Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 18 - Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Ring and the Axe

Paladin, Ray Starling

The day after the clan meeting, I went to the knight offices attached to Count Gideon’s mansion.

My business here wasn’t with the knights, however. I’d come here to visit the facility deeper inside. It was a place I’d been going to whenever I was in Gideon and had free time—the cursed item vault.

I had a part-time job here as a “cleaner” who uncursed the items within. It was an easy activity, since I just had to equip Gouz-Maise and stay next to the cursed items.

Once uncursed, most of them reverted back to being proper, high-quality equipment. There were some that could only maintain their form thanks to the curses and crumbled once they were broken, but apparently there was nothing that could be done about those. As a result, they never held me accountable for those.

This part-time job provided uncursed equipment to Altar and charged my Gouz-Maise with grudge. Both sides benefited from our arrangement. This was relevant now because these uncursed items would be the extra rewards for The Tournaments.

I was glad to find out that my little part-time job would end up helping Azurite.

Another benefit I got out of this was that for every ten inventories I’d uncursed, I could pick any one of the uncursed items.

Having done about sixty inventories now, I could take away a total of six items. And since The Tournaments started tomorrow, I came to take my share before any of them were given away as extra rewards. First come, first served after all.

I was also accompanied by Rook and the Kasumi-Io-Fujinon trio.

However, I still hadn’t picked a single item despite having the right to take six. The ones I’d uncursed and looked over either required a higher level than mine, weren’t appropriate for my combat style, or were simply rejected by Nemesis.

It was obviously difficult for me to pick six in one day. I could just randomly take items I didn’t need, but I’d probably end up just selling them or leaving them to collect dust, which didn’t seem like a fitting way to treat the kind of rare equipment that you probably couldn’t even find on the market normally. Also, with my MVP rewards, VDA, Storm Visage, and Lifesaving Brooch—a necessity for my combat style—a good number of my equipment slots were already in use anyway.

I couldn’t reasonably pick a whole six of these items and frankly didn’t even need them all that much in the first place.

That was why I, as the leader of Death Period, decided to give four of the picks to my clan members. Considering that it might increase the clan’s overall strength, this seemed like the best use of this reward.

“Are you sure about this?” Rook asked.

“Yeah. The Tournaments starts tomorrow and there’s bound to be other stuff going on in the future. If we all can become stronger now, we should just do it.”

“YAY! Our leader’s so generous!”

“Thank you.”

“Th-Thank you...”

The five of us soon arrived at the vault. One of the workers here dealt with the many layers of security and let us go inside.

The vault was full of container-type inventories stacked high on top of one another. Usually this place was dense with grudge that made it feel oppressive, but most of it had been absorbed by Gouz-Maise. Now it felt more like an antique storage area.

“There’s so many of them,” said Rook.

“And they were all cursed, as well... How did this happen...?”

“Yeah, I had the same question as you guys,” I said.

A mountain of cursed weapons that needed this many inventories just to store them... I’d been wondering how exactly this collection came to be. When I’d asked Count Gideon, he said all he knew was that the cursed items had been stored here for most of this land’s history. However, I got my answer when Azurite was telling me about the extra rewards.

Apparently, it went all the way back to before Altea was Altea, when the Sacred King defeated The Evil. According to information left behind by Azurite’s ancestors, the city was at one point the base of the King of Kings, which led to it housing a large number of weapons and other kinds of equipment. Before this land was united under the flag of Altar, those who captured the city had tried to get ahold of those weapons, but the vault was so secure that they couldn’t even access it.

However, there was one entity who’d opened the vault, and it was the final ruler of the city—The Evil.

It was said that this was why most of The Evil’s dependents had powerful equipment. Some of the items in here didn’t even have to be equipped—they themselves became monsters that went on to attack people.

Azurite’s ancestor and his party had won regardless, but the equipment remained even after The Evil and the dependents were dealt with. However, whether due to The Evil’s influence or the fact that they’d been in the center of a war, most of the equipment had become cursed. The mechanisms involved might have been the same as the ones behind the Tenchi curseblades Jubei was using.

