Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 34

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 34:

After we extracted the huge boulder that was the Goliath’s magic stone, our combined group finally entered the 18th Floor, which was an incredible sight to see. Compared to the twisting labyrinths of the floors above us, the entire place was one large open space, but that alone wasn’t what made it such a spectacle.

It wasn’t just the high ceiling with glowing crystals resembling the sun in a blue sky. Amidst a peaceful setting of natural trees and lakes, there were multiple crystals reflecting the light from above, casting everything in a mystical blue glow. It was such an impressive view that I actually gained some LP from it.

After that, we spent a day and a half just camping and exploring that floor, treating our wounds and cataloging what we discovered of the ecology there. One big discovery was that monsters didn’t get born naturally like we were used to seeing on the other floors. Instead, they would invade from the other floors. But it still offered us a brief respite from the usual harassment.

“Take this!”

“Kyahaha~” Uzume laughed, shielding her face against the water. “Back at you!”

“No, you!”

Sitting next to me, Irene gazed at the pair of playing Sekireis with amusement. “Aren’t you going to join them, Rick-dono?”

“Nah…” I mumbled.

She turned to look at me. “Are you okay?” 

“I just feel… drained. Think I pushed myself too much… taking down the Goliath.” Seeing Irene casting a diagnostic spell, I continued, “I’m not hurt. Just… lethargic. I’ll be fine after a bit.”

“I’ll stay with you then.”

The redhead cuddled up against my side, letting me put my arm around her shoulders as she rested her head on my chest. The fact that I didn’t get any LP from the close contact made it clear I wasn’t fully alright.

I think I’ve had my fill of adventure for quite some time…

Currently, it was only the four of us alone at this large pond, under the excuse of searching for an access point linking the Dungeon to the other parts of the world. Everyone knew that they existed, especially since there were monsters infesting the waters near Melen, so it was a valid reason.

Unlike the natives, we knew that the access point lay much further below us, on the Lower Floors. So we were taking advantage of the ‘search’ to enjoy ourselves exploring this resort-like place, going from pool to pool, swimming and playing in them. With Irene’s magic warding each area we ‘searched’, and the others guarding the access points, we weren’t all that worried about being attacked.

Nearby, Leafeon was napping as well. She looked just as tired out as I was after the fight, though it was also due to her using a Sunny Day earlier to try and compete with the light from the ceiling crystals.

After several more minutes of playing, Matsu and Uzume came back, water running down their sexy forms. 

“No access points found!” Matsu reported cheerfully.

I flashed her a thumbs up, making no move to get up. “Good job.”

“Want to rest for a bit more before we head back?” Uzume asked me, cuddling up on my other side.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

Left out from the cuddle, a pouting Matsu chose to lie back against my raised shins, using Archive to record down the geographical information.

The rest of the expedition went relatively smoothly. After resting and recovering, we gathered samples and began the journey back up to the surface. The area where we fought the Goliath was still in the midst of healing, and Matsu announced that according to her analysis, it would take about a week before the Goliath would spawn again. Similarly, the number of monsters our expedition group had to deal with on the way up felt much less than before, even if we traveled more slowly with the loot we were hauling.

As expected, our group was the center of attention when we turned in the giant magic stone, earning several million valis in a single go. Contrary to my usual luck, there hadn’t been any drop item from it, but I couldn’t really find it in myself to care. The post-expedition report would be pushed back till later, since everyone wanted to celebrate instead. Especially Zeus and Hera, who were hanging around Babel as though they knew the expedition was going to return just then.

[Divine Call] and [Archive], used by me and Matsu respectively.

With the conclusion of the expedition, our two familias went separate ways following our respective deities, though I knew I would see my girls at the house we were living in that night. Once we returned to the familia base with triumphant fanfare, there was an impromptu feast, followed by status updates for all who participated. 

All of those Level Ones who accompanied us ranked up, and two of those Level Twos were eligible as well, which would make them the first Level Threes. However, after some discussion, they decided to hold off until their stats had grown a bit more.

Then came my turn. Zeus was looking very pleased, nodding to himself. His perusal of all the excelia related to the Goliath fight was apparently quite entertaining, and he was looking forward to seeing mine.

“Ohhh~” The god hummed appreciatively, “That’s quite a lot of high-level excelia you got. And your stat increase, it’s enough to go to Level Three as well.”

