Chapter 169
169 . The Lion-Topped Carriage
A sudden important reminder popped itself into my head as we made our way in the guild's direction .
『You think leveling up Thought Isolation might be a good idea seeing as how we're about to have to talk to the Guildmaster?』
(Nn . Sounds good since still level 1 . )
『Yeah, but there kinda is a problem . Iunno how he'll react to us suddenly having the skill at a decent level . 』
If I was him I'd think it pretty sketchy for us to suddenly have something that'd stop him from reading our minds .
(Already too late . Identity as intellegent weapon already exposed . )
『Hmm . Is it really too late?』
(Nn . Justification, can just say used Master's ability . Master just that amazing . )
『Seriously?』
(Nn . Since Intelligent Weapon . )
You know, now that I think about it, I might actually be pretty awesome . The fact that I knew about the Divine Blades had always made me think of myself as an inferior good . I mean, I at least had enough confidence to think if I'd be targeted if people found out about me, but that was pretty much it . Reflecting on it from a more logical standpoint made me actually seem rather desirable, as Intelligent Weapons were better than Magic Swords, but not as good as Divine Blades .
In other words, the fact that I was an intelligent weapon could actually be used as a pretty decent arbitrary excuse for when we wanted to just bullshit through things . People wouldn't really find it odd because of how strange Intelligent Weapons were in the first place .
『True true . 』
Eh, yeah, I was convinced that there weren't any detriments to actually going through with it, so I used up 18 of my self evolution points and just flat out maxed the skill .
〈Thought Isolation has reached its maximum level . It has evolved into the the Perfect Thought Isolation skill . 〉
Oh shit! The skill evolved? Sweet, Perfect Thought Isolation sounds hella awesome . Mind reading? Induced Thought? Come at me bro, I got this . The best part about the skill was that I could adjust the extent to which I blocked my thoughts out . I could use it to mess with people that could read minds by only allowing them to read specific thoughts .
(Other skills, what to do?)
『Would probably be better for us to just hold onto them for now and think things through a bit more carefully first . 』
I had a limited number of points, so it'd be best for me to be a bit more prudent in their use .
『Let's think carefully about how we want to use them . 』
(Nn . Got it . )
I was thinking of leveling up the Divine Sword Arts skill myself, but I didn't really mind relinquishing the points to some other skill if Fran wanted to, seeing as how she was the one that was going to be using them and all .
That was especially true because of the fact that she was more creative than me . She came up with some pretty interesting stuff back when we were fighting Rynford, so I was really looking forward to seeing what she'd be able to think of and pull off in the future .
***
Erza stopped just a bit before we arrived at the guild .
「Hmph . It's started getting really crowded . Everyone's in our way . 」
There were a lot more people here than there were where we were a few minutes ago . To make matters worse, they weren't just walking along or anything either . They'd all gathered up in a crowd, which in turn made it more difficult for us to get through them .
『You think something happened?』
「Erza . Something happened?」
「It seems like a bunch of high ranking foreign nobles have just arrived in town . They're here to watch the Martial Arts Tournament because it's coming up soon . It's just going to keep getting worse from here on out because we'll be getting a huge influx of nobles and adventurers . Everything always gets really crowded around this time of year . It's Ulmutt's busiest season . 」
Ohhhhh . So the nobles are taking up basically the whole road and making everyone else sit off to the side while they do? I guess that means it's kinda like, but not as bad as the old Japanese Daimyo stuff they used to do; everyone here has to just sit and wait until they're through .
「I think we should just take the high road from here . 」
「Got it . 」
I looked down on the crowd from Fran's back as she leapt onto the rooftop
In doing so, I saw the most extravagant looking carriage I'd ever seen since reincarnating . The wooden lion stuck on its roof looked so real that could honestly see it coming to life at any given moment . Its body was crafted of a lustrous ebony, and its ornaments a gaudy mix of gold and silver . Much to my surprise, its near excessive decorations didn't make it look vulgar or over the top, but instead caused it to give off an elegant air .
