Chapter 19

"Tokochan, are you hungry?"

Tōr, who had been lingering in the aftereffects of a heavy drinking session, woke up when something touched his face.

It seemed he had overslept again.

Opening his eyes slightly, he saw a child with curly blonde hair and purple eyes.

The child was lying on the bed, poking Tōr’s face.

Tōr reached out and gently stretched the child’s cheek.

"Good morning."

"Good morning?"

"It’s a morning greeting."

Tōr sat up, stretched, and put on his leather boots while still sitting on the bed.

It seemed he had slept with the child, Mū, whom he had picked up last night.

Suddenly, Tōr remembered something important and hurriedly looked around the bed.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of the two black and striped creatures.

Instead, he found his leather coat that he had left off.

"Tokochan, I’m hungry!"

"You’re always hungry. Wait a moment."

As he tied his shoelaces, Mū climbed onto his back.

Surprised by the child’s unusually high body temperature, Tōr roughly pushed him off.

Standing up, Tōr put on his clothes, fastened his belt, and attached his sword and backpack.

With a fluid motion, he finished his routine and used <Restoration> to quickly clean his leather coat, which he had neglected.

With his preparations complete, Tōr reached out his right hand to Mū, who was lying on the bed.

The barefoot child opened his slightly purple eyes wide and clung to Tōr as if jumping on him.

"Let’s wash our faces and have breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Make sure to greet the landlord and Sora properly."

"Morning, got it! Leave it to me!"

After finishing their breakfast, the three headed to a narrow alley off the main street in the north.

The sign above the old wooden door was faded and unreadable.

So no one knew the name of the store, and it was simply called the "armorer at the end of the alley."

And that was enough for it to be recognized.

Pushing open the creaking door, the unique smell of processed leather filled the dimly lit shop.

The walls were lined with drawers with handles.

Several animal hides hung from the ceiling.

On a large table in the center, hammers, rulers, and oddly shaped knives were scattered.

There were no sample armors on display.

So if someone entered without knowing, they would be confused about what kind of store it was.

This armorer at the end of the alley only handled custom orders.

"Hey, it’s you. What brings you here?"

The shop owner, wearing a black leather apron, greeted Tōr with a casual tone that didn’t seem fitting for a shopkeeper.

The old man’s name was Ramō, a stout, bearded father figure.

Tōr had known him for quite some time.

"I’ve come to place an order. Are you busy, old man?"

"Can’t you see? They all neglect maintenance. Then they bring them in casually, saying things like 'it’s cracked' or 'there’s a hole.'"

He pointed to a pile of leather armors waiting for repair and dramatically shrugged.

"You, on the other hand, handle them like a pro. Yeah, you still keep them in good condition."

Tōr, remembering his morning deception, scratched under his chin.

Ramō, slightly in a better mood, asked curiously about Tōr’s purpose.

"So, just to confirm, you’re here to place an order?"

"I suddenly need new boots."

"Hmm, doesn’t seem to be a problem."

Ramō glanced at Tōr’s unblemished leather boots and continued, somewhat puzzled.

"Also, I need to confirm, are these your acquaintances?"

He pointed to Sora, who was closely inspecting the table, and another child who was rummaging through a drawer with a troubled look.

"Tokochan, it smells sweet here!"

"That’s beeswax. Hey, don’t stick your face in there! It’s dangerous, kid."

"Uncle, what’s this tool? Oh, this one has a strange shape too."

"Back off a bit, miss. This is a bit too close for a first meeting."

"Come on, both of you, greet the old man. He’s the shop owner here. He looks scary, but he’s a master craftsman."

"Hello, I’m Sora, Tōr’s wife."

"Morning, nice to meet you!"

"When did you get married? And you even have a kid..."

Mū, clattering his sandals, ran over and clung to Tōr’s waist.

He had borrowed old clothes from Yuriru, but they didn’t fit.

As punishment for opening the drawer, Tōr pulled Mū’s cheek, but the child laughed happily.

"No, I’m just taking care of a friend’s daughter. I picked her up yesterday."

"I see, so the order is for the kid’s boots. You’re having fun, aren’t you? Hey, kid, I’ll take your foot measurements, come here."

"Got it?!"

He placed a piece of tanned leather on a wooden stand and marked it with charcoal as the child stepped on it.

"Since you’ll grow quickly, I’ll make it a bit larger. Short boots, right?"

Long boots typically have leather or wooden soles, but short boots are often made by sewing together pieces of tanned leather in a bag-like shape.

They don’t last long, but they are cheap and quick to make.

"What’s this, Tokochan?"

"It’s to keep your feet clean. Soft, please. Like a cat’s paw."

"What’s that? Well, I’ll make it light."

There are two types of leather used for armor: hard leather and tanned leather.

