The Villainous Aristocrat's Efforts Led to a Genuine Harem - Episode 27

Episode 27

The fallen Mithril Golem crumbled and disappeared as if melting into the dungeon.

After confirming this, I checked the magic stone it dropped.

No mithril, huh.

Did I level up? I feel a lightness in my body—probably because this dungeon is harder than my current suitable level.

Still, I did use way too much magic power.

“You… Taking down a Mithril Golem that easily, you’re as overpowered as ever.”

“No, I was actually pretty close to my limit. I used too much magic power.”

“Really? Can’t tell at all when I can’t see your face.”

“Anyway, if even your attacks don’t work on it, then we’ll have to go back to town once.”

“…Right. Sorry for dragging you down.”

“It’s not like that. Don’t worry about it.”

Inaesia looked apologetic. But she relaxed a little at my words.

…Honestly, I hadn’t planned to fight just yet.

I was only thinking that this might be a chance to trigger the blacksmith Vilias’ event.

I activated spatial magic. And we returned to Vale for the time being.

—

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

Inaesia asked. I pretended to think it over for a moment.

I was planning to go see the blacksmith Vilias now.

In the main game, she’s one of the strongest blacksmiths.

But right now, the event to recruit her as an ally likely hasn’t triggered yet.

From this point on, it’s a bit of a gamble.

I’m going to somehow force the event to occur and have her make mithril equipment.

However, there are some problems.

To be honest, I was unsure whether to bring Inaesia along for this request.

The reason is the same as with Reem.

Inaesia and Vilias are supposed to meet for the first time in the original story…

Vilias is a character who will definitely become an ally in the main game.

A genius blacksmith. Yet she was utterly incapable of basic life skills—a beautiful girl, Vilias.

…I was a little hesitant to let Inaesia and Vilias meet. But it shouldn’t cause too much trouble.

At the very least, it’ll make things easier for the protagonist later if they get along by the time the main game begins.

Be grateful, Protagonist-san.

“I’m going to see a blacksmith. Want to come along?”

“Of course. If we’re fighting Mithril Golems, I want a new weapon too.”

I headed with Inaesia to the house where Vilias lived.

Eventually, we arrived at a normal two-story building.

There were other weapon shops nearby. But this one had no sign or anything.

When I stopped in front of the building, Inaesia tilted her head.

“…You say blacksmith, but this isn’t a shop, is it?”

“Well, she used to run one here, back in the day.”

After her master died, Vilias closed the shop.

She thought her [Blacksmith] skill wasn’t good enough to run a shop on her own.

…Though, at the beginning of the main game, her skills were already more than sufficient.

Still, she was never satisfied with herself.

That said, right now she’s got a lot on her mind. So we need to help her resolve that.

For now, I knocked on the door. But there was no response.

…Well, I figured that would be the case. Even in the game, going in through the front didn’t work.

In the game, you had to talk to people who knew Vilias and learn that she was looking for “mithril.” You then had to bring up the dungeon where Mithril Golems appear—that’s how you finally got to meet her.

But I can’t be bothered setting all those flags.

My goal is her blacksmithing skills.

The minor flags don’t matter.

“I heard there’s someone with the [Blacksmith] skill here looking for mithril. Anyone home?”

I raised my voice and knocked a few more times.

…If she hears me, she should respond. Just as I thought that, I heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

Then slowly… the door opened. And a woman with messy brown hair peeked out. She was staring at us blankly.

Her clothes were somewhat dirty. Her hair was equally unkempt.

From the crack in the door, I could see the hallway filled with trash. Inaesia’s face twisted in shock as she shouted:

“…H-Hey! What is this trash heap!?”

“…Trash heap? That’s harsh… It’s organized for convenience.”

“It’s just trash! How can you live like this—ugh! Do you even bathe!?”

“I do.”

“Huh!? Then wash properly! You stink way too much!”

“Once a week… I bathe.”

“That’s the same as not bathing at all! Ugh, we’re cleaning! Right now!”

“…Wait. Before that, about what you said earlier.”

“What!?”

“Is there… a dungeon… where you can get mithril?”

Vilias gave me a sharp look.

…Well, I’ve managed to meet her, at least. From here on, I can probably follow the game’s flow.

“Yeah. Just recently, a dungeon where Mithril Golems appear showed up near this town. We’re planning to investigate it. But we don’t have weapons strong enough to fight them. I heard the blacksmith here might be able to make them.”

“…Come in for now. I want to hear more details.”

She opened the door.

Inaesia stared into the room. She was frowning.

“…Come in? Into this place?”

“It’s okay. You’ll get used to the smell eventually.”

“So you *can* smell it yourself! We’re cleaning this place. Got it!?”

“That would… be helpful.”

She put her hands together in a prayer gesture.

Inaesia’s cheeks twitched in irritation. But I decided to leave things to her.

I’m glad I brought her.

As expected of someone so responsible—Inaesia sighed and began to clean.

“You’re helping too!”

“Too much trouble…”

“It’s not too much trouble! You help too, Ryō!”

“I’ve got business with the blacksmith… I’ll leave that to you.”

“What did you just say!?”

Eek.

I was copying a line from the main game’s protagonist. And she gave the exact same comeback.

But unlike when I was just watching as a player, having her direct anger at me like this was seriously intimidating.

“…We should probably just clean for now.”

Vilias said. She was trembling as she looked at me.