The Comforting Bow Takes Shape
By the time I stepped out of the bathroom, Sis was already gone from the room. I grabbed the clothes I'd left right in front of me and the cleanliness scroll, then headed out of her room and down the stairs.
"Looks like Siron's still not back."
The cracked door had the scrap of scroll I'd stuck there still in place. I peeled it off and slipped inside.
I carefully stowed the cleanliness scroll back in the hidden compartment under the bed, then stood up. Outside the window, the dark night sky stretched out with a high-hanging moon.
Gurgle.
Yeah, figured it was about time. It was dinnertime anyway, and I'd squeezed out a massive load of protein earlier, so I needed to recharge my energy.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three honest raps. I turned my head, and through the crack in the door, I spotted Giena's face.
"Smith, may I come in?"
"Oh, yep."
The door opened. In one of Giena's hands was a tray holding a sandwich—Sis Amelia's specialty, the one I love—and a plate of stew wafting a sweet, savory aroma.
"What's that?"
"The manager asked me to bring it up."
"Ah, got it."
Such consideration from Sis—something I never got back in my receptionist days. Guess the massage really hit the spot for her.
While I was lost in thoughts of Sis for a second, Giena transferred the plates from the tray to my desk.
"Oh, and I heard from the manager. You're looking for kangwood? You should've come to me right away and asked."
"Uh, well..."
I couldn't answer easily. Giena's orange eyes sparkled with genuine innocence as she gazed at me. But I couldn't fall for those pure eyes. Her innocence was like harmless malice, or something like that.
"I'll gather the kangwood and move it to the guild clearing by lunchtime tomorrow."
"Thanks."
"No need. I'm getting paid properly for it."
Giena flashed a bright smile and turned to leave.
"Oh, and adventurer Siron should be back around tomorrow evening."
"Tomorrow evening?"
What the hell was she doing that kept her pinned down for a full day? ...Not that I could take her side—Siron and Kernax had gone way overboard.
"That's what I heard on the way up, but apparently their stamina's so good they're doing a full day of work followed by half a day of rest. That's the rotation."
Giena added that the foreman aimed to wrap up the repairs as fast as possible by wringing those two stamina monsters dry, while the craftsmen and paid laborers got proper shifts and breaks.
"Then I'll come by around lunchtime tomorrow."
"Oh, thanks for bringing the food."
"You're welcome."
Giena gave a polite little bow, gently closed the door, and left.
"Damn. Siron won't be back till tomorrow evening, huh. Guess that kills any free time."
Half a day. Meaning she'd head straight back to the repair site the next day. Looked like I wouldn't get any time with Siron and Kernax until North Street was fully fixed.
Thwack—!!
—Kyaaack!!
—Wheeeek…!!
A weird noise jolted me awake from my stuffed, deep sleep after a hearty dinner.
"...The hell?"
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, peering out the window frame. Morning sunlight poured in warmly, blanketing the wooden floor.
Thud, thwack. Thud-thud!!
—Put some damn strength in your legs and hold your ground, you morons!
The voice was super familiar. I stretched and got out of bed, heading to the window. I flung it wide open and looked down.
The training grounds where adventurers should have been drilling were instead occupied by someone totally unexpected, wooden sword in hand.
"Sis?"
Amelia Sis was beating the crap out of the adventurers in the clearing with a single wooden sword—like they were rabid dogs.
"Ow!! Aaaagh!! Bones! My bones got hit!!"
"You crazy bitch. You think the enemy waits while you scream about your bones?"
"Eeeek?!"
"What the hell's wrong with you, dropping your shield like that?"
"I'm dying... guk!!"
"You're driving me nuts. Who sneaks up yelling like that?"
Over ten adventurers charged at Sis with their weapons gripped tight, but the result was a massacre. Was this that raid thing or whatever? Thwack—!! Yeah, better not stare.
I closed the window and headed down to the kitchen.
"Oh, Smith. Big Sis prepped this for you."
"Ah, thanks."
I sat in Sis Amelia's usual spot and shoved a salad loaded with thick meat, fresh veggies, and tangy sauce into my mouth.
"Um, Smith?"
"Mm, yeah?"
A kitchen worker whose face rang a bell approached while I was chowing down.
"You know Big Sis has been a whole different person since last night?"
"Oh, yeah. Saw her this morning beating the adventurers like dogs in the clearing."
"Hehe, it's all for their own good—builds character."
"That so?"
"Yep. Anyway, Smith, please take good care of our Big Sis."
—Please!!
—Yeah!! Now we can finally breathe and get some work done!!
—Save us, please. For real.
Requests to look after Sis flew from all over. Honestly, a happy Sis meant more perks for me too, so I nodded along with the kitchen staff's pleas.
