The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 29 – Shigure Kosaka, Master of all Weapons

Ronald stopped to think for a moment while Ovaidel was smiling. He understood about whom Duza was talking.

Ronald as well, but he was hearing Riattus: “I think it’s about time for you to try summoning ‘Shigure Kosaka, Master of all Weapons’, my best fighter. She, Sonja, and Conan could help you take care of that bunch of harpies. Shigure is a little difficult to deal with, and I always had a lot of trouble making her do what I wanted. She was the first Magical Being Fighter that I created, and I made a few mistakes with her, mainly making her an honourable fighter. In this World, there is no place for honour. That is why I made after her, Red Sonja and Conan, and I made them battle maniacs. But who knows? Maybe she likes you. I had more trouble than you taming the ‘Groundshaker Beast’. You just punched him while I almost exhausted all my Mana, to fight that thing!”

Ronald got up and went to the door, opened it, and said, “You need to see what the others say about this. I also want to see if I can find one or two of my old friends. I think they came to this City if they found out there are Harpies around here that they can hunt.”

Duza excused herself and followed Ovaidel to the table, where the others were already drinking and talking. Ronald went to the stable, and he took advantage of a moment of distraction from the stable boy to go through the back door, which led to a backyard with a tall fence all around and two trees in the middle.

Some horses were grazing fresh grass in a corner, and Ronald went to the far east side of the courtyard, near the wall of the stable. He took his Card Box from the necklace hidden underneath his clothes and took three Cards from there. “Well, here goes nothing… First, you, my red-haired beauty, and then the scary guy. Shigure Kosaka… She looks a… a what? The clothes are weird; they look like a… what was the name of this thing… I know it is from Earth — from Japan, I think. It’s a Ki… Gui… something like that… Well, I can ask her, I think. So, Summon Red Sonja!”

There she was right in front of him, the fierce woman warrior, Red Sonja, with a sword in her hands and a fighting stance, looking around for enemies. As soon as she realized there was no danger, she quickly put the sword on the sheath behind her back and went to Ronald. She kissed him on the lips and hugged him. “Don’t tell me that a few years have passed already!”

“No, only one day. We arrived in the City of Tha’alani in the Kwoghia Kingdom, and we found out about a situation where we may need your help. Well, yours, Conan, and this woman, Shigure Kosaka.”

Sonja opened her mouth wide. “No way… You are going to summon Shigure, too? For you to think about summoning her, the situation is indeed dangerous! But I must warn you: if she thinks the fight is not honourable, she will not participate. She is very strict with her battles. Riattus always had a lot of trouble with her. On more than one occasion, he summoned her only to make her disappear because she refused to obey his orders, saying that she would never obey an evil man.”

“I see… So, what do you suggest I do when I see her?”

“Show her some respect like a Master such as her deserves. Riattus never did that, and I think it was the main reason she disliked him so much. Conan and I learned a lot with her, especially unarmed fighting or facing different kinds of weapons.”

“Okay, I will do that. So, let me call the scary guy… Summon Conan, the Barbarian!”

Conan came out of the whirlpool, and as soon as he verified there was no danger, he put his sword away. He made a huge smile and slapped Ronald’s back. “Did you miss me already? You are good-looking, but I prefer strong women!”

Ronald showed him Shigure’s Card. “Like this one? She looks pretty too, but the way she is dressed is strange.”

“Oh, Shigure… Good luck! The last time Riattus summoned her, she tried to cut his head off. She hated him. Truly, really, hated him! And her clothes are a Japanese Kimono. How did it turn out for you, the Groundshaker Beast?”

“He tried to eat me. I ripped some scales from his neck and punched him, and he then learned his place. I used the ripped scales to make shields for us; those things are powerful!”

Conan slapped Ronald’s back again. “Good for you! Now, call out Shigure; let’s see how you handle her! Be polite and respectful. And bow! She likes the bowing part.”

“Okay… Let’s see… Summon Shigure Kosaka, Master of all Weapons!”

From the whirlpool came a tall and beautiful young woman with a slender but curvaceous figure and big, bouncing, round breasts. With long waist-length black hair tied in a high ponytail, white skin, and light blue eyes. Dressed in a small pink kimono that reached the middle of her thighs and long, tight chain mail stockings, ending on sandals made from straw rope.

Armed with a Japanese long sword, a ‘nodachi’, she glanced around, frowned when she saw Ronald, but made a slight smile when she noticed Sonja and Conan. She placed the sword on her back, clenched her right fist, and covered it with her left palm in front of her chest. She made a slight bow with her head and spoke to Ronald: “I am Shigure Kosaka. It’s an honour meeting you, Mage Summoner.”

