Chapter 332 - To the Future (2)

Vol-Herchan.

A colossal monster found on the seventh floor.

They lived in groups in fixed areas, making farming their Essences relatively easy provided you had the stats. That was why, when choosing my reward from the royal family, I had picked Bayon's Essence, which would be harder to obtain later.

But...

'In terms of combat performance alone, this one was actually better.'

While Bayon's [Transcendence] offered utility, opportunities to turn the tables, and unconventional skill combinations, Vol-Herchan focused on just one thing.

Physical Resistance.

The stat any tank worth their salt needed to prioritize even over Strength.

On top of that, one of Vol-Herchan's active skills let you block Aura. Its Essence was essential if I wanted to grow into a dependable shield barb.

'The problem is... the Essence's color.'

An Essence's active skills differed depending on its color.

That was also the biggest reason getting stronger became harder on the higher floors. High-ranking monsters were difficult to hunt in their own right, but starting at rank three, each monster could drop five or six different Essence colors.

It was too early to count my chickens.

Yes, at least for now...

"Amelia, do you happen to know... what color the Essence was?"

"Hmm, I think it was green."

What? Green?!

"Hallelujah..."

Amelia frowned at my involuntary exclamation. Well, she had never heard that word before, so she must have been wondering what it meant.

"Is that something you say back home?"

Leaving out the religious meaning, I simply explained that it was something you said when you got lucky. Amelia nodded, saying, "I see."

Then she shot me a somewhat hurt look.

"And yet you gave me such a look when I mentioned that word earlier..."

Oh... right.

I had gotten all stern when she said "evil spirit."

It must have looked like a double standard.

'Tsk. Normally, I would've only shouted hallelujah in my head.'

Was it because she was the only companion (SSR) in this world who knew I was an evil spirit?

I offered an honest apology.

"I wasn't trying to hold only you to a strict standard. It's just that I seem to get too comfortable around you. I'll be more careful about that too."

"... Suit yourself."

Amelia accepted my apology without a fuss, and that settled the matter.

Next, I asked the most important question.

"But, Amelia..."

"Stop giving me that strange look and just say it."

Well, if she insisted.

"Do you... also know how much it sold for?"

As I forced down my nervous excitement to ask, Amelia chuckled and rose from her chair.

Then...

TAP, TAP.

She went out of her way to come over to me, bent down, and whispered softly in my ear.

"...!!!!!"

The moment I heard it, goose bumps swept over my entire body.

Why the hell was it so expensive?

* * *

At first, I nearly fainted at the price, but when I considered everything, it wasn't unreasonable.

It was a rank-three Essence, after all.

Since it had been put up at the Trade Market rather than the Sky Auction House, there must have been far more bidders after it. There were plenty of newly rich people with money to burn who didn't qualify for admission to the Sky Auction House.

Anyway, that wasn't what mattered.

"Um... Amelia."

"Go ahead."

"Well..."

As I trailed off, Amelia, who had already returned to her seat, crossed her legs and folded her arms.

That posture made it even harder to say anything...

"Uh... well..."

After I spent a while hemming and hawing, Amelia sighed and got straight to what I wanted to know.

"You're wondering how much we'd get from selling all the equipment we've collected, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Probably... only about seventy percent of the price. And that's assuming we take our time and sell everything for its proper value."

Whew. Just as I thought.

"... Then I have no choice but to give up on it."

It wasn't a matter of being a mere thirty percent short.

Our current funds represented the combined wealth of ten people who had spent nearly half a year collecting looted equipment.

Raising enough money to cover that thirty percent in such a short time would be all but impossible.

Judging by her expression, Amelia seemed to think so too.

"... Was it an Essence you wanted?"

"Yeah..."

"Don't be too discouraged. We can always get the Essence ourselves later."

True, but...

"Haa..."

Despite Amelia's consolation, I couldn't stop sighing.

If this was how things were going to turn out, I'd have been better off never knowing. It felt as though someone had given me a birthday present, then snatched it back, saying it wasn't meant for me.

After all, even the color was exactly right!

In that brief moment, I had even felt the pull of destiny—

"If you want it that badly, there is a way..."