Figuring that it wasn’t a good idea to have so much cursed gear laying around in what would become the new capital, they decided to move all of it to Gideon—the birthplace of the Sacred King’s queen as well as the holy land of duelists even in those bygone days. The reason for that decision was that Gideon already had a special vault meant for storing cursed equipment.

Thus, all cursed gear from then and onwards was moved to Gideon, which eventually led to this place accumulating the collection it had now.

“And that’s how it is,” I said, finishing off my explanation.

“Now that is something... Could this be the cause of all the incidents here in Gideon?”

Yeah, I wondered the same thing, I thought. It’s like the place itself is cursed, and maybe this vault is the reason.

Anyway, it was time to make our picks.

“Oh yeah...the uncursed inventories are over here, so look around those. Tell the worker if you find something. I also borrowed enough of these magnifying glasses for each of us. They’ve got Identification on them.”

“Okaay!” The room was small, and since she was the loudest, I could only hear Io’s response. The others gave their replies as well, though, and went to find gear that suited them.

I moved some distance away from them, towards a different pile of inventories, and began uncursing the gear within like I usually did.

“Well, it is true that we found nothing among those you already uncursed,” said Nemesis. “I hope we have better luck with what we work on today.”

“Nemesis, keep in mind that we gotta pick two items today, so be a bit less strict, okay?”

“Hrm... Very well. But I will not be lenient on weapons.”

“Fine, fine.” Nemesis had said things like that many times before. She had extremely high standards for any weapons that would take her place in protecting me.

Honestly, though, even I can’t imagine myself fighting using anything other than Nemesis... Hm?

“What’s wrong, Nemesis? You’re all red...”

“...That is for you to guess.” Well, okay. Anyway, it was time to resume uncursing.

Even if I didn’t have much luck with weapons or armor, I could maybe find a useful accessory or two.

An hour passed as I kept uncursing the gear, not finding anything that suited me.

Io had quickly chosen an animalistic set of armor, but everyone else was still deliberating on what to pick. She hadn’t left yet, though, instead staying to help Kasumi and Fujinon with their choices.

Rook seemed to be considering his pick very carefully. When I asked why, he said that he was specifically looking for gear that was effective against undead. Apparently, he was thinking ahead to The Tournaments, already considering his fight against the UBM.

Rook’s current minion capacity was enough to comfortably fit even Liz. As long as he was able to buy the time to merge using Union Jack, he should have been able to stand his ground even against many stronger Masters. Also, his assumption was that the undead UBM he’d fight wouldn’t be very popular. Its capabilities were known, but they didn’t stand out much. On top of that, its tier was a mystery. Altar currently didn’t have many high-ranking Masters that used debuffs, so Rook believed that he would be able to place fairly high—maybe even reach the top.

Just as I’d thought, Rook had his reasons for picking that specific day.

Speaking of Rook, his partner—Babi—had seemingly grown bored of the search for the right item and was now sleeping in the corner of the vault.

“Hrm. We still are not having any luck,” said Nemesis.

“Yeah.” Most of the gear we’d uncursed today were weapons. Nemesis was extra strict with them, but even if she hadn’t been, normal weapons just weren’t a good fit for my combat style.

If I wasn’t wielding Nemesis, I was just a low-stat vanguard with a couple of heavy-hitting skills. Sure, my HP was pretty high right now, but only Nemesis could use that for offense, so there really was nothing that would serve as an appropriate substitute.

“I really can’t imagine switching to normal weapons at this point,” I said. “Oh. An accessory. It’s been a while since we saw one of those.”

The next item I took out of the inventory I was cleaning was a bracelet. It wasn’t that cursed, apparently. The thing was clean after only about a minute.

“Hm...? ‘Big or Small’?” I held it in my hand and found that I could read its name, but all I got for its effects was “Unknown.”

This seemed like a standard case of something needing a higher Identification level. Not even the magnifying glass I had was enough.

...Well, whatever. This seems like a caster item anyway, so I probably won’t use it, I thought.

I put Big or Small away in the inventory for uncursed items and took out the next one...

“...Hm?”

What? I could’ve sworn I’d put the bracelet away, but for some reason, I was still holding it in my left hand.

