The Downtown District (1)
Dungeon Island's total area wasn't nearly as vast as one might think, and the distance between the academy grounds and the downtown district was fairly short, all things considered.
Even so, it was a tedious stretch to cover on foot, which was why a shuttle bus ran regularly between the two. As if on cue, one pulled up right in front of us, and we climbed the steps aboard.
The interior was full of empty seats. Only about ten students were riding, and every one of them was a second- or third-year senior. Their schedules were comparatively relaxed next to ours first-years, buried as we were in the thick of our busiest stretch — and besides, most of them weren't heading out for a stroll like us, but to carry out commissions.
For that reason, a few of the seniors shot us glances that seemed to ask, First-years going downtown already? But neither Seo Ye-in nor I were the type to let other people's stares bother us.
Seo Ye-in claimed the window seat and I took the aisle, and before long the shuttle was gliding forward with a smoothness that would have put a luxury limousine to shame.
"……!"
Seo Ye-in pressed half her face to the window and peered out at the passing world. Her usual drowsy eyes — the kind that looked ready to nod off at any moment — were nowhere in sight; her gaze had gone bright and sparkling.
I decided to take that as proof of how excited she was, and rather than force conversation, I let her drink in the scenery in peace. Meanwhile, I sank into thoughts of my own.
The night before.
I had met with Ahn Jungmi for a talk, and the moment she saw me, she led with her thanks.
"Thanks to you, Kim Ho-nim, this week's mentoring was a success as well."
Not only had Seo Ye-in gamely kept pace with some genuinely grueling training, she'd gone on to post a high score in the raid itself, finishing the whole thing in fine style. Satisfaction and pride were written all over Ahn Jungmi's face.
And as ever, I played the humble one.
"All I did was tell her to work hard. The real work was all yours, Miss Butler."
"Not at all. You have no idea how much strength that one remark gave Agassi — and me as well."
Apparently I'd settled into a place in Ahn Jungmi's heart as something along the lines of a morale-boosting totem.
But the thanks didn't stop there.
"For sparing no support, material and otherwise, toward Agassi's growth, I would like to offer my gratitude once more on behalf of the Future Strategy Office."
Her tone was a good deal more serious than usual, so this time, while still deflecting with modesty, I kept the flow of conversation intact and waited for what came next.
Sure enough, Ahn Jungmi's hand dipped into the inside pocket of her suit—
"After much deliberation over how best to express this gratitude—"
—and she drew out an elegant-looking coupon, presenting it to me.
"—I've prepared this. I do hope you'll accept it."
The Pointy-Ear Magic Item Shop sat in the heart of the downtown district. It kept a solid stock of genuinely potent magic items on its shelves, but the prices were uniformly merciless, which made buying anything there rather difficult on a student's budget. With this coupon, however, I could walk out of that shop with any item of roughly B-Rank caliber that I pleased. Rather than simply handing me a B-Rank item outright, it handed me the choice — which made it far more useful besides.
Good deeds really do come back around.
Just as I'd predicted even before our first meeting, the butler was someone who understood gratitude. I accepted the coupon without a shred of protest.
"I'll gladly take it. As I mentioned before, I do have quite a few needs."
"Someone like you will surely put it to good use. And there is one more favor I would like to ask."
"Of course. Go ahead."
Ahn Jungmi produced a second Pointy-Ear coupon (B) as she spoke.
"While you're at it, I would like you to choose one piece of equipment for Agassi as well."
"That's no trouble at all. Although... with the Hyeseong Group's resources, I wonder whether you truly need to patronize a shop like that."
This was a group that could lay hands on even the exceedingly rare Featherwalk skillbook without breaking a sweat — surely a B-Rank magic item posed no challenge. If they put their minds to it, I suspected they could reach certain A-Rank items besides. So why, out of all the shops in the world, would a group with this kind of pull specifically need the downtown district?
When I posed the question, a complicated light settled over Ahn Jungmi's face.
"I believe you understand by now, Kim Ho-nim. That with anything, Agassi's own will is what matters most."
