Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~

Chapter223，Part1: 1 - Fan Club ③

Chapter 223 Fan Club ③

Part 1

“Ah, he is back.” (Lucia)

I returned safely from the basement and rejoined Lucia and the others who had been waiting for me as I had told them.

I suddenly went from a dark place to a bright place, but my vision was not dazzling because, right now, I was relying on my 『Third vision (Third eye)』.

I don’t often wear a mask, so I didn’t have many chances to use it, but it seemed to be a very effective Relic as it seemed really expensive.

Lucia stared at the package I was holding, frowned, and said.

“Where did you go…….?” (Lucia)

“Hmm………… It’s a secret.” (Cry)

“Haah?” (Lucia)

Lucia was dumbfounded. I am sure she wouldn’t believe me if I told her what I experienced in the basement.

Really, there are so many different kinds of fan clubs in this world…… Moreover, apparently, as I have a rare fox mask, I am their Boss.

It was an interesting experience. I don’t want to get involved in any trouble, but, well, I had not been attacked, and it didn’t seem to be too troublesome.

The only thing is… That the Fox Mask Fan Club resembled a secret society and they asked me not to do anything too fancy, but there was no one who doesn’t do any fancy things as much as I do. I don’t know what it is, but I even received a Relic. I have experienced many things in my life, but this is the first time I have received a Relic from a stranger.

If you give me a Relic, I’ll even agree to be the Boss of your fan club. But to think that a fox mask drop item will catch their eyes, those guys are pretty good connoisseurs.

He said something about having some plans and having to go to the Supreme Martial Arts Festival, so maybe we will see them over there.

After deciding on a place to stay, I carefully opened the wrapped package in my room. Luke’s crimson eyes light up when he sees what was inside.

“Oooh……! Isn’t it a sword! Cry, give it to me!” (Luke)

“Only this time.” (Cry)

The thing inside was a sword. It had a strange handle with a geometric pattern. The sword was in a scabbard, but the scabbard was made of wood, as if it had been made later, and was very plain compared to the obviously special handle.

Sytry blinked and groaned.

“Well, well, well…… This is too short to be called a longsword and too long to be called a shortsword.” (Sytry)

“It is definitely a Relic, but…… What a light sword.” (Lucia)

Well, in any case, I am just a collector. I won’t swing it so it doesn’t matter.

Since it was given to me by the Fox Mask Fan Club, I wonder if it is an item associated with foxes? But since they gave it to me for free, it shouldn’t be that much of a big deal.

I gently pulled the blade from the scabbard. The blade was only about half as wide as a standard straight sword and seemed to lack the strength to be used as a weapon. It was a double-edged blade and had a copper-like luster, and the entire blade was engraved with fine grooves, creating a strange pattern.

Since a Relic was the materialization of the memory of a past era, its appearance often does not match its ability, but at the same time, since it is an object that certainly existed in the past, its appearance and material used to create it was also an effective way to analyze its ability. Like there is no need to go to the trouble of shortening the blade in order to make a weapon.

So, of course, unless the user was a dwarf or something――This sword was probably a ceremonial sword.

And then, while furrowing her eyebrow and seriously checking the sword, Lucia said.

“………… Isn’t that the object that was stolen in the town we were in the other day?” (Lucia)

…… That’s absurd.

As I stared dumbfounded at what she unexpectedly said, Lucia pulled out a newspaper that was folded carefully from her luggage, opened it, and showed it to me.

“Look, there is a picture of it.” (Lucia)

“Hooo……” (Cry)

The newspaper Lucia showed me seemed to have been bought just before we left the town.

The front-page article proudly reported that bandits had invaded the museum, that they had been successfully repelled, and that miraculously, no one had died.

A black-and-white picture was printed in the middle of it. The Relic in the picture looked just like the one I have right now.

No, wait――.

“Isn’t the scabbard different?” (Cry)

“It seems so.” (Lucia)

The Relic’s handle in the picture looked exactly like the Relic I have unsheathed, but their scabbard also has engraved patterns on it.

It certainly looked similar, but it wasn’t the same Relic I received from the fan club. In the first place, the theft was a failure. It is written that most of the perpetrators were also captured.

It was then I opened my eyes and snapped my fingers.

“I got it. The Relic that was conserved in the museum materialized with a scabbard, but I bet that the Relic acquired by the fan club didn’t have a scabbard.” (Cry)

The materialization of a Relic is usually in a set. If it is a sword, it comes with a scabbard, and shoes come with shoelaces. A smartphone comes with a box and an instruction manual. But sometimes, one part of the set is missing. And this would be reflected in the selling price.

If it is a Sword Relic, it was not uncommon for the scabbard to not materialize, but conversely, there was also a very sad pattern where only the scabbard appears.

“Eeeeh…… Is a coincidence like this possible?” (Lucia)

“Yeah, there is. No doubt about it.” (Cry)

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Funny how no one questions Cry about how and why he came back with a Relic with him.

They already know that questioning Cry’s actions are useless XD

And of course, it is just a coincidence. No way it is the Relic that was stolen ;D

Tchao à plus!