New Weapon – 1

After the World Eater departed, the Empire was somehow in the process of recovering from the chaos.

Since no human could stand idly by while a dragon roamed the skies, the fact that there were miraculously no casualties was significant.

It was also significant that the damage was primarily concentrated on buildings and streets, as the creature hadn’t wreaked havoc as it pleased, but had simply satisfied its curiosity and then left.

Considering that the final boss of BraD 4 had visited, it ended quite peacefully.

‘Did he really just come to confirm how I killed him? What kind of messed-up guy is he?’

Of course, there was a slight collateral damage in the process: my common sense went missing.

Thanks to that, our time to have an audience with the Emperor was naturally postponed. If I were to borrow Aurora’s words, it seemed we would have to stay at the Imperial Palace for at least a month.

When such a major incident occurs, it’s common practice to send all guests away and arrange for them to visit again later. However, Kaikilia reportedly did not permit our return, ‘for reasons unknown.’

The way she emphasized the ‘reasons unknown’ part while staring intently at me was an added bonus. Since there wasn’t just one or two things I felt guilty about, I couldn’t properly refute her.

‘……She must have seen it, right?’

Ever since I confronted the World Eater, Kaikilia’s gaze towards me had completely changed. Her eyes were firmly set on making me hers, no matter what.

Nevertheless, thanks to that, we were treated very well. So much so that even Aurora and the Knight Captains were bewildered, wondering if we truly deserved such luxury.

It was somewhat similar to the situation back in the Holy Kingdom.

“Minerva-nim. Don’t you wish to research the Crystal Scroll?”

“Are you finally going to look for it?!”

While Aurora was away for quite a long time, claiming to have work, and the Knight Captains volunteered to help restore order in the capital by assisting their former subordinates, I went to find Minerva.

I asked her to persuade Kaikilia using the Crystal Scroll as bait.

After all, it wasn’t a losing deal for Minerva either. From the moment I first proposed the trade, I had made it clear that we would only go look for the Crystal Scroll after I obtained my new weapon.

My plan worked perfectly, and after several hours of Minerva’s grand ‘persuasion,’ I was able to get permission to leave the Imperial Palace.

‘I need to do something quickly.’

If her interest in me was already this intense, it wouldn’t be awkward at all if I woke up one day to find myself in Kaikilia’s bed.

Unlike Rije, who said it was fine to have as many women as I wanted as long as she was my first for everything, or the Popes who openly hinted that polygamy was possible, Kaikilia seemed to possess an immense possessiveness.

‘That doesn’t mean I’m going to indiscriminately increase the number of women, though……’

Just Rije, Floretta, and Luna were enough to prick my conscience.

Especially with Rije.

“Aiya, the Crystal Scroll isㅡ”

“I told you, didn’t I? It’s after I get my new weapon.”

“Perhaps the scroll firstㅡ”

“If I find that for you first, do you have the confidence to leave the Magic Tower?”

Minerva, who had been pestering me repeatedly about when we would go look for the scroll, immediately shut her mouth at my words.

She herself knew very well that the moment she found the Crystal Scroll, she wouldn’t be able to focus on anything other than research. It was the same in the game, after all.

“Th-then, just tell me if we can depart right now.”

“Preparations are almost complete. We should start now.”

Lastly, I packed the brooch with the sun and moon drawn on it, which the Popes had supposedly given me. That was the end of the preparations. My weapon was broken anyway, and with Minerva here, other preparations weren’t needed.

Minerva seemed to be trying to maintain a dignified appearance, but urgency was evident in every single one of her actions. It was as if she was ready to abandon all the decorum she had maintained for 400 years.

The ancient and mysterious aura from our first meeting was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is the teleportation destination?”

“Just a moment, the location is…….”

I unfolded the map. It was the map Minerva had brought.

The Empire was marked down to every detailed location, and the Holy Kingdom was less detailed but still quite specific, but the northern and southern parts of the continent were only vaguely outlined.

Unlike in the game, where the terrain would be drawn just by a player walking around, people must have created this map by checking each location, whether through magic or by physically exploring.

So, it wasn’t strange at all that there was no proper map for the Poisonous Swamp in the southern part of the continent, which was no different from a demonic realm, or the Snow Mountain in the northern part of the continent, where everything froze.

‘I’ll probably have to visit the Poisonous Swamp sometime later. No need to go to the Snow Mountain, though. There are no items to get there anyway.’

I compared the map in front of me with the maps users had created separately in my head, searching for the location of the place we needed to go. Minerva stood beside me, fidgeting nervously.

Did she want the Crystal Scroll that badly?

“It’s around here. Though we’ll have to go there to find the exact location.”

I pointed to a part at the very edge of the Empire. Although the scale of the map was much larger than in the game, this area was probably correct.

