episode_0056

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Funny enough, nothing happened while we were returning to the royal capital because we were anxious, bordering on paranoia, thinking that someone was manipulating us from behind.

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The magic sword was silent as if it were an ordinary sword, so no untoward events such as eroding my body or attracting monsters occurred.

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Later, I showed it to Woo and asked his opinion, and it seems that there is nothing suspicious at least right away.

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Perhaps the process of purifying fraud may have had some effect on this magic sword.

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Although the purification magic had no effect such as consecrating the soul, it was worth considering as one of the possibilities since the structure of the magic sword was unknown.

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“It’s already a royal city.”

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Serah muttered as she looked at the castle wall visible from a distance.

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He looked very tired, but it was probably because he had acquired the magic sword that he couldn’t relax.

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Traditions related to the magic sword could be commonly found even without visiting a place like a library.

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Stories of a swordsman with insufficient skills being corrupted by a magic sword and becoming a demon, or losing one’s mind to a magic sword, were common.

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As a result of the accumulation of such traditions, the magic sword became a representative weapon that brought misfortune to its owner.

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Actually, that perception was not wrong.

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At least every character I’ve met in the game who uses a magic sword has become unhappy in some way.

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“Sera, I’m planning on taking care of this magic sword, but maybe you want it… .”

“No need.”

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Sarah’s answer was decisive.

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I thought he would say he wanted to use it in a demon summoning ritual, but it seemed like he didn’t even want to look at a demon sword.

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At first, I thought about offering it to the devil as an offering, but now that I know it’s an item related to the main scenario, I can’t do that anymore.

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It’s a shame that I can’t keep holding on to this, but I’ve decided to get rid of this magic sword.

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If it plays an important role in the main scenario, it will appear before me again.

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“Now, here.”

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We presented our passes at the main gate, passed through the gate safely without being stopped by any inspection, and returned to the royal capital a few weeks later.

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The main gate of the kingdom is enchanted to detect items used in black magic rituals.

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I was worried what would happen if this magic sword was detected by the magic, but fortunately I was able to pass through it safely.

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Well, actually, even if you get caught, you can just pretend it’s an antique and give it a few pennies, but there’s nothing good about causing a fuss.

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“I’m thinking of stopping by the adventurer’s guild, but what about Sera?”

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“… I want to go in and rest. I’m tired.”

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I headed to the adventurer’s guild, and Sarah headed to the dormitory one step ahead.

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Now that I have more money, I think I should think about buying a suitable house on Noble Street.

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If you ask Fiona, she will introduce you to a suitable item.

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It would take a bit for Terezina to find out the location of the house, but since he was in the royal capital, he couldn’t avoid her eyes.

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After parting ways with Sera, I returned to the Adventurer’s Guild after a long time.

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Perhaps thanks to my good publicity, a few adventurers recognized me and bowed their heads.

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After receiving a brief greeting and going up to the second floor, the staff member waiting by the door greeted me like the adventurers did and opened the door.

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“Oh.”

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When the door opened, the first thing I saw was a mountain of documents that I only saw in cartoons.

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Although it wasn’t piled high enough for the Emperor to reach, the pile of documents piled high enough to cover Fiona’s face looked like it could be called a mountain.

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“… Felt?”

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Fiona stood up, causing a small vibration in the mountain of documents piled up on her desk.

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Fiona, whose eyes were stained black, looked very tired. Her eyes were half-closed, and it seemed like she would fall asleep right away if she sang a lullaby to her.

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“I went there. I feel like I have too much work to do. What’s going on while I’m gone?”

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“Cleaning up what happened during the midterm exam. And we haven’t yet been able to fill the void that he left out. I ended up handling the same things that he was handling, and it ended up like this… .”

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“It must be difficult to find someone to replace you.”

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In order to be recognized as a submaster by ignorant adventurers, you need strength that everyone can recognize.

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The bald man’s level was over 40, so finding someone to replace him would definitely not be easy.

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“How about hiring more secretaries and entrusting them with simple paperwork? There would be no one to say anything anyway.”

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“… I thought about it, but Terezina didn’t give me permission. A spy from another faction could infiltrate by pretending to be a secretary.”

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“Like that. Then it would be nice if you could at least dispatch the devil.”

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“Doing paperwork to the devil? No, smart guys are smarter than me, so isn’t that a bad idea?”

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Fiona seemed to be genuinely concerned for a while, saying that it didn’t seem like a bad idea, but then shook her head with a disgusted expression.

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Perhaps, I imagined the moment of silently handling paperwork in the same room as the devil and wondered if this was it.

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“… If the work gets delayed further, I’ll have to think about it seriously, but I don’t want to do it right now.”

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“It’s not a very nice sight to see from the side. Or do you just not want to be with a demon that has your sister’s breath on it?”

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“… I don’t end up joking, so don’t say that even as a joke.”

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“What can I say to this extent? There is something I would like to ask you more than that.”

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When we talked about the house and furniture, she nodded and said it was no problem.

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“It’s not difficult if you’re introducing a business. If I had money, I could move right away.”

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“Then I will be moving soon, so introduce me later. I’m a little tired now.”

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“Of course it is because I have been to unexplored areas. Oh, I almost forgot about this. While you were away, Terezina asked me to deliver a message to you.”

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“What are you saying?”

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“He said he would stop by the royal capital soon and would like to see him. Just the two of us, excluding the young lady.”

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“That’s an attractive offer. There was something I wanted to show you, so please tell me you understand.”

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*****

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“I went there.”

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Upon returning to the dormitory, Sarah was fast asleep in a sloppy posture, like a child, perhaps as a result of not getting enough sleep.

