The Supporting Protagonist Gets to Work - 1
The chairman said that as long as I fulfilled his conditions, he would gladly hand over the vault key.
The condition: I had to bring him along whenever I went to the vault.
It was far easier than I’d expected, so I agreed on the spot.
See? We can settle this peacefully.
[As if someone holding a blade to your throat would refuse to hand over a key.]
He might’ve handed it over even without the sword.
[Why not test that theory by removing this body from the chairman’s throat and seeing if he still says the same thing?]
Then it’d look like I was on a date with a middle-aged man. Rejected.
[…This body should simply stop talking.]
Trading idle banter with Frach, I followed the single path leading underground.
After descending and walking for roughly five minutes, the academy’s underground vault came into view.
I remembered it well: a room constructed entirely of dark obsidian, packed with treasures gathered from every corner of the world.
If I’d come without the key, forcing my way in would have been a real headache.
Whirr—!
I slid the jet-black key into the lock. A magic circle bloomed around the keyhole, spinning and blazing with light so bright it hurt to look at.
Then came a heavy clunk, and the glow faded.
“It’s open.”
“Oh-ho.”
Hisssss—!
A blast of cold air rushed out through the gap as the vault doors swung wide.
Inside, glittering gold and jewels overflowed, and every wall was lined with artifacts of every kind.
“Hell yeah! Jackpot! Absolute jackpot!”
“Hmm…”
I stepped inside and took a slow look around.
Seeing the artifacts that had been opened during the Demon King’s invasion drew genuine admiration from me—yet I touched nothing. I only looked.
After I’d spent a good while simply surveying the vault, Frach’s voice reached me.
[Beyond the right-hand wall, this body senses the aura of a magic sword.]
You’re sure?
[Certain. This body would stake her father’s honor on it.]
Please let it not be true.
In the direction Frach indicated stood a clean, unbroken stretch of vault wall.
Unlike every other surface, nothing hung there—no artifacts at all. That alone made her claim feel credible.
“Why are you just standing there staring?”
“I’ve got something to think about for a second.”
How exactly was I going to smash through a wall made of dark obsidian?
The mineral absorbed magic, so spells were useless.
That left raw force. Fist or sword? I weighed the options.
“Shall I give it a light test with my fist?”
“What…?”
“Stay well back.”
I sheathed Frach and shoved the chairman behind me.
Then I poured strength into my right arm and clenched my fist.
The moment I locked eyes on the flat wall, a shout came from behind.
“Stop! That wall does not break to bare fists! You’ll only shatter your own bones!”
“Is that so? We’ll see.”
“This is far too reckless—!”
“Hup!!”
KRAAANG—!
I drove my fist into the exact center of the wall.
True to dark obsidian, my skin split and my arm shuddered violently.
The impact was hard enough that an untrained body would have broken in several places.
I quickly shook out the arm, loosening the contracted muscle.
“Look! Did I not tell you it would not break?!”
“Huh? My fist stings a little, sure—but the wall’s definitely broken.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Rumble—!
Before the words finished leaving his mouth, a clear crack spiderwebbed across the spot I’d struck, and the entire section collapsed in an instant.
Dark obsidian was hard, yes—but Lynn had sliced through it like tofu.
So why couldn’t I bring it down?
Choosing my fist when I had a sword was pure bravado, yet the attempt hadn’t been meaningless.
I’d confirmed firsthand that my body was tough enough not to yield to dark obsidian.
An ordinary iron sword wouldn’t leave more than a scratch on me.
On a battlefield, I could afford to be a little bolder.
“All right—time to grab the treasure!”
“W-wait! What lies beyond is no treasure!”
“I know. It’s a magic sword, right? That’s what I came for from the start.”
“Do you not understand the danger of magic swords?! One misstep and the blade can devour your very self!”
“No need to worry about that. The sword I’m already using is a magic sword too.”
“You wield a magic sword and still keep your mind intact…?”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
Beyond the collapsed wall stood a glass case, and inside it rested a magic sword.
I casually shattered the case and leveled Frach at the blade within.
Frach, absorb it.
