Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Repair Request
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Suddenly dragged here, I found Annet Nel Arnold holding out a golden spear split clean in half before me.
It was in the form of a trident, with one large blade and two smaller ones on either side.
I knew exactly what this spear was.
'Thunder Spear Aspetra...!'
That meant I had a rough idea of what was happening right now.
'...But the Aspetra event is supposed to be a deduction event?'
The story went something like this.
Annet Nel Arnold's family, the Arnold Family, had passed down this divine Thunder Spear through generations.
Then an incident occurs where the spear is damaged.
Starting from someone's testimony that Emily Epiris visited the student council room, Emily gets tangled up in the case.
To prove her innocence, she has to find the culprit who broke the spear.
That's the rough flow of the event I remembered.
'And above all, the real culprit herself is shoving the broken spear right in my face...'
The event had various endings.
Since it was ultimately about proving Emily's innocence, the player finds evidence no matter who it points to and names the culprit.
Depending on how convincing the evidence is, the accused becomes the culprit and faces punishment in the typical ending.
And in just one of those endings, the true culprit is revealed to be Annet Nel Arnold herself, standing right in front of me.
"Um... you mean you're entrusting this to me...?"
"Yes. Do you have any other weapons besides this spear right now?"
Her haughty expression made me feel like she was looking down on me even as we faced each other.
'Still, I get the general situation.'
Annet Nel Arnold, the true culprit behind the Thunder Spear damage incident.
In the game, she had orchestrated the whole thing to pin the blame for the spear she herself broke on someone else.
But for some reason, right now she wasn't trying to frame anyone.
Instead, she was asking me to repair it.
"But why are you asking me of all people?"
This was the biggest question.
Why opt for repair instead of framing someone like in the game?
And why me?
I, a multi-run player as Ken Fine Stein, had only learned after possessing him that he had Item Creation skills.
There was no way they'd entrust something this important to a worthless extra character...
"Hmph, no particular reason. I just happened to watch Siegfried's tournament the day before."
But then an unexpected name popped up.
Suddenly Siegfried?
"I heard it in the winner's speech. Heh, that was you, right? The one who made that magic sword."
"...Magic sword?"
It was probably about the Black Blade I'd made for Siegfried.
It wasn't grand enough to deserve the fancy title of 'magic sword.'
More importantly...
I recalled Siegfried's winner's speech from the day before.
......
[To the academy underclassman who made this sword for me, Ken Fine Stein—I dedicate this tournament victory and my thanks.]
Damn it! So that's what it was!
The mystery of why someone like the student council president even knew about me was solved.
"That magic sword. Even to my eyes, it was no ordinary item. If you can make something like that, repairing this spear should be possible too."
"......"
Repairing a weapon...
I'd never done it before.
If I said so honestly, would she just let me go?
'Yeah, right...'
From the moment she brought the item to me instead of a city craftsman, she had no other options.
Dragging me here in secret, even kidnapping me.
Choosing me, an academy student, over other Item Creation NPCs for the repair.
"I'll give you whatever reward you want. How long will it take?"
She wanted to handle this weapon's repair in complete secrecy.
"...S-Suddenly putting me on the spot like this is a problem."
Well, in the game, she didn't want to take responsibility either, going so far as to frame someone else.
If word got out that she'd commissioned a repair, rumors would spread like wildfire.
They'd reach the head of the Arnold Family through the academy.
To prevent that, a controllable academy student right under her nose was better than some random NPC whose mouth she couldn't seal.
This was a demand I couldn't refuse.
"...How about giving me three days, at least?"
"I'll give you two. Get it done."
'Then why even ask?'
This was a tough spot.
Forget her status as student council president—the Arnold Family was one of the kingdom's most prestigious houses, on par with the Martinez Family.
If the eldest daughter set her mind to it, she could do whatever she wanted to me.
'...Wait a second.'
Thinking about it, ...wasn't this an opportunity?
A brilliant idea calmed my nerves.
I leisurely sipped the black tea set before me and looked back at her.
"Very well. Then I'll repair it within two days."
Seemingly pleased with how straightforwardly I'd accepted the commission, Annet smiled.
"Heh, I like that you don't nitpick. So, what reward do you want? I'm not some narrow-minded woman. Name your price—I'll pay it."
Behind her composed facade, her heart must be in turmoil over the broken Thunder Spear.
Agreeing to two days probably put her mind at ease.
In that case, I'd happily accept her generous offer.
