They were awful. Well, most were. To top it off, their equipment ranged from superb to outright scams. Hiro’s belonged to the superb category. It was just all over the place, with no thought for what was needed and why.

  “Hiro,” Ioha said. “Do you understand why we need to rearrange your entire compa… guild?”

  He didn’t, not really, but he also wasn’t hopelessly retarded. “Explain.”

  Around them, the open area had truly turned into a training field. One of Nanami’s experienced parties split into perimeter patrols and manning the ramparts, while the newbies Ioha belonged to helped with the mundane tasks and training their guests. Two parties were out doing the patrol mission the company was contracted for, but without trailing parties behind them. There was a small risk associated with that approach, but they had no choice.

  Ioha pointed at where four scantily clad girls blasted away at training dummies without any wooden implements occupying their hands. “They came here with walking sticks without any aura enhancers.” He looked at the rightmost girl. “Well, apart from her,” he began and pointed in her direction, “who had an oversized tooth pick.”

  “That’s her wand!”

  “No, if it doesn’t help your spell-casting it’s a tooth pick, OK?” At least one of the staves was a perfectly useful quarterstaff. He let them keep their pointy hats. They protected from the sun. “You all contracted your gods in Isekai during your primer?” They must have. Ioha saw them flinging offensive spells with a semblance of accuracy. After he halved the training distance, they sometimes hit their targets. By their side, one male circus member and one of his party members kept busy adding to the barrage. The male circus member also wore a pointy hat, but he didn’t show any naked skin in the chest and thigh area. Last, but not least, was the girl who was beyond saving. Pointy hat, check. Lots and lots of naked skin, check. Huge chunk of papery tome, er… check…

  One of Ioha’s party members was busy helping with aim and flinging insults at his impromptu students. Ioha pointed at the casters. “They’re casting spells so they must have contracted.”

  “Mm, yes. A school opened after Christmas.”

  Of course, one did! An entire five months after he arrived at Spellsword Academy. He should have known a new school grew from nothing during his first semester. The usual Isekai shenanigans.

  “With a small temple and all?”

  Hiro nodded. “The clerics were very helpful.”

  Clerics? Duh! It was Isekai. Someone probably hired a few substandard casters to dress in robes and act as temple clerics. At least it worked. “And everyone with magic aptitude here has contracted with a god?”

  Hiro nodded again. “F-rank registration only if you don’t.”

  Made sense. Tourist adventurers. They paid to take on missions and got an armed guide who made certain they came back without any extra holes in their bodies and all limbs still properly attached.

  Ioha drew a long sigh. At the other end of the field, Louise was busy helping the skirmishers pointing their weapons in the right direction without tripping over them. There were four of them, and they called themselves ranger, thief, barbarian and rogue. The thief had never stolen anything, and Ioha refused to even pretend that the metal bikini was a front liner.

  Another party member sat by the barn happily chatting away with the three kids in the circus troupe who were useful from day one. One healer, a magic chef and a magic blacksmith who unfortunately armed himself with what a scammer told him was a war hammer but in reality was a heavy duty demolition tool normally used when your target didn’t plan to move anywhere for the next week or two. The healer, while pretty weak, really was a healer. For Nanami, this had to be like Christmas. Healers were hard to come by. For Ioha the magic chef was the big gain. He worked as a chef in Nagoya before gating here, and their meals levelled up instantly after he took command. He was also one who got to keep all his weapons. Ioha had no doubts what the implements could do at melee range if their owner kept them suitable for his profession.

  That left the five front liners. They were Ioha’s personal problem, and right now, he was busy rearranging their gear.

  “So, Hiro, your armour is of superb quality. Upkeep will be a problem, and mobility, but exactly why are you carrying a shield?”

  “For protection.”

  “I just said you’re walking around encased in high-grade steel made to fit you perfectly. It’s a work of art. You’re a medieval tank on two legs.”

  “No, Daigo is the tank.”

  Ioha looked at the man named Daigo. A bit overweight but sporting a lot of muscles despite that. He was also the one who came carrying the front door strapped to his arms but no weapons. Historically, there had been two-handed shields. You killed people with those. Now if Ioha was honest you could easily kill someone with Daigo’s shield as well if you used it the same way you would for demolishing, say, a parked small truck. Parked being the problem here.

  “No, Hiro, Daigo is the doorkeeper. He even keeps his own door.”

  “It’s a tanking shield.” Daigo pointed at where the door stood leaning against the barn wall. One day, they might even put it to its proper use.

  “No, Daigo. That thing is a permanent part of a building, and you should have left it at home.” Ioha looked at the bulky man sitting in the half circle around him. At least his armour was of almost the same quality as Hiro’s.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Both of you, you don’t need a shield. You are the shield.”

  “But…”

  “Listen to me! You’re wearing full plate armour from a time in history when shields had gone out of fashion for knights. There was a very good reason for that.” They had a blacksmith and way too much metal. They had staves or could easily make more of them if needed. “You two are going to learn how to use the poleaxe and the halberd.” He gave up on convincing them to use spears. That would never fly, despite being both historically accurate and better for their mission.

  “But I have a sword.”