Or, rather, my bracer was grabbing on to it.

“...Gardranda?” In response to my question, the left bracer moved on its own to put Big or Small on my right wrist.

It was rare for her to act like this. Was the bracelet that important to her? “Well...I guess I could try putting it on.”

“Indeed,” said Nemesis. “With the curse gone, I doubt equipping it will bind it to you or anything of the sort.”

Anyway, I went and put Big or Small on my right wrist.

Once an extra accessory slot was taken, the bracer on my left hand moved on its own to force my finger to move over the floor. It seemed that she was writing something. I followed it with my eyes and made out the words “Say ‘Minimum’...and summon me.”

“...Seriously? You know what will happen if I summon you, right?” I was referring to the drawbacks that followed her summoning. I could be subjected to three different debuffs, get set on fire, or lose control over my body. None of those seemed all that attractive.

In response to these concerns of mine, she only said, “It’s okay... Summon,” before adding, “You still owe me from last time.”

Silence. Yeah, now that she mentioned it, I’d summoned Gardranda in the fight against KoB, but I got the death penalty before I got hit with any of the drawbacks for it. They weren’t on me when I’d returned either, so I just assumed that was how it worked, but Gardranda seemed to be holding a grudge about it.

...Wait, do you even benefit from me getting the drawbacks? I wondered.

“...Well, all right,” I said. “Oh uh, Rook... If something weird happens to me, do something about it, okay?”

“All right.” Rook was quick on the uptake, as always. He was already preparing Liz in case something happened.

With my preparations complete, I went and answered Gardranda’s request.

“Minimum. Miasmaflame Princess—Gardranda.” Only after saying that did I realize that I hadn’t specified how long I wanted the summon to last or how much MP I wanted to put into it.

However, it seemed like the summoning worked regardless, and the Miasmaflame Bracers flew from my wrists.

A moment later, Big or Small began to shine and the bracers vanished...but Gardranda was nowhere in sight.

“...HUH?!”

I had no idea what was going on at first. Miasmaflame Princess was a skill that used the bracers as a medium to summon Gardranda, and the bracers themselves became Gardranda’s own equipment. However, right now I couldn’t see Gardranda or the bracers.

“What happened... No way!” I cried.

Does Big or Small actually set summoned monsters free?! If that’s the case, then she must’ve gone off somewhere and...

“Hm...?” And then, just when I was on the verge of panicking, I noticed that everyone else was looking at me in surprise.

No—not at me. They were actually looking at something above my head.

“R-Ray... Your head...” said Nemesis.

“...This isn’t the first time I’ve felt like this.” It reminded me of the time Franklin, dressed as a penguin, had given me a drug with a particular furry side effect.

Remembering that event, I put my hand up to my head...and felt something strange there.

“...Ngh.” The feeling was followed by a tingling sensation on my finger. If my avatar had pain on, it probably would’ve hurt me.

I slowly lowered the hand so I could get a good look at it, only to see a small creature biting into my finger. It looked like a tiny person with exaggerated proportions. They had brownish-red skin, a set of horns, and their hands were covered by a familiar pair of bracers.

Either this was an insane coincidence, or the person was...

“...Gardranda?” I asked as I set her down on my palm.

“KSHAA!”

...That response wasn’t in a language I could understand, but it seemed like a “yes” to me.

It was obvious that Big or Small was doing this, but...

“...I’m gonna log out and look this thing up.”

“That is for the best...”

“KSHAA!”

...I have no clue what you’re saying.

◇

Conveniently, the details of the ring were on the wiki.

Big or Small was a magic item created a long time ago, and so far about four of them had been found.

Its special effect was the adjustment of summoning output. By saying “Minimum” or “Reduce” while summoning, you could summon creatures at low cost in exchange for making them weaker. Meanwhile, adding “Maximum” or “Increase” made the summon stronger in exchange for making the involved costs steeper.

However, the enhancement function wasn’t very useful because it increased the costs so much—up to several dozen times—while only strengthening the summon by a one-tenth for the extra MP or whatever else you spent.