Ronald did the same gesture and bowed as well. “I am Ronald O’Sullivan. The honour is all mine, Master Shigure Kosaka. I am sorry for disturbing you, but I have a situation that may need your help.”

Shigure disguised a smile, and she made another bow with her hands, making the same gesture. “If I can help, and if it is within my code, I will help as much as I can.”

Ronald bowed again. “Thank you, Master Shigure. If I may be so bold, what is that code?”

“It is a very ancient code, the code of the Samurai.”

Ronald nodded. “I know something about that, but I know it as the ‘Way of the Warrior’. Does that mean Master Shigure is a true Samurai? A real Master of all Weapons? That is truly amazing.”

“I am not as amazing as you may think; I am just a regular…”

At that moment, Sonja interrupted: “Come on, are you really going to continue saying that you are just a regular warrior? Shigure, Shigure, loosen up a bit! Lord Ronald, this girl is always like this; she always sells herself short. Among us, she is the best fighter. Shigure, before you ask, Riattus died over four hundred years ago, and Ronald found his Cards. It seems that Riattus’ soul is somehow tied to his Card Box and his Cards, and Lord Ronald can see and hear him and, like that, be advised by him.”

Shigure opened her mouth wide, and she quickly placed one hand over it to stop a laugh: “Pfff!… No way! That was an appropriate punishment for such a dishonoured Summoner! That means he is neither dead nor alive, condemned to see everything around him without being able to interfere? Not even I could think of such an appropriate punishment for him!”

Ronald tried to excuse his advisor, with Riattus nagging in his ear. “I don’t think that’s a very nice thing to say, just because…”

Shigure interrupted him by raising her right hand. “You didn’t know him as we did. He was violent, a tyrant, and always found pleasure in seeing other people get hurt. I will not lie and say I feel sorry for him when I do not. I tried to rid this World of him more than once, but he either avoided my attempts or ordered Sonja and Conan to stop me. I can only say that in the beginning, when he made us, he wasn’t like that. But after the death of the woman he loved and because he got corrupted by all his power, he changed for the worse. I hope you don’t follow his path. If he ever advises you on doing something you feel is wrong, trust your intuition. Or ask us. We three have a different opinion sometimes, but we also have to advise and warn you.”

Ronald stopped to think for a while. Riattus was silent, while Sonja and Conan were nodding with serious looks. Ronald finally made a deep bow to Shigure. “Master Shigure, I hope I don’t fall short of your expectations and am worthy of having you by my side.”

Shigure returned the deep bow with a smile. “I also hope I will be worthy of you. And please, call me Shigure, Lord Ronald. So, how can I help?”

Ronald explained everything he could about the Harpies Nest, the people in peril, the many that died because they were killed by them, and the fear in everyone that lives in that City and the Villages around it.

When he finished, Shigure, Sonja, and Conan were silent, thinking. Then they spoke almost at the same time: “I am at your orders, Mage Summoner!”

Shigure asked, disguising her concerns and the weird smile that she had by looking at the ground. “Do you just want to kill them? Or do you intend to absorb their Mana and get stronger, and you only say the Harpies threaten innocent people for us to help you?”

Sonja became angry at Shigure’s words, but before she could say anything, Ronald answered, “I want to help these people. If by doing that I can get stronger, I don’t see what the harm is in doing that. But if you say that you will only help if I don’t absorb the Harpies Mana, I won’t mind. Riattus is nagging me nonstop to get stronger as fast as I can, but I confess I am a little apprehensive about the amount of Mana I already have. The idea of having even more is terrifying to me.”

Shigure smiled with a strange shine in her eyes. “Interesting… Very interesting indeed… Spoke like a noble warrior. You are, indeed, different from Riattus.”

Sonja explained to her that Ronald was hiding his stats and amount of Mana from everyone else, including the members of his Party because he didn’t want to attract attention or any kind of danger to himself.

Shigure became even more impressed when Ronald told her about his Farmer stats and his real stats next. She was biting her lower lip while looking at him from top to bottom.

She quickly made a deep bow with her head to disguise the redness on her cheeks. “It would honour me to help you in that Quest, Lord Ronald.”

“Great, thanks. So, can we all go talk with the members of my Party? Remember, Shigure, we have known each other for quite some time, and we met on one of my previous journeys, okay?”

