Chapter 1-45 : The Girl And The Dark Elf Are Preparing For An Expedition
「This is going to be a long journey. We should be well-prepared before we go, let’s go home and pack first.」(Ingrid)
「You’re right. Let’s go.」(Yoyo)
「Wait…」(Elle)
They decided to go back to Ingrid’s house first, but suddenly, Elle stopped and looked at Yoyo.
「Yoyo, I think you should stay here.」(Elle)
「What? I’m going with you!」(Yoyo)
「No, please stay with Neige. The shopkeeper and the workers are busy. They can’t look after him all the time.」(Elle)
「But…」(Yoyo)
「 Don’t worry about me. I have Ingrid with me.」(Elle)
「Hmm…」(Yoyo)
The worrywart Yoyo shifted his gaze to Ingrid and looked at her with somewhat doubtful eyes as if saying, “Can I really trust her?”
Noticing Yoyo’s gaze, Ingrid put her hand on her chest and smiled proudly.
「You’ve never seen me fighting in combat, but I’m much stronger than I look. She will be safe with me.」(Ingrid)
「Really…?」(Yoyo)
「Trust me. You should listen to her and stay. Besides, if you tagged along, I would have to protect two people instead of one.」(Ingrid)
「Hey, you talk as if I’m a burden! But… Well, you have a point. My telekinetic ability might not work against monsters… Alright then. Please keep her safe.」(Yoyo)
「You have my word.」(Ingrid)
Agreeing to stay, Yoyo jumped onto the table where Neige was lying down and sat by his side.
「As his senpai, I’ll look after him, so, Elle, please come back safely.」(Yoyo)
「I will.」(Elle)
Yoyo had been protecting Elle since they left Moritz’s house. He was worrying about her, but at the same time, he also realized that he might slow them down.
After replying to Yoyo with a firm nod, Elle looked at the shopkeeper and bowed.
「Sir, I’ll be back with the stone as soon as possible.」(Elle)
「Ou. I’ll be waiting for your return. Good luck.」(shopkeeper)
After silently replying to the shopkeeper with a nod and determined eyes, Elle left the Long Tail Factory with Ingrid.
◇◇◇
「Hmm… It should be here… Oh, found it!」(Ingrid)
As soon as they returned home, Ingrid went to the storage room and pulled out a big, old wooden case from the dusty shelf.
「What is it?」(Elle)
「My partner when I was an adventurer.」(Ingrid)
As she answered Elle’s question, Ingrid opened the case, revealing a longbow inside.
It looked a bit different from a normal longbow because of the spell-like inscription engraved along the body of the bow and the bowstring that glowed in seven colors.
「Wow! So this is your magic bow. It’s beautiful!」(Elle)
「Haha! It’s one of my best creations after all. But… Hmm… the string is a bit loose. I haven’t used it in a long time, so it needs some adjustment.」(Ingrid)
Ingrid took out the longbow from the case and tried drawing the string.
「By the way, do the dark elves in your village use long bows to hunt in the forest?」(Elle)
「Yeah, but they were using normal longbows. I was the only one using a magic bow.」(Ingrid)
After inspecting her magic bow and making sure that it was still in good condition, Ingrid put it away and then pulled out another big wooden box from the shelf.
「And this one is…」(Elle)
「The ammunition.」(Ingrid)
Ingrid opened the box as she replied to Elle with a grin.
There were several arrows in the box, but unlike normal arrows, each one of them had arrowheads in different colors.
「These arrowheads… They were made of magic stones.」(Elle)
「I knew you would notice it. As you have guessed, I made these arrowheads from shattered magic stones of different elements.」(Ingrid)
「Not only that. Each arrow was made of different materials. Am I right?」(Elle)
Elle also noticed that the shaft and the fletching of each arrow were different from one another.