Even a single glance was enough for me to tell that they weren't just your everyday low end nobles .
The only thing I didn't get was why they had so few escorts . Their carriage looked like something that'd normally be accompanied by dozens of guards .
I actually couldn't believe that it was totally exposed to danger save for the coachman and the pair of guards that stood to its left and right . It wasn't even a part of a caravan or anything like that either . I knew that we were in a in town right now and all that, but still, weren't the people inside of the damn thing being you know, a bit too careless?
Or so I thought... until I observed the coachman and the carriage's two guards in more detail .
『Damn, they look strong . 』
Just looking at the way they carried themselves made me intuitively realize that they were extremely capable .
『Hmmm, I should be able to get away with it if I do it right now...』
I wanted to appraise all three of the people outside the carriage, but Fran was moving too quickly, and made it so I was only capable of appraising one of the two guards .
『Whaaaa?』
(Master . Problem?)
『Nothing really important . Just that carriage's guard is hella stronk . 』
I knew he'd be strong, but I'd never been expecting him to bethatstrong .
_______________________________________________________________
General Information
Name: Goldalfa
Age: 44
Race: Beastkin (White Rhino Tribe / Black Steel Rhino)
Job: Sharpaxer
Status Level: 72/99
HP: 1256
MP: 422
STR: 654
VIT: 582
AGI: 267
INT: 173
MGC: 247
DEX: 299
Skills
Intimidation: Lv 8
Super Herculean Strength: Lv 8
Herculean Strength: MAX
Fist Techniques: Lv 5
Fist Arts: Lv 5
Presence Detection: Lv 3
High Speed Regeneration: Lv 4
Regeneration: MAX
Club Techniques: Lv 6
Club Arts: Lv 6
Mining: Lv 8
Resistance to Abnormal Status: Lv 7
Blink: Lv 3
Resistance to Mental Abnormalities: Lv 7
Elemental Blade: Lv 8
Greater Earth Resistance: Lv 4
Charge: Lv 7
Axe Techniques: MAX
Axe Arts: MAX
Divine Axe Techniques: Lv 6
Divine Axe Arts: Lv 7
Magic Perception: Lv 3
Vigour Mastery
Goblin Killer
Dampened Sense of Pain
Dragon Killer
Strengthened Skin
Innate Skills
Awakening
Shockwave
Titles
He Who Protects
He Who Is Like a Great Mountain
Dungeon Conqueror
Dragon Killer
A Ranked Adventurer
Equipment
Earth Dragon Horn Great Axe
Earth Dragon Scale Armour
Sticky Flame Spirit Mantle
Mastermind's Bracelet
Ring of Poison Detection
_______________________________________________________________
Shit, he's an A ranked adventurer, and an evolved beastkin too . He was just as strong as Amanda . Were the other two like that too? I guess that explains their lack of other guards . They literally don't need them . Actually, having three people that strong is already just flat out excessive . The three of them would honestly probably be able to just totally roll the entire city of Ulmutt all on their own .
Fran turned back in excitement the moment I told her about him .
(Amazing! Rhino tribe famous for strength, but few in number . )
『Wow, really?』
You know, thinking about it, this is actually my first time seeing any rhino beastkin, which kinda makes sense if they're really rare . That said, the guy just kinda just looks like a human with a big frame .
Both the Super Herculean Strength and Vigour Mastery skills caught my interest .
I didn't get to appraise either skill, but I figured they were the respective upgrades to Herculean Strength and Vigour Manipulation . I was interested in his innate skills as well, but I couldn't appraise or intuit either, so they were left as unknowns for the time being .
We might be able to find the answer if we do a bit of research at the guild or ask Aurel or something . He's got a tonne of experience, so he might no . Moreover, there's actually a fair chance he might have some info on the person himself as well .
(Nn . Will ask!)
It seemed Fran herself was totally on board and going full steam ahead .