Volume 2 Chapter 7 I Don't Know About The Strongest Equipment, So Please Forgive Me
"Seriously, what are you doing?"
In front of Ellie, who looked exasperated, Randy scratched his head with a wry smile. The reason Randy couldn't argue back strongly was probably because of the cursed staff in his right hand.
If Ellie hadn't come to help, he probably wouldn't have been able to leave this clock tower at all.
* * *
Time rewinds a bit.
After defeating Lich, Randy was walking back down the path with the staff in his arms when he realized something important at the exit of the clock tower.
...He couldn't get outside.
Well, to be precise, he could use the door right in front of him to get outside, but it was impossible to do so while holding this staff with a large base. If he went outside, he would look completely suspicious.
After all, this was a place where citizens came to relax. Except for the dark hours of morning and night, there were always multiple eyes on the square.
Normally, it wouldn't be a problem to be seen by the citizens. He thought that if he boldly walked out of this room, which was like a storage space, through the entrance, no one would really care.
It was like a burglar casually walking out the front door.
But right now, he had the staff and its large base in his arms.
(It stands out... it really stands out.)
If he went outside holding something like this, he would definitely look suspicious. He would be reported to the guards and would be questioned immediately. What awaited him then would be charges of trespassing, property damage, and theft.
He wanted to say, "But it's dungeon stuff, so it's fine..." but the location mattered. If that barrier was managed by the church or the country, then that dungeon would belong to either the church or the country.
If it got out that he had entered without permission and rummaged through the stuff inside... it would definitely be a crime.
"By the way, this rock is blocking the door──."
Randy compared the size of the base to the door, but with a sigh of emptiness, he said, "──I can't get out." At this point, it was clear that he had decided to break the door.
It was no longer just a matter of standing out. He was now certain to commit property damage, specifically to a historical building.
(If I'm going to do it, it has to be at night.)
While waiting, Randy thought it would be bad if he ran into the guard, so he went back to the hidden door leading down with the staff on his shoulder. It was good that he returned, but with one hand occupied, there wasn't much he could do. Feeling restless, Randy decided to take a nap until it got dark.
Since he had stayed up late last night and woke up early this morning, he soon lost consciousness after lying down.
He didn't know how long he had slept, but Randy woke up to a jolt in his head.
"Ouch!"
As he rubbed his head and opened his eyes, he saw Ellie standing there, her temples bulging with anger.
"What are you doing?"
"That's my line!"
With her arms crossed, Ellie showed a clearly angry expression. According to her, it was already getting late outside, and many people were hurrying home.
"Who said they would be back by early afternoon?"
"I can't help it! I can't get outside!"
Pouting and showing the staff stuck to his right hand, Randy received a sigh and a glare from Ellie, who muttered, "Seriously, what are you doing?" This was the beginning of the situation.
* * *
Ellie let out a big sigh as she looked at the cursed staff that Randy was holding.
"I thought you were just a fool, but it seems you're a big fool after all."
"Ugh..."
Since he had forgotten the words said to him before leaving, even Randy had no room to argue.
"Are you a bird with a 3-step memory?"
Ellie, with an exasperated look, showed no signs of stopping her verbal attack. Realizing this was a bad situation, Randy tried to change the topic and asked, "By the way──" why Ellie was here.
"Your return was late, so the girl was worried about you."
Ellie, still looking exasperated, explained that she had teleported using the magical power she had stored in a magic stone.
"I'm sorry for causing trouble."
It wasn't just Ellie he had troubled, but also Liz. His apology came from the bottom of his heart, but... seeing the mocking smile in front of him, it was clear that Ellie was still aware of it.
Randy, feeling nervous about not being able to see her face, cautiously asked,
"Is she... angry?"
"Very much so."
With a smirk on her face, Ellie watched as Randy covered his face with his left hand, lamenting his own carelessness.
It was understandable that she would be angry.
He had confidently said he could handle it alone and went into the dungeon, but no matter how long he waited, he didn't come back. Worried, Liz asked Ellie to teleport, only to find that he had been sound asleep, completely ignoring her worries.
At this point, he had no choice but to sincerely apologize. Thanks to Ellie's mediation, Randy was forgiven just a few minutes later after he apologized profusely.
"By the way, Randy, what do you have there?"
With her head tilted, Liz asked, and Randy reported what had happened in the dungeon today.
"What happened to my holy water?"
Ellie peeked in and Randy explained that he had faced a lich. Because of the curse from the staff, he couldn't channel magical power through it, so it was a desperate measure...
"Are you an idiot? Why didn't you use it on the staff?"
"Huh? Can the curse be lifted?"
"Of course."
With a serious expression, Ellie looked at the staff and said, "Girl, step back for a moment." Suddenly, her hair turned black and her eyes became crimson.
It seemed this change in her body was a sign that she was temporarily taking control of Liz's body. Without hesitation, Ellie reached for the staff that Randy was holding.
"Wait, you──."
Ignoring Randy's attempt to stop her, Ellie grabbed the staff, and a dark purple mist wrapped around her body.
"Hey, let go!"
Randy's panicked words fell on deaf ears. With a grin, Ellie muttered, "What? It's just leftover residue," and the purple mist seemed to be absorbed into her. What remained was a beautiful staff and...
"Oh, my hand is free."
...Randy was now free.
"You, what was that──."
"Hmph. How could I not lift such a minor curse──."
"Are you an idiot? How could you take something that looks so harmful into your body? Spit it out! Spit it out!"
As Randy frantically rubbed his back, Ellie blushed slightly and jumped back, saying, "Hey! Stop it!"
"If it's me, there's no problem."
