True Steel armor.
Since there was only enough Bermuda leather for two sets, one was made for Rodney and one for Emilia. Since the defense of Crimson True Steel armor was slightly higher, it was better for Yulin to have full Crimson True Steel armor.
「Good work. I like it.」
「Yeah, it's easy to move in. Pelt-san.」
Having changed into the armor, Rodney and Emilia checked the ease of movement and were satisfied.
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