Ronald was the first to enter the stable again, with Conan by his side. Shigure was looking at them while taking some deep breaths, trying to lower the pounding of her heart.

Sonja understood immediately what was happening. “He already has a woman that he likes; her name is Duza Sonanji, but maybe you can try your luck as well. Hey, don’t look at me like that; I am not stupid; I can perfectly recognise a maiden in love! The weirdest thing is that I never saw you looking so mesmerised at first sight, but I can understand you; I like him too, and I wouldn’t say no if one night he knocked at my door. If you are like that on your first day, I wonder what you will be like when you discover more things about him.”

“No… I… I mean… Oh, forget it; I will not deny it… Well, let’s go already; I want to meet my rival.”

“Hahaha! Yeah, that’s the spirit! You will like her as well; she is rather pretty. You will have some trouble deciding which one you like the most!”

Shigure made a perv smile while licking her lower lip and followed Sonja, mumbling in a lower voice, “I can hardly wait…”

They followed Ronald, avoiding being seen by the stable boy. When they entered the Adventurer’s Guild, the silence that followed their entrance confounded Shigure. She remained silent, but her sense of alertness rose.

Sonja noticed the tension in her body and whispered, “Relax; we are not in danger. I know that every time Riattus summoned you, you had to face many perils. Ronald is different, and so are his friends. Enjoy these peaceful moments, because we didn’t use to have them on Riattus time.”

Shigure took a slow, deep breath and followed Ronald. When they got near the table where the others were, Ari was the first to greet them with a genuine smile on her face. “Conan! And Red Sonja! I thought we wouldn’t see you so soon! Oh, and who are you, you beautiful woman?”

Shigure made a deep bow. “I am Shigure Kosaka, Master of all Weapons. It is an honour meeting you.”

Duza choked on her wine. She quickly wiped the mess all over her chin and asked Ronald, “Master… of all Weapons?”

Ronald shrugged his shoulders. “That’s how she introduces herself; I don’t understand it myself.”

Sonja sat next to Duza and placed her right arm over her shoulders. “You will find out in no time, Duza Sonanji. But I can tell you this in advance. If you face her with all your strength and sword, she can defeat you with only this fork as her weapon. She is truly a Master of all Weapons, because anything on her hands can be a weapon.”

Ronald introduced everyone to Shigure, but even in front of so many people, her eyes were always drifting between Ronald and Duza. Sonja saw one of those looks and kicked her under the table. Shigure looked at her, surprised, and noticed the hard look that Sonja was giving her. Maybe she was not disguising very well her interest in those two good-looking and interesting Humans.

Ovaidel was fiddling with his fingers, and after the last member greeted Shigure, he asked, “So, it seems we are all doing this, right?”

Sonja shook her head. “No, only us three and Lord Ronald. Your job is to escort and protect Mister Taly and Miss Ari. I don’t know how you will do that if you die while fighting a bunch of Harpies.”

Ovaidel made a small smile. “You are underestimating us and maybe overestimating a simple Farmer. With our forces combined, we could easily…”

“No, I am not. You are the one who is underestimating a Harpies’ Nest. How many of those have you faced so far?”

“Well… none, actually, but I had some fights with Harpies and…”

Sonja interrupted him. “We had hundreds. You should all be very grateful because if it weren’t for us, there would be Harpies Nests all over the World. You need to shut up and don’t embarrass yourself any more, Ovaidel Satsin. You may all think that you are very strong, and you might as well be, but you lack experience. I can’t afford to be distracted by having to save any of you instead of killing those nasty things.”

Ovaidel pointed with his thumb towards Ronald. “And he is not going to distract you?”

Sonja smiled. “You said it yourself; he is just a Farmer. If he dies, you find another one to fill his spot. I bet there are many Farmers around this City. And besides, he being a Farmer annoys me so much! I will make him level up, even if I have to stuff Mana Orbs down his throat!”

Taly raised his arm. “Can I go as well? I want to cut some wings off those things!”

Conan smiled at Ari and asked her, “I may be wrong, but he doesn’t seem to care enough about your feelings. He doesn’t mind being killed and leaving you mourning his death, does he? You need to find a better partner because this one is no good.”

Ari smiled back. “Now it’s you that are underestimating Taly. He may not look like it, but he is more powerful than you think. He is perfectly capable of annihilating that nest all alone after knocking down all of you, but he likes to watch how things develop instead of using all his power. Yeah, I know, but he is stubborn. But you are right, he should look after me instead of always looking for trouble or ways to get himself killed!”