“And using the Minimum function makes the summon basically powerless in exchange for reducing the cost to almost nothing. That includes Gardranda’s drawbacks, right?”

I’d unsummoned her before logging out and nothing had happened to me yet.

“KSHAA!”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” I said. “It’s cool that I can summon you so casually, but it’s kind of tough that we can’t actually talk with each other.”

“Then why not buy a non-humanoid translation item?” Rook asked. “You should be able to find one in Gideon’s markets.”

“Oh, they have things like that? I guess I’ll look around,” I said. “I don’t think I ever saw you use it, though.”

“That would be because I can understand them without it.”

...Yeah, I wouldn’t put that past you.

“Anyway, it’s looking like this will be one of the items I take,” I said. Gardranda would probably hold a grudge if I didn’t. “Where is she, anyway?”

“On your head.” Again? Does she like being there or somethi...? Hm...?

“Hey, Nemesis. I’m feeling a bit of a tingle on my head...”

“Of course you would. Little Gardranda is gnawing on your head. In fact, she’s eating your hair.”

“How about you STOP HER?!” What a way to remind me that she was a man-eating goblin! She’s after my body—I mean my flesh!

“KSHAA!”

“Hrm, even I can understand what she just said. It must have been ‘delicious,’ or at least something along those lines,” said Nemesis, slightly salivating. “Ray, if I may ask—”

“HELL NO!” One man-eater is one too many!

Anyway, I picked Big or Small as my first reward and another hour had passed since.

I’d already unsummoned Gardranda Minimum—otherwise known as “Smol Gar.” She didn’t seem to like being unsummoned, probably because she wanted to keep gnawing on my head, but I was able to convince her by promising that I’d summon her again after buying a translation item.

She’d actually bit me so hard I was bleeding, but the damage was light enough that even my healing magic could take care of it. Well, the damage obviously wasn’t as bad as a lost arm.

Next time I summon her, I won’t tell her to not bite me...but I’ll at least try to make her hold back a bit, I thought.

By this point, Rook and Fujinon had also decided what they’d pick, meaning that the only items left to select were Kasumi’s and my second one.

“Kasumi is a High Summoner, so wouldn’t it be best for her to take a summon-related accessory like the one Ray got?” Rook asked.

“It ain’t summoning skills she needs, but defense! Even I can take her out in one hit!” Io asserted.

“...Io, you’re all about offense. Most rear guards in your level range wouldn’t survive your attacks,” commented Fujinon. They were all hard at work picking the right item for Kasumi.

“What about you?” Rook asked me. “Do you think you’ll find your second one soon?”

“Hrm... I’ve been uncursing and looking at everything, but I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock here.” After uncursing Big or Small, I went on to work on weapons again, but progress had suddenly stagnated.

One weapon shortly after I’d resumed was taking an unusually long time to uncurse. Up until now, even the worst curses hadn’t taken much more than five minutes to remove, but I’d been absorbing grudge from this one for a whole hour now.

At first, I thought that Gouz-Maise was just full and couldn’t take any more, but when I switched from this weapon to another, that one still took less than a minute to fully uncurse.

This meant that it wasn’t about me or my greaves, but this weapon in particular—the large battleaxe wrapped in a jet-black cloth.

I’d considered leaving it aside, but it had sparked my curiosity, so I was still trying to remove the curse.

I was doing all of this with the weapon on the floor, by the way. Unlike some cursed items, it didn’t seem to be leaking its aura into the air around it... In fact, it felt like it was the other way around—that the dense curses were tightly sticking to it instead, like coagulated blood.

And no matter how much grudge I’d vacuumed out, it didn’t seem to be losing any of those curses. Clearly, the amount of grudge on this axe was far beyond that on any other weapon I’d encountered so far.

“I guess the curses are just that strong?” I said.

“Perhaps,” said Rook.

“...Maybe I should just take it as a source of grudge, then.” I’d stocked up on a lot of grudge by now, but I could see myself using all of that up in the coming battles.

I might even be forced to use Big or Small to summon Gardranda Maximum.

Using more MP is fine and all, but since Big or Small influences the length and effect of the demerits too, doing that would mean certain death for me no matter which of the three I got.