I finished breakfast, headed back to my room for a bit to digest, then did some bodyweight exercises. Sweated buckets, used a cleanliness scroll to freshen up my body and clothes, then opened the window for ventilation.
"Ah, Smith."
Giena, loaded down with stacks of wood on her back, looked up at me and waved.
Seeing her in the clearing meant it was already lunchtime.
"Giena!! Sorry, but could you bring that up to my room?"
"No problem at all. Be right up."
I flung the door wide and waited. Soon, multiple footsteps echoed in the hall.
"Whoa..."
I peeked out—Giena plus five other adventurers, all hauling wood, heading my way.
"Right here okay?"
"Yep. Just dump 'em anywhere."
"Got it."
Giena set her load down under my wardrobe, and the others unloaded theirs, stacking it neatly.
"Gonna start on the bows now?"
"If no one's looking for me, yeah."
"Kangwood bows in the Sahara tribe style... Can't wait to see what masterpiece comes out!!"
"Ha, haha."
Sorry. Probably not the kind you're imagining.
I nodded apologetically inside to Giena, whose eyes sparkled with pure excitement.
"Ah! We'll head out then."
"Thanks for the help."
"Like I said yesterday, no need to thank me—I'm paid. But once the bow's done..."
"Of course. I'll show you when it's finished. Promise."
"Heh, hehe... Right. Looking forward to it."
Giena led the lingering adventurers out quietly and swiftly.
Alone now, I reached toward the neatly stacked wood—
"Holy artifact material storage."
The wood blocks vanished silently at my touch. Once it was all in storage, I sat in my chair.
◎ Pure Iron: 3kg
◎ Kangwood: 4.69kg
I checked the storage status and let out a dry laugh. Five full loads of wood, and it only came to 4 kilos?
"What a fucking shitty wood."
Unlike my expectations of plenty, this was barely enough for two bows if I skimped.
"Well, not like I'm mass-producing right now, so whatever... But man, the cost-performance is trash-tier."
I activated Holy Artifact Creation. I'd already planned every part and material, so I just dialed down the amounts and hit 'create' for a new artifact.
Unlike the stockings, I couldn't change the material makeup, but I could tweak quantities freely each time. So I input the minimums and pressed create.
"Ooh."
Just like the Night Fairy, a 'holy artifact' appeared plainly on the desk.
"Looks way classier than I imagined."
Not a plain D-shape bow—the riser curved into ↜↝, with ends shaped like my hands, perfected with Siron's pussy and clit as reference. The riser took the deep brown of the kangwood, while the curved tips gleamed silver from the pure iron.
I picked up the bow. A longbow just shy of my height. Weight felt right—one-handed, solid heft.
I shook it up and down. Clack clack. A dull metallic clunk from the bottom of the riser—a small iron bead on the back, for stringing, tapping the iron riser.
"Good, quieter than I thought."
Minimal vibration too. I was pretty satisfied with this new holy artifact, the Comforting Bow. Its sleeker-than-expected look sealed it.
As the name suggests, this bow wasn't for combat—it was made to help women of this era get off. Full bow functionality, but when horny, slide the hand-shaped tip (molded to Siron's pussy and clit) into lonely folds. Pretty innovative, if I do say so.
But I didn't stop there. The key was the thumb-like protrusion, deer-antler style, linked to the iron bead. Press it to the clit and shake—the bead rattles up and down, vibrating through to the clit. Manual clit cap, basically.
Honestly, thinking about it now, I'm a bit of a madman. How the hell did I come up with this? Impressive, past Smith, you scum.
"But unless I break the string, changing positions might be tricky."
The bow's size made shaking it easy—no issues there. Lying on the bed or leaning in the bathroom? This thing would send you to heaven. But bows aren't easy to fix in place, and if you did, you'd lose the manual clit-cap core.
"Hmm, bows come with these issues."
Next artifact's a 'sword'—gonna brainstorm more positions for that one.
"But walking out with this now would be weird, right?"
I'd only met Giena three times, but she seemed eccentric, not bad. If I showed her this now, she'd definitely ask how I made it. I'd dodge, and she'd be disappointed but not push—guaranteed.
Still, no plans to show her yet. I trust Giena, but not the other adventurers with her today or anyone else. Not about trust anyway—rumors are probably flying about why I needed wood. Selling holy artifacts needs attention, but not now.
"Can't even test it on Siron when she gets back tonight."
No way I'd grab a tired Siron for masturbator testing. Plus, one wrong twitch and she'd flip the script on me—too risky even to consider.
"Oh...?"
A perfect tester popped into my head for this new holy artifact, the Comforting Bow. Someone idler than anyone, who could enter my room without raising eyebrows, and handle any fallout cleanly.
Amelia Sis. Perfect.