Chapter 21: A pass?
Leon struck a yellowish-orange metal, grinning.
He was in the process of creating armor pieces for the fishermen. Because those pieces required a lot more time, hands, and resources, Leon received a well-paying job to help Bou and his people.
Those guys weren't in a good mood for a while!
"We can't even take a break!"
"Seriously, are they planning some small battleship?"
"Who cares? More work, more money!"
While people Leon's age silently complained to each other about more stuff to do, with a delightful smile, Leon was personally overlooking their pieces, finishing them to ensure that the armor pieces were as best as possible. Soon, he'd board that small battleship, after all.
Not only did he receive a sack of coins and forging experience with armor pieces, but Leon would soon fight and catch a few blue crocodiles for further experiments with his class.
It was such a win-win situation that Leon was too ecstatic.
Of course, it wasn't anything on a bigger scale, nor was his income actually in gold coins, but Leon didn't come to this world to follow someone else's path, join the guild, and become their pawn. He forged his own path!
Blacksmithing was a cool and gratifying hobby, too.
It was different from Leon's previous hobby(beating people in ranked games with superiority) and quite lone, but Leon already imagined surprising Louise with cute stuff and imagined her reaction. She wouldn't accept it without giving something back, so Leon probably could get a good dinner from her.
And if it weren't as good as she often said she became, Leon would accept her gratitude.
"Done!" In Leon's case, looking at the final product alongside his muscles aching and sweat flowing down was the rewarding feeling of blacksmithing. It'd be the cherry on the top if he forged an item for himself and turned it into a higher grade through his skills like he'd done with the chains.
For those chains, Leon bought a blueprint from the system shop. It'd be odd if those didn't evolve into something better with his skills.
Nonetheless, for now, Leon was nearly ready to try blue crocodiles head-on.
Although Leon wouldn't say it aloud, recalling his battle against the skeletons and how he'd dealt with them together with Louise was something Leon would never forget, for the feeling he felt back then was even more fulfilling.
Leon knew it was a dangerous combination of fighting and saving Louise's life that gratified him that day.
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[A few days later.]
The boat became armored and ready to face the wrath of blue crocodiles. Leon and the blacksmiths were confident in their work and believed the boat would endure pissed monsters for more than an hour.
But while the blue monsters were clueless about Monster Collector and his plan, the famous fox girl and her partner faced each other in the middle of their argument.
They looked like a newly married couple.
"I told you to stay home." Leon glowered at Louise, surprising her.
He didn't want to take her with him because Louise simply couldn't deal with her sea sickness. She couldn't fix it with her heart alone, for it was in her genes. It was a flaw she had to accept or deal with through items or special techniques that she wasn't aware of yet.
Leon didn't want to risk her life and burden himself.
He displayed genuine irritation and dislike toward her actions for the first time. Louise flinched uncontrollably and deeply inhaled, stubbornly staring back at Leon.
Without turning around, Louise took the reins of her emotions, calming them down. She knew Leon was worried and concerned about her, and she also had shown similar emotions to him during their journey. Didn't she scream at him and often mumble to herself how unfair it was that he could see through her so easily?
Accepting his worries, Louise clenched her little hands and replied, "I must stay with Master! I also don't want you to look after me because I can do it alone!"
Leon recorded a few whispers and chuckles from fishermen and other people. The latter were mainly their families and donors who had donated to create the armored boat and save their fishing business.
He heard them so well… Was it because of his peak humanity's body growing stronger every day?
"I said it clearly and loudly — No! I refuse to take you with me, and you have to accept it, Louise." Leon stretched his hand toward Louise's, bringing her closer to himself. Leon leaned down when Louise's hands landed on his chest, and she glared at him from below, exerting too much cuteness.
Louise's heart didn't skip a beat, for she had more important matters now. She wanted to go with her master, but Leon's following words melted her heart, rooting her to the ground.
"I won't turn you into a card so you can be with me. You'll stay in the village and wait for me. You can't deal with whatever happens to me, so accept it. You also get a [No Pass] from me, which you can use to keep me away from your business or to keep acting stubbornly like today. Not today, though." Leon roughly ruffled Louise's scarlet, then took out a small and round metal piece with [No] sculpted on it.
He passed it to his partner, blessed her with his magical smile, then went to the boat.
Holding it, Louise's heart warmed and nearly jumped out from her chest again… She couldn't talk or extend her hands to stop her master, only watching him board the armored boat.
"Master! You will return safely!" Louise carefully chose her words to not reveal her master's class, then tightly pressed the token into her chest.
She whispered so no one could hear it. "I'm so stupid... I could've prepared some snacks for the master! It'll take some time before he reaches the blue crocodiles' camp… I'll do it next time when he goes on an adventure without me."
Louise hoped she wouldn't have to do it many times and that her master would be able to take her with him everywhere. For that, Louise prayed that they wouldn't face many water-type monsters from now on.
Around thirty minutes later, Louise understood that she could cook snacks whenever she wanted. Leon would eat them during his break or on any other occasion.
To welcome him back with all experience she'd learned so far, Louise ran to the chef and requested him to look after her cooking. She wouldn't allow him to touch her cooking stuff or ingredients, though.
Thus, two battles started. Leon faced blue crocodiles while Louise's tails turned into flames of her emotions, and she fought against the chef's narrowed and intensely scrutinizing eyes.
"Look after me, the chef. No help, ok?"
"…"