“A one-handed axe, eh?” said Nemesis. “The fact that you cannot know what you will get once you uncurse it makes it rather like the gacha. Well, that would suit you. It seems like a fine choice to me.”

“Hm?” Her words made me slightly confused. “But it’s a weapon,” I said. “You’d usually have something against those.” Nemesis had extremely strict standards for weapons—and shields—that I would use instead of her. She hadn’t approved of any weapon I’d uncursed so far or any weapon in the shops we’d visited. Yet this axe...passed?

Apparently, Nemesis hadn’t even realized that she’d approved of a weapon until I pointed that fact out. She looked at the axe, blinking, and said, “That is true... How should I put it...? My intuition is telling me that it is a worthy pick.”

“Your intuition?”

“I happen to be half-weapon, so there are things I understand exactly because of that.”

She—Nemesis the Maiden-Arms Embryo—crouched down and looked at the axe on the floor.

“This is an amazing weapon,” she asserted. “And...I believe I have seen something like this before.”

“Oh. Wouldn’t that be your second form? It’s black...and it’s an axe...kind of,” said Kasumi.

“No, I doubt it’s reminding me of myself.”

“Then it’s my Five-Ring!”

“That one is nothing like it in size,” said Nemesis. “And it is not about shape, but...its aura?”

Nemesis seemed to be trying to recall exactly what this weapon reminded her of. I tried thinking with her, but I was also drawing a blank.

Still, Nemesis was okay with it, and it was useful as a source of grudge, so it looked like I’d be taking this one-handed axe.

“...What’s its name, anyway?” I said, bringing the Identification glass close to it.

Cursed items had a tendency to have names that referred to their nature, like how my BR Armor was CBR Armor at first. I thought of just taking a look at this one, but...

“Name: [] An unnamed axe.

The axe that was not ■?# by ■?#.

The axe that ■?# to ■?# in ■?#.

The axe that is ■?#, as well as ■?# to the ■?#.”

That was all that Identification was giving me.

The name field was empty—no, there wasn’t even a blank space in there—while the explanation had holes all over it.

Unlike with Big or Small, it wasn’t just a problem of low Identification level. This felt closer to looking at Shu’s hidden stats right after I’d first started.

“...I guess it’s an old crafted item, and the person who made it just didn’t give it a name?” After all, the only line I could fully read was “an unnamed axe.”

Perhaps the craftsman hadn’t been satisfied with it?

Looking at the actual axe, the handle didn’t seem to be complete in places. Also, it really did seem like a weapon from a very long time ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was older than any of the ones I’d managed to purify.

“Excuse me...is Death Period here?”

While I was considering the axe, the door to the vault opened up and I heard someone address us with those words.

The one saying them was a youth with dark circles under his eyes, as well as the manager of this vault—Count Gideon.

He was even younger than me, but he was in charge of the entirety of Gideon County, which was among the most important areas in the kingdom. In that role, he had always been directly and strongly affected by the many disasters inflicted upon the city. You could say that he was among the greatest victims of the Gouz-Maise Gang, that lab-coat bastard, Exadragon King, and Hannya.

That was probably why he had those bags under his eyes.

“Count Gideon. What brings you here?” I asked.

“I have come here because there was something I wanted to talk to your clan about... Have you found anything you like?”

“Yes. Three of us have already made their choices, leaving only her and me,” I said as I pointed at Kasumi. With Count Gideon being sort of like my boss for this part-time job, I was naturally speaking in a more respectful manner.

“...Quite curious, that,” said Nemesis telepathically.

What?

“Well, you speak to Azurite—the first princess and acting ruler—as though she were merely a good friend, yet to Liliana—a knight—as well as the count here, you speak with reverence.”

Azurite did tell me that I can talk to her casually in private conversations... Hell, now that I think about it, for both Azurite and Liliana, I’m just talking to them the same way I started out talking to them.

“Is that how it is?”

That is exactly how it is.

“Oh, right. Count Gideon, would you happen to know anything about this axe?” I asked.

“An axe...?” he said as he looked down on it and tilted his head. “No, I do not... You there, what are the records for it?”

