The Lazy Grand Strategy of Asora: Lord Mito and His Retainers' Guild Boom
Misumi Makoto just wanted a quiet life. Instead, he got summoned to another world, called ugly to his face, and thrown into a wasteland by a goddess who decided he wasn't hero material. Rude, honestly.
But Makoto isn't the type to grovel. Armed with five mysterious rings, a pocket dimension called Asora, and a crew of loyal (if eccentric) retainers who insist on calling him "Lord Mito," he's decided to do the one thing no one expects from a discarded hero candidate: open a shop.
Between sellin
The Lazy Grand Strategy of Asora: Lord Mito and His Retainers' Guild Boom - Bandage, burst — Lord Mito stands in a predicament
The morning at Mirage Plaza was a little quieter than usual.
The sky stretched high, thin clouds drifting across it. Somewhere in the distance, a seagull cried. The smell of the tide reached all the way into the heart of the city.
Misumi Makoto stood before the stall's counter, gazing at a small box wrapped in white cloth.
Inside were magic bandages, made by the dwarves of Asora.
Yesterday, an adventurer named Toa had volunteered to be a test subject. The results had been genuine. Her wound had closed in an instant, and she'd been overjoyed.
(Word's spreading, little by little.)
Makoto adjusted the position of his mask. A black cloth mask—meant to hide his face.
"Lord Mito, fine weather again today, is it not?"
A woman with long silver hair tied back appeared from beside the stall. Her golden eyes glittered in the morning sun.
Misumi Tomoe. Makoto's first retainer, and in truth a high dragon bearing the epithet "Invincible."
A Japanese sword hung at her hip. She was also a troublesome dragon who fancied herself the loyal retainer from a period drama.
"Yeah. Good day for business."
Makoto answered briefly.
"Indeed! This Tomoe shall pour her heart into drawing in customers again today!"
Tomoe straightened up tall and rested her hand on the sword's hilt.
"Please do. ...Just don't overdo it. Yesterday the guards were glaring at us."
"Hahaha! What is a mere guard? If anyone dares hinder Lord Mito's business, this Tomoe shall strike them down!"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you to stop."
Makoto heaved a deep sigh.
Tomoe's grandiose way of speaking never failed to exasperate him.
But her loyalty—that much was real.
This dragon would not hesitate to lay down her life for Makoto.
(...I'm grateful.)
He murmured it in his heart.
"Hey there, Master Kuzunoha!"
A cheerful voice came flying out of the crowd.
Short dark-brown hair, and defiant, upward-slanting eyes. Light leather armor, a short sword at the hip.
It was the adventurer Toa.
"Toa. You came again today."
Makoto spoke in a businesslike tone.
"'Course I did! Your bandages work amazingly. Even that pretty deep cut I got yesterday—gone without a trace overnight!"
Toa happily held out her arm.
Where a deep wound should have been until yesterday, clean skin had returned.
"...I see. Good."
Makoto's tone was as flat as ever.
But deep in his eyes, just a little, relief flickered.
(No problems with the product. For now.)
"Hey, Master. Could I get a few more off you? My little sister, Rinon—she trips and gets hurt all the time, so I wanna give her some to carry."
Toa scratched her head, a little embarrassed.
"You have a sister."
"Yeah. Unlike me, she's kinda gentle and slow... well, basically, she's a klutz."
Toa's tone was light, but her expression was full of affection for her sister.
"...Fine. How many do you need?"
"Seriously!? Then three, please!"
Toa set nine silver coins on the counter.
Makoto took three bandages from the white cloth and handed them to her.
"Thanks, Master! Rinon'll be thrilled!"
Toa clutched the bandages to her chest like treasures and left, smiling.
Watching her back go, Makoto quietly narrowed his eyes.
(I never thought that would be the last safe use.)
"Lord Mito, what a fine customer that was."
Tomoe lined up beside Makoto, grinning.
"Yeah. ...Tomoe, I might close up a little early today. I've got a bad feeling."
Makoto said it quietly, still staring across the plaza.
"...Understood. This Tomoe will protect Lord Mito, no matter what happens."
