Tondemo Skill - 347.1 - Idle Talk: Three Heroes at the Royal Capital of Malbert (Patreon)

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Just in case anyone has forgotten who the original ‘Heroes’ were, here’s a reminder of their names and characteristics.

Kato – Typical teenage boy hero, slightly oblivious

Kanon – cheerful, yet slightly clumsy girl, lovable, operate on instinct

Rio – introverted but dependable, has a more elegant feel (character whose left arm was severed at the elbow)

All [8] notes mark locations where emphasis on their characteristics was made. Like, since you gave them certain character traits, please use them.

“Ufufufu”

“Ehehe”

Kanon and Rio were giggling happily by my side, [8] their arms entwined around mine. That’s right, I have a happy girl in each arm.

[8] I smiled down at them, “What’s up, you two?”

“Hm, hm, we~ell, Rio?”

[8] “We~ell, Kanon-chan~”

[6] “My, my, it’s rare to hear Rio speak in such a cute voice,” I teased.

[8] “I’m just happy because we’re all married now!” said Kanon with a little skip.

[8] “That’s right. I’m glad that Kato-kun is now our husband,” said Rio in a more demure manner. However, her bright red ears were adorable.

[8] I flexed my hands and wrapped my arms around my wives’ slim waists, “I’m so glad to have Kanon and Rio as my wives~”

[5] The girls started giggling. The wedding rings glittered on their fingers as we made our way towards the dungeon just 10 minutes away from the Royal Capital gate.

As per Kanon and Rio’s wish, on the day we arrived at the Royal Capital, we immediately visited the Church of the Earth Goddess and had our wedding ceremony there.

They had been very particular about having our wedding at the Earth Goddess’ church at the Royal Capital. I must admit, it did look quite grand with its majestic white columns and high ceiling. It had the feeling of an ancient temple back in Rome.

The ceremony itself was not big deal. All we had to do was make a donation and stand before the statue of the Earth Goddess as the priest pray and bless our union. That was it. After the prayer, we were now officially married.

Even though it was a short ceremony and we had been living together all this while, something still felt different.

We felt truly married to each other.

That was the day before yesterday.

[8] That night was our first night as newlyweds and, ahem, for various reasons we rested the next day and today we’re heading out to challenge the nearby dungeon.

It can’t be helped since a lot of our savings had been used up to get us to the Royal Capital and the ‘donation’ required for the type of [6] wedding the girls wanted cost us quite a lot. [6] I was ready to opt for something cheaper but the girls wanted the best money could get and who am I to stop them?

[8] Anyway, what I really wanted to say was, ‘There’s no leisure for the poor’.

That was why we were now lining up to enter the Royal Capital dungeon. [5]

“Looks like we’re going to get stuck here for quite a bit,” [3] said Kanon as she craned her neck to the side to estimate the line.

“It can’t be helped, this is the Royal Capital after all,” [8] said Rio.

“I guess…”

“Well, I hope we get lots of Drop items,” [8] I said, looking forward to the dungeon challenge.

“I should say so. After our marriage, our luck should have gone up,” [8] said Rio with the lightest blush on her cheeks.

[4] “Luck? Oh yeah, I remember the priest saying something about that. [8] Wait, did you choose the expensive ceremony especially to increase our luck?” I asked, a little surprised by this. [5]

[8] Rio blushed, “Well, unlike earth, luck is also a quantifiable skill here. So, it makes sense to bet on a good thing, right?”

[8a] “I guess it’s true,” I mused. “I mean, I did remember going to the shrine a week before exams to pray for a good result, not that it ever helped me. Hahaha!”

[8a] “Hah! That’s probably because Kato-kun didn’t study!” snickered Kanon.

[8a] “Hey, don’t talk about me like that. What about you? What’s your result like?”

[8a] “Eh, d-don’t ask a girl about these things! It’s bad manners!”

[8] “Ahem, don’t you think that this is not the place to talk about… you know,” said Rio quietly.

[8] “Oh, right, my bad,” I said.

[8] “I-I guess I’m just nervous,” said Kanon. “I’m excited about challenging a dungeon but, well, it’s dangerous too, right?”

[8b] “Yeah, I don’t know what I’ll do if… well, if… you know…” I can’t quite bring myself to say it.

[8b] Our eyes slide towards Rio’s sleeve, which had been pinned up at the elbow.

[8b] Rio smiled, “We’ll all be extra careful.”

[8] “That’s right! For the three of us to stay together forever, we must make safety our number one focus!”

[8] “Ou!” I yelled.

[6] “Hey! Quiet over there!”

[6] “Sorry…”

[6] The girls giggled. Even Rio. Suddenly, everything was alright again.

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“Sei!”

My favourite longsword flashed forward and tore the Orc from shoulder to belly.

“Bugiiii!!”

The Orc collapsed with a final whizz of breath and then disappeared as though it had been absorbed by the dungeon.

“Phew, it’s over,”

The Royal Capital dungeon was similar to those seen in typical RPG games with its stone walls and slightly eerie underground atmosphere. We’re currently exploring the 8th floor and clearing up all the Orcs that we encountered.”