For all of Seo Ye-in's dazzling talent, and despite the Hyeseong Group's full-throated backing, the reason she was only now beginning to stack up basic skills and traits was simple: until recently, she'd had no desire to learn a single thing. But since enrolling at Dragon Slayer Academy — meeting me and many others, going through what she'd gone through — that desire had been budding, bit by tiny bit.
"Given how this conversation is going, I take it she has little interest in items, either."
"That is correct. As a rule, she rarely forms any real attachment to a thing. And yet..."
Ahn Jungmi's expression shifted, complicated this time in an entirely different way.
"And yet... the cushion you gave her as a gift is a different matter."
When we'd cleared the Feathered Serpent Altar, a B-Rank [Feather Cushion] had popped out of the reward random box. It was a startlingly high-grade item, but it belonged to the everyday-lifestyle category, which meant little to me — and since its options, fatigue relief and the like, all pointed toward better sleep, I'd judged it would serve Seo Ye-in far better and given it to her as a present. The same had gone for the [Transformation Scroll — Utility (B)] that came out of a random box a few days later.
"Sounds like she's putting it to good use."
"'Good use' would be an understatement."
Sleeping with it hugged tight to her chest was merely the baseline; under ordinary circumstances, prying the two apart was no easy feat. Even Ahn Jungmi's morning wake-up routine had changed somewhat. Where she once had to gently shake Seo Ye-in and repeat, Agassi, it is morning. Please rise, dozens of times over, these days the girl woke the instant the cushion was quietly spirited away. Granted, weathering the resulting storm was a separate problem entirely — but then, wasn't that precisely a butler's extreme-job duty?
I was beginning to see the intent behind the vouchers, too.
"If you were to choose it for her yourself, Kim Ho-nim, I believe it would mean far more to Agassi."
On the surface, a gift from the Future Strategy Office and a gift passed through my hands might look identical — but the feeling was worlds apart. That being the case, if Seo Ye-in showed even half the attachment toward a magic item that she showed toward that cushion, it would count as a success.
There was more besides: I was one of the very few people with an accurate read on Seo Ye-in's growth, which made me well qualified to sift out exactly the right item for her.
For my part, I had no reason to refuse. If it meant Seo Ye-in gained even one more piece of decent equipment, I was glad to cooperate. With vouchers in hand, the magic item shop was going on my itinerary regardless — we could simply browse together when we stopped by.
"Understood. I'll pick something out with care."
"Thank you, truly. And this is a small token of my own regard."
Yet another coupon emerged from Ahn Jungmi's breast pocket. It was as refined as the magic item voucher, but the design was daintier — cuter, even.
A Downtown Bakery coupon. This was the shop that occasionally supplied the student cafeteria with its fresh strawberry cream cakes. It counted among the top three eateries on Dungeon Island, and its popularity was commensurately enormous — quantities were so limited that not just anyone could buy, and the same went for everything on the menu besides the cakes. But with a coupon in hand, that was another story entirely.
"Well, that settles the what-to-eat question. These aren't exactly easy to come by, you know — I'll put it to good use, thank you."
"It is nothing beside all your hard work. I will be cheering you on from afar."
We exchanged smiles.
Right about when the memory ended, something gave the back of my hand a light tap. Then came a soft tug at my sleeve; I turned to find Seo Ye-in, who'd been staring out the window, looking fixedly at my face. The scenery sliding backward past the glass had come to a standstill.
"We're here."
"Yeah."
We stepped off the shuttle and entered the downtown district. As if intent on proving its reputation for heavy foot traffic, the place was bustling with comers and goers from the very first block.
Merging into the tide of the crowd, I asked Seo Ye-in, "Anywhere you want to go?"
— A shake of the head.
As expected, it didn't seem she'd drawn up any special plans. If Ahn Jungmi had been involved, she'd have plotted an airtight itinerary from point one to point ten and made every reservation in advance. But since our main purpose downtown was rest and recreation, she had evidently judged there was no need to operate in full battle mode — hence handing over a few coupons and leaving everything else entirely to us. For my own part, short of hitting a handful of key spots including the magic item shop, I hadn't bothered with plans either.
Another question for Seo Ye-in. "Not that hungry yet, right?"
— A nod.
Then the conclusion. "Let's just walk for now."
"Okay."