No holding back on the reward.
"This is what I want."
And I pointed my index finger right at her.
"......What?"
Annet stared blankly at my finger.
After pondering what I meant for a moment, she broke into a sly smile and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Heh, you're more of a naughty boy than you look. You want my virginity?"
"No! I mean the necklace around your neck?!"
As if I'd ever demand that right now!
Flustered by Annet's sudden remark, I raised my voice in excitement.
But Annet reacted more sharply to the content than my raised tone.
"Th-This one? Do you even know what this is and still ask for it?!"
Of course—it's far more worth demanding than your virginity.
"I know exactly what it is. The Full Moon Necklace, personally blessed by the goddess and given to you by the head of the Arnold Family."
"Then you know how precious it is..."
Annet glared at me with a growl.
But she had it all wrong.
The one in a bind right now wasn't me.
"In that case, you'll have to choose. Take responsibility for losing the necklace, or face punishment for breaking the Thunder Spear."
"Y-You... How much do you know...?"
She must be panicking.
The fact that she broke the Thunder Spear was something no one was supposed to know right now.
Yet a random student she'd just met today was bringing it up.
But she couldn't harm me or refuse my demand.
The Arnold Family were a house of priests.
There wasn't just one Full Moon Necklace in the world.
Given time, they'd receive another blessing and make a new one.
What mattered was that it came from the family head—the necklace itself wasn't comparable to this Thunder Spear.
The scales tipped heavily in my favor.
Annet, who knew that better than anyone, lost her earlier composure and fell deep into thought.
"...Tch."
Faced with unavoidable reality, she made her decision and glared at me again.
"Fine. I'll give you this necklace."
Just as I'd predicted, Annet caved.
"...But on one condition."
"A condition...?"
Huh, didn't see that coming.
In response to my question, she held out her hand.
Her index and middle fingers were raised.
Meaning two conditions.
"One: No one can ever know about this Thunder Spear."
Obviously. The first condition was a secrecy clause.
It was reasonable— she was commissioning the repair precisely to hide the damage.
The crucial final condition.
She held up her index finger and said,
"Two: ...The repair result must be a perfect restoration."
"......Pardon?"
Ignoring my reply, she crossed her arms and savored her black tea again.
Her sharp gaze pierced me.
She wouldn't give me what I wanted unless I met even this condition.
… … …
'...Perfect restoration.'
She probably just wanted the spear joined back together at first.
A repair good enough to hide the fact it was broken.
But in response to my demand, she'd upped the ante.
A perfect restoration so flawless no one would even notice it had been damaged.
'What should I do...'
I only had two days left.
I needed to grind my Repair skill proficiency that much in the meantime.
Of course, I could give up the necklace and take gold instead.
But I needed that necklace right now.
'It might even substitute for the Goddess's Token.'
It was an item to lift Rafne Bell Martinez's curse.
A replacement material for crafting the Goddess's Pendant.
Recently, while making items, I'd realized something.
There were differences between the game and reality.
For example, with black steel and the mana-absorbing stone.
In the original game, the only thing you could craft with that combo was armor.
But here in reality, I'd turned it into a sword.
Mary's raincoat was the same.
There was no recipe in the game for infusing spirit stones into clothing.
So if the Goddess's Pendant worked on the same principle, maybe I could make something similar with different materials?
That's when the Full Moon Necklace flashed into my mind.
The Full Moon Necklace was a special item made by the Arnold Family—priests to the high priest of the Lillias Kingdom—imbued with the goddess's blessing.
Its nature was similar to the kingdom's treasure, the Goddess's Token.
Both were items created with the goddess's blessing.
It was definitely worth a shot.
"...So that's how it is. Could I possibly impose on you for just one day?"
I bowed my head and asked Rafne.
"...Huh? Y-You mean..."
Rafne's flustered reaction.
No helping it.
I only had two days.
The only way was to grind proficiency through all-nighters and repair the Thunder Spear within that time.
To make up for the shortfall...
"...You mean you'll sleep over for the night?"
I'd have to pull all-nighters to raise proficiency.
I worried Rafne—who always told me to stay as long as I wanted—might feel bad about the sudden request.
Still, she was a girl, and a guy staying the night...
"Waaah! Really? You'll really stay the whole day? Yay!"
"Huh? It's okay?"
"Yeah, totally! Stay as long as you want!"
Fortunately, Rafne grabbed my hands and cheered happily.