He was talking to one of the workers outside the vault, the same one who’d recorded our picks. After looking at the many documents, the worker gave a shake of the head.

“There are no records left on it, sire. Though the number on the ledger does imply that it was stored away here around when Altar came to be.”

“...A significant number of the items here were acquired by defeating The Evil. In many cases, their details and origins only became evident once they had been uncursed and their functions were revealed... I suppose all we know is that this is one of them. The documents will have to be rechecked after the Tournaments’ reward distribution...no, before that... Oh, my apologies.”

“No need for that...” Using cursed weapons while they were still cursed was risky, especially when Identification couldn’t give you much information about them, so I could understand where Count Gideon was coming from. The way he was clutching his stomach made him seem like he was overburdened with responsibility, though... He was way more lively before and after Franklin’s Game, I thought.

“So, what was your question about the axe, again?” he asked.

“May I have it as my second reward even though I never managed to uncurse it?” My question made the count a bit surprised, but he quickly nodded in approval.

“I certainly would not be against that. I did say that you are free to pick anything within this vault. Though...are you certain?”

“In my case, the curse is a blessing in its own right.”

“I see. Very well, then. I will ensure that it is done.” The count knew that I converted grudge into magic, so it didn’t take much to convince him.

And just like that, it was decided that my second reward would be this nameless one-handed axe.

Careful not to touch it directly, I put it away in my inventory.

“Now, Count Gideon,” I said. “You mentioned having some business with us?”

“Yes,” he said. “It has come to my attention that your clan is looking for a base here in the city.”

...How did he hear about that? I wondered. Did he get it from his ninja intelligence network?

“Mr. Figaro told me as much when he came to visit today to greet me after being away for so long.”

Oh...I guess that was it.

“Well, we are,” I said. “We had no luck in Altea for a variety of reasons...”

“I am aware. The city of Gideon would deeply appreciate it if a powerful clan like yours would make your home here. It would certainly be reassuring, at least...”

I’d heard that even during the Gloria incident, a large clan had stood against the dragon to protect their hometown. The count was probably thinking of that.

“Oh, did you come to welcome us?” I asked. “We actually planned to greet you after we were done here, so...”

“No. It is a bit more than that.” More? I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Frankly, I was confused.

“Since Death Period wishes to secure a base here in Gideon, I would like to introduce you to a property you might find interesting.”

And just like that, the confusion was gone. Count Gideon had come here to offer us some real estate.

◇

After that, we went to take a look at the property the count wanted to offer us.

I wasn’t sure why the count himself was introducing it, but I figured there had to be a reason.

While we rode the carriage, the count was resting his head on the door and, seemingly without realizing it, saying—almost moaning—things like “My stomach hurts,” “I hope The Tournaments go well,” “We’ll not be terrorized again, will we?” “I wish I could find a different job...”

The city had been threatened so many times in recent memory that it seemed to have taken a toll on his mental health.

He was younger than me, but the stress was already making his hair turn gray. I really hoped he got some well-deserved rest once The Tournaments were over and the matter with Dryfe was settled.

The count was actually seated in the carriage’s frontal compartment, separated from us. It was probably so that he could take a nap or maybe even get some work done.

...He really didn’t have it easy, huh?

Besides him, the people in the carriage on the way to the property in question were myself, Fujinon, Io, and...

“Hm...”

...Shu, whom I’d called over using my Telepathy Cuffs.

He was the clan’s most veteran Master and already had experience with Dendro real estate from when he rented a popcorn factory, so I had him come along for advice.

Rook had decided not to come with us. Kasumi had yet to pick her item, so he’d stayed behind to help her. I was wondering why Fujinon and Io also didn’t stay for that, but as they’d left the vault and followed after me, I’d notice them give Kasumi a hearty thumbs-up.

...Well, they’re cheering their friend on. Even I could tell that much.

“Real estate, huh...?” Shu, who was sitting next to me, said as he looked outside.

It seemed that something was on his mind, but I couldn’t tell what it was—so I just went and asked. “What’s up, bro?”

