Chapter 25
Blowing the Activity Funds (3)
“Uh... Wh-What is this!”
It was practically a scream. The one who stepped up first in the strange atmosphere was Winter. She looked at with a face full of resentnt.
I felt wronged. Who did I do all this for? The shopkeeper stared with a subtle expression.
I didn’t back down and t her eyes.
“Senior? Look at this. Wow~ It looks so cute.”
A flustered Winter showed what she was holding in her hand. It was a tal object shaped like a bear paw.
On the palm side, a strange symbol was engraved. It definitely felt more cute than dangerous.
I decided to respond to Winter’s teary-eyed effort. Honestly, even if it weren’t her, soone would’ve said the sa line at so point.
“That’s a knuckle. I bought that from the Paladin too.”
The shopkeeper surprisingly didn’t say much. Then why had she been poking at us? She explained in the sa tone as earlier.
After hearing the explanation, Winter went back to making that ‘chewed poop’ face. If she wasn’t talking about currency units, then it was that weapon you wear on your fingers to enhance punching power?
Seeing it shaped like a bear’s paw made it look deceptively cute, which didn't inspire much confidence.
“Try it on. It might look like that, but it functions as a knuckl—huh?”
“Huh?”
“Huh.”
We were all uncharacteristically surprised. At the shopkeeper’s words, Winter slipped her fingers into the holes.
Her expression was one of utter reluctance. That’s when the anomaly occurred. Winter flinched in alarm as she suddenly felt her divine power being drained.
Then, the knuckle converted that divine power into sothing physical. What sprouted from the knuckle was a massive axe.
The enormous blade, the size of an adult man's torso, didn’t seem to have any weight, as frail little Winter held it up effortlessly.
“Wh-What is this!”
“Oh, so it had that kind of function.”
Winter holding an axe as big as herself was an utterly absurd sight. Would this count as a light-axe or a beam-axe or sothing? This was the first ti I’d seen a weapon like it.
“W-What do I do with this?! Aagh!”
“Don’t move! No!”
Terrified, Winter flailed in panic. Even after going through Episode 1, her timid nature hadn’t changed.
She moved unconsciously, and the divine axe faithfully followed the trajectory of its wielder.
Thanks to that, the counter next to her was completely smashed to bits. When Winter looked like she was about to move again in shock, the shopkeeper grabbed her.
She looked desperate. Really desperate.
“Look at that cutting power.”
“Seeing Winter swing it around, it must really be weightless.”
Leaving the fussing Winter and the shopkeeper behind, the rest of us continued our conversation. We made sure to keep a safe distance.
It was a weapon I wanted, but it was the perfect one for Winter. For soone like her, who didn’t do any physical training, weight was a major factor.
A powerful weapon like that, with no weight and easy to wield, was a huge advantage.
Generally, the heavier a weapon is, the more powerful it becos. But this one seed to make up for it with its sheer cutting power alone.
“Don’t lower your arm!”
“Huh? Yes! Then… then I’ll raise—!”
“Aaagh! No! You blockhead!”
If she lowered her arm, the floor would be cleanly sliced. The shopkeeper scread and tried to stop her, but Winter didn’t freeze up.
Flustered, she raised her arm instead—and ended up slicing part of the ceiling. As wooden debris tumbled down, the shopkeeper’s eyes rolled back in disbelief.
“You could’ve just taken it off. Just take it off.”
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
Winter and the shopkeeper both had dumb expressions. They were dumb in action, too.
Winter carefully took off the knuckle. The axe blade that had been magnificently demolishing the counter disappeared.
Silence fell over the area. The only one who seed unfazed, perhaps from so kind of enlightennt, was the Vice-Commander.
“Hic. Hrk.”
“Stop.”
“Sniff…”
Those weren’t crocodile tears—they were real. Overwheld by all kinds of emotions, Winter started crying for real.
I gently rubbed her back and tried to calm her. Wasn’t this the shopkeeper’s fault for telling her to try it on? I wanted to say that boldly, but held back.
“I’ll pay for the damages. Could you give an estimate?”
“S…sure.”
The shopkeeper replied in a voice empty of all emotion. The Vice-Commander, feeling partly responsible, looked like she was about to step in.
I stopped her. It was Winter’s mistake in her panic, and we just needed to pay for it. I still had a good stash of gold coins we hadn’t spent yet.
“Uh… how much is it?”
“Oh.”
We quickly received the estimate. I checked the itemized list carefully and suddenly froze.
Noticing this, Winter asked nervously. I shrugged.
“Not that much.”
“Phew~ what a relief.”