Tomoe's golden eyes turned serious.
That was when it happened.
"Big sister! Big sister!"
A shrill, sobbing voice rang across the plaza.
Makoto and Tomoe turned toward it at the same time.
Pushing through the crowd, a single girl came running.
She looked about ten. Dark-brown hair tied in two tails.
Her face was a mess of tears as she rushed into Makoto's stall.
"You're the Kuzunoha shopkeeper!?"
The girl looked straight up at Makoto.
"That's right. And you are..."
"I'm Rinon! Toa's sister! My big sister—my big sister—!"
Rinon went on, gasping for breath.
"My big sister collapsed! She said she felt awful since morning, and then, right in the street, all of a sudden...! It's because of your bandages! Give me back my sister!"
Rinon pounded her small fists against Makoto's chest.
"...Calm down. Where's Toa now?"
Makoto gently held Rinon's shoulders.
His voice was astonishingly calm.
But inside his chest, a bad premonition was swelling fast.
(Because of the bandages...? Don't tell me that defect...)
"At the inn, the Sleeping Lion...! My sister won't wake up at all...!"
Rinon clung to Makoto's clothes, sobbing.
"Tomoe, watch the shop. I'm going to check on Toa."
Makoto told her briefly.
"Lord Mito, this Tomoe will come with you."
"No, you stay at the shop. If anything happens, call me."
Makoto's tone left no room for argument.
"...Understood."
Tomoe nodded, frustrated but obedient.
Makoto took Rinon's hand and broke into a run.
The inn, the Sleeping Lion, stood a short way east of the plaza.
An old wooden building, often used by adventurers.
Guided by Rinon, Makoto entered a room on the second floor.
Inside the dim room.
Toa lay on the bed.
Her face was pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Her breathing was shallow, and now and then she furrowed her brow in pain.
"Toa!"
Makoto rushed to the bedside and took her hand.
It was cold as ice.
"...Her mana's being drained."
Makoto probed Toa's condition and murmured quietly.
From inside Toa's body, mana was being lost—slowly, but surely.
As if something were draining her dry.
"See, it IS because of your bandages! My sister was fine until yesterday! You—you—!"
Rinon pounded her fists against Makoto's back, again and again.
"...No. The bandages are draining Toa's mana."
Makoto caught Rinon's fists and spoke quietly.
"Huh...?"
Rinon lifted her tear-soaked face.
"There was a defect in my product. ...I'm sorry. I will save Toa. I promise."
Makoto looked Rinon straight in the eyes.
Deep brown eyes.
In them was not a cold light, but fierce determination.
"...Really? My sister—she'll be okay?"
Rinon asked, her voice trembling.
"Yeah. I promise."
Makoto nodded firmly.
(I will never allow anyone to be hurt because of my product.)
Makoto stood.
"Rinon, stay here with Toa. I'm going to find the cause."
"...Okay."
Rinon gave a small nod and gripped Toa's hand.
Makoto left the room and hurried back to the shop.
When he returned, Tomoe was waiting, her face full of worry.
"Lord Mito, how is Lady Toa...?"
"Bad. The bandages are draining Toa's mana. Something must have gotten mixed into the product."
Makoto stared hard at the boxes of bandages lined up on the counter.
"W-what...! Then all the stock in this shop is dangerous as well!?"
Tomoe's expression changed.
"Yeah. I'll call Shiki right away. Tomoe, move the shop's stock somewhere with no people around."
Makoto gave his orders quickly.
"Understood! This Tomoe takes this as an emergency—I shall see to it at once!"
Tomoe gripped her sword and lifted the wooden crate of stock.
Makoto closed his eyes and focused.
(Shiki, come.)
He called the name of his third retainer in his heart.
Within seconds, a man appeared behind Makoto.
Long silver-white hair flowing back, eyes harboring a pale blue light. His skin was translucent white, and a calm smile always graced his lips.
Misumi Shiki. Makoto's third retainer—an undead sorcerer called Lich.
"You called, Lord Makoto?"
Shiki bowed quietly.
"Shiki, look at this. Something must be mixed into the bandages."
