Ritch's Prologue Part Nine

(Outside the house)

V.E: Did you finish preparing for the match?

Ritch:
    -I’m all ready!  >Fight
    -Actually, there’s something I forgot…  >Not Yet

Not Yet

V.E: Hurry up.

Fight

Ritch: All right, let’s do this! I’ll win and then get it into your head that I’ve got some merit of my own.
    -And then you’ll become a blacksmith’s assistant!

RUN-DOR: …

Ritch: Geez, this silent treatment is driving me nuts…

(Ritch and RUN-DOR fight)

Ritch: How’s that! Will you acknowledge I’ve got some merit after all?

RUN-DOR: If I had been able to switch to my adjacent Battle Mode, I would not have been defeated by you.

V.E: Still, a defeat is a defeat.

RUN-DOR: …
    -(teary-eyed) Affirmative.

Ritch: Are… you crying…? Wow, how embarrassing…

RUN-DOR: Crying?
    -Negative. My lens became dusty. I was merely cleaning it.

V.E: Washing your lens, huh… where do you keep the cleaning fluid?

Ritch: In any case, I’ve shown how strong I am! Therefore, I can protect Murno! And therefore you can become assist me in the forge!
    -All right, RUN-DOR!

RUN-DOR: …

Murno: Please, RUN-DOR.

RUN-DOR: Understood.

Ritch: All right! Starting today, you are going to be my apprentice!
    -(gets smacked over the head)
    -Owwwie! What was that for?!

V.E: It’s a hundred years too soon for a half-baked novice like you to have an apprentice!

Ritch: Don’t call me half-baked!

V.E: Quiet, you! RUN-DOR is your associate. No, rather…
    -RUN-DOR is your partner!

Ritch: Partner…

RUN-DOR: …

V.E: Got that, Ritch?

Ritch: Yes, ma’am!

V.E: How about you, RUN-DOR?

RUN-DOR: … Affirmative.

V.E: Remember those words! A Craftknight’s promise is stronger than steel. From today onwards, both of your training begins in earnest!

Ritch: Let’s do our best together, RUN-DOR.

RUN-DOR: Yes. Agreed.

(black screen)
That was how RUN-DOR and I began our training as Craftknights!

(Cut to introductory movie)

V.E: Hey, what’s with the dramatic pause? Quit posing already! You’re starting intensive training immediately!

Rif: Whaaat?! You mean now?!

V.E: What do you mean, ‘what?’ Thanks to this injury, I won’t be able to work, no matter how determined I am!
     -Even if he’s only able to learn a little at a time, we need to train RUN-DOR as soon as possible! Without his help, we won’t be able to earn a living!

RUN-DOR: Your urgency originates from those circumstances?

V.E: I’ve got my eye on you! A million hammer swings!

Ritch: A mi…

Murno: A million hammer swings?

V.E: This is the only way to achieve such a huge goal in any decent amount of time! I want to see you both putting all your fighting spirit into it!

Ritch: Ju… just hold on a second!

V.E: And after that… In order to forge a good weapon, it is essential that partners have a close camaraderie.
    -That is why, from today onwards, the two of you will be living together in the workshop.

Ritch: Whaaat?!

RUN-DOR: With… him…?

V.E: What are you complaining about? I said you’re partners, didn’t I? You need to deepen the bond between you as soon as possible.

V.E♡: I remember, Pike… with you, training every day was the sweetest toil… it made me feel as if I would burst into flames, so enchanted was I…

RUN-DOR: What occurred just now?

Ritch: Ah, well, she gets like this from time to time. You get used to it.

V.E: Hold on, RUN-DOR! As Ritch’s partner, you should refer to me as Master from now on!
    -Got that? MA! STER!

RUN-DOR: A—affirmative.

V.E: Then the two of you should meet me in the workshop! Hop to it!

Ritch: Guess it can’t be helped. Let’s go, RUN-DOR.

RUN-DOR: Affirmative.

(Nighttime)

-Honestly, I was surprised to find out that I would have to live in the same room as RUN-DOR, but I was happy to finally have a partner.
-But I still don’t know why either him or Murno came to this village… and, well…
-That’s when I thought a walk might help me out…

Ritch: No matter how much I think about it, I still don’t get it. Maybe I should just head back home…
    -(?)
    -Hm? Is someone there? It couldn’t be…