The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 19

It had been a month since I asked the young genius Leashe from the development agency SIG-NINE to create a new Threadfil and Thread Spool Raphil.

In the meantime, I had been taking on a few simple quests here and there to earn enough to cover my daily expenses.

“Alright, today’s the day.”

After eating breakfast at home, I boarded a shared carriage bound for Irevs.

Since I caught the earliest one, I arrived in Irevs by noon.

I made my way to SIG-NINE’s tool shop on the second floor of the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Grant!”
“Oh, Mardin. Good to see you.”

I greeted Grant, the branch director of SIG-NINE.

He’s older than me, but after a few conversations, we hit it off. Now, we’re more like friends than business associates.

“How’s Leashe doing?”
“That genius? She’s created something amazing. If we file a patent, there’s no doubt it’ll be approved.”
“Really? That good?”
“Absolutely. I already reported it to the director of the main SIG-NINE agency back in the Guild’s homeland. Still, it was your commission and your funding, so the decision is yours.”
“Right… To be honest, I don’t really want to spread this Thread Spool Raphil around. Not because I’m being stingy—just that I believe in keeping your trump cards hidden.”
“You’ve got a point. For adventurers, their unique strengths are everything.”

Back when I was a knight, Threadfil saved my life more times than I can count.

Of course, I had to put in serious effort to master how to use it.

Some of my subordinates tried to imitate it, but it’s not something that can be picked up so easily.

“Mardin-san!”

A cheerful voice called out from behind me.

I instantly recognized it as Leashe’s.

“Hey, Leashe. So? Is it ready?”
“Yes! It’s finished! I’ll show you in the basement.”

We headed down to the Guild’s underground workshop.

Leashe pulled a device out of a leather pouch.

It was about the length of a forearm—clearly a gauntlet.

“This is the new Thread Spool Raphil.”
“This? Looks like a gauntlet.”
“Yes. The old version had to be held in the hand, which made it hard to operate efficiently. I redesigned it so that you can still use both hands while using Threadfil. That’s how I came up with this forearm-mounted gauntlet. Plus, it offers some defense.”
“Makes sense.”

The old Thread Spool Raphil was about the size of a palm and operated by hand.

But this new version is worn on the arm, giving you far more freedom of movement.

“You control the firing and retraction of Threadfil using specific finger and wrist motions. The maximum firing range is ten medelt.”

I took the device and strapped it onto my right arm.

After Leashe explained the controls, I fired the Threadfil toward a wall.

The thread flew in an arc and gently touched the wall.

No—“brushed against it” is probably a better way to put it.

“Huh? Isn’t that a bit slow?”
“That was the slowest setting.”
“The slowest?”
“Yes. You can adjust the firing speed.”
“Seriously?”
“Just turn this dial to make it faster.”

Leashe turned the dial on the Thread Spool Raphil to the right.

“Try firing it again.”
“Alright.”

I looked toward the extended thread.

“Okay, and to reel it in…”

After following Leashe’s instructions, I retracted the thread—it reeled in several times faster than it had fired.

“It retracts automatically? That’s impressive.”
“Yes. I added a newly developed mechanism for that. The retraction speed is always set to maximum.”

I aimed at the wall again and fired.

“Whoa!”

A sharp sound tore through the air as the thread shot out with immense force and slammed into the wall.

It was like a heavy whip—a knut.

“D-Damn, that startled me! The power on that thing…”
“Yes, even just the thread alone packs a punch.”
“Just the thread?”
“I also made it so you can attach metal parts to the tip.”

Leashe opened a wooden case.

Inside were several metal attachments—hooks, harpoons, weights, iron balls—all neatly organized.

“Depending on the situation, you can swap out the tip of the Threadfil.”
“Swappable parts?”
“Yes. I thought using just the thread would be a waste. But be careful—this thing is strong enough to blow someone’s head off. Please use it responsibly.”
“Whoa there, that’s a bit much.”
“I only went that far because it’s you, Mardin-san.”
“Hah, so I’ve earned your trust, huh?”
“Of course you have!”

I reeled the thread back in using the same motion.

It returned to the spool in an instant.

“What about the thread’s strength?”
“In stress tests, it didn’t snap even under the highest load. That allowed me to make it as thin as possible.”
“Impressive. It’s about as thin as fishing line.”
“Yes, but the strength is dozens of times greater. It could even lift a large monster. You’ve got twenty medelt of thread stored in there.”

Both the Threadfil and the Thread Spool Raphil had evolved far beyond what I imagined.

They were practically brand new inventions at this point.

It’ll take time to fully master them…

But the advantages are more than worth the effort.

“Yeah, I really like it.”

If there’s any drawback, it’s that the device is noticeably bigger than the previous version.

“Guess hiding it like I used to be an option anymore.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t make it any smaller. But I’ll keep working on future improvements.”
“This is more than enough. So—did the budget cover everything?”
“Um, well…”

Leashe lowered her head deeply.