Volume 5 Chapter 2 The Mystery Of The Mansion
"Um, sorry. I misunderstood."
Ten minutes after the little girl in both hands incident, Miss Sera was bowing in my hospital room.
It took a little while, but it seems like the suspicion of being a pervert has been cleared up.
"Seriously, cut me some slack. I'm perfectly normal. I only have the equipment to look at things in a sexual way."
"Y-yeah... Okay, I won't misunderstand anymore."
For some reason, Miss Sera's face twitched nervously.
Maybe the suspicion of being a pervert hasn't been completely cleared up yet.
After all, I'm still holding onto the little girl twins, Sui and Ram, who have fallen asleep while snuggling. It's too cruel to move them, so I'm leaving them be. But even if I say I'm not a pervert in this situation, it probably won't be believable.
I spent ten minutes carefully explaining how much I love equipment, but maybe I should add another 10 minutes?
No, it's no use bringing back the suspicion of being a pervert.
"By the way, what's that jar over there?"
I look at the big jar on the floor that Miss Sera brought earlier.
"Oh, this? It's a recovery potion jar. I thought I'd restock it as a get-well gift."
When Miss Sera opens the wooden lid, there's a lot of light green liquid inside the jar. Is all of this really recovery potion?
"Wow, that's a lot..."
'I could probably swim in it! I'll show off my graceful flutter kicks!'
"Yeah, don't swim in it."
'...Just kidding. I do have some sense.'
"Even so, your eyes are swimming all over the place."
I should be careful because Juju really might do it. This doll is dirty with crumbs and stuff stuck to it. If the needle of the drip gets clogged with crumbs, it could be fatal.
"Miss Sera, thank you. There's so much..."
"Don't worry about it. I always have plenty on hand. If you need more, we can just whip up some more with our alchemy equipment."
"If that's the case..."
"Well, if I can get favors from an S-rank adventurer with something like this, that's a steal."
Miss Sera gives me a refreshing smile, probably trying not to make me feel uneasy. She can grant me favors, after all.
Yeah, she's a really nice person.
"By the way, we should refill the container soon..."
'I'll do it!'
"Huh? Ah, yeah, that's right. I'm counting on you."
'Okay!'
Juju quickly scoops out the contents of the pot with a ladle and climbs up onto the table to pour the recovery medicine into the container. She's surprisingly skilled.
"Hehe... you're really loved, Mr. Noroa."
"Huh?"
For some reason, Miss Sera is smiling at Juju with a gentle expression.
"No, it's just that... after Mr. Noroa collapsed, she's been taking care of you like this all the time. And even when she's not doing that, she's always calling out Mr. Noroa's name... it's so pitiful to see."
"Is that so?"
I never knew Juju had this side to her.
I thought she was just a useless doll who only eats and sleeps.
'What are you talking about?'
"No, it's nothingfragistics."
'Hmm? Well, okay, I guess.'
Juju pouts a bit, probably feeling left out.
"Ah, by the way... I heard it from that doll over there. Mr. Noroa took the poison to protect the child, right?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, was I wrong?"
"Ah, yeah. That's right. I was just about to wake up, and then... boom!"
I glance to the side, and Juju is winking at me with a meaningful look. It seems she's explained the part about the cursed equipment pretty well. In other words, if she said something like "the cursed equipment turned into a little girl," nobody would believe her.
"Mr. Noroa, with your incredible power, risked your life to save the weak... your noble spirit is truly moving. It's a heroic feat that makes people think of a 'savior.'"
"Ah, thank you."
"Even Count Emdo wants to meet you. And, of course, he wants you to serve at the Count's house."
"That's... an honor."
It's possible that Count's household brought me here to gain favor with me and keep me under their wing. But for me, it's a relief, so I'm grateful.
Just then, the door to the room opened.
"Miss Sera"
A young maid stood there. She must have been waiting outside the room, silent as a ghost. Maybe she was there to respond to any emergencies that might happen to me... or maybe she was there to keep an eye on me. Nah, I'm overthinking things.
"What is it?"
Miss Sera's relaxed expression suddenly turned stern.
"Young Lady Leysha is calling for you."
"Young Lady..."
For an instant, Miss Sera's face clouded over. Is something going on?
"Alright, I'll go right away"
Miss Sera said briefly, then looked down, apologetic.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry. I wish I could stay a bit longer, but..."
"No, Miss Sera must be busy too"
I've heard that in high-society, it's etiquette to visit the sick and injured, but maybe Miss Sera is worried about that kind of thing. Personally, I just want to rest quietly.
"Well, I'll take my leave then, Mr. Noroa."
"Yes. Thank you for the medicine"
"Don't worry about it. Mr. Noroa just needs to focus on recovering"
Miss Sera hurriedly left the room.
When the door closed, the room fell silent. The only sounds were the curtains rustling and the steady breathing of the slime and ram.
Cirrul broke the silence, speaking hesitantly.
"So, what do we do now?"
"That's right... what should we do?"
