Chapter 55
Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
Sponsored Content
Dungeon Loots
Hikaru and Lavia arrived in Forestzard, Forestia’s capital, yesterday . Hikaru went out today to take care of the job Gafrasti had requested of him, which meant they’ve finished what they came here for .
Hikaru had some questions regarding the queen and the cabinet minister . Why were they alone in that room? Surely that would be dangerous . At first he thought they were short on staff, but there were plenty of workers in the building . So they couldn’t trust even their retainers?
There was that guy in the ceiling as well . Sneaking into such a place isn’t easy . That’s proof that there’s a traitor in the central government .
The faces of the citizens were bright . It felt like the capital, a city with different races, was doing extremely well . But on the other hand, one could say they were too used to peace . It seemed the people were not concerned at all even though the neighboring kingdom, Ponsonia, was at war with Quinbland .
Whatever . It’s none of my business .
Hikaru pushed the thoughts to a corner of his mind .
「…Is it really okay?」Lavia suddenly asked .
「What is?」
「That we’re indulging ourselves…」
Words one wouldn’t expect from a former daughter of a Count . But still understandable . They were staying in a suite room in one of the best hotels in Forestzard, after all . All their food was brought into the room .
「Yeah, it’s fine . Might as well while we still have the money . 」
Hikaru became quite rich in the blink of an eye . Once Gafrasti confirmed that the scroll he delivered was genuine, the historian deposited 11 million gilans into his guild account . The one million was for the message he was supposed to deliver to Zofira, but the old man paid it in advance as well . It felt just a bit weird being trusted .
Combining with the silver coins he received back at the dungeon entrance, Hikaru, in a way, became “rich” .
Money left: 919,010 gilans (+11,200,000 gilans)
「All right . Now that things have settled down, it’s time we think over a few things . 」Hikaru said as he took a sip of his coffee .
Coffee in this area was quite strong . It was either black with no milk or sugar, or mixed with liquor . Lavia couldn’t take it and had herbal tea instead .
Wanting to be out of the kingdom as fast as possible, they moved in a hurry . The roads were jammed, with merchants who were against the war leaving as well . With many people around, they opted to check their dungeon loots at a later time . Fortunately, they could relax now that they were in Forestia .
As for Hikaru’s package, he paid the Root Hubbard guild to forward it to Forestzard’s Adventurers Guild instead . They’d be staying in the capital for about ten days and decided to live extravagantly in the meantime .
「Okay, let’s check what we got . 」
Hikaru placed the revolver on the table that was clearly too big for just the two of them . There was only one bullet left, most likely charged with evil type magic .
Sponsored Content
「This is the only thing I took . 」Hikaru said .
「Is that a wand that shoots magic?」
「A wand? Ah, I guess that’s what it looks like for you . 」
For him, it was clearly a gun, but Lavia didn’t know about them .
「How does it work?」
「You use bullets with magic stuffed in it beforehand . They’re for single-use only, though . 」
Hikaru removed the magazine and took out all six bullets . With his Mana Detection, he knew there wasn’t any magic left in five of them .
No mana left . Though unlike ordinary bullets, these ones look the same before and after firing the shot . I wonder if they can be recycled .
Hikaru handed one empty shell to Lavia .
「Can you load this with magic?」
「…How?」
「………」
He didn’t know .
「Try chanting… I guess?」
「That’s dangerous . If I did that and I couldn’t load it into the bullet, I can’t really cancel the spell . 」
「Hmm, yes . We’ll just test it out somewhere else, then . Or we can ask someone to look into it – someone who’s an expert in magic items . 」
The boss of Pond’s Thieves Guild came to mind, but he did not intend to go back to Ponsonia .
「Have someone look into it? You mean hand that wand over? Please tell me you’re not doing that . 」
「They can’t examine it if I don’t give it to them . Also, it’s a revolver, not a wand . 」
「You’re giving away something as precious this?! I’ve never seen a magic item as powerful as that!」
「Is that so… I suppose you’re right . Can’t really hand over something valuable . 」
Sponsored Content
「You don’t believe me? I really think it’s valuable . 」
「I do believe you . Actually, I don’t care if the person we ask to study it steals the thing . Your spells are much more powerful . It won’t matter much . 」
「You’re trying to dodge by complimenting me . That’s not fair . 」Lavia said, puffing out her cheeks .
Hikaru was grinning, thinking how cute she was when angry . Seeing his reaction, she got even more mad .
