I was Betrayed then Reincarnated as a Kitsune

Chapter 33: Capital Exploring: West-Part 1

[Luna POV]

I wake up today and I can already feel the humidity.

Ugh.  Today is gonna be gross.  Even inside my tail is already starting to get frizzy.  Its going to be so hard to get it back to normal.

{Dont worry Luna, your tail will still be the softest and fluffiest in existence, even if its affected by humidity.}

Even if thats true, it still makes me uncomfortable when my tail frizzes out.

I walk downstairs and get breakfast.  It seems Im not the only one suffering from the humidity either.  The proprietresss ears and hair are also being affected.  After eating I walk outside and feel the full humidness of the world.  I walk over to where Velvet and I are supposed to meet and find I have arrived first.

I guess Im earlier than I thought I was.

{Will you go back inside to wait?}

Nah, Ill stay out here and get used to the feeling since well be out here all day anyway.

As me and Tamamo were conversing Velvet finally got here.

I see youre the early one today, Luna.

Not by much but yeah, anyway shall we head west today?

Sure, which area over there do you want to start with, blacksmiths, alchemists, or apothecaries?

Id say blacksmiths since their shops will be the most uncomfortable due to todays weather.

Then there we shall go; Ive been needing to visit a blacksmith anyway to get my weapon checked.

Is something wrong with your weapon?

A few segments of the blade became a bit janked when I was stalling the undead bear.  I was going to ask a blacksmith if I can have it repaired or if I need to get a new one.

Speaking of your weapon, is it normal or did you have it specially made?

Its a weapon that my whole family uses so we have them commissioned from blacksmiths.  The place Im taking you today is the specific blacksmith that my family has a connection to in this city.

Would you so happen to have the family name of Belmont?

 Yes, though that name only means anything in vampire society.  My family arent nobles of any kingdom but are an old clan of vampires that have been around for centuries, so we are considered vampire nobility.  Why do you ask?

No reason, its just a funny thing from something in my previous life.

Would you tell me the details?

You see, as far as Im aware, in my previous world vampires and many other things that would be considered normal here, were works of fiction that didnt exist, or at least treated that way.  There was a specific piece of entertainment where you played as a character whose family were vampire hunters and that familys name was Belmont and one of the weapons they used was a whip-sword.

Hmm, I dont know how to respond to that.

{I can explain some of that if you want.}

Goddess?

Will you, this might be interesting.

{Well, in your previous world, Luna, most of the monsters, with a few exceptions, that were represented in fiction came to be from people with the aptitude for divination.  When they thought up characters for monsters and other things, they were actually unconsciously using divination to see into this world.  A notable example would be that one author H.P. Lovecraft.  He would constantly see fiends and write about them.}

So, the basis for eldritch horrors were fiends.  Does that mean fiends will drive you insane for just looking at them?

{No, not necessarily.  There was one that did that, but it was killed a long time ago with the help of a master of space magic.  You shouldnt go insane from looking at something if you dont look at it.}

But isnt it necessary for a Hero and Saint to finish off a King of Fiends?

{Yes, but that particular person had a unique skill that shared the effects of magic with those in his party.  He just had to cast that high level space magic then use that skill.}

Does that mean Luna will be able to use that spell soon?

{She will when she maxes out her space magic level, but itll take a lot of practice to use.  Most space magic users who get to that level are usually so old that they use that skill to see since their eyes become bad due to age.}

Sounds like it will be useful in making maps in dungeons.

You could even take cartography requests from the guild as well.

How well do those requests pay?

Depends, if they are put up in the guild as a request from the country, they pay extremely well.  If they come straight from the guild, the pay is still good, but less than ones from the country.  These are normally for dungeon cities like you were thinking earlier.

Why would they pay less for dungeon maps?

People die a lot more in dungeons, so they pay less in case the cartographer dies in the middle of the job.

 While listening to Velvet talk about dungeon mortality rates, I started to get some unpleasant flashbacks.

Hey Luna, are you feeling alright, youre really pale?

It seems like I might have some negative feelings related to dungeons, considering what happened before.

After hearing what I said, Velvet remembered what we talked about yesterday and started to go pale.

Sorry, I didnt think about how you might feel about that.

Its fine, I didnt know it would affect me as much either, considering I died basically instantly.  I guess this is the reason I need to go and conquer that dungeon in the Celestia Kingdom.

We continued to walk in an awkward silence until we entered the part of the city with blacksmith forges and shops lining the street.  I could hear the sounds of hammering from many of the buildings on this street.

Where is the place were going?