Makoto handed Shiki one of the bandages.
"Understood. One moment, please."
Shiki took the bandage and observed it closely with his pale-blue-lit eyes.
"...This is..."
Shiki's expression turned serious in an instant.
"What is it? Did you find something?"
Makoto peered at Shiki's face.
"Yes. Mixed into the materials of this bandage—in extremely small amounts—are fragments of a red Draupnir. These fragments are draining the user's mana."
Shiki spoke quietly, but with certainty.
"Red Draupnir... the crystal that drains mana."
Tension ran across Makoto's face.
Draupnir.
Originally an ancient mana crystal, it was a monster that had mutated by absorbing magic essence.
Its red fragments, once inside a wound, were a dangerous substance that kept draining mana.
Makoto himself wore rings made of it on all five fingers of both hands.
"Yes. Moreover, these fragments are storing the absorbed mana in an unstable form. If, in this state, the fragments were to receive any kind of shock..."
Shiki broke off.
"...They'd explode. Right?"
Makoto finished the sentence for him.
"Yes. Most likely, it would trigger a large-scale surge of mana."
Shiki nodded gravely.
"Damn it...! Tomoe! Where did you take the stock!?"
Makoto shouted across the plaza.
That was when it happened.
BOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion rang out across Mirage Plaza.
Makoto reflexively looked toward the sound.
Behind the shop.
From where Tomoe had been carrying the stock, a red light was shooting up into the sky.
"Tomoe!"
Makoto broke into a full sprint.
When he reached the back of the shop, an unbelievable sight spread before him.
The wooden crates had been smashed to pieces.
From the fragments, pillars of red light rose—many of them.
The pillars of light writhed, swelled, and tore through the surrounding buildings with a roar.
"Lord Mito! Please stand back! This Tomoe will handle it!"
Tomoe drew her Japanese sword and slashed at the pillars of red light.
SHING!
The blade cut through the pillars.
But the severed light immediately burst out again from somewhere else.
"Kh...! There are too many of them!"
Tomoe swung her sword every which way, desperately cutting down the surging light.
"Tomoe, don't push yourself! I'll handle it!"
Makoto thrust both hands forward.
(Mana body—deploy!)
Dense mana poured out of Makoto's body all at once.
The mana formed a translucent membrane around him.
The membrane spread rapidly, enveloping the whole of Mirage Plaza.
"...Lord Makoto, you mustn't overdo it. Suppressing that much mana alone is..."
Shiki said worriedly from behind him.
"It's fine. ...I can't let my product damage this city any further."
Makoto gritted his teeth and kept the mana body deployed.
The pillars of red light slammed into Makoto's mana body again and again.
GAGAGAGAGA!!!
A violent crash.
Makoto's body shook hard.
"Lord Makoto!"
"Lord Mito!"
"...Not yet. I can still hold it."
Makoto planted his feet and maintained the mana body.
Sweat poured down his forehead.
(With mana of this level, I refuse to lose.)
From the depths of Makoto's body, even more powerful mana surged forth.
That mana pushed the surging red light back—little by little, but surely.
"Lord Mito...! This Tomoe will help as well!"
Tomoe lined up beside Makoto and readied her sword.
"My mist shall sap the light's force!"
Tomoe gave her blade a single swing, and white mist billowed up around them.
Tomoe's ability. The power of a high dragon who commands mist and illusion.
The mist wrapped around the pillars of red light, weakening their force little by little.
"...That helps, Tomoe."
Makoto said it briefly.
"For Lord Mito's sake, this life is nothing to regret!"
Tomoe declared with force.
With the power of Makoto and Tomoe together, the surging red light gradually lost its momentum.
And then.
PAAN!
The last pillar of light burst and vanished.
Silence returned to Mirage Plaza.
"...It's over. I think."
Makoto released the mana body and let out a long breath.
"Lord Mito, are you unharmed!?"
Tomoe ran to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. ...But the shop..."
Makoto turned back toward the shop.
More than half the stall's counter had been blown away.
The sign had fallen to the ground, split clean in two.
The surrounding buildings had crumbling walls and shattered wind
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