“Since there's quite a few of them, we should get some Drop items,” [7] said Rio.

[8] “Oof, we’re so used to fighting Orcs that I barely felt challenged. It’s a good idea to come to this floor,” I said, spinning the sword flashily once before putting it away.

We’d already discussed it earlier and made plans to hang out at Level 8 where Orcs made up the majority of the monsters to make our money here. The plan was to decide whether to proceed or not depending on our health and situation.

“Well, we got a lot of Orc meat,” [8] said Kanon happily.

“Orc meat is good, but then there’s That…” [8] Rio grimaced

“Ughh, do I have to touch that?”

“Well, it’s worth a lot of money but…”

“Kato, please collect That for us,” [8] Kanon even batted her eyes cutely at me but I would have collected That without the extra service.

[8] I laughed and picked up the offensive Drop item, “No problem, no problem, your man Kato is here to do the dirty job.”

'That' was a pair of valuable, yet offensive Drop item. A pair of Orc Testicles.

As part of the raw ingredients for fertility medicine valued by nobles, testicles could sell for quite a lot of money.

“Well, we have collected quite a few things, what shall we do next?” I said as I placed the Orc Testicles into my [Item Box].

“I’m still good, so let’s keep going? We should take this chance to make money. The line was pretty long just now so we should make most of our time here. What about you, Rio?”

“I agree. Orcs are our usual prey anyway and there are no traps on this level,” [8c] said Rio.

The reason why we knew there were no traps here was because [8c] Rio had insisted that we find out about the dungeon in advance and plan our trip carefully to maximise our time here. Traps only appear on the 10th floor onwards.

“[5] Right, let’s go!” I said cheerfully. [8d] Truthfully, I am still full of energy and would like to keep going.

“Wait, Kanon?” [8d] Rio’s voice stopped me.

[8d] “Eh?” I turned around and noticed that Kanon was staring blankly at a bit of the wall. “Kanon? What’s wrong?”

“Hmm… could you two come here for a bit?” [5]

Rio and I exchanged a glance and rushed over.

[8d] “Look at this spot,” Kanon pointed at a bit of the wall that looked… just like every other bit of the wall. “Did you notice something strange?”

[8d] I squinted hard at the spot but saw nothing unusual. However, I’m kind of a blockhead and knew it, so I looked at Rio. “See anything?”

[8d] Rio was also frowning at the spot. She took a few steps forward, then backwards but then said, “I don’t see anything unusual…”

[8c] Rio was our resident expert at identifying magic but… unlike the two of us, [8e] Kanon has a certain instinct for detecting hidden things.

[8e] Therefore, if she said there’s something unusual about a spot. There had to be something unusual about it.

“I’m going to check it out,” [8e] there was a rare look of seriousness on her face.

As she touched the wall, Rio and I followed closely, alert for anything.

“It should be here somewhere…” Kanon kept touching the part of the wall where she had been staring at.

“Hey, are you sure there’s-” I began.

[8d] And stopped.

Because a part of the wall that Kanon had touched had slid down silently. Revealing a magic circle about 10cm in diameter. [5]

Kanon smirked, “I told you there’s something there.”

[8] My wife is so hot.

“A magic circle,” murmured Rio. “Should we activate it?”

“I’m going to,”

“Ah, wait!” Rio and I shouted, but it was too late.

Kanon had already activated the magic circle.

With a deep grinding sound, a section of the wall slid down, revealing a room behind it.

The three of us peeked inside.

“A- a hidden room?” [8] I said stupidly.

[8] Girls, I totally saw your eye rolls, okay?

“Hm? That wooden box,” said Rio. “Do you think it could be a treasure chest?” [5]

“Woah! A treasure chest, let’s open it!” I was about to jump into the room but was pulled back by Kanon.

“Stop, let’s check for traps first.” [5]

“On it,” said Rio as she chanted [Appraisal].

“But,” I said. “Didn’t the information say that traps only appear from the 10th floor onwards?”

“It also said nothing about a hidden room,” said Rio. “So it’s best to be careful. Anyway, it’s okay to approach. There are no traps on the chest or the room. Oh, and it’s a real treasure chest.” [5]

The smile on her face was wonderful, I would probably die a stupid death without my girls to help me.

“Since Kanon-chan found the hidden room, she should open it,” said Rio.

“I agree,” [8] I said, having zero problems with this.

[8] “Okay~~” Kanon had reverted back to her cheerful self as she skipped into the room. “Hehe, here I go~~”

She opened the wooden cover to reveal…

“A small sack and… a potion?” I frowned at the slightly dirty looking sack and the really small bottle.

“Let’s look inside the sack first,” [8] Kanon was still excited about opening our first chest in the dungeon. She unceremoniously dumped the contents out and…

“Gold coins!” I gasped.

“There’s… about 100 pieces of it! Kyaaa!!”

“This is good,”

[8] A weight lifted from my chest. Although we have the means to earn money, not having enough of it was kind of spirit crushing. At least, this way we don’t have to worry about money issues for a while.