“A normal kind of financial ruin.”
“How is that normal!”
I stared at the now-dead little counter. Winter began bawling in earnest. She was so loud, I had to scold her to keep quiet.
So she started crying with her mouth covered. The Vice-Commander, feeling sorry for her, spoke up.
“If it’s a large sum, I can cover a part of it.”
“Oh, it’s alright. I can handle it on my own.”
The counter was made from high-quality materials. As if this kind of thing had happened more than once, it had been made from very sturdy material.
It was crafted from sothing called ‘Holy Water–Infused Mahogany,’ which honestly felt a bit excessive. That kind of counter couldn’t be scratched by most weapons.
Winter had broken through that absurd durability. In a way, we had unintentionally confird the weapon’s performance.
“Now, can I have my weapon too?”
“...You’re really saying that after all this?”
When I brought it up so nonchalantly, the shopkeeper looked at in disbelief.
I returned that look with disbelief of my own.
“I ca here to buy a weapon, so of course I need to see them. Compensation is compensation. Here.”
“Sigh. F-fine. Ulbushis?”
I handed over a check from the Ulbushis Family after entrusting my backpack to Winter. Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper recognized the Ulbushis family crest imdiately.
As she eyed it suspiciously, I went ahead and showed her Canis, who was literally bouncing around nearby.
The shopkeeper, now face-to-face with a pretty girl she hadn’t expected, gave her a blank stare.
“This is Ulbushis. You can check.”
“Hmm~ Tada.”
Canis pulled out the family crest pinned to her shoulder shawl. At my prompting, the shopkeeper let out a deep sigh and disappeared behind the curtain.
“Alright. Brought a few out.”
She returned holding several swords. They looked heavy, but she carried them with ease—definitely built tough.
“I brought out what you could afford after subtracting the compensation and the knuckle cost.”
There was a wide variety. If it had a blade and a handle, she brought it out. Every one of them was high quality. Sturdiness, balance, sharpness—top notch.
The lack of unnecessary ornantation made them even more appealing. If I were a warrior, this would’ve been an exciting mont. But I wasn’t feeling much.
“…What a bizarre holy scripture.”
As always, the holy scripture smacked on the head. If I dodged in sync with its fall, it would still land right where I moved. No use.
In the end, I examined the weapons with my hand placed awkwardly on top of my head.
“Can’t I just buy one?”
“I’d love to let you.”
How bad must it be if even the shopkeeper was pleading like this? The Goddess seed especially strict today—clearly, she was determined to do things by the book.
“What’s the requirent? I’ll match it.”
“I have no idea.”
“That’s a pain.”
Sa on this end. Maybe the problem was the type. The Fragnt of Anaye had wielded a sword and a blunt weapon.
The sword was barely more than a skewer—didn’t even look like it could cut—and the blunt weapon was just a beast’s skull.
“Do you have a weapon that doesn’t look like a weapon?”
“A weapon that doesn’t look like a weapon?”
“Like a club shaped like a beast’s skull, or a sword that looks like a pillar.”
“You’re saying that kind of thing is a weap—ow!”
I had to offer a quick apology. Before the shopkeeper could even finish her sentence, the holy scripture dropped right onto her head.
It didn’t crash down hard like it did with —it was more like soone gently placed it there—but still, it was pretty disrespectful.
Chuckling in disbelief, she handed the scripture that had settled on her head.
“Sorry about that.”
“No worries. That was funny. What a strange experience. When would a blacksmith like ever get to wear a holy scripture on my head?”
She replied cheerfully, but she looked like she had already given up.
“A weapon that doesn’t look like a weapon? Alright. Hold on a sec.”
She went off for the third ti to look for weapons. Winter watched her go with a sympathetic expression.
“Buy one too~”
“You’ve got plenty of money. Buy your own.”
“If we bundle the purchase, maybe I can get one for free?”
“Yeah, right.”
Canis always showed up when things got chaotic. This ti, she brought a pair of won’s gauntlets.
They were very light, and seeing the nurous magic inscriptions engraved on them, they looked like enchanted weapons used by mages.
“How about this?”
“Oh…?”
What the shopkeeper brought was a ring. Winter, captivated by its beautiful appearance, let out a breath of awe—then hesitated.
She had asked for a weapon, and instead got a piece of jewelry.
“See the crest here?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah?”
“?”
The crest engraved on the ring looked familiar. A five-pointed star inscribed within a butterfly design—it was the symbol of Astral, whom we’d encountered recently.
Had Astral worn a ring? No matter how much I dug through my mory, I couldn’t recall.