「You sure have sharp eyes. That’s right. I used different materials to make the shafts and the fletchings depending on the element of the magic stone used to make the arrowhead. For example, this oneー」(Ingrid)
While explaining, Ingrid took one of the arrows. It had a glowing red arrowhead, a brownish black shaft, and an orange fletching.
「This one is a fire arrow. I made the arrowhead from a fire magic stone, the shaft from a fire-resistant wood, and the fletching from the feather of a fire bird-type monster.」(Ingrid)
「How fascinating… But, it must have been difficult making all these arrows. After all, you had to gather different materials for each one of them.」(Elle)
「Yeah, it wasn’t easy. That’s why I always retrieved as many arrows as possible when I was done fighting monsters.」(Ingrid)
「So, these arrows have been used multiple times.」(Elle)
「Yup. This fire arrow, for example, I remember I had fired this arrow more than ten times.」(Ingrid)
Although she said that, the arrow Ingrid was holding still looked in excellent condition as if it were a brand new arrow. It was extremely durable, probably because it was made from fire-resistant materials.
「I see… Hm?」(Elle)
Looking at the arrow closely, Elle noticed there was an engraving on the arrowhead similar to the one on the body of the bow.
She then shifted her gaze toward the box and realized that the rest of the arrows had engravings on their arrowheads, too.
「Ingrid, do the engravings on these arrowheads have anything to do with the one on the bow?」(Elle)
「Yup. I’ll show you how my magic bow works.」(Ingrid)
While still holding the fire arrow, Ingrid grabbed her magic longbow and drew the arrow. The arrowhead then glowed in bright red when it got close to the arrow rest part of the bow as Ingrid pulled the arrow.
「Actually, the magic formula engraved on this bow is not complete, but as you can see, it will be complete as soon as the bow makes contact with the arrow. In this state, a fire spell will unfold the moment I release this arrow. This way, I can shoot magic like a spellshooter but without needing to enchant the spells.」(Ingrid)
「I see. What a clever design!」(Elle)
「Right~?」(Ingrid)
While replying to Elle with a smile, Ingrid retracted the fire arrow and put it back in the box.
「That one shoots fire, right? What do the other arrows do?」(Elle)
「Hmm, let’s see. This one is an ice arrow. It can freeze my enemies and slow them down. This one is a wind arrow. It boosts my accuracy with the power of the wind so that I can easily shoot my target’s weak spot. This one’s my favorite. I call it the flame bomb arrow. It will explode when the arrowhead makes contact with the target. It’s very effective against a group of enemies.」(Ingrid)
Seeing Elle’s curious face, Ingrid started explaining each arrow enthusiastically.
「Incredible! How did you come up with this idea?」(Elle)
「Well, you see. I always worked alone when I was an adventurer.」(Ingrid)
「Have you never formed a party with other people?」(Elle)
「No. The thing is… I had just been betrayed by that man, so… I didn’t trust people easily at that time.」(Ingrid)
「I see…」(Elle)
Being betrayed by the person you trusted the most was hurtful. Elle could understand why Ingrid chose not to work with other people for a while.
「I’m good at using a bow. I honed my archery skills every day by hunting animals when I lived in the forest. However, fighting monsters with a bow and arrows was completely different from hunting animals. I was once severely injured after fighting a group of monsters while traveling. I then started thinking. As an archer, all I could do was shoot arrows, but to fight alone safely, I had to be able to do various things on my own. To make that happen while utilizing my archery skills, I was thinking of making magic arrows that could shoot various types of spells.」(Ingrid)
「That’s why you have this kind of fighting style. I see.」(Elle)
「Yeah. At that time, I called myself a Magick Archer and began adventuring with this unique fighting style.」(Ingrid)
「Whoaa…」(Elle)
Elle clapped her hands as Ingrid finished her story. Seeing Elle’s reaction, Ingrid couldn’t help but puff her chest and smirk proudly.
*/TL : Magick Archer is a term from Dragon’s Dogma 2. I decided to use it simply because it sounds cool to me.
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