Arachne Chapter 3

Extra: Hero

—–At first, I only planned on teasing her a bit.

My name is Hero Loto.

I am the hero chosen by the legendary Judgement Sword… at least, that's how it should be.

After mother revealed to me the secret of my birth, I accepted the king's command, and in order to follow my father's footsteps to defeat the demon king, I left my home country and went on a journey.

And during the journey, I came to know my current comrades:

Swordsman, Arkham Sword

Magician, Rune Ark Mage

Senior Priest, Cure Acolyte

They had been with me through thick and thin as we went to every single corners of this continent.

After the numerous fierce battles that happened during our long journey, our party gained enough strength and experience to be called true veterans.

Anyway, the hero, which is me, is at level 112.

All of my comrades also reached over level 100.

With that level of strength, we probably can't be considered humans anymore.

However, we still don't know if we can win against the demon king, even if the four of us all attack him together. That's just how outrageous the demon king is.

We will need to prepare ourselves as best we can, and furthermore, we must have the resolve to challenge the demon king with our lives on the line.

With that in mind, we've decided to first prepare our equipment before storming the demon king's castle. Thus, we came to the town of Rihak.

This town is famous for producing magical equipment, since the numerous magical beasts that make their lairs nearby is the best source of magical ingredients.

Full recovery potionsElixirs, high-rank mana potions, consumable spell scrolls, etcetera etcetera…

After replenishing our stock of consumables, we went on to search for equipment for all of us.

Since each of us have our own favorite shop, we visited stores all over the town and ordered custom-made equipment… and during our shopping trip, a store caught my eyes.

'Arachne Tailor'

…When someone mentions an Arachne, what comes to mind is a type of high-rank magical beast. Their upper body is an extraordinary beauty, and their lower body is a huge spider.

And if the store is called that… Aah, I see, they might be using arachne silk as their main material. So that's the reason for the name.

My curiosity pulled my legs toward the shop. Arachne silk is quite the rare material for cloth-type armors, so this shop might be an unexpected discovery.

When I pushed open the door, the refreshing sound of a bell rung inside the shop.

The sound seemed to have alerted the clerk to our arrival, and she came to greet us.

"Welcome to Arachne Tailor!"

My brain stalled.

Shoulder-length hair, so silvery it almost looks like it's shining.

The contour from her cheeks to her jaw looks as if drawn by a master artist.

Mystical, scarlet red eyes, like a pair of glowing rubies.

Her dainty body, wrapped in a long white dress.

The young girl standing there must have received the blessing of the G.o.d of beauty.

Rune and Cure in my party are also quite the beautiful lady and cute girl, but this girl belongs to an entirely different level.

I can declare this with all honesty, that if she was 2-3 years older, I would have proposed to her right on the spot.

Even now, I already don't dare to look at her directly. That's because I'm fully aware that my cheeks are heating up without my consent.

"Hero, it is an honor to receive you in my store. I am the owner, Shiori Arachne. What might you be looking for?"

What in the… This young girl is the owner?

It doesn't look like there's any other employees… Did this girl make all of this shop's items by herself?

….Unbelievable. See, doesn't this shop even have items made from True Dragon and G.o.d Bird materials?

And not only that, their quality is high… For example, this True Dragon armor have slightly lower defense, but better fire resistance than the Shining Armor I'm wearing right now.

And furthermore, its price is only nearly ⅔ of my Shining Armor.

For some reason, I feel frustrated.

Then what about me, wearing the Shining Armor? Won't I look like someone who can't tell the difference between good and bad equipment?

"…As I thought, you can't get anything good from shop equipment. Probably just going to have to hunt for equipment drops if I want anything better… Wearing these stuff to fight the demon king would be tough going."

…Which was why I accidentally let slip those words, filled with my frustration, in front of Shiori.

Aaaahh, I'm really immature.

However, Shiori's reply far surpa.s.sed my expectations.

"Hero, if I can have your guarantee that you'll buy my goods, then I can acquire what you need in a month."

She said that.

The town of Rihak, famous for being the town of magical arms and armor.

Even after walking around the whole town, I still couldn't find anything better than my Shining Armor. Yet this little maestro is telling me that she can prepare it in a month?

Normally, anyone would think her words to be a simple joke. But I believed her.

"…Really?! Alright, I'll make that promise. I'll be expecting your new equipment."