“As for this,” I picked up the little bottle and cast [Appraisal].

[Elixir (low level)]

A low level elixir. Since it is weak, it would not increase lifespan. Effective against all injuries and illnesses, including limb defects such as loss of limbs.

“… this is…” [8f] my hand trembled and Kanon snatched it away to hold it close to her chest.

[8f]

The both of us stared at Rio.

She was trembling

“Rio,” Kanon whispered. “It’s an elixir.”

Rio’s hand reached over to grasp her arm, squeezing the stump where her forearm had been.

“Rio,” I said whispered. “With this, you will be even more badass powerful.”

“… …”

“… …”

“Pffft!” Kanon laughed.

“Stupid Kato!” Rio scolded and tried to kick me. “Stupid Kato!”

“Rio!” I hugged her. “Rio, you can get your arm back!”

“M-My arm…”

“That’s right,” Kanon threw her arms around us. “The elixir could grow back missing limbs! You can have your arm back! I’m so happy!”

“Kanon-chan, sniff,”

The three of us hugged and cried with delight. When we finally calmed down, I told Rio to take the elixir.

“Rio, give it a try. I think, since you have an injury, you should try drinking half and apply the other half on your, erm, affected area…”

“Pfft! Affected area, how professional,” Kanon giggled. “I-is it really alright? I mean, if we sell this we could have enough money to live the rest of our lives without any problems…”

“What are you talking about? Of course, you must take it!” cried Kanon as she held out the little bottle.

“That’s right, on top of the Drop items we collected, we also have the gold from this treasure chest. We can’t live as slackers for the rest of our lives but we will be alright for a while,” I said.

“Is that so, in that case, I, ah!” Rio suddenly stopped, her hand only reaching partway for the bottle.

Kanon and I tilted our heads to the side, “What’s wrong, Rio?”

“Um, not to be paranoid but I came into the dungeon with half an arm missing. What happens if I leave this place with two intact arms?”

Sudden fear overtook us. I took the bottle of elixir from Kanon’s hand and placed it into my [Item Box].

“It would be… very troublesome if people were to come after us,” I said.

“Human beings… can be more cunning and eviler than any monsters,” said Kanon.

“It’s best… to be more careful,” said Rio. She was trembling. She was the one who had trusted the most and suffered the most last time.

“To be extra safe, we should only use the elixir after we leave the Royal Capital,” I am no genius but I don’t want anything bad to happen to my girls ever again. I don’t always notice things right away but I’m good at coming up with strategies.

“Yes,” agreed the girls. “Let’s do that.”

We don’t have the heart to keep challenging the dungeon after that.

Later, after exiting the dungeon, we cashed in the money for our Orc Drops and stayed one more night before leaving the Royal Capital.

[8f]

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[8g]

After leaving the Royal Capital gates, we travelled for an entire day along the highway. Since we did nothing wrong, there was no need to sneak around but we did hurry on a little faster.

We waited until evening to set up camp in a location with no signs of people nearby before turning to each other.

“Alright, I think this place is good enough,” I said as I remove the elixir from my [Item Box].

“Is it really-”

“Just drink it Rio!” Kanon hissed. Her words were harsh but her eyes danced with delight.

“… thank you, Kanon-chan,”

“We’re really safe,” I said, choosing to misunderstand her words. “Go on.”

“Okay,”

Rio gripped the elixir in her hand for a moment before popping the top open and carefully swallowed half the elixir. Then, she tipped some of the elixir onto the stump of her left elbow.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, a faint light began to glow on her body. The light at the end of her left elbow shone so brightly that it was like looking into the headlights of a truck.

“Rio, are you okay?”

“Rio!”

10 seconds later, the light began to subside.

“Kato-kun, Kanon-chan, this…”

“Rio, your left arm…” I touched her elbow, then down the forearm to hold her left hand. The left hand that had been missing for so long.

Kanon suddenly pushed her face into our hands and began to cry, “Your hand is back!”

“Yes,” there were tears in Rio’s eyes. “Yes, it’s back.

[Gumihou: How do you like the adjustments? Also, Gumi made a truck-kun joke]

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue

[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Creative Licence Taken – Added details to match their dialogues and action to their original template.

Also, added/adjusted certain scenes:

[a] Added: Exams in the previous world (they were students after all)

[b] Adjusted: cheerful ‘yay, safety first!’ scene to be more contemplative and bring up Rio’s missing hand.

[c] Added: Give Rio a little more credit for being the ‘serious girl who studied a lot’ instead of letting her languish as ‘Air Head B’

[d] Adjusted: Mysterious hidden chamber

[e] Adjusted: Give Kanon a bigger role than ‘Air Head A’ who happens to be really lucky. Make her luck an actual skill or wild instinct

[f] Adjusted: Elixir scene to make it more dramatic. Scrap the wow, wow, yay, yay, scene for something little more tear-jerking

[g] Adjusted: Elixir drinking scene to make it more dramatic and less wowee! Yay!