We would wander wherever curiosity led and our feet followed. Even that much promised plenty to see.
"……!"
Just as on the shuttle, this was the most animated I had ever seen her. To put a speed rating on it: a dramatic upgrade from VeryVeryVerySlow to a veritable VerySlow. She'd amble along at her leisure, and the moment something curious drifted into her field of view, she'd slow her steps and stare at it, expressionless. And if her interest gauge in the curious thing climbed any higher, she'd start softly tugging at my sleeve.
"……!"
"Hm? What is it?"
Whereupon I'd play the part of the indulgent caretaker, follow along, and examine the curious thing together with her. That was the pattern of our day. We browsed the long rows of street stalls, bought a single stick of cotton candy to split between us, and took in the assorted street performances: bards out busking, naturally; a dancer hovering a good foot off the ground while executing dazzling spins; a mage who raised pillars of ice and carved statues out of them on the spot... Of them all, the biggest crowd had gathered for the magic show.
A masked gentleman stepped up onto a small makeshift stage and struck an exaggerated pose. Not a word passed his lips; he simply pointed at the pigeon perched on the back of his hand, gesturing grandly as if to announce, Watch me make this pigeon vanish!
The Masked Gentleman tucked the pigeon into his magician's hat, then crushed the hat down with all his might, crumpling it again and again. He gave the fist-sized wad a gentle shake — and it abruptly swelled in volume, unfolding into a broad cloth. He spread it flat over the ground, then snapped it up in a single motion—
— Flap-flap-flap!
—and dozens of pigeons burst skyward.
— Whoaaa—
The crowd gasped as one and broke into applause. It was a show that blended real magic and sleight of hand in just the right proportions.
"......"
Seo Ye-in, by contrast, wore an air of utter indifference from start to finish. Her gaze wasn't lingering on the performance at all, but on where the trick's props — and the hidden rabbit and pigeons — were stashed.
Sharp eyes, this one.
She'd evidently seen through every trick in the routine, same as ever. Her interest evaporated quickly, and just as she turned to leave, the Masked Gentleman materialized abruptly from the makeshift stage to bar her path, bowing with impeccable courtesy.
Seo Ye-in stared levelly back. The gentleman spoke in gestures and pantomime; Seo Ye-in answered with nods and head-shakes, and the two carried on an entirely wordless conversation.
"……? ……!"
"...... ......."
I couldn't begin to parse it. Whatever the case, by its end the two of them appeared to have arrived at a wordless conclusion.
The Masked Gentleman produced a full set of playing cards and displayed them—
— Shff—
—fanning them out face-up like a peacock's tail before extending them toward her, as if to say: Pick one, quickly. Seo Ye-in drew a card more or less at random, whereupon the gentleman slipped it back into the deck, gave it a showy flurry-shuffle, split it into three piles, and offered those up in turn. As if to say: Now, where is it?
"......"
But Seo Ye-in didn't so much as glance at the three piles. She looked straight at the gentleman's suit pocket.
Bull's-eye.
The gentleman had palmed the card in the middle of shuffling and hidden it away — and Seo Ye-in had pierced the whole maneuver. Better still, she knew exactly where he'd stowed it.
"......"
The Masked Gentleman slapped his forehead with an audible whap — caught red-handed! — then gave a crisp finger-snap aimed at the very pocket where the card lay hidden. And with the same courtly bow he'd offered when first waylaying us, he withdrew to his makeshift stage.
— Whoaaa—
We left the resumed magic show behind us and started on our way.
"……?"
But a short distance on, Seo Ye-in tilted her head, stopped in her tracks, and rummaged in her pocket. Out sprang the very card she'd picked earlier, glittering prettily as it caught the light.
◈ Drastically boosts success and high-tier drop rates on containers
There really is nothing this girl can't get away with.
Scooping up hidden pieces as casually as one picks up dropped coins on a stroll — the inimitable expert, Seo Ye-in. All the same, one question nagged at me.
But what exactly is he doing downtown?
I turned back toward the Masked Gentleman, and the eyes behind the mask seemed to meet mine — was that a wink?
Not the hostile type, granted... but still.
That man is an event boss.
[111] The Support Ate it All