「Lavia . I’m thinking of going to the academy city of Scholarzard once we receive my package . What do you think? We can probably get the revolver examined there . 」
「Scholarzard… Isn’t that where the educational institution that this country’s Prime Minister has been reforming in recent years located?」
「Educational? Not a research institution?」
「It’s both, apparently . They look for new talents and develop cutting-edge technology . Adventurers are accepted as well . I just heard that from somewhere, though . 」
「An educational institution for adventurers… It might be worth checking out . 」
Hikaru planned to develop his Stealth . If he could find an expert in Stealth, he’d ask to be trained to further polish his skills . Right now, he relied only on his Soul Board and job class . Still, those were more than enough .
It would be even better if they could teach me how to unlock things .
It was one of Hikaru’s weaknesses . He could sneak into places with his Stealth, but he couldn’t enter a locked room . His only choice would be to destroy the lock .
「Oh, Hikaru . You’re asking me, but you’re raring to go . 」
「Ah, my bad . What you said really piqued my interest . That’s all . You don’t want to go?」
「You don’t have to mind me . 」
「That won’t do . You’re out of Ponsonia . You’re free now . 」
「I go wherever you go . I’ll follow you forever . 」
「Forever?」
「Foreeeeeeeeeeever . Forever and ever and ever . 」
「Glad to hear that . 」he said with a wry laughter .
「I told you before . I’m a very heavy burden . 」
Sponsored Content
「I remember . 」he nodded . 「You’re actually quite light . Whatever you say, right now we’re rich . 」
「Yes… It’s unfortunate what happened to the treasure room, though . You would’ve made a fortune if you got it all . 」Lavia said, propping her cheeks with her hands and sighed .
「Whoa there, Miss Lavia . You’re saying it was unfortunate, but I recall seeing you carry tons of stuff from there in that short amount of time . 」
「………」
「Didn’t you say it felt wrong because we were basically robbing the place?」
「Did I say that?」
Lavia’s bag was on the table . When Hikaru went to take the revolver, Lavia was busy scouring the place for items .
Inside her bag was another bag made of leather, full of jewels . There was so many, in fact, that it would’ve been impossible to carry in both hands . Diamond, ruby, emerald, chrysoberyl, garnet, rose quartz, etc . They were big as well .
The gems themselves might even have the same value as the money Hikaru had right now . Although they would have to carefully consider who to sell it to .
The pièce de résistance, however, was a massive book, about six centimeters thick, the size of a B4 paper . Carefully bound with leather, the gems embedded on it glittered brightly . It was locked, so they hadn’t opened it yet . Tearing up the leather would make it possible to browse the contents, but that would be a waste .
「This is actually what I really wanted . 」Lavia said .
「You say that, but you took a lot of jewels . Now you’re rich as well . 」
「Huh? These are all yours . 」
「What?」
「What?」
「Wait, wait… What?」
「But please let me read the book at least! Okay?!」
「…Sure, but the jewels and book are yours, Lavia . I told you . We’re now out of Ponsonia, so we’re equals—」
「No, we’re not . 」
Leaning forward, Lavia place her hands on top of Hikaru .
「I don’t mind if we’re not equals . I wish to remain that way . If possible, I want to be under your wing forever . 」
「Lavia…」
She was firm about her decision . Hikaru heaved a sigh .
「All right . But you’ll have your own money you can use freely . Okay?」
「That’s fine by me . I’ll allow it . 」
「And one more thing . 」
Hikaru raised his index finger, and pointed it at Lavia .
「We’re buying clothes tomorrow . You don’t have to wear outfits made for boys anymore」
Her days of disguising as a boy would soon be over . Hikaru planned to get her a guild card as well . Unlike the guild card, the soul card from temples didn’t have a money deposit feature .
「Is that an order?」
「Uh, it’s not . I’m sorry, I don’t really know how to put it into words…」
Hikaru blushed a bit as he scratched his cheek .
「…I’m asking you out on a date . 」
「………」
Lavia stared at him . She got off her chair and walked briskly towards Hikaru, clinging to his arms .
「Ehehehe…」
「Wh-What is it?」
「Ehehe~」
「Do you want to go or not?」
「Let’s go!」
She didn’t let go of his arm for a while .
Lavia was sleeping, a happy expression on her face . Hikaru sat down on a chair in their hotel room .
「Now, then… Gotta think over a few things . 」he said as he summoned his Soul Board .