Thanks to the medicine's effects, I was able to extend my lifespan.
But in the end, nothing has been resolved.
The HP reduction caused by the Slime Equipment's Cost is still ongoing.
"I can't just keep relying on medicine forever, can I?"
"That's right. We can't just depend on Miss Sera and the others..."
The Cost of the cursed equipment won't heal naturally. I'll either have to live a life relying on medicine or find a way to overcome the Cost like Cirrul's cursed equipment. It's one or the other.
However, relying on recovery medicine is not a sustainable way of living. Right now, Lord Emdo and Miss Sera are providing me with medicine, but that's only because they're expecting benefits after I recover. If they knew the "poison" wouldn't be cured, they'd abandon me.
"After all, there's the cost of Bloodsucker Blade..."
"You mean the cost of that sword?"
Cirrul looks at the Bloodsucker Blade placed beside the bed. Come to think of it, Cirrul doesn't know the cost of this sword.
"The cost of this sword is that it goes into a rampage when unsheathed, and if I don't feed it blood regularly, it'll kill the wielder."
"That's... harsh, isn't it?"
"That's true, but it's strong, so there's no complaining."
However, the problem lies in the second cost.
Feeding it blood regularly means I'll be cursed to continue fighting.
Even if my body becomes unable to fight properly, I'll have to keep drawing the sword and defeating enemies. I might be able to manage with my own blood, but I'm not sure if that would satisfy Bloodsucker Blade.
As long as I have Bloodsucker Blade, I can't afford to stay in the hospital bed. To feed Bloodsucker Blade, I need to hunt monsters. I can't stay in a state where I'm unable to fight properly forever.
Moreover, I couldn't bear the thought of not being able to travel anymore.
If I don't travel, I won't be able to obtain cursed equipment.
Once I equip cursed equipment, my desire for it grows stronger. I want cursed equipment. I think there are many more cursed equipment out there that I haven't seen, and that thought is driving me crazy.
"But, the problem is..."
"That's a drip, isn't it?"
'What if you just travel with the drip on?"
"That's impossible.'
If I run out of recovery medicine during the journey, that's it. It's just too difficult.
"For now, I need to find a way to deal with this cost..."
I stroked the heads of Sui and Ram, who were sleeping beside me. If I continued to struggle with the Cost, I would start to feel responsible for these kind-hearted equipment, which would be a problem. I wanted to avoid that.
'Maybe we can only overcome poison with poison?'
Juju muttered after a while of thinking.
"Poison?"
Cirrul looked puzzled, but I understood what Juju was getting at.
"You mean using the effect of a cursed equipment to cancel out the Cost of another cursed equipment?"
'Yeah.'
Come to think of it, Juju had said something like that before.
In the past, people would combine cursed equipment to cancel out the Costs and use them effectively.
They even used them like bombs... but it was unlikely that the Slime equipment was that kind of equipment. It didn't go berserk like the Bloodsucker Blade, and its effect seemed to be designed with the assumption that it would be used skillfully.
So, it wasn't strange to think that there could be a cursed equipment that could cancel out the Cost of the Slime equipment.
"The problem is how to find it."
'Why don't you use Compass Eye (Ra Shingan)?'
"But I can't move too far in my current state..."
"You can ride on me, and we can jump anywhere, Sir Noroa!"
"That's true, but there's a time limit."
The amount of recovery medicine left in the IV drip was like my remaining time.
Even if I took more medicine, I could only extend my time by a few hours at most.
'Well, let's give it a shot. It's not like you have anything to lose.'
"It might be closer than we think."
"I see."
Well, it was worth a try.
Let's start by searching in a narrow range like I always do.
"Show me any cursed equipment with an HP recovery effect within a 100-meter radius."
The moment I said that, the needle of Compass Eye suddenly moved.
"Eh...!" 'Whoa...'
The needle pointed to a single spot, ignoring our shock.
"This means..."
"Is there cursed equipment nearby?"
'No way, it's too close...'
"Let me try again. Maybe I made a mistake."
So I said, and this time I searched within a 50-meter radius.
The result was... a reaction.
'Could it be...?'
"Is it inside Lord Emdo's mansion?"
――Cursed equipment can be sold at a high price to nobles.
Suddenly, the words of the Underground Equipment Guild's boss echoed in my mind.
When I thought about it carefully, it wasn't unnatural for cursed equipment to be in a noble's mansion. There are no dungeons or ancient ruins around here, so if someone want to get cursed equipment, they'd have to bring it from another region. And that would require sneaking past the law.
That would need a considerable amount of money. Or power.
In that case, only nobles would have the opportunity to get cursed equipment.
"But... why would it be in Lord Emdo's mansion of all places?"
The reason is unknown. It's possible that the cursed equipment was sent as a tool for assassination, or maybe someone obtained it for their own malicious use.
In any case, getting the cursed equipment in this mansion would... depending on the situation, might lead to a confrontation with Count Emdo.
If that happens, I'd likely become enemies with Miss Sera as well.
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