“I guess, even though this is a different world, you are both heroes. It’s the atmosphere that both of you have around you,” she said. I didn’t really understand her reply. I had an atmosphere around me that was like Kizuna—perhaps that was the lesson.

“I’m not as carefree as her,” I stated.

“But you have a different way of reassuring people,” Raphtalia stepped in, scoring for completely the wrong side! Stop it with the support attacks against me!

“Whatever. If you need something, get in here,” Romina said. We proceeded to follow her inside. “Showing up at my studio means you want some weapons, correct?” she confirmed.

“Yeah. I want to beef up our gear a bit to help get Kizuna back,” I explained. “I’ve also got some stuff I want to show you, Romina.” I showed her the materials the old guy had given me, along with the Barbarian Armor and everyone else’s gear. It was all functioning, but without some tweaks it wouldn’t be able to exhibit its full potential. “This too,” I finished, tossing the Demon Dragon core over to Romina.

“Hold on. This is the dragon core I used on your armor, right? So how do you have another one?” Romina asked.

“That’s the one you guys swapped in. It caused some issues for us too,” I stated. Then I explained to her the trouble the Demon Dragon core had caused.

“Wow. This dragon core caused that much fuss?” she asked.

“It did. A whole heap of trouble.” I made sure to rub it in.

“But the weapons made with the Demon Dragon materials were great,” she countered.

“I’ll give you that one,” I eventually admitted. They were really versatile, that much was true, and among all the finicky shields in my collection, it had proven exceptionally easy to use. I certainly didn’t want to wear a whole set of that dangerous Demon Dragon stuff though. Forget that.

“Roger. What about these other materials? They look a bit like something I recognize,” Romina pondered.

“They come from some of the four benevolent animals in my world,” I explained.

“I thought as much,” she said. Romina proceeded to check the Spirit Tortoise and Phoenix materials, nodding to herself all the while. Purely based on her skills . . . she was at least better than the old guy had been prior to going into training. But I wouldn’t say she was at the level of Motoyasu II. “They look a lot like some of the material fragments we found after defeating Kyo. These look purer, though, and probably tougher to use,” Romina evaluated.

“Can you turn them into gear we can use in this world?” I asked.

“Probably not impossible,” she responded. “But how quickly do you need them?”