“If you’re willing to help, that sounds great to me,” L’Arc said.

“Then that settles it. First things first . . .” I looked over at Sadeena, Shildina, and Itsuki. “Can you share some earth crystals with us? I want to boost the baseline levels of my allies, to be better ready for whatever comes next. We don’t know when the enemy might strike, so it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

“Sure! We’re starting to recover now! I just hope Kizuna will come back to us safe and sound!” L’Arc exclaimed. We proceeded to begin the preparations for her rescue.

Chapter Five: Inter-World Adaptation

“Little Naofumi, do we just have to grip this ore tight?” Sadeena asked. L’Arc had managed to get some earth crystals from a merchant. They were now being supplied to Sadeena and the others.

“That’s right. After you raise your levels from the fixed experience obtained from the crystals, we’ll go fight some monsters and raise your levels higher to prepare for the operation. However, the war has left the region unstable. Keep your guard up at all times,” I cautioned them. I still didn’t know how long there was until the operation was going to start, but there was no reason not to be prepared. “We also need to sort out our gear. We’d better go check in with Romina.” We could probably get by with our current stuff, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to check in with Romina.

“Romina is still working hard at being a blacksmith,” L’Arc informed me.

“What about Alto?” I asked.

“He’s off collecting information in another country,” L’Arc replied.

“He was the merchant of death, right? Watch out. He’s probably leaking all your secrets,” I warned him.

“Even Alto knows how to handle himself in that regard. Lots of the other vassal weapon holders are selfish and difficult to talk to, after all,” L’Arc reasoned. I thought for a moment and agreed with him. The very fact Alto was the merchant of death meant he was unlikely to do anything that might put his own life in danger.

“Let’s go see Romina then,” I said. We left Itsuki and the others who needed a level boost with L’Arc, and the rest of us headed to Romina’s studio. Glass came with us. When we got there, I noticed that a mysterious dojo had now appeared next to Romina’s studio. It definitely hadn’t been there before.

“Yomogi and Tsugumi are based out of that dojo,” Raphtalia explained. “They are assisting Kizuna.” I made a noise to show I was impressed. I definitely remembered those two. Yomogi had started out siding with Kyo, but she was honest and serious and just a lovable dummy, really. She had been pretty vocal about Kyo’s plans and constantly questioned him, which had led to Kyo tricking her into attacking us on what basically amounted to a suicide mission. Once she realized Kyo had tricked her, she had turned on him and joined us in a position of something like slave to Kizuna.