< 048. Assassin & Greed (1) >
The next morning.
After tying the roughly made shaft to Patrasche’s body and preparing the cart, he set off.
“···Are you really planning to use it as a cart horse?”
“Wasn’t it a wolf?”
“Isn’t that what you meant?”
Patrasche sighed deeply and began to walk slowly.
It was convenient because both hands were free and there was no need to pull the cart myself, so it consumed less physical strength.
What a wonderful thing this is.
So we headed towards the first-year commons building and immediately set up our stall.
“···Aren’t the descendants of the royal family? Were they collateral branches?”
“The most legitimate descendant.”
“Then why are you opening a stall like this here? I don’t understand.”
“Do you need to understand?”
The wolf chuckled at those words.
“Okay. Let’s get down to business.”
“What should I do?”
“Protect me. And… sometimes be cute to the guests.”
“Ha. Are you telling me to act cute now? To this body that’s three hundred years old···!”
“Guests are coming.”
The wolf looked at me with a sour expression, and soon the first guest of the magic wand arrived.
“Senior! It’s been a while!”
“We’re here. Hello.”
“···Ah, hello. Senior Wolfram.”
“Come in.”
First grade Pee-Yak-Iz.
“Oh! A dog! A dog! Look at the yogurt! A huge red dog! What’s its name?”
“······Huh? A dog? No, this is. ···a dog?”
“You have a dog? It looks good as a ranch dog. Hehe.”
“Who said it was a dog···!”
“Oh, it grumbles. How cute!”
“A dog···? Is that a dog, then···?”
“Senior. Why are you suddenly raising this dog?”
“Hey, don’t you guys understand what I’m saying?”
“It’s grumbling again!”
“···Dog. Is that right?”
“It’s cute. The dog I raised at home was like this.”
Patrasche looked up at me at the loud squeaking.
Oh, that’s right. Right now they can’t understand what Patrasche is saying.
This also has a strange connection to the imperial bloodline trait, but explaining it to Patrasche would only waste time.
Anyway, when I gestured for him to give up, Patrasche sighed deeply and sat down.
“Oh. He’s sitting down. That’s good.”
“Dog···? No. Hmm?”
“Oh, what does he eat? Are you interested in farming, sir? My hometown is in the east, and there are a lot of pastures!”
Vanilla, Yogurt, and Mille-Feuille began to chatter noisily around Patrasche, who clicked his tongue as if annoyed by their continued popularity, but soon laughed.
By the way, unlike the stupid Vanilla and Mille-Feuille who suddenly started talking about farming and her hometown, Yogurt seemed to feel something instinctive towards Patrasche. After all, he’s an elf.
Ah, elves and fairies are a bit different. If elves are a social race, fairies are, um, a product of Mother Nature… Jammin?
It feels something like that.
“Ahem. Oh, right. This guy’s so popular.”
Eventually, Patrasche nodded his head, giggling, perhaps because he found the squeaking of the chicks cute.
After working like a dog for three hundred years under a drunken, scheming queen and serving as a gatekeeper while waiting for a royal bloodline that never came, I guess he’s secretly happy about the attention.
“Is it good?”
“Ahem.”
“Yes. There will be a lot of kids coming in the future, and they will all pay attention to you. Do your best as a mascot.”
“······I get it.”
During my school days, I raised a huge husky at the PC room I went to after class.
Eventually, the PC room became a paradise for Jammins, and Husky was so stressed that he ended up going back home, but he won’t have to worry about such a sad ending.
Well, this kid is a monster that’s at least three hundred years old. No, he’s a fairy.
“Then give me what I usually eat!”
“Oh. Me too.”
“Excuse me, please take one off.”
He only asked for one mille-feuille to be left out, and for the other two he asked for the same as usual, so I quickly made them and handed them to him, and he asked while looking at the mille-feuille.
“Why did you take one out?”
“···Well, I guess I don’t have an appetite. Hehe.”
“I wish you could understand the complicated feelings of a girl.”
“···That’s right. My senior is a good person, but he’s a bit like that sometimes.”
“······.”
I don’t know. Why do I have to get cursed at?
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He shrugged, ignoring the chattering of the chicks around him.
Soon, a figure appeared in front of the street vendor and spoke to him.
“Senior. You are here.”
“Is it Nephthys?”
“Yes. Oh, there was a junior named Mille-feuille there too?”
“···Ah. Senior Nephthy. Hello!”
“Oh, senior, did you come to buy donuts?”
“Yes, yes!”
“I see. They’re delicious. Wolfram’s donuts.”
“Hehe. Okay.”
While the pink chick and Nephthy were chatting for a moment, the bell rang.
“Oh, lunch time is over!”
“Senior, we will go.”
“···Uh, Senior Wolfram. Is it okay if I come to the convenience store later?”
As I nodded and waved my hand, the chicks bowed their heads once and ran back to the playground with the same momentum they had come from.
And then he stared at the one guest who hadn’t left yet.
“Nefty. Why aren’t you going?”
“No work today?”
“No, I was just asking how class went.”
“Oh, I’ve done all the progress up to the midterm exam. Is it voluntary attendance? Oh, senior, do you have a dog? I like dogs too. Hello?”
“······.”
This is the problem with the School of Knights. The School of Magic is both a place to test theories and practice magic, but the School of Knights is mostly about how many tier skills you can use, or how many wooden blocks you can cut with a sword.
In other words, capable students in the College of Engineering often make progress faster than expected and focus on other things.