“Wait, already?” I asked, surprised. Bell didn’t get that… oh wait, he faced his Goliath shortly after going to Level Two. I had more time to train with my cheat skill.

“That’s right. Your [Chiron] skill already gave you a huge boost, pushing you from I to E in the short time you were Level Two, and with what you went through down there, you not only gained enough excelia to reach D rank, but even gained a new skill as well.”

He finished the update, transferring the info to a piece of parchment for me to see.

“You can see your own skill list, right?”

Rick Steel
Lv. 2
STR: E463->D548
END: E450->D523
DEX: E495->D573
AGI: E448->D552
MAG: F393->E482
Swordsman: I->H
Chain Attack: I
Trainer: I->H
Thievery: I

That’s like four hundred points in a single go, and my Agility stat rose the most, I thought as I calculated the increase. I guess that makes sense, I was pushing myself to move faster.

The stat growth was much faster compared to how it was when I was Level One. That was a side effect of [Development Potential], which increased my status growth at earlier stages. Since I only lent it out briefly to the others for getting multiple Development Abilities, I doubted the other three had just as high stats as I did.

Whoops, got sidetracked. 

I quickly pulled up my status list, and found my new skill at the bottom.

[Memoria Gloriana: Improves the chances of achieving Limit Off, and allows the enhancement of all skills and abilities by recalling inspirational memories]

I raised one eyebrow at the chuuni-sounding name, but didn’t comment. 

“It’s such a pity that you’re going to be leaving soon,” Zeus said regretfully, “I’d have loved to see the heights you would achieve with a skill like that.”

“You know as well as I do that I don’t have the same heroic aspirations as the others.”

“Mmm, but you would inspire them to great acts nonetheless.”

Like a fake surpassing the original, huh. I made a reference in my mind.

Recognizing my silence as a non-response, Zeus continued, “Anyway, you’ve done a lot for me and my familia, and I owe you more than you realize.”

“I’m sure they would have become great on their own merits without me,” I deflected the praise.

“Ah,” He raised a finger, “But you’ve made them greater. And for that, I thank you.”

“...” I pondered on what to say, before going with the usual. “You’re welcome.”

“As agreed, I’ve unlocked your falna so your god can override it with his one in the future. I’m sure Hera will do the same for your girls. Give my regards to your godly employer the next time you see him. And do come by to visit sometimes, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

…

With the defeat of the Monster Rex Goliath, the reputations of the Zeus and Hera Familias soared to new heights, and many adventurers sought to join them. In the midst of all the furor, few noticed the quiet departure of four adventurers from those two familias. Those who did, and asked about it, were given the excuse that they went traveling to other countries to help deal with the monsters there. 

In the meantime, other gods and their familias tried their best to beat the two outstanding familias, such as the Sobek and Horus Familias, but the power base established was too strong to be overcome so easily. Thankfully, the gap diminished as time passed, as more adventurers were able to rank up.

Only a few deities were aware that the advantage they held was due to their absent members, but they weren’t going to tell anyone.

A messenger god who descended to the physical realm years later tried to search for them, but the only record left of their presence came from physical writings and stories passed down through word of mouth. As with most stories, some parts of it were lost, while others were twisted.

Chiron, the Trainer of Heroes, whom many Zeus Familia members attributed their growth to.

Panoptis, the adventurer who set the standard for Guild reports, and responsible for the gathering of information that helped preserve the lives of many beginner adventurers.

The Scarlet Sage, who was respected in the mage city Altena for pioneering many new uses of magic stones, and developer of new magic spells.

It was said there was a fourth member, but her deeds were obscured by history. Still, some well-known restaurants in Orario attributed their specialty dish to a member of the Hera Familia who helped create it.

…

“Ahh~ Home sweet home~” I slumped back on the coach, the girls joining me with similar sounds of bliss.

“Fee~” Leafeon crooned, doing the same on her pet bed.

A glance out the window showed a scenery of islands floating in the sky. Meanwhile, the clock on the wall showed that it had only been a week in this world compared to the months we spent over in the Danmachi world. There were still some hours of daylight left on this Sunday, and we had a meeting with Sano lined up.

The god had welcomed us back upon our return, and the first thing we did was to turn over all the data regarding the skills we worked with while we were there. That definitely perked him up from his tired-looking state, and we decided to take some time off to freshen up before having a proper post-trip meeting.

“What should we have for dinner tonight?” Uzume asked. “I don’t feel like cooking, so…”

“Fast food?” 