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The blanket had been kicked off and rolling on the dirty floor, as if he had been talking in his sleep, and the corners of his eyes were slightly wet, as if he had yawned.

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He carefully picked up the blanket from the floor, threw it on one side of the bed, and sat down next to the bed.

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Although she must have been sleeping quite deeply and the bed shook more than expected, she showed no sign of waking up at all.

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After all, I haven’t been able to sleep properly for several days because of the magic sword, so is it normal for me to fall asleep like this?

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I had something to say, but it wasn’t urgent right away, so I let him sleep for a while.

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Looking at Sarah’s sleeping face.

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Thinking about it, I slept with Sarah several times during my trip, but I think this was the first time I observed her face so slowly.

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Her droopy face, probably quite tired, looked very relaxed unlike usual.

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Because she had to make a bad impression a lot, she just made a grim expression without realizing it, and maybe this was her usual expression.

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When I think about it that way, it’s a little sad.

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With that sentiment in mind, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, and time quickly passed and night came.

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“Umm… .”

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Sarah woke up with the sound of rustling sheets and yawned, shedding tears.

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It seems that less than a few hours of sleep did not wash away all the accumulated fatigue.

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“Are you awake?”

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“… I was planning to just close my eyes for a moment.”

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“I didn’t sleep that long.”

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When I got back to the dorm, it was already around lunch time, so maybe about 6 hours?

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Thanks to that, I was able to get some sleep for a little while, so it wasn’t really a nuisance.

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“As soon as I wake up, I’m sorry, but I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

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“… Starting with the good news.”

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“I’m moving soon.”

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The dormitory for commoners was better than the abandoned house in the dump where Sarah had been staying, but by my standards, it was in a poor environment.

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In terms of environment, excluding the area, it was lower than the gosiwon where I lived for a while in the past.

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“I’m thinking of finding a house on the outskirts of Noble Street. It’s not that big of a house, but since it’s an aristocratic street, it’ll be safe, and it’ll be better than here.”

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I don’t know when the royal capital will become a sea of ​​fire, but I wanted to live in a place that was a little humane, even if just for a little while.

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Sarah, who had been quietly listening to the story, grabbed the bed sheets, blushed, and asked carefully.

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“… Are we living alone?”

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“Huh?”

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When I asked again because I didn’t understand what she was saying, she spoke in a low voice.

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“… So, are we just living together? Without anyone else… .”

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“Well, that’s right. There may be times when Woo stays, but on the surface, it’s just the two of us.”

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“… Yes.”

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Sera closed her eyes tightly as if she was regretful, while raising the corners of her mouth without saying a word.

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“That’s good news. What’s the bad news?”

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“My sister is coming to the royal capital.”

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“That woman?”

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“Yes, I don’t know what business you have, but it looks like the two of you have contacted me asking you to meet up sometime.”

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“… … .”

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Sarah fell silent and closed her eyes tightly as if thinking about something.

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I don’t think anything special would happen, but from the perspective of Sarah, who had suffered from Terezina for several years, it was a story she couldn’t easily accept.

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As I kept quiet, expecting there to be quite a bit of antipathy, Sarah let out a small sigh and spoke.

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“Then come back. Can I just wait in the miniature garden?”

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I didn’t expect him to nod his head so willingly, so I ended up asking again.

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“… Are you okay?”

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“To be honest, I don’t want to let you go, but I can’t help it if she calls me. Don’t worry, I’ll wait patiently.”

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“… Yes.”

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“What are you going to do with the magic sword? I think I should do something about that first, rather than that woman.”

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“Don’t worry about that. I decided what to do on the way here. Surprisingly, my sister gave me a hint.”

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“… Hint?”

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“The magic sword will be recycled.”

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*****

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After receiving a miserable grade in the midterm exam, Kasumi devoted herself to training, even reducing her sleeping time.

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Kasumi’s mind has been calm these past few weeks.

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Because of the so-called ‘Light Incident’ that occurred during the midterm exam, Tyrone, who was in charge of the scene, had no time to do anything to Kasumi because he was busy cleaning up the mess.

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As a result, Kasumi’s growth rate became slower than before, but thanks to not meeting Tyrone, Kasumi regained peace of mind for a while.

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The fact that the party led by Felt beat Gus and took first place in the midterm exam was also criticized.

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Enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime peace of mind, Kasumi devoted herself to training again today.

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According to the Adventurer’s Guild, Felt went on an adventure alone today to train.

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Kasumi, who devoted herself to training again today to narrow the gap with Felt when he returned, returned to the dormitory only late at night when everyone was asleep.

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Late at night.

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The cold silence in the hallway, where the curtain of night had seeped into every corner, created a very eerie atmosphere.

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Kasumi, who was going through the darkness relying on a single lantern, was quickened by the eerie atmosphere that made her feel like she was walking through an abandoned house.

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Perhaps thanks to that, it wasn’t long before I arrived in front of the room and grabbed the door handle to enter the room.

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“… This is.”

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An old sword propped up at an angle next to the doorknob.

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The sword, which was invisible due to the thick darkness, received the light of the lamp and gave off an eerie glow.

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The appearance of the sword looked like an antique, so it couldn’t be said to be good, but Kasumi felt an inexplicable attraction to the sword.

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Kasumi, who was tightly grasping the sword whose name it belonged to, raised it and looked at the blade when she found a note tied to the sharp tip of the nose.

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‘… Note?’

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Was this sword sent to him by someone?

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I opened the note, feeling an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

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[It’s a gift. I hope that someday I will become the best swordsman with this sword. -Anonymous Sponsor-]

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Kasumi burst out laughing at the absurd words written on the note.

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