Astral had only appeared as the boss in Episode 9, and back then, she had been wearing heavy armor on her arms and legs.
There hadn’t been any accessories among the spoils she dropped either—just weapons and artifacts.
“Is there sothing wrong? Have you seen this item before?”
“No, not really.”
“Wear it with the crest facing outward. Then, like with that knuckle, a blade will pop out.”
Since the shopkeeper was recomnding it, it probably wasn’t anything too dangerous. I inspected the ring closely.
At a glance, it looked like a simple black ring. Occasionally, a hint of silver shimred through, which gave it a refined look.
I slipped it onto my right middle finger. I expected a scene similar to Winter’s earlier, but nothing happened.
I looked at the shopkeeper, puzzled. She looked just as confused.
“Huh? Last ti, the blade popped out right here…”
“Aaaaagh!”
Before she could finish her sentence, sothing happened. I felt a cold sensation tearing through the back of my hand.
Like a flexible spike, it extended from my finger, moved through my palm, and then pierced through the back of my hand.
Naturally, since it physically pierced my flesh, blood began to drip out.
Winter, who noticed first, let out a shrill scream on my behalf.
I was surprised—but for a different reason. Even with my Adaptive Body enhancing my defenses, the ring had pierced through with ease.
“I’ll be billing you for the treatnt.”
“…Yeah. My bad.”
“S-senpai… this is weird!”
“What now?”
Winter suddenly called out to . Tilting my head, I turned toward her. She was clinging to the backpack I had handed her earlier.
I made a puzzled face. It looked like a scene from a cheap slapstick skit.
“Help! The backpack’s moving!”
“La slapstick. Maybe try a backwards roll or sothing.”
“I’m not joking!”
Winter scread with an expression full of frustration. Just as she lost strength and let go, sothing shot out of the backpack.
“This is…”
Before I realized it, the thing blocked by the shield Canis had activated was a piece of tal I had picked up not long ago from the place where Astral had been.
“Is it attacking?”
“Wait a sec.”
Canis, who had deployed her shield as it flew in with a rather threatening aura, asked cautiously. I stepped closer to the shield.
There was only one reason I could think of for Astral’s tal suddenly reacting. I extended my right hand, the one wearing the ring.
Its finger-like design made sense now—it was ant to be worn on an actual finger. As I gestured, the shield disappeared.
The tal fragnt flew in gently and entangled itself with the others. It ford a kind of tal glove that extended from the ring-bearing middle finger down to my wrist.
A small blade had sprouted on the back of the hand. A single-edged claw, about 10 centiters long, extending past the middle finger. Sadly, it was a piece of armor I was very familiar with.
Part of the gauntlet Astral used to wear. Since it was only a part, calling it a gauntlet might be a stretch.
“A claw. Not exactly practical, though.”
“Of course, thanks to the tal fragnt I brought.”
“…That’s true.”
The shopkeeper let out a tired sigh and continued speaking.
“Take the ring. Seems like it’s part of a set anyway. Keep the knuckle too. Just consider it compensation for the injury. Just pay for the counter.”
“Aw, thank you very much.”
She offered a sincere apology. I examined the gauntlet. It fully covered the wrist and the back of the hand, and the part climbing up the middle finger resembled a beast’s claw.
There was no issue with movent. But it did feel like a vicious item. The ring that pierced my hand continued to inflict pain without stopping.
It pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, like a living thing. Each ti it did, it scraped against bone and muscle, and the nerves between them scread in agony.
Unless you were soone with extre ntal fortitude—or like , soone who couldn’t feel pain—it was a twisted item that would drive you mad.
“Just in case, go get treated first.”
“Yup.”
Before she even finished speaking, Winter tugged at my collar. She looked like she genuinely wanted to get dical attention quickly.
It might’ve been overprotective, but I understood. I handed over only the compensation for the counter. Of course, I picked the most expensive one from the options.
“We’ll be heading out first.”
“Alright, thanks for your trouble.”
In the end, we didn’t get an artifact for Winter. The Vice-Commander, with an apologetic expression, saw us off first.
Looked like she had sothing to discuss with the shopkeeper. We nodded and headed for the academy’s healing ward.
“It might not be as bad as it looks.”
“How is this ‘not bad’! Your hand got pierced! Wait—doesn’t it hurt?!”
Seeing how nonchalant I looked, Winter snapped. Maybe I’d say it hurt just because it did. I couldn’t feel pain, but there was a constant dull sensation.
It was a little annoying, but not sothing I couldn’t get used to. More importantly, this gauntlet was a boss-tier item once used by Astral.
Now I had one more reason to head back to Astral’s laboratory.
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