“Fast food.”

“Okay, that decides it.” Matsu started entering the order into her phone. “What should we get?”

“Anything’s fine as long as it’s crispy fried.”

“I’m hungering for a burger.”

“I’d like a burger too,” Irene asked politely.

“Upsize the rest too. I’m thirsting for soft drinks after not having any for so long.”

“You got it.”

After a few more minutes of lazing around, I finally got around to checking my phone. I saw that I had missed several messages from my family, and quickly started responding. That was one downside of these week-long trips, being unable to respond in a time when you were expected to be able to. Fortunately, they accepted the ‘business trip’ excuse, especially when I transferred some of my paycheck with the excuse that it was part of the ‘bonus’ earned from doing so. I also promised to inform them the next time this long absence was going to happen.

The minutes slowly went by; the food delivery came, and we dug into it with gusto.

“Rick-tan, feed me~”

“Sure. Ah~”

“Then I’ll feed you, Rick-dono.”

“Thanks.”

“Would you like a bite of my burger, Rick-kun?”

“You sure?”

“I don’t mind. Just let me have a bite of your fried chicken in exchange.”

“Alright.” We took bites of each other’s food. “Mm, that’s a good one.”

[3,200 LP]

I was getting LP again, and that was a good thing.

Finally, the time for the meeting came around. I noticed that the office seemed to be a bit bigger than before, considering that there were four chairs in front of his desk without having to squeeze them close to each other.

“Once again, welcome back,” Sano greeted us once we were seated in front of his desk. “First of all, let me congratulate you all on a job well done.”

“Thanks. But was it really that good?” Uzume inquired.

He nodded. “It was. The adjustments made to the summoning skills have been quite inspiring, and the data related to the falna has given me a lot of ideas for a progressive-type growth skill, not to mention the native skills related to it.”

“So you’re going to be busy making new skills again?”

The god shrugged. “Probably. I will need to do a bit of personal research before I can be sure of my development path.”

Matsu nodded. “The falna does generate skills on its own, but that’s dependent on the interaction between the world’s system and the soul as well, right?”

“That’s correct. So trying to cut and paste that into a different world’s system might not yield the same results.” Sano looked slightly excited at the thought of uncovering its secrets. “But for now, regarding the data on the falna, I’ll be creating an interface-type skill that will allow you to update the ones you have without having to return to that world, and to lock it against tampering.”

That was good news. So we didn’t have to worry about being stuck at the same status for a long time.

“I’ll let you all know when it’s done. Now, shall we see what you’ve managed to collect, and are willing to trade?”

Most of the falna-based skills were quite similar to Sano’s basic ones, some being active-type and others as passive-type, so they weren’t exactly worth a lot of DP. Some of them were situational or emotional dependent too, so Sano’s intention was to offer them as cost-reducing modifiers, which meant more work for us in having to do the adjustments. 

He did offer quite a high price for [Memoria Gloriana], but I decided to retain it, since it was a skill that my falna generated by itself, without [Create] playing a part in it. As for [Development Potential], it was apparently dependent on the falna, so it wasn’t that valuable, and thus I chose to retain it as well.

Speaking of which, the Developmental Abilities had more potential, but none of us were interested in giving them up at the moment either. I did consider dropping Thievery, but I wanted to see what sort of results would come from grinding it further. Especially when synergized with the Thief dressphere. Same went for Swordsman; I wanted to see what I could accomplish with the sword-wielding dresspheres like Warrior, Samurai, or Dark Knight.

“I suppose it will just have to be a long-term project for you all,” Sano mused after hearing our decision. “So, any thoughts on what you wish to purchase with your earned DP?”

Once again, the catalog appeared in front of us.

After a quick telepathic discussion, we made our decisions. Uzume got [Clothes Making Acceleration], which was the clothes-related version of her [Food Preparation Acceleration]. Irene already had her [Enhanced Stamina Regeneration] from before, but now that she had the Development Abilities in her falna, she was going to hold off first to observe. I was the same, since I didn’t feel like buying any new skills at this point.

As for Matsu…

“What do you think?” She asked, one hand playing with her hair.

“Nice. Very nice.” 