"Really?"
"Don't make me say it twice."
Ellie, with a serious expression, stared back at Randy, who also had a serious face... and after a moment of silence, he let out a big sigh.
"If you start feeling unwell, just tell me."
"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on the girl."
"It's not Liz. It's you, you."
Randy snorted, and Ellie seemed to realize for the first time that someone was worried about her. She slightly relaxed her cheeks but quickly tightened them again.
"What a strange guy."
"Better than you."
Randy snorted again and picked up the staff that had rolled on the ground, as if to say the conversation was over.
Behind Randy, as he pulled the staff from the ground,
"The curse... has flown away, hasn't it?"
"You can't beat a fool."
The words exchanged between Liz and Ellie were drowned out by Randy's joyful shout of "It's gone!" which only reached their ears.
As Randy happily lifted the staff, Liz approached and peered at it.
"It doesn't seem special at all."
"Pretty normal, huh?"
The two fell silent as they stared at the staff, but then Randy suggested, "I just thought of something good," and proposed to break it down. Since it couldn't be used anyway, why not take it apart? However, Liz showed reluctance to this idea.
A cursed staff unearthed from a dungeon. While it might not have any weapon performance, its historical and academic value is immeasurable.
Randy was about to nod in agreement with Liz's reasoning, but unexpectedly, Ellie supported the idea of breaking it down.
Pushed by Ellie, Randy reluctantly agreed, and Liz spread out a mat to break down the cursed staff──after a faint light, various things appeared where the staff had been, including some unclear wooden sticks, metals, what looked like magical stones, some kind of powder, and a small amount of dark red liquid.
"Wow... what can I say..."
"Just a bunch of things we don't understand."
Randy and Liz frowned simultaneously at the completely scattered items on the mat.
(I wish we had appraisal... huh?)
Remembering that while they didn't have appraisal, they did have an item box, Randy hurriedly took out a scroll from a burlap sack. He recalled that if it was like in the game, the names of the stored items would appear.
He quickly handed the scroll to Liz, who was still trying to catch up, and Ellie said, "It's worth a try," as she channeled magical power into the scroll.
"How is it?"
"Just wait."
As Randy peeked at the status window from the side, Ellie smiled and said, "It's a hit."
What appeared was the item box tab and the materials of the staff inside it.
Orichalcum
Branch of the World Tree
Crystal of the Earth
Tears of the Sea
Fragments of Stars
■■'s Blood
Although some of the text was garbled, it was clearly a parade of amazing materials.
"What do you think would happen if we made the staff again with this?"
With great interest, Randy asked, but Ellie said they were lacking the most important catalyst, which was blood. It seemed that some blood had seeped under the mat when they broke it down, and there wasn't enough for a catalyst.
"Then, my blood?"
"Not needed. Normally, you use the user's blood."
Ellie cut her thumb on a sharp stone nearby. The dripping blood disappeared into the item box──"This should be enough for today," Ellie nodded, looking satisfied as she healed her wound.
"Still, we need to collect blood over a few days."
"Then we have to wait today."
"That's right. But what about our original goal?"
As Ellie frowned, Randy suddenly remembered and pulled out his loot from the burlap sack. Although, most of it was stuff he had taken from the orc village.
"Mysterious meat. Horns. Seeds. And oil?"
"Let's just throw everything into the item box and head back for now. I want to take a bath soon."
"Yeah, it's pretty dusty here."
Liz, with a wry smile, whispered, "Ellie, please," and a light enveloped Randy and the others. In the dark space where no one remained, the blood of someone soaked into the ground looked unusually black.
* * *
Time rewinds a bit, back when Randy and the others were fighting the cursed staff...
Catherine and her group were returning to the royal capital with the sunset behind them. They had been hunting in a nearby E-rank dungeon and were satisfied with their results, walking with a confident stride.
Their conversation was filled with complaints about their fiancées being annoying, and how they were engaged, making it even more annoying. It was unclear if they were trying to impress Catherine or if they were just being foolish.
A man openly complaining about his girlfriend.
A woman who finds that attractive.
If Randy saw this, he would probably think, "They look good together." However, the 5 of them, lost in their own world, didn't notice such a scene.
Especially Catherine, who was focused on the encounter event with her target, Cecilia.
(It should be happening soon.)
She was waiting for the event where Dario, returning from the dungeon at dusk, would be confronted by Cecilia.
And now, she was waiting...
(Here it comes! Bingo!)
Just as Catherine hoped, right in front of her was Cecilia, just stepping out of a store and about to get into a carriage. Just like in the game, Cecilia and Dario had run into each other while looking for books to study in the dorm.
It seemed they both noticed each other, and their voices overlapped with an ""Ah.""
"No, it's not like that! Sir Dario and I──."
"Good day, Sir Dario. I must hurry along."
Ignoring Catherine, Cecilia gracefully curtsied and disappeared into the carriage.
"Huh?"
"Miss Cecilia..."
Catherine and Dario were left dumbfounded as Cecilia's carriage, following her words, started moving down the street without hesitation.
(Huh? Why? Is this that girl's doing?)
Catherine, completely confused, couldn't understand. Sure, Liz had spent the whole day with Cecilia, but she had never encouraged Cecilia to act this way.
She had only shyly talked about meeting Randy and her life with him when asked.
The happy conversations of her friends were more than enough to cool Cecilia's feelings for her fiancé.
Cecilia understood it was for her family and home, but it was only natural to want someone who would truly see her, even in a political marriage.
And the actions that this completely cooled-off Cecilia would take next would lead to even more unexpected situations, something Catherine could never have imagined at that moment.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)