However, that doesn’t mean that the College of Journalism is all that good.
Since the Magic Department costs money, there are many students who are supported by nobles or noble families. This means that students in the Magic Department at least do not have to worry about tuition.
However, for students in the College of Journalism who have difficulty paying tuition, even ‘paying tuition to Zephrine’ is a task.
In order to obtain a Zephrin diploma. After graduating, they are working on survival until graduation. The representative figure is Nephthy.
He waved his hand as if he was biting Nephthy, who was playing with Patrasche.
“I see. Then finish your drinks and go back.”
“Ah. Actually, I came here for another purpose.”
“purpose?”
Nephthy lowers her voice and gives me a little hint.
“This could be a big win, would you like to take part?”
“An opportunity to earn a lot of money?”
“That’s it. I got my hands on the treasure map.”
“Go back.”
“No, really. Listen until the end. It’s a real treasure map! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
“Don’t come back again.”
“You’re my senior!”
***
After that.
At Nephthy’s persistent request, I had to hear the story about the treasure map.
“Treasure maps don’t exist. Why on earth would treasures be marked on maps in the first place? No one has ventured outside Zephrin for three hundred years, so how can you possibly think they’re hidden outside?”
“···I think so too. Please see the actual product first.”
As he said this, Nephthy handed me an old scroll.
A map showing the area east of the residential area and further into the Eastern Forest.
Up to this point, it looks like a plausible map.
“What do you think?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This is the map. Isn’t it clearly marked in the right corner? According to the research at the library···.”
“The ancient symbol of the Zephrins. Three hundred years ago. The crossed staff and swords that the great ancestors designated as the official symbol of the first Zephrins.”
“······then.”
Nephthy swallowed without saying anything.
From here on out, it could become a problem that entangles the royal family.
And a commoner dares to mention the first emperor? He will be summarily executed for blasphemy.
Although the treatment there is pitiful, Wolfram von Lohengrin is of imperial blood.
In other words, Nephthys is asking me whether this map is real, since she cannot dare to say it herself.
What should I do by asking?
“That’s right. This is a real map. At least it’s not a fake sentence.”
“···As expected. I see.”
Unlike the excited Nephthys, my face was frozen cold.
Why?
In my long experience playing, there isn’t a single proper item in Zephrin’s treasure map.
The rewards aren’t necessarily copper.
If you go later, you can get tier 3 items from treasure maps and such.
But as I say over and over again, D/Z SAGA is a game that thoroughly rewards effort.
In the meantime, a ‘map showing the location of treasure’.
Since the location information was provided without any effort, it would be natural that obtaining the treasure would require more effort than usual farming.
And this treasure map was one that I saw very often and a lot.
“So you’re going to go find this? Isn’t it too much for your attack power?”
“That’s true! But I have a favor to ask.”
“Who is it?”
“Teacher! Please come in!”
“Oh! Wolfram! Long time no see!”
Brown skin, gray hair. Blue eyes. Two extremely practical daggers worn on his waist.
A true monster with 22 talents and 20 wills. The highest authority in the assassination world.
“Rudika Hassan Shadow.”
“Yes! I came here because Nephthy said she had an interesting story!”
“······.”
This f*cking event was a moment of terrifying realism.
***
Rudika suddenly appeared, smiled brightly, and made a V sign with her left hand.
“So, are you going to go find the treasure written on this treasure map?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Even Rudika’s heart races when she sees treasure!”
“Do I have to wear it too?”
“Yes! I want to travel more safely with the help of your magic buff!”
“So is Rudika!”
“······.”
How dare you treat people like tools? A top tank with an assassin mid laner…
“Does Wolfram know this map?”
To Rudika’s question, I didn’t bother answering and just became lost in thought.
You don’t know?
As you know.
This map is the final scene of Act 1.
It is a key item for 1-4.
I don’t know why this is in Nephthys’ hands, but if we cut everything out and talk about it, it is a map that marks the treasures left behind by the first emperor.
I still can’t forget it, really.
Episodes 1-4, after rolling around like crazy, you arrive at the treasure of the first emperor.
And when everyone opened the treasure chest with their hearts pounding, what came out was a single piece of paper.
Inside was written in the emperor’s splendid handwriting:
【The friendship that has brought you this far is a true treasure.】
······.
It’s true.
No, that’s really the ending.
No, think about it, who would have thought that the treasure of the first emperor would appear in the last scene of Act 1? Right?
This f*cking game.
“Senior?”
“Wolfram?”
But other than that, if you clear 1-4, you will receive a lot of rewards.
Even if the box is fake, there are plenty of reasons to join the fight.
The items you get along the way are salty and there are treasures too.
“To be honest, I have a rough idea of what that map is.”
“Really…? How do you know?!”
“Oh, what kind of treasure? No, I don’t want to hear it. But if you could tell me just a little bit, so that I can keep my heart pounding without feeling bad, but still increase my anticipation, I would be grateful!”
“I also read it in an old document. I’m not sure. You’ll find out when you go.”
“So, you’re saying that you’ll go with me?”
This is the final scene of Act 1.
If I, a veteran, don’t go with them, it’s obvious that they’ll be annihilated in the boss fight.
Oh my. I can’t help it.
“I will give you the instructions as you read from the document. There are many things to prepare before departure. Skills, equipment, and consumables. Prepare as much as possible. Write it down quickly.”
“Oh, oh? I see.”
“Oh, I understand!”
Newbies who are floundering around.
Why don’t you give me a ride on the old bus?