Her hair had curled itself into the princess ringlets, which was an interesting look to see on her. As I watched, it shifted itself through several other hairstyles; long straight hair, thick braids, twin buns, wavy hair… I made sure to compliment her through each one, until she finally returned them back to her usual twin braids. One of the locks framing her face extended out to snake around my hand, wrapping it up until it looked like I was wearing a light red glove. Then I felt it bend my fingers one by one, demonstrating an impressive level of control.

“Uzume-tan has her cloth, Irene-tan has her magic, now I have my hair when I want to grab ahold of you,” She told me with a grin.

[Hair Manipulation] was the skill that Matsu picked, and so far, it was working out pretty well for her. It wasn’t just prehensile; she could attack with it if she wanted. As a demonstration, she held up a sheet of paper in her hand. With a few flicks of her hair, it fell apart into cut pieces, which she pierced out of the air with piercing strands. 

She humphed. “Harder than I thought.”

The god adjusted his glasses. “Of course it is. You inspected it, so you know how the components work.”

I had observed the process, so I was aware as well.

It drew on a stored energy pool to alter the hair’s shape and properties, with more complex effects having a higher energy cost. If the cost was too high, it would drain the user’s stamina or mana to compensate, like making single strands of hair sharp like needles. Other than that, the  main purpose was to control the hair to move, thus also included was a sensory feedback option that allowed its user to get a sense of what the hair was in contact with, without suffering pain should the hair get damaged. 

With Matsu’s aptitude for multitasking, it was very suited for her. She shifted it into two hands, similar to To-Love Ru’s Golden Darkness’s favorite pervert-beating option, but they were slightly misshapen.

“It’s going to take some practice to get used to, but I can see a lot of uses for this.” She turned them into a three-pronged gripper claw instead, clicking them as though trying to be menacing.

“You’re thinking about using them on multiple keyboards, aren’t you?”

“As expected of Rick-tan, you know me so well!”

“Anything else?” Sano interrupted to remind us of his presence.

I considered his question, then shook my head. “Nope. That’s all.”

“Then I’ll see you all next week.”

With that dismissal, we left his office, to return back to the usual routine of working in this skill shop.

…

“Welcome to Sano’s Skill Services!” I recited, with a genuine smile, “How may I serve you today?”

As always, I was relying on the job persona to handle the work tasks after being away for so long, but it didn’t take long to get back into the swing of things. In some way, this felt more like the vacation compared to all the otherworld trips we went on.

“Certainly. Please touch the pad.”

That’s not to say that I was bothered by my shifting sensibilities. In fact, I was really enjoying myself with this rollercoaster ride my life had become.

“For your purposes, I would recommend these skills.”

Interacting with visitors from various different realities, getting an expansion to my worldview outside of fiction…

“We also offer adjustment services if you so desire.”

And most of all, having wonderful people in my life to enjoy these experiences with. Uzume, whose peppy personality always brightened my days. Matsu, my perverted Sekirei with which I could discuss fetishes without any shame. Irene, the big sister with the hidden needy side that she only showed in moments of privacy.

“Certainly. My colleague can take care of that in a moment, if you are willing to wait.” A few other glowing boxes soon popped out. “And my colleague is done. Please inspect the skills.”

Honestly, one big upside of this job was that I enjoyed seeing the pleased faces of the customers when I was able to provide them with what they asked for. It wasn’t just the skills, but providing counseling with regards to the other factors of transmigration as well.

“Oh, your selected person is going to be inserted in such a fashion? If that’s the case, then I would suggest a slight adjustment for this skill. The reason being…”

And even then, I was still learning more and more. OTJ training, just as Sano promised. Sure, it might not be the typical mechanical, engineering, or programming work, but it was pretty interesting.

“It’s a minor thing that I can handle right now. Just a quick adjustment.”

[Decompressing… Decompressing Complete.]

My hands flickered as I swapped out skill components. The knowledge the role filled me was the foundation, but compared to the many times I did this before, I wasn’t letting it ride me. Instead, it was my will that was genuinely performing the actions, using the knowledge I had accumulated through repeated practice.

[Compressing… Compression complete.]

“And there we go. A customized skill for your transmigrator.”

And occasionally, there would be the rare situation that required some quick thinking to handle. Most of them were quite simple, and Sano was rather flexible about such things.

“Certainly. We can accept that skill to cover part of the payment. Thank you for your business. We hope to serve you again.”

When closing time came, I returned back to the living space, where the others already were. Frontline work was quite busy, but I didn’t mind it in this case.