I believed her, because I saw the pa.s.sionate flame of a craftsman's soul burning behind the little shop-owner.

One month later.

We simply kept on killing magical beasts.

All for the purpose of gathering enough money for miss Shiori's declared price.

Apparently, what I'll be getting is a unique set of armor that make use of super rare materials. The money we have right now isn't enough to pay for it.

However, as a hero party, even that price isn't completely out of our reach.

After the promised month has pa.s.sed, we managed to get enough money and head once more for Shiori's shop – the Arachne Tailor.

"I have kept you waiting, Hero. This is the set of armor I promised you."

Aaaahhh… Shiori, your cuteness is eternal… Leaving my comrades at the inn and coming here alone was the right decision.

I did that because it wouldn't reflect well on a hero to be seen love-stricken with such a young girl.

Aaaahhh… My lovely angel Shiori… Even while you're carefully lining up those pitch-black clothes or pitch-black boots or pitch-black cloak with those slender arms, your every single movements are beauty itself.

….Wait, pitch-black? Clothes? Cloak?

Just what is this set of armor made from? It's not actually armor, but clothes… and t-they're leaking out some sort of black evil-looking aura?!

"Let's see… From the left, they are… 'Demon King Cloak (Enhanced)' 'Demon King Boots (Enhanced)' 'Demon King Clothes (Enhanced)' 'Demon King Pants (Enhanced)'. A 4-pieces set of super-armor! ♪"

"D-Demon King Clothes?!"

"Yes, Demon King Clothes… Despite the name, there's no curse on it, so you don't need to worry."

"J-Just what are these made from…"

"Secret ♪ Please guess from the name… Ah, please check the details of their effects with [Identify]."

"A-Alright… [Identify]"

___________________________________

Demon King Clothes (Enhanced)

Defense +60

Magic Defense +70

Darkness Resistance +50%

All Basic Stats +1

When worn, the wearer will emit a dark aura.

Demon King Boots (Enhanced)

Defense +25

Magic Defense +15

Complete Immunity to Paralysis and Bind status

Basic Stat SPD +1

Movement Speed +10%

Demon King Pants (Enhanced)

Defense +40

Magic Defense +40

Darkness Resistance +30%

Basic Stat VIT +1

Physical Dodge Rate +20%

Demon King Cloak (Enhanced)

Defense +20

Magic Defense +20

All Elements Resistance +20%

Subs.p.a.ce Storage Enchantment (99 slots, 99 units each slot)

_________________________________

…What's with this absurd equipment effects?

The whole set gives me 100% to darkness resistance. What the h.e.l.l.

I would be pretty much immune to the demons' main attacks. What the h.e.l.l.

Also, I ain't heard of no equipment that gives you +1 to all stats.

The cloak's subs.p.a.ce storage effect is even a few times better than a [Vacuum Storage Bag]. Just this cloak alone is enough for me to build a castle.

Wait. This set can't seriously be making use of the actual Demon King's clothes as materials, right?!

There's no other possible explanation for that outrageous darkness resistance…

…So does it mean I'm now out of a job?

…Nonono, waitaminutewaitaminute!

In the first place, the Demon King is there to be defeated by the hero, right?

H-He's still happily staying inside the Demon King Castle. He must be.

I-I must embark on this journey to bring peace to the world… Yes.

I mechanically paid for the armor set and returned to the inn where my comrades are.

One week after that.

Our party is advancing in the Demon King castle without any problems.

No, you can say that we're advancing too smoothly.

For some reason, all the traps on our way are already demolished, the castle is suspiciously lacking in monsters, and most of the officer-rank enemies that I've heard should be here, aren't.

…Might it be? Might it actually be?

"Hero! Stop standing there like an idiot! We've got our first big catch in forever!"

Rune's shout brought me back to the present.

The archduke demon, Wolfgang, appeared, his body seemingly pouring out from the darkness.

That's right. Just a little bit further to the demon king.

This is no place to be standing stock still.

Wolfgang is practically the demon king's right hand man. He is absolutely not an opponent we can afford to be careless when fighting. However…

[Grrr, d.a.m.n humans. To attack us at this time, how underhanded of you!]

Huh? Isn't he strangely weak? There are wounds all over his body, and his magical power is even weaker than the last time we clashed, somehow.