“Well, we’re on the way to check out some pawrperty, but I don’t remember there being much good real estate here.” His words prompted me to look outside. The carriage was on the main road, but the buildings on every side of it had this gloomy look to them. It wasn’t a nice thing to say, but it reminded me of something I’d seen on TV—slums in the big cities of developed nations.

There also seemed to be a degree of social disorder here, and you could see a bunch of establishments with less-than-wholesome signs on them.

Also, the faces of the people here—or rather, the looks in their eyes—were less than welcoming.

“So this is the...”

“The eighth district, yeah,” said Shu. “It’s the place with the thieves’ and pimps’ guilds. There’s no district in Gideon that’s got a worse public order...fur real.”

Well, uh... That sure explained why it was different from the first and fourth districts I always visited. Though with Rook’s group regularly going to the pimps’ guild, he was probably used to it by now.

“WOW! Fujinon, look! Over there! That sign’s kinda lewd—it’s got panties on it! There’s also some signs I can’t read ’cause of the mosaics! That must be the underage visual censorshi— GHUH...?!”

“Io, please have some discretion! You’re a girl!”

The district seemed to have gotten Io excited.

Maybe a little too excited, seeing that Fujinon had to interfere.

“...Is it a good idea to go through here in a carriage this fancy?” I asked.

“Well, this pawrt of town ain’t peaceful, but no one’s dumb enough to go after a carriage with the count’s family crest on it. Hell, I’d say we’re perfectly safe.”

...Makes sense. Forget the count—if they went after it now, they’d be dealing with a goddamn Superior, I thought.

“Do not forget yourself,” said Nemesis telepathically. “Your mere presence has made bandits shrivel up in terror.” Hey, that was more about the other three setting an oppressive mood...

“Hrmm... But just what kind of real estate can there be in an area such as this?” Nemesis wondered.

“I’m as curious as you are. Though, since the count himself is introducing it, I’m sure it’ll be good.”

“Ah! I know!” Io said as she puffed her chest.

“You do? Let’s hear it,” I said.

“It’s gotta be a place where there was a massacre! Two Mafias or something fought and everyone living inside died! Since then, it’s been overrun by ghosts and no one wants to buy it! That’s why he’ll have you use your MVP reward and anti-undead skills to purify it, then sell it to you for cheap!”

“I see...”

...Why does that sound so plausible?

“Io, that would be a literal haunted house,” said Fujinon.

“Well, the kingdom as a whole is kinda haunted, so...”

“What was that, Shu?” I said.

“Ah, furget I said anything.”

...Well, I also told Azurite that it felt like the country was cursed, but still...

“Anyway, since the count himself is introducing it, I really don’t think it’ll be a haunted house or anything,” said Fujinon.

“Huhh? What’s your guess, then?” Io asked.

“I think he’ll kick out the squatters from some abandoned building and then build our base over it. Death Period will help with the evictions.”

“...That’s a scary thought,” I said. That seemed like it’d spark some serious trouble with the locals, so I’d honestly be against that.

I could only hope neither Io nor Fujinon were right.

“Seriously, what is he gonna offer us...” I wondered out loud.

Once the carriage left the main road, I saw we were heading straight towards a familiar building.

It was one of Gideon’s thirteen arenas. There was one in each district, and this was the eighth’s.

“Huh. This is my first time seeing this one,” I mused. Each of these lesser arenas stood at the end of the main roads connected to the central arena in the heart of the city. With the exception of the central one, the arenas were more or less identical in structure, and this one here was just like the others. Though for some reason, I felt like it was more desolate than the others. “We have arrived,” said Count Gideon as the carriage stopped. That meant that the property was somewhere nearby.

However, upon getting off and looking around, all I saw were stores, taverns...nothing that could be called a mansion.

“Count Gideon, where is the property you wish to introduce to us?” I asked.

“This one here,” the count said. He pointed to something, but I couldn’t see what he was pointing at.

Is it...behind the eighth arena? I wondered.

“Mr. Ray Starling, leader of Death Period,” he said as he looked straight at me with those tired eyes...

“Would you buy the eighth arena as your base?”

...and made an offer I could have never imagined.