  “Good sidearm. Keep it.” An arming sword was good to have. Ioha once eyed one himself, and Hiro’s was a work of art.

  “But I’m a knight!”

  Ioha was not letting this go. “You are? What’s your knighted name?”

  “Knighted name? You don’t need…”

  “Careful. Sir Ioha Questingtank asked you a question.” Louise had come over to him, most likely to ask for further instructions.

  “Sir Ioha…” Hiro faltered.

  “Yes, he’s knighted. Divine knighthood. His god personally made him a knight. Are we clear?” Louise’s voice filled with a mixture of mirth and annoyance.

  While true, it hadn’t really been like that. He got a headache. He passed out. He woke up a knight. And a saint as well, but that part was a secret.

  “But you don’t look…”

  Louise sighed. “When your emperor takes a bath, he looks just like any other human.”

  “But…”

  “Hiro, drop it, she’s right.” One of the three silent ones broke into the conversation. A girl in a proper mail shirt over some kind of padded undergarment. She carried an axe on her belt, which was good, had a boss gripped flat round shield, which was also good and wore a helmet, which was definitely a plus. It had horns attached to it, which was not so good. All in all, for being a part of the wandering circus, she seemed reasonable.

  “If you’re a knight, what period does your equipment represent?” asked one of the other two. He wore a disaster under the misnomer of heavy leather armour. Well, it certainly was. Heavy that is. Right now, it probably did the work as well, but a week or two of rain would turn it into thick soft leather armour, which simply was the cumbersome version of no armour at all.

  “My equipment represents the period where I try to stay alive.” He threw Hiro’s heater shield an appraising look. Superb quality and with a properly attached guige likely an upgrade to his own round shield. “I like your shield, by the way. Can I buy it?”

  “Why?”

  “I plan to be out for longer periods of time, so mobility and weight gets important. And your shield is better than mine.” He’d lose Ai’s enhancements, but without her recasting them he’d run out soon anyway. A shield was a pretty poor item to imbue with magic, laws of magic and external interference dictating that a shield properly used got interfered with a lot. There were true magic items in this world, but they were all loot from C-rank or stronger invaders in the border zones.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “This,” Ioha patted his own armour, “is a brigandine cuirass.” He bit his lip. That would take too long to explain. “It’s a breastplate, even if it looks like cloth. My upper arms and legs are unprotected, so unlike you two, I need a shield.”

  Hiro and Daigo looked at each other. Somehow, part of what he had said must have sunk in because they both nodded. “If I’m going to use a two-handed axe, then, maybe.”

  “The very epitome of knightly two-handed axe,” Ioha shot in.

  Hiro’s face lit up. “Really?”

  “Really. Ask anyone who knows. The poleaxe is the real deal.” It was. Not because it was very knightly, but because it got the job done in the most brutal way possible.

  “And me?”

  “Daigo, you’ll train the halberd. Kind of keeps the tank role you wanted intact.”

  “Really?”

  “Comes with a hook. Think of it as a physical taunt.”

  Daigo’s face lit up. “Really?”

  That left the guy in a mail hauberk, coif and everything, with his great helm by his side together with a heater shield and arming sword. While mildly anachronistic, it was a decent set if you disliked the superior armour worn by Daigo and Hiro. The surcoat gave him away. Ioha could not not see the red Templar cross. Right out of a movie. In this case, it was simply easier to let him use what he had.

  Three real front liners and three parties. Ioha guessed the smith fought as a front liner as well, but at the moment he was better used as a craftsman. Two parties then, plus a company reserve. If Nanami decided to keep some of the clowns, or all of them for that matter, her company grew to a size where she’d need a staff and logistics unit kept away from any real fighting or her organisation fell apart. Viking girl front then.

  Ioha looked at the skirmishers, pointed at the clown in leather, and pointed in their direction. “Louise, he’s yours.” Best to keep the people without any armour together for the time being. Sooner or later, they’d need protection, but for the time being they had to do with putting them in the back line, which meant having them train archery. “Louise, have a talk with them and sell the gambeson real hard. This one,” he pointed at leather clown, “could really use a brigandine later.” After that, Ioha gave the skirmishers another look. “Archery for all of them. Compound would be best, but if Hollywood is that important, then just go longbow. Cheaper as well. Oh, and see if any of them would agree to a mail shirt or brigandine.”

  He rose. “Now, you four, let’s start with some core training while I reshuffle your equipment. Hiro, I’m still interested in that shield of yours.” Damn, Nanami! You set me up. Still, taking on a role very similar to her vice captain’s came with quite a few benefits. Flickering status display, the most important.

  While he waited for the smith to get comfortable with what Nanami’s company scrounged up for a smithy, Ioha opened up his display. Quite a few logistics abilities had gone from pretty useless to almost useful. It wasn’t like he magically learned things. That was left to Heimdall pranking him from time to time. However, when his actual competence pushed the numerical abilities into the decent range he sometimes gained an associated magical ability and those were the real perks.

  Something about the way he cast his magic nagged at his mind. Right now, it was a mere itch, but Ioha remembered the feeling from even before he arrived in Isekai for the first time. Somehow, somewhere, he systematically made a glaring mistake. He shook his head. Sooner or later, the answer would come to him.