[Understood.]
The moment Frach drew near, the magic sword began to tremble violently.
Like a magnet, it was pulled toward her.
There was a faint resistance, but in the end the blade spun through the air and merged completely with Frach.
“Recovery complete.”
[About four more remain.]
Still a long way to go.
Frach, the Blood Sword, Polymorph, and now this newly acquired Replica—four magic swords in total had come into my hands.
Yet half of them still remained unrecovered, including the one that had tormented Bern in the original story.
I had no idea how long it would take to track them all down and absorb them.
Tough road ahead. Really tough.
“A-are you truly all right…?”
“As you can see.”
“Hah! To think someone could grip a magic sword and remain in full possession of their faculties…!”
The method for resisting a magic sword’s influence was surprisingly simple.
Threaten to smash it if it refuses a contract.
That was how I could hold Frach and stay completely lucid.
Keeping a clear head while wielding a magic sword is easier than I thought.
[Because you are the only human in the world who threatens magic swords. That is why.]
I acknowledged you as a person with your own will. We could’ve settled everything through conversation.
[Though this body finds the ‘conversation’ method of threats somewhat displeasing, the fact that you treated a mere sword as an equal brought genuine joy. Only a Contractor could have done so. This body feels not the slightest regret at having contracted with you.]
When you put it like that, it’s a little embarrassing.
[Would a simple, straightforward confession of love suit you better?]
Save that for the bedroom.
[Heh. Understood.]
I sheathed the now-merged sword and stepped out of the vault.
The chairman asked whether I planned to take any of the other treasures. I simply nodded in agreement that I would not.
In a vault holding hundreds of artifacts, claiming even one would only breed endless greed.
Cleaner to take only the magic sword I’d come for and leave.
Besides, most high-performance artifacts took the form of weapons—and Frach hated that with a passion.
Frach herself was already a magic sword far beyond what I deserved.
No time to eye other weapons.
[Contractor…♡]
This one’s personality is vicious enough as it is.
[Contractor…!]
Once the vault tour ended, I returned the key to the chairman.
I’d been somewhat forceful, but it shouldn’t become a major issue.
I’d solved the headache of storing a dangerous magic sword, and the chairman himself seemed uninterested in making a big deal of the incident.
Still, it looked like he had unfinished business with me.
“If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”
“There is one favor I would ask of you.”
“I already fulfilled the condition for the vault key.”
“Yet you took a magic sword from the vault, did you not?”
“Ever seen a robber pay for what he takes?”
“Urgh…! Fine. I shall pay a separate reward and commission you privately.”
A request from the chairman.
I already had a good idea what it was—but it was something you only received after earning his trust.
In the original story, Kang Junhyuk had only been summoned for it in Part 4.
Had smashing dark obsidian bare-handed and casually handling a magic sword left that strong an impression?
I was about to hear an academy secret that even Kang Junhyuk only learned after enormous effort.
“What is it?”
“……I would like you to uncover the secret of a certain dungeon.”
“A dungeon?”
“Indeed. An unknown dungeon that has never once been opened.”
“You sure about that? A place like that will be stuffed with treasure. You’re basically handing a fish to a cat.”
The chairman shook his head as if treasure meant nothing to him.
“You may take every treasure inside. All I desire is the secret hidden within the dungeon.”
“So even if I clean out every treasure, you’ll still pay me a separate reward just for bringing back the secret?”
“That is correct.”
“Deal. I’ll take the job.”
The moment I accepted, life sparked in the chairman’s eyes.
He clearly hadn’t expected me to agree.
Well, asking a sudden robber for a favor would normally get you labeled insane and ignored.
I hadn’t expected him to commission me either.
“Then I leave it in your hands.”
“I’ll do my best to deliver the best possible results.”
I didn’t say it out loud, but the dungeon he’d just requested was the exact one I’d planned to raid tomorrow.
In other words, the dungeon I would have entered illegally and looted was now something I could walk into with full legal permission—while putting the chairman in my debt.
Jackpot!
[A world that entrusts requests to robbers…… Truly the end times. The end times.]