“Welcome back, Rick-dono,” Irene greeted me with a quick hug. “Busy day?”

“Moderate, I’d say.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Uzume called from the kitchen. “Could someone come and help me bring them out?”

“Coming!” 

A moving lock of hair cut me off, and I glanced at the source.

“No need, Rick-tan,” Matsu said from her seat at the dining table, “I’ll handle it.”

“Alright, but I’ll be on standby.”

We watched as her hair extended out towards the kitchen, eliciting a sound of surprise from the brunette in there. Moments later, several plates came out, borne by loops of hair around undersides. They were carried to the table and placed on its surface, before the hair reverted back to its original form as Matsu’s hairstyle.

“You’re getting used to this.”

“Ehehe~ Didn’t drop any this time.”

Irene and I sat down, followed shortly after by Uzume, who was carrying the utensils.

“What’s this dish, Uzume-dono?” Irene asked, poking the pastry coating on the meat.

“Beef wellington. I decided to give the recipe I found online a try. How is it?”

The redhead took a bite. “It’s delicious!” 

“Thank you.” 

The rest of us began eating as well.

“So what’s the plan for this weekend?” Uzume asked, “Last weekend, we went to Hakone on a weekend trip, so we’re going to another world this time, right?”

I briefly thought back to that leisurely trip. We had done the Hakone loop, visiting places like the Open Air Museum and other sightseeing spots, before spending the night at a hotel. The meals there were great, and we spent quite a long time soaking in the private bath, as well as doing other fun activities. Visiting other worlds was fun and exciting, but Japan itself still had many fun activities to do, and I wanted to show them to the three girls.

Like visiting Sendai for some beef tongue. I chewed the meat in my mouth, enjoying the burst of flavor. This dish is making me long for that. 

“Yeah,” Matsu answered in my place, “But it’s going to be another long-term one, so Boss Sano said it would take time to prepare.”

“How so?”

“For one, there are skills required to blend in, and I’m not too entirely sure about this, but I think there might be some disruptions going on.”

That made me sit up straighter. “Another alternate universe?”

Matsu nodded. “Probably.”

“So what world is it?”

My bespectacled Sekirei was the one managing the list of worlds we were interested in visiting, the result of various idle and active discussions over the months we spent together. Despite her perverted tendencies -evidenced by the foot currently stroking my crotch-, we trusted her reasoning enough to let her pick the next world for us to visit. 

The reasoning was usually based on what a world had to offer, how dangerous it was, and how long we were likely to spend there. At this point, we were approximately strong enough to go to Naruto, One Piece, or My Hero Academia as a world, but there was still enough of a risk, and we agreed to take things slowly. If one of us wanted to make a case for a different world, compelled by our whims, she most likely would rearrange the queue as needed, but so far we hadn’t had anything like that happen.

“It’s another magic world. And there shouldn’t be much conflict there, just a place we can relax for months in between visits to other worlds.”

“Are you sure it’ll be relaxing? You did say it could be an alternate setting.”

She shrugged. “No promises, but we can pull out anytime if things turn bad.”

“Which world is this?” Irene wanted to know.

Matsu told her. “I’ve sent the books regarding the canon setting to your ebook reader already, so go ahead and read up on them.”

“Okay, that’s enough foot-play underneath the table,” Uzume scolded.

“Fiiiine…” She winked at me. “I’ll continue it in the bedroom later. I need more data regarding how well Irene-tan’s Strong Body stacks up against Rick-tan’s [Sex Maniac] job class.”

Irene’s cheeks pinked a little, but she didn’t voice any objection to that.

Needless to say, our love life continued to be full of passion and lust. 

In between these moments of leisure, we also continued to work on our own personal hobbies. Uzume continued to craft cosplay outfits that she sold to cosplayers who could afford the prices she asked for her speed and quality, Matsu juggled working on mechanical devices and potions alike, and Irene worked on expanding her breadth of knowledge with regards to magic. The latter two succeeded in repairing the White Phial, and were currently testing its capabilities in what potions it was able to duplicate.

As for me, my interest continued to lie with skills and other worlds, and with Sano’s permission, I occasionally went to other worlds for quick visits. 

The one this time was a new one. One that I had experience with during my long stay in Japan previously.

The grizzled old man’s single arm paused, and he peered up at me. 

“A foreigner… What business do you have with an old sculptor in a rundown temple like this?” He grunted.

“I would like a look at those books you have.”