"Hero!! I don't really understand why, but this is our chance! Leave him to us and go defeat the Demon King!"

"Yes, this is our fight! We shall deal with him promptly and catch up with you!"

"We've decided, so go, hero chosen by the holy Judgement Sword!"

"Ggh… Understood! Don't die here, my comrades!"

That's right, that's right. A hero shall have his victory, supported by friendship!

With their strength right now, the three of them should be able to beat a weakened Wolfgang.

Then there's no need to think about anything else. I should save my strength and magic, and go defeat the Demon King!

While Wolfgang is having his hand full with Arkham, Rune, and Cure, I go past him and kept on running forward.

At that moment, I heard Wolfgang grumble, teeth gnashing, [If only that d.a.m.n spider girl didn't come…]

…What's that about?

……No, leave the thinking for later.

The only thing I need to do right now is to get to the Demon King's throne!

………………I see it!

A gargantuan double door, chiselled with symbols of a wicked G.o.d.

This is the Demon King's hall… The throne must be here…?

Hmm?

Doesn't this door look… a bit broken?

This is the Demon King's hall, right? The door normally shouldn't be broken, right?

And not just that, the whole door is made from mithril, and quite thick at that, too.

Currently, that door is having a big, gaping hole blown out of it, starting from the floor up to around 2 meters high.

…L-Let's just go in first, I'll think about this later. Yeah.

"E-Excuse me…"

Yeah, that's not what you're supposed to say when you're invading the Demon King's hall. I know that.

But for some reason, I'm having a really, really bad feeling about this.

It's not exactly a danger to my life… This feeling is more like, my raison d’être is being threatened instead, I guess?

Silence.

Not a single noise in the Demon King's hall.

Or rather, I don't even feel the presence of any living beings here.

Just what happened here…?

Whoops, there's something white at the throne.

…Yeah, this is paper… and there's something written on it.

Let's see…

I lost to a young girl, got stripped naked, tied up, and even my equipment was seized… After having that humiliation play done to me, I can no longer stay at this castle as a demon king. Furthermore, I think I had awakened to something new… *cough* *cough* Uh, so basically, I'm going on a journey to heal my broken heart, so please don't search for me.

Demon King.

Young girl.

Demon King Clothes (Enhanced).

The broken traps and door.

Wolfgang full of wounds.

And this note left behind by the demon king.

…M-My lovely Shiori… the true Great Demon Queen…

I don't know how long I'd been standing there dumbfounded, but I hear the sound of a few pairs of footsteps echoing in the hall.

Aah, so my comrades already defeated Wolfgang and is running here.

"Hero! You okay?!"

"We came to help… Wait, huh?"

"Mmm, just where is the Demon King…"

Of course they'll be confused.

After risking their lives to a.s.sault the Demon King Castle and finding that the very Demon King in question isn't here, there's no way they wouldn't be confused.

"Yeah… He's, not here anymore."

"No more…?"

"Which means… You won! Hero!"

"Amazing, you beat the demon king even before we arrive!"

"Indeed the hero chosen by the holy sword…"

"Eh, uh, no, but I didn't defeat him?"

"Hahah! No need to be modest! With this victory, the monsters will have to retreat far back!"

"You're no longer a hero, you're the savior!"

"No, I'm telling you…"

"Long live Hero Loto!!"

"WIth this triumph, you'll finally be allowed to marry Princess Lara! Her wait back home will be ending soon!"

…I can't say it. I can't tell them that the Demon King lost, had humiliation play done to him by a young girl, and finally ran away from the castle… For the sake of both our honors, I can't say it!

I'll probably have to beg Shiori, the perpetrator of this situation, to keep quiet and go along with my story…

Then I should prostrate myself in front of her, or maybe do anything she wants… Huh? For some reason, prostrating myself in front of my lovely Shiori feels kind of like a reward instead…

…Aaah, I sort of understand the Demon King's feelings a little bit now…

In the end, I never came back to my country.

When I shamelessly begged Shiori for that favor, she happily agreed and replied, "Actually, I want to keep my involvement a secret too, so let's just consider this your victory over the demon king", so I no longer have any worries for the future.

Right now, I'm busy working as the president of the Lovely Shiori Fan Club, so I don't have any spare time to go back home.

Author's note: Hey, hero… Remember, yes lolita, no touch.