Chapter 32: Chapter 32 – New and Improved

The first order of business the next morning was getting my armour from Medalie.

Though before that, I decided to make use of the iron tub in my inn room and clean myself of the dirt and muck that had accumulated through the fabric of my clothes. Bathing in this world was extremely tedious and time consuming. Most places didn’t have cold water, never mind heated running water. This inn was no exception.

So what did you do? You went to the water pump out back and fill a bucket, and then you use the hob in the room to boil the water, over and over again, until you have enough to wash yourself in. To put it bluntly, I hated every second of it. All that backbreaking labour for lukewarm swill water in a dirty iron bowl, because the last guy that used it didn’t take the time to clean it out before he left.

I sighed and cupped it between my hands, splashing my face and scrubbing away the sweat, grease and dirt. A simple rinse was good enough to fix the worst of it. After what was best described as a ‘mildly adequate soak,’ I hopped out of the tub and reached for the towel I’d placed on the bed. However, before I could properly cover myself, I heard the door handle turn. I’d forgotten to lock the door.

Cali strode in with all the confidence that I expected from her. She stopped dead, stared into my eyes, and then down to my chest, and finally at my exposed little buddy. A subtle twitch besmirched her face.

“Please knock.”

Cali turned in place, left the room, and closed the door behind her. A second later I heard her pound it twice in succession.

“It’s too bloody late to do it now!”

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Cali did not mention ‘the incident’ for the rest of the day.

After getting dressed and preparing our supplies for the trip, we headed down to the forge where Medalie was working. We rounded the corner, and saw her anxiously waiting at the counter. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she spotted me approaching.

“There you are! I was thinking you ditched me with this stuff.”

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“I’m not stupid enough to pass up a deal like this,” I said, following her around and into the back side of the store. A leather dummy had been moved into the courtyard, wearing the armour that she’d spent many blood and tears making. Just like Medalie had described, the darkened alloy that composed the helmet and chest plate had a case-hardened appearance. A spectrum of different colours spilled out from the dark surface like oil under light.

The helmet was an armet, a type of full cover that protect the head and face. It was composed of multiple pieces, a top half that covered the head and swooped outwards like a beak, and a lower plate that came up to meet it. I pulled it off the dummy and took a closer look. A long slit for the eyes was cut into the front. The interior had been inlaid with thick leather padding to make it more comfortable to wear. Several holes had also been punched through the front guard to allow me to breathe.

But Medalie had gone even further than that. She had even gone to the trouble of designing it with future inscription in mind. The swooping, elegant form of the helmet was designed to present as much surface area to the outside as possible, one of the key features of affixed armour.

“I didn’t bother engraving it. Stormsteel is fantastic, but it’s a total pig for gilding. You’re gonna’ need to find an expert for that.”

My eyes bulged at the mere suggestion. “No, it’s fine. Someone would try to steal it if it was engraved with gold.” I lifted it up and slipped it on over my head. Normally an armet was very heavy – sacrificing mobility and visibility for all around protection, but the Stormsteel had lived up to the hype. It was no heavier than the pig-iron kettles the soldiers wore on the muddy battlefields beyond. The chest-plate was the same, comfortable, lightweight, well crafted, and tough.

I didn’t look like a rogue anymore. Not with armour of this quality.

It would take some getting used to. It still restricted my vision to such a degree that I wouldn’t want to wear it in a crowded area. I would have preferred to get in touch with my inner child and request something samurai-like, but nobody on the continent had any frame of reference for armour like that. If I wanted it, I’d have to find someone who’d listen to my request in detail. I wasn’t going to heap such a complicated task onto a stranger.

Medalie laughed as I eagerly grabbed the chestplate and slipped it on. Again, it was so much better than what I was using before. I inspected both pieces to learn the full strength of them.

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