At Amelia's words, I lifted my deeply bowed head.

"A way...?"

Amelia averted her eyes.

At first, I wondered if my stare was making her uncomfortable, but looking closely, she didn't seem to be gazing into empty space. It was more like she had her eyes fixed on something.

'What is she staring at so intently...?'

I idly followed Amelia's gaze, then shot to my feet in alarm.

How could I not?

There, leaning against the wall in all its imposing glory, stood Kraul's Demon Crusher.

"N-no! Not this!"

"Why not? It's not as though you can take it back to our original time anyway."

"I'm going to bury it somewhere safe!"

"There's still a risk, isn't there? Selling it and turning it into an Essence might be the most rational option."

Amelia wasn't wrong.

No matter how well I hid it, there was no guarantee it would still be there, intact, twenty years later.

An Essence, on the other hand, was something I could definitely take back.

But...

"Have you truly gone mad?! Telling a warrior to sell his weapon!!"

"You suddenly sound very barbarian-like."

"Oh, force of habit..."

"Somehow, I thought that might be it."

Wait, how had the conversation gotten sidetracked like this?

Returning to the topic, I continued firmly.

"Anyway, I'm never selling this, so don't suggest it again! I'd sooner give up on that Essence!"

This wasn't mere stubbornness.

Even a rank-three Essence couldn't compare to a double-digit Numbered item in rarity. Double-digit Numbered items were so rare that they seldom appeared even at the Sky Auction House.

Depending on demand, the difference in price might be small, or the Essence might even sell for more...

But in terms of how difficult they were to obtain, Kraul's Demon Crusher was dozens of times harder to get. Put simply, if I sold it now, I'd have no idea when I could get another one.

"Hmm. If that's how it is."

Once I explained my reasons at length, Amelia accepted them without argument.

That was where our conversation ended.

Amelia went out again, saying she was going to see her sister, while I stayed at our lodgings and drank to soothe my aching heart.

"Heh. The booze... tastes sweet today..."

How long would it take before I could absorb that Essence?

I couldn't say for sure, but it would take years at the very least.

First, I would have to return to our original time, reorganize the clan, gradually upgrade our ship, and push through the sixth floor to reach the seventh before I could even encounter Vol-Herchan.

Farming until the right color dropped would come after that.

"Ughhh, Vol-Herchaaaan..."

While I was drinking alone and wallowing in self-pity, the door creaked open.

"Don't tell me you've been drinking this whole time."

It was Amelia. She had devotedly spent the entire day by her sister's side and only returned after sunset.

"Hehe, you're back, Amelia..."

"I told you to lock the door..."

"... Sorry."

"... You're apologizing?"

"I'll make sure to lock up from now on. It's not as though I have that Essence. If an assassin who could use Aura showed up, I'd just drop dead..."

Was it because I hadn't been drunk in so long?

A sudden surge of emotion left me unable to continue.

Looking at me, Amelia heaved a deep sigh.

"The place reeks of alcohol."

I had indeed been a lousy roommate, so I had nothing to say for myself. As I sat there with my head bowed, Amelia spoke cautiously.

"By the way, Jandel."

"...?"

"That Essence... do you really want it that badly?"

"Huh...?"

I instantly snapped out of my stupor.

And with good reason.

Wasn't that exactly the tone of an exhausted mother who could no longer bear watching her son throw a tantrum on the floor of the toy aisle?

"Don't tell me... you have some way to get it...?"

At my question, with its faint thread of hope, Amelia let out a breath that was almost a disbelieving laugh.

Then...

"Don't get your hopes up."

"Th-then that means...!"

I was too moved to go on.

"No, I just told you not to get your hopes up. There's simply something we can try..."

For the first time in my life, I experienced the reassuring dependability of an older woman.

* * *

From that day on, Amelia left every morning and only returned to our lodgings in the early hours, looking exhausted.

But she wouldn't answer when I asked what she was doing.

Something about not knowing how it would turn out, and telling me later if it went well.

["If things work out, I should be able to sort out the money somehow. So do what you can until the auction. Don't just stay home all day."]

["Amelia...!!!"]