Hard leather is made by boiling the skin in slime’s body fluid and coating it with beeswax. It is very hard and has a high shock absorption rate, but it doesn’t last long and cracks easily if neglected.

Tanned leather, on the other hand, is flexible and comfortable to wear, but it’s only slightly more durable than regular clothing.

Tōr’s favorite mole leather coat and pants were made by thinning tanned leather.

They tear easily if a monster’s attack grazes them, but they don’t hinder movement, making them very efficient for dodging attacks. Tōr and Ramō had discussed and created this item after much deliberation.

"By the way, you were complaining about a canceled order for a cape, right? I think it was made of hippo leather."

"Yeah, the customer was washed away in a river, so the order was canceled. Dealing with you guys is full of such things, really."

"If it’s still around, can you refit it for this kid?"

"Hmm, since it’s a loss, it’s a good deal for me. If you don’t mind the length, I can finish it in about thirty minutes. The boots will take two days."

"Then I’ll leave it to you."

"Got it. Wait, are you planning to take this kid out?"

Tōr nodded, and the shop owner suddenly stood up.

He pointed his thumb towards the door.

"What’s that, Tokochan?"

"That means we’re going outside, Mū."

"What are you thinking? Have you finally gone crazy from being single for too long? Making boots for a kid who will die soon. I hate such pointless work."

Tōr scratched his chin slightly.

Ramō was a master craftsman and worked quickly, but he was also very particular about leather.

Perhaps that’s why he was a master.

"I’m sorry if it offends you, old man. But I plan to use them for a long time, so don’t worry."

"It’s not like you. I understand the excitement of having a companion, but what use is a small kid like this outside?"

"He’s small but very capable."

The child, whose head Tōr had just patted, looked up curiously.

The shop owner, who had been frowning, grunted and shook his head.

"I know you don’t put on airs, even after knowing you for so long..."

Tōr didn’t expect to persuade him with words alone.

He chose this shop not only for the master’s skill but also because he was a man who disliked idle talk.

"Please keep this to yourself, old man."

"Hey, don’t touch it—"

Ramō, about to scold Tōr for reaching out to a leather armor waiting for repair, was speechless.

The tear, which he had said was caused by a red crab’s large pincers, had completely disappeared.

"……What?"

He hastily took the pig leather hard armor from Tōr and examined it closely.

Unsatisfied, he brightened the area with a magic stone and re-examined it.

After a few minutes, Ramō raised his hands and shook his head.

"Is that a greeting, Sora?"

"That means 'oh dear,' Mū."

"I don’t get it. If you did something, I should be able to tell, but there’s no trace. It looks like it was never there... What did you do?"

"It’s my skill. I’ve finally mastered it."

Ramō’s face changed.

He stared at Tōr, holding his breath.

Eventually, his face broke into a wide smile.

"Really? Finally? Wow, you did it!"

Ramō ran over and slapped Tōr’s back.

Mū imitated him, slapping Tōr’s back.

Tōr then stretched Mū’s cheek.

"No, no, this isn’t a time to celebrate. If you take my repair jobs, my income will be halved."

"I’m not planning to become your apprentice at this age. I want to continue being an adventurer... with them. This skill is effective on humans, so they won’t die easily. How about it, will you take the job?"

If this had been said by someone he didn’t know well, Ramō would have shaken his head and laughed it off as a cheap trick.

But Tōr was a man who had worn out Ramō’s leather armors many times.

Words can be ambiguous, but worn-out leather doesn’t lie.

"Alright, I’ll make the best item for the kid."

"Thank you, old man. By the way, I need you to look at something."

With the order going well, Tōr moved on to his real purpose.

He pointed to the hippo leather hard armor, which had somehow been repaired again.

It had had a nasty bite mark from a rock lizard, but it was now gone.

"What...? Yeah, I remember. What happened to the patch? I can see the tear was sewn, but how did the hole get filled?"

"That’s the power of my <Restoration>. It even fills in lost parts."

"……So, if—"

"Yeah, if we get dragon leather—"

"No, how about white weasel leather? It’s quite rare too."

"Actually, there’s a limit to what <Restoration> can do, old man."

From Tōr’s previous experiments with cutting a mole’s horn, he found that <Restoration> could only restore up to 30% of lost parts.

Beyond that, it seems to recognize the object as having lost a part.

When he tried cutting a part of the material, it didn’t restore at all.

This is likely because the brain limits the scope of <Restoration> for such materials.

"I see. So, you need a fairly large piece of armor to get a significant amount. Hmm, I have some connections, so I can probably get it. Alright, I’ll count on you!"

The old man, snorting happily, extended his hand.

Tōr shook it firmly.

For some reason, Sora also placed her hand on top.

Mū imitated her.

The laughter from the end of the alley was so loud that several passersby stopped in their tracks.