I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 139

Defense Specialization and the Lord

Kasumi had succeeded in getting all 3 items, and so she separated from the other guild members and went to the last gate.

“Phew… What will happen now?”

There was no information out there yet.

Kasumi was the first person to enter the building.

“I’ll go and see what’s at the top.”

She went down the hallways and up the stairs that were illuminated by purple flames.

There were no rooms to enter, and she kept her guard up as she went up to the highest floor.

“Alright…there is…no one here.”

The only thing in sight at the top was tightly shut sliding doors.

If there was anything in this building, it would be beyond here.

Kasumi took in a deep breath and pushed the paper doors open.

Inside was a completely ordinary room with a tatami mat floor.

In the far back sat a single Yokai in a white skirt. He had white hair and two horns sprouted from his forehead.

He looked mostly like an Oni, but was quite different from the giant 4-meter tall Oni that they had instantly killed a short while ago.

From the information she gathered at the gate, Kasumi assumed that he was the lord of this place. And she watched his movements carefully.

“Oh…? I did not expect a human to come here.”

The Oni said as he stood up. Then he started to walk towards her.

He must have been 2-meters tall and had an overwhelming presence.

“Hmm, you have them. Then come with me.”

The Oni turned his back to her and returned to his spot, where he drew a circle on the ground and then disappeared.

“I guess I will.”

Kasumi braced herself and stepped into the circle. She arrived in a wilderness that resembled the place that they had killed the dragon. The Oni was standing a short distance away from her.

She looked around her but there wasn’t a single tree or boulder in sight.

“I was considering just stepping aside for you…but I changed my mind, human.”

“…”

“Defeat me. If you succeed, you will have my seat as lord.”

Kasumi had considered the possibility that she would have to fight, and so she unsheathed her blade without showing any surprise.

“Now, let’s do this, human.”

As soon as his voice reached Kasumi’s ears, a white light sparkled from the Oni’s right hand.

He was now holding a sword.

“Let’s!”

Kasumi was in combat mode now, and she dashed towards the Oni.

In spite of there still being a distance between them, the Oni swung his sword down.

Kasumi saw that the sword’s blade stretched out and reached her before she disappeared.

She had died because she had stopped for a second.

When she returned to the town, she first checked to see if the items had not disappeared. Then she decided to check if she would be allowed to challenge him again.

“Hmm? His attack damage was quite high… Well, I’ll keep trying if I can. I bet I could have dodged that attack just now.”

She had died many times while trying to acquire her demon sword, and so she was quick to switch gears even after being killed.

1 week later. Kasumi was sprawled on the desk in the guild home.

“Sally? What happened to Kasumi?”

“Apparently she can’t kill the last boss no matter what. It’s just a single boss, but very strong. Well, you won’t reach it for a long time…but would you like to hear what kind of boss it is?”

“Yes! Tell me!”

Maple said energetically, and so Sally started to tell her.

“It’s a single enemy that has to be fought solo. And its fighting style apparently changes depending on your job… But no one has been able to defeat it yet. People are saying that there must be a weakness somewhere.”

Sally added that its movement patterns for a few jobs have been made public.

“Can you go there, Sally?”

“No, not yet.”

Sally’s permit was one rank too low to get there.

However, it was clear that she would be allowed to challenge it in the very near future.

“Are you going to fight it too, Sally?”

“I don’t know…I’ll fight enemies, even if the chances of winning are slim, but I won’t fight if there is no chance of winning at all.”

Sally was practically saying that she could not win against this boss.

“It must be super strong if you can’t beat it.”

“I guess. Well, I think that I will challenge it one day… I think if we could fight it together, we would have a chance.”

But there was no point in talking about what couldn’t be done, and so she didn’t continue any further.

“So that’s why Kasumi is like that.”

Kasumi’s current state was of a tired player who had been defeated too many times.

“Yeah. Oh, right. There will be an event soon…like the cow hunting one before.”

“Ugh…I’ll quietly stick with raising my permit level.”

Maple had enough things to do as it was, and this was not the kind of event that she wanted to touch right now.

She would have ‘Savagery’ from the beginning this time, which would make things easier, but she already had a bias against it.

Maple decided that she would ignore this event for the most part, and prioritize her current goal.

“That’s good. There is so much to do in this town, after all.”

“I’ll focus on my permit during the event period…and do some exploring now.”

Maple put the ram horns on her head and changed into her kimono before walking out into the town again.

“What should I do? Hmm, where to go…”

Maple folded her arms and walked around at random.

As she wandered around and wondered, a certain store that sold equipment caught her eye.

“Speaking of which…I haven’t really gone in any of these stores.”

As Maple had only ever used the Unique Series or equipment made by Izu, she rarely came to places like this.

“Helloo…”

Maple entered the store and looked at the retail equipment.

The pretty armor and boldly shaped weapons were definitely striking, but Maple did not find anything that exceeded what she already had.

“I have plenty of money…maybe I should buy something? But maybe it’s better to have it made.”

In the end, she made a round of the entire store without picking anything up and arrived at the counter. There, she noticed that there was a poster on the wall behind the clerk that advertised a bonus for anyone who bought more than 5 items.

“I think I’ll buy something then.”

Maple bought 5 cheap items at random and received a scroll from the clerk.

“‘Quick Change’?”

It was a skill that anyone could use, and news of it had already spread to many others.

Though, the members of Maple Tree were busy and always moving around, and so it had not penetrated there yet.

“Quick Change.’

Change to equipment that has been set. Use it again to change back to your original equipment.

“I see, I see. So I can set my other equipment…!”

Maple left the store with a skill that allowed her to make small adjustments.