Its closer to the center of this district so were quite close to the shop.  Its about a ten-minute walk from here.

What is the smith were seeing today like?

Hes an old dragonkin who studied under a dwarf that was famous for crafting a heros weapon a few hundred years ago.  That detail has faded into obscurity from most of society with the exception of races that have extremely long lives or immortals like vampires.

Was that on purpose?

I think so, the person were seeing today only really makes weapons for people that he believes have potential and my family personally, not our organization.

From the sound of it, he seems like a disagreeable person.

Hell probably forge things for you, and I bet hed be interested in some of the things your hero friend made.

I guess well see.

We arrived in front of a shop that was in the back of an alley.

Whats with all of the shops you like going to being in alleys like this?

The sun rarely reaches this area except when its noon so its optimal for vampires who have to visit here during the day.

I guess that makes sense.

We entered the shop and I almost sneezed due to all of the dust.  Its like no one has cleaned this place for weeks.

Hey Old Man Reve you here?

Who is it, what do you want?

We heard a deep voice coming from the back of the shop.  The person who came from the back was nearly 8ft tall and had dark blue wings and tail.  Aside from the wings and tail he looked human with dragon eyes that matched the color of his tail.

Oh, its just the young miss of the Belmont family, and a friend of yours.

When he looked at me, it felt like every one of my secrets was seen through.

How interesting, not everyday I get a person I cant see the potential of whats yer name, lass?

Luna, Luna Reed.

Hoh, the daughter of the general that was all the talk a few years ago, how intriguing.  Name what you want, and Ill forge it for you.

I have a main weapon, but I could use a decent dagger and some throwing knives for some backups.

Mind showing me the weapon youre talkin about?

I took out the short sword Blake gave me all those years ago and showed it to Reve.

Hmm, good craftmanship and its perfectly fitted to your hand.  The balance is perfect, and it requires practically no maintenance.  Who was it that forged this, I havent seen craftsmanship like this since my teacher?

It was a friend of mine that was a hero who stayed here after the death of the King of Fiends.

That explains it, tell me his name and Ill go meet him someday, well have many things to discuss.

His name is Blake Smith; he lives in the Shrine Village two weeks travel from here.

That old place, eh.  Been a long time since Ive been there.  Wonder how the place is holding up.

Id say pretty well, since I lived there for most of my life.

Heh, I would hope so, me and my teacher were the ones who helped in the construction of the place.  Even got to see the Goddess of the Moon descend to bless the place herself.

I narrowed my eyes a bit seeing the look in his eyes.

And what did you think of the Goddess when you saw her?

Thought she was one of the most beautiful women Ive ever seen, wouldve fallen for her if I didnt have a wife back then.

I could hear a soft chuckle coming from Velvet, who was standing behind me.

{Youre so cute, Luna, but you dont have to worry, Im all yours for all eternity.}

Its not like I was worried about that, I just wanted to know his opinion about you.

{And your conclusion?}

He gets my respect for speaking the truth, even if hes understating how beautiful you are.

{Ufufufufu.}

Is this all you came here for Miss Belmont, Miss Luna?

Thats all for my business, Velvet has something for you to look at though.

I move back to let Velvet speak.

I need your opinion on my weapon.

She pulls her sword from its scabbard.  It gets caught a few times showing that it is more damaged than it seems.

Hmm.  What did you fight to get it to this state?

An undead bear, when striking it, it felt like the bones were harder than normal for an undead.

Thatll do it all right.  Id say forging a new one will be better, you were due for an upgrade anyway so its a good thing you came today, I just got some good steel and some wyvern materials the other day.

Then I assume its the usual price?

Yep.  As for your friend here, Ill give you a discount for showing me a good weapon and letting me know of a smith that can match me and my teacher, so for all your stuff Id say 10 gold for all of it including a special enchant on the throwing knives.

What kind of enchantment?

One thatll return the thrown knives to you after a while, its an exclusive of this shop so youre in luck that you met this little lady here.

You know Im an adult, right?

Girlie, I consider your mother a youngster so dont correct me.

Fine.

I started to chuckle at their interaction.

You two act like a grandfather and his granddaughter.

Heh, Id say grandfather with a few greats before it, little lady.

Fair enough, how long for both of our orders?

Ill be done with both by the beginning of next week so come and pick them up together then.

Got it, thanks.

After a bit more conversation we left Old Man Reves shop and headed toward the alchemy shops.

Author's Note:

This chapter is brought to you by coffee and sleep deprivation.  Good morning or night my friends.  Thanks for reading.