“Women across the world, huh?” I said, unable to stop myself.

“Half the world is women!” he shot back. “How many of them do you think would suffer if someone like him took power?” Still, this was hardly the place for such a conversation. I was starting to see a bit of a different side to Motoyasu II, however. His awareness of women was a little different from the old Motoyasu, at least.

“What if you had been friends with some of Takt’s women, then?” I probed, perhaps foolishly.

“What do you think? I’d have told you not to kill them,” he quickly replied. So he’d protect the women he knew—an easy-to-understand answer, and not a bad one.

“Anyway, what brings you here, wasting my time?” he barked.

“Master, can you back off a bit? If you talk with the kid for too long, it’s just gonna get you all riled up again,” the old guy countered.

“Whatever!” Motoyasu II spat back as Imiya’s uncle led him back into the depths of the shop.

“So, kid, I’d love it if you could show me some Kirin materials right about now. Any luck?” the old guy asked.

“I’m sorry to say we are still investigating what happened to them, even in Faubrey,” I responded. We were talking about the materials from the Kirin that Takt had defeated, which were currently still missing in action. I’d really wanted to secure them and have the old guy make some gear to prepare for the upcoming battles.

“The word is out to give us the lion’s share if and when they are found. So if they show up while I’m away, just get started,” I instructed him.

“Away? Where you off to?” he responded.

“Right. That’s really what I came to tell you,” I recalled. I proceeded to tell him about the upcoming trip to Kizuna’s world.

“I see. So you want me to tinker with your gear so it can still be used over there?” he asked.

“That’s the short of it. Think you can manage it so quickly?” I replied.

“The armor you are using now is pretty good with that kind of compatibility, so it shouldn’t take too long. If I swap in those parts you brought me last time . . . I reckon I can pull something off without the cursed parts,” he stated. I was glad to hear that. “Will Spirit Tortoise materials function over there?” he asked.

“I used the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield, so they should be fine,” I replied.

“Then it should all work out. When you came back last time, I checked it out, and the materials used for those parts . . . well, though not entirely legal, were similar to the demi-human materials from the four benevolent animals,” the old guy explained.

I wondered if it was connected to the four holy beasts. It corresponded to the main races of Siltvelt.

“I mean, if you asked, I’m sure the demi-humans would happily provide them,” he said.