Turtle Shell Tactics

Setting aside the lady knight who'd been mistaking me for a devil, after some negotiating, we settled on getting several pieces of armor, boots, swords, and such as the quest completion rewards.

The lady knight watched with a look that screamed "How is that any different from socks?" but, I mean, armor doubles as crafting materials, and it's a sellable asset, right?

Hm? But then, if there was a shop that'd buy socks, it'd amount to the same thing.

Apparently used clothes could be sold too, so there probably were shops that'd buy them… though the price would be nothing compared to armor.

Come to think of it, Penpen's merchant said "I'll buy anything," so they'd take them, right? Then it really was the same thing… So that's why she was giving me that look. Fair enough.

"I have arrived, Spirit-sama!"

When I tried using Ally Summon on Tria-chan, she actually showed up. Raring to go, huffing and puffing through her nose.

I hadn't doubted the system itself, but what would've happened if she'd been in the middle of using the bathroom?

"Wh-where did that person just come from!?"

"Hm? From the menu."

"Hm? Who is this woman? Spirit-sama, shall I dispose of her?"

"No, Tria-chan! She's a little sister!"

She's the client for this quest, so please don't dispose of her, okay?

Anyway, let's head straight out and fight the enemy, yeah!! Oh, let me switch the active character to Tria-chan first.

 

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With the recovered lady knight, Valeria-san, in tow, we headed for what seemed to be the enemy's base.

Apparently there was a fortress a few days' travel from the village. I wondered how national borders worked here, but since this was a game, I figured it wasn't worth worrying about and used Fast Travel.

When we arrived, the lady knight was completely wiped out… Was she going to be alright?

"… hah… hah…"

"Valeria-chan is so cuuute～! There, there, there, you're such a weakling～!"

She got like this just from traveling? Aftereffects of the poison, maybe?

It was only a beginner-level antidote potion, so it probably hadn't fully cured her.

The type of event companion NPC who tags along but never actually joins the party, huh… A classic. Probably just there to serve as a Fast Travel guide.

Well, better not count on her as a fighting force.

"Miitei-dono… I-I am not… a weakling… Angels… no, Spirit-sama and your retainers may not understand, but… humans require… rest and sleep…!"

"Oh really? You're so frail～! There, there, there! Onee-chan and the others will go slaughter all the enemies for you, so rest up nice and good, okay～! Mwah mwah!"

Oh, Miitei-chan was kissing her on the cheeks. The ethics filter didn't seem to have triggered… Was that level of contact fine? Or maybe it did trigger faintly and she was just ignoring it, too busy doting to care.

Let me set up a tent or something for her to rest in… Actually, the Home would work. Just plop it down somewhere out of sight. Click.

"… Huh!? What is that!?"

"Miitei-chan, let Valeria-san rest in the Home."

"Okaaay. Come on, let's go, Valeria-chan!"

"… A-alright…"

Well, once we'd roughed up the enemy base enough, we could have Valeria-san come out and confirm things as the client.

Now then.

It'd be great if the enemies were the kind we could mow down without a second thought, but… if a villainess heroine happened to be among them, things could get complicated. Plus, there was always the chance of enemies too strong for Tria-chan to handle.

The enemy base itself was built into a rocky mountain, using the surrounding cliffs as natural fortifications. Nestled in a canyon with solid rock walls on either side, they only had to worry about defending the front and back.

In a setup like this, if it were Alto, just dropping rocks from above would be plenty threatening, but…

"Spirit-sama. I don't have any rocks, but there are plenty of turtle shells in my inventory."

"Hmm. Come to think of it, if the shells are big enough, lobbing them down would pack quite a punch…"

"I think kicking them would send them flying better."

I see.

Kicking turtle shells at enemies is a time-honored tradition in gaming… Approved!

Man, if these were spiked Great Turtle shells, one hit would've been kaboom. But if we could actually get Great Turtle shells, they'd be way too valuable to waste like that… Let's limit it to five shells for now. We'd collect them afterward.

"Spirit-sama～. I put Valeria-chan to bed～."

"Nice. Then let's circle around above the base and do some shooting. Oh, should we put the Home away first?"

"Huh? Valeria-chan is still inside though, will she be okay?"

… I'd already put it away.

Nervously, I redeployed the Home and had Miitei-chan check inside. Worst case, we'd just turn this into a revenge mission for Valeria-chan… Oh, she was fine? Good. If she was fine, then all was well. I put the Home away again.

Come to think of it, materials stored inside never got crushed either. Totally fine, nothing to worry about. Phew, that was a scare though. This wasn't real life; the game was designed to be convenient like that.

I'd just redeploy it after we climbed up.

… Actually, we could just wait until after the job was done, right? Yeah, better that way. Wouldn't get in the way, and it'd be safer.