“Book? No book here…” He turned back to his carving, jabbing at the block of wood with his chisel.

YOINK

I heard his carving pause again, but the main bulk of my attention lay on the book I was flipping through. Given the age and the quality of the paper, I handled it carefully to avoid causing any damage to the book.

“You… just who are you?” He asked, more wary now.

I see. It’s a rough collection of techniques, but for an olden Japan setting, there’s a lot of work that went into this. I can tell it was collated with practicality in mind.

My eyes finished scanning the entirety of the text, recording it down into both memory and the analysis skill I carried with me.

[Shinobi Arts learned!]

I closed the book and placed it back into its storage box, before going on to the next one. The handwriting was even messier, making it slower to read, but I eventually managed to record it all just the same.

[Prosthetic Arts learned!]

Finished, I returned both boxes to the sculptor. “Just a traveler who’s interested in various techniques. I have no hostile intention against this land and its people.”

He took the box and tucked it away in his loose clothes. “Begone with you.”

As I walked out of the temple, I reviewed the skill mechanics of the first book in my mind. The dresspheres already had something similar in unlocking different techniques with enough experience, and the techniques themselves had quite a lot of similarity to skills I already had. Movement techniques meant to help one who engaged in stealth, breathing techniques to calm one’s mind and body in the midst of combat, and combat techniques for fast and efficient killing. All in all, the esoteric techniques for a shinobi, distilled into a single book. 

And honestly, nothing new or unique for me. 

[Breath of Life: Light] lost out to [Full Focus Breathing], [Mid-air Combat Arts] was something I already had experience with thanks to training with ATs in the Air Gear world, [Suppress Presence] and [Suppress Sounds] were quite similar to Skyrim’s [Sneak] perks. The best one out of all of them was [Shinobi Eyes], which would allow me to perceive the best point at which to disrupt an attack to stagger the opponent.

As for [Prosthetic Arts], that was reliant on having the Shinobi Prosthetic that was kept in storage within the temple, but such a thing could be compensated for with the right skill. And similarly, there was a lot of overlap with what I already knew. For example, the combat techniques of using tool and weapon to attack in tandem were just made a little more effective. Increasing the potency of medicine by meditating on its flavor and aroma was just another version of Skyrim’s [Alchemy] perk.

The only ones that I found interesting were [Living Force], which was like a momentary enchantment of one’s weapon, and the [Karma] ones that allowed one to carry more Spirit Emblems. The concept of converting regrets into power seemed like they could be quite useful in other worlds.

Walking over to the edge of the cliff nearby, I looked out over the lands of Ashina. At this point of time, it was largely peaceful, but tensions were starting to rise as news of Ashina Isshin’s geriatric state began to be spread around.

This was before the plot of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Let’s see what else I can grab while I’m here.

…

An old man sat in his room, gazing out the window. Occasionally, coughs would wrack his body, indicating his body was weakened by illness. Despite that, his senses were still sharp, and he looked at the staircase moments before a woman came up through it. She had her hair done up in a neat hairstyle, and was wearing a brown coat over her maroon clothes.

“So it’s you, Emma.” He said hoarsely.

“Yes, Lord Isshin.”

She knelt down next to him and began checking his body over, acting in her role as a doctor.

“What news do you have?” He asked her.

“Lord Genichiro continues to gather his forces.” He didn’t respond, so she continued, “More importantly, Orangutan told me something concerning.”

“What did he say?”

“A stranger appeared in front of him.” 

She proceeded to share what few details their mutual acquaintance told her, which wasn’t much. As for the old man, he just listened without responding, as he always did. A stranger who came looking for techniques, with techniques that even a retired shinobi couldn’t handle. That deserved further investigation.

Emma went back downstairs to collect some more of her equipment, but when she returned back to the room, there was no sign of the old man, even though the staircase was the only conventional entrance. 

She sighed. “Quite a handful… always disappearing the moment I take my eyes off you, Lord Isshin…”

The wind blew through the open window.

Afterword: And that was the end of the Danmachi trip. I had fun writing it, which was how I got this out so quickly, but getting back to the routine part of working in the Skill Shop was a bit tough. 

Anyway, I decided to pay a visit to the world of Sekiro, just on a whim. As it is already obvious, there’s not much valuable stuff to grab from that world, but there are a few special things that just seem interesting to grab. 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I also did a few AI art pieces of Matsu with different hairstyles.