“Understood. Prepare yourself.”

Minerva immediately prepared her magic. *Thump*, the tip of her staff lightly tapped the ground. A magic circle instantly appeared, shooting a blue pillar of light into the sky.

With a familiar sensation of floating that no longer excited me, our bodies were suddenly inside a mountain.

All around us were grass and trees. Due to the dense, overgrown old trees, it was dark even in broad daylight, as light couldn’t properly penetrate. Minerva tapped the ground again with the tip of her staff, and the surroundings brightened.

“Is this the place, Aiya?”

“We need to search further from here. I don’t know how far we are from the location I know.”

We had teleported to an area near a spot I had marked on a map showing the entire continent. There was no telling how large the error margin would be. It could be tens, or even hundreds of kilometers.

In truth, this was only possible because Minerva was a mage of her caliber; a normal mage would have taken ages just to find the coordinates I had marked, let alone teleport there.

She wasn’t called the “Eternal Mage” and praised as a living legend by almost all mages on the continent for nothing.

Though her image had been slightly tarnished just a moment ago when she was eagerly pestering me to go find the scroll.

‘It would have been a disaster without Minerva.’

It was the right decision to propose a deal with the Crystal Scroll, even if it meant risking her interest.

Even setting aside how to complete the quest, just getting to the location would have been a problem. How could I possibly find a single house in this dense forest and vast mountain range?

“Would you please detect the surroundings, Minerva-nim?”

“Am I looking for a house?”

“Yes. Even if it’s not strictly a house, please find any human-built structures.”

The surroundings were all forest and mountains, so it would probably be the same here.

Even if there were people, there wouldn’t be many living in such a dense forest, so I could just go check each one individually.

Minerva closed her eyes and poured mana into her staff. A circular wave, starting from the silver staff, spread in all directions. The grass and trees touched by the wave glowed blue for a very brief moment.

How long had it been since she sent out the wave? Minerva, who had kept her eyes closed for a while, quietly lifted her eyelids.

“I have found it.”

“What does it look like, Minerva-nim?”

“It’s a wooden structure, a normal single-story house, and one section is made of stone.”

“Yes, that sounds like the building.”

As I nodded in affirmation, Minerva used teleportation without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, we were both in front of a house.

It was a peculiar wooden structure, half ordinary home and half shrine. And the deformed appearance of part of the house being made of stone. This was definitely the place.

“Here it is. Thank you, Minerva-nim.”

“I merely did what needed to be done. Let us move quickly.”

Minerva practically pushed me towards the building. I climbed a few steps and stood before the door, then knocked forcefully on the entrance. A dull *thump-thump-thump!* echoed.

And I waited for a moment, but nothing happened. I knocked again. Still nothing happened. I knocked a third time. Again, nothing happened.

Minerva, who had been watching me knock, opened her mouth with a slightly displeased expression.

“Is there no one inside?”

“No. There definitely will be.”

“Then that means they are deliberately pretending not to know. If you wish to break in, tell me, Aiya. I will do so immediately.”

“It’s alright. They’ll appear soon.”

This was an NPC who only appeared in the game if you chose the ‘knock on the door’ option five times in a row. So, I had to knock at least five times here too.

Incidentally, in the game, after the third knock, a message would even appear saying that there seemed to be no one inside, leading many players to be thoroughly tricked and waste their time.

As the fourth and fifth knocks followed, Minerva, unable to bear it any longer, raised her staff with a deeply furrowed brow, just before-

“Ugh, you persistent pest! I tried to ignore you, but why won’t you give up?!”

The door burst open, and someone jumped out from inside. It was a woman with long, straight orange hair and orange eyes.

I smiled faintly, seeing the woman say the exact same line as in my memory. In the game, this NPC was a man, but now, an NPC who used to be male changing to female no longer surprised me.

Rather, I should be surprised to see an NPC whose gender remained the same. Like, ‘What kind of role does *that* one have that their gender is unchanged?’

“I’ve come with a request.”

I immediately got to the point. Her personality didn’t seem to have changed, so I just needed to do as I did in the game.

“A request? What is it?”

As I expected, the woman showed no sign of surprise even after hearing a sudden request from a stranger. That was just her original personality, after all.

“Would you be able to give me one of the weapons you’ve made?”

“A weapon I made?”

“That’s right.”

The woman stared intently at me with her orange eyes.

“I don’t know where you heard the rumors, but…… I *can* give it to you. But, for free?”

“Of course not.”

I continued, hoping that the overall content of the quest hadn’t changed.

“If you give me a weapon, I will bring you the ingredients for the elixir you are currently making.”

From now on, it was time for the dirtiest, most unfair, and most fucked-up quest in BraD 4.