I wouldn't dare disobey Amelia's instructions, so from then on I diligently went out and about.

I had just one goal.

To find a hiding place where Kraul's Demon Crusher would remain safe for twenty years.

'Ha, the forest in the sanctuary seems perfect, but someone might disturb it during a funeral...'

Finding my own little patch of ground to bury my stash in was far trickier than I'd expected. A place might seem promising, but once I scrutinized every detail, it never felt completely safe.

'The sewers aren't exactly safe either, with all the vagrants gathering there... And I can't freely enter the other races' sanctuaries, so those are out...'

If Amelia failed to get the money, I'd need to hide a huge sum of cash as well, so I had to choose somewhere even more secure.

Not that this was my only concern.

'But what do I do if she actually gets the money?'

I was currently Level 6.

I could absorb up to six Essences, and all six slots were full.

That meant I would either have to level up or erase one of my existing Essences to absorb Vol-Herchan's Essence.

But reaching Level 7 required clearing more than half of the sixth floor, so that option didn't warrant much thought.

'Which one would be best to erase?'

Orc Hero, Ogre, and Bayon.

Those three were core Essences, so I had no intention of removing them. Stormgush was rank three, making it too valuable to erase.

Its base stats alone were worth keeping.

That left two choices.

'Manticore.'

My only mobility skill came from this rank-five Essence, which I had planned from the start to erase someday.

And...

'Corpse Golem.'

The rank-seven Essence I had been forced to absorb to survive.

It was the lowest-ranked Essence I had, but the choice wasn't easy.

'I'd really feel its absence if I got rid of it...'

Its usefulness needed no explanation.

How many times had its Pain Tolerance stat helped me?

Even [Flesh Explosion] and [Acidic Bodily Fluid], which I had considered trash skills, had proved invaluable in combat.

But...

'It's about time I moved on. I never intended to keep it this long in the first place.'

If I had to choose between the two, keeping Manticore was the right call.

The reason was simple.

Even if [Heredity] refunded twenty percent of its stats, my Mana resistance would immediately drop from 200 to 40.

If I erased it now, I would have to absorb another interim Essence to cover my Mana resistance and maintain my balance until I obtained Bellarios's Essence.

'Well, none of this matters if Amelia can't get the money.'

Knowing that a secure hiding place would become even more important if she failed, I scouted all over the city with renewed vigor. Time passed quickly.

And then...

'Only three days left.'

With three days remaining until the auction, I set the clock on the table and lay down on the bed.

'How will it go this time?'

It was midnight on the fifteenth.

* * *

"Oh, at least I made it in."

Waking in a room much like the usual one, I first put on the mask hanging on the wall.

Then I hurried out.

"..."

Only silence filled the empty hallway.

But if my guess was right, GM, the second master who had inherited this space, had to be somewhere in here.

'Let's have a look around first.'

I roamed the hallways, thoroughly inspecting the mansion.

None of the old members, such as the Commander or the Scholar of Destruction, were anywhere to be seen.

'Come to think of it, what happened to them...?'

Just as that question began to take shape, I spotted a white man standing blankly in the main hall on the first floor.

One look told me he wasn't an Evil Spirit from another world.

He was wearing sportswear with a familiar logo, after all.

'Could that be GM?'

I took a step closer for a better look.

Had that alerted him to my presence?

"A-a person...?!"

The man, who had been looking around, flinched as our eyes met.

"..."

In the brief silence that followed, I studied him, and he did the same to me.

'That's unexpected.'

His features looked somewhat clueless.

His eyes were full of confusion.

He even seemed to be afraid of me...

"Um... wh-who are you? He said he'd expelled everyone who was here before..."

'So all the old members were expelled...'

Watching him volunteer information I hadn't even asked for despite his wariness, I couldn't help catching a whiff.

The unmistakably strong scent of a newbie, impossible to hide even if he tried.

'Right. Even if he's GM, he can't have been here a full year yet. No wonder he's so green.'

How should I cook this one up?

My mouth was already watering.

Was that why?

"C-could you be... sir! Is that you, sir?"

At that question, asked with such an innocent expression, my tongue flicked out, and I unconsciously licked my lips.