Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Party - 1
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Was it because they’d debated so passionately at the pre-party gathering?
The next morning, while strolling through the castle grounds, I could see the beastkin and nobles engaged in quite serious conversations.
Some were discussing political matters, others trade-related topics, but simple exchanges of camaraderie were just as common.
They say team members bond when they share a common goal.
...This isn’t actually going to lead to that thing happening, is it?
“Ah. Sage? Good morning.”
My footsteps halted at the expansive party hall inside the White Rock Palace, where the party was to be held.
From the numerous statues to gifts sent by those unable to attend.
Having surveyed the party hall where various items were already prepared, I drew Moonlight.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“Just checking something.”
For example, whether there were any cursed items like the quest starter item.
-Hummm...!!
A low vibration emanated from Moonlight, now transformed into a staff. The faint vibrations spread from where I stood in the party hall, and as the purple energy dispersed, I sensed something from the area stacked with gifts.
“What’s going on?”
“Set this one aside.”
“Huh? This is... a gift from Baron Toskadon...”
The Toskadon Baron family was a knightly house loyal to the royal family for generations.
The Lily Knight Order member assured me it was safe since it came from such a family, but I shook my head.
Without giving him a chance to stop me, I tore open the packaging.
Inside was a quite intricately crafted spinning wheel.
“This... looks quite valuable.”
“It’s not just valuable-looking; it is valuable.”
Other shamans would probably kill to take it and study it.
“Really? For even you to call it valuable, Baron Toskadon...”
“This is a curse made physical. A curse so long-used that its form has solidified, I suppose? It’s probably sent by a witch who secretly borrowed Baron Toskadon’s name...”
At the word “curse,” the knight’s face paled.
“For now, bring Baron Toskadon to the annex. He’s not the culprit, so don’t drag him by force. Explain the situation and escort him politely.”
“Ah... Yes! A-Any other issues?”
Thanks to what I’d done so far, the knight didn’t question the validity.
He only asked if there were additional problems.
He signaled, and soon other knights approached before heading off swiftly somewhere.
“The other gifts are fine. And there’s an easy infiltration route on the ceiling over there. Seal it properly.”
I was pointing out the danger caught by the thief skill I’d used earlier, ‘Danger Sense.’ The knight dispatched another to that spot and bowed deeply.
“Understood. Thank you.”
I picked up the spinning wheel and returned to the annex. Baltin, who’d been lounging there with Lukendi, eyed the spinning wheel in my hand with curiosity.
“What’s that?”
“A curse.”
More precisely, the starting item for ‘Sleeping Princess.’
The quest was straightforward.
During a princess-level character’s birthday party—regardless of race—one gift transforms into a spinning wheel and is sent.
The princess who touches the spinning wheel falls into a deep sleep, and the player must hunt down the witch, defeat her, and free the princess from the curse.
Without a guide, you’d need to clear several linked quests, but those in the know just track the witch, beat her down, and end it.
Of course, doing the quest properly yields the witch’s backstory, related legends, sewing skill proficiency boosts, and a few other rewards, but I don’t care about that crap, so let’s just wrap it up quick.
“I’ll be right back, so tell everyone not to touch this.”
“Huh? Got it.”
I could trust Baltin with it. As I set down the spinning wheel, he plopped right in front of it, hackles raised.
Truly an excellent guardian.
“But are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
Lukendi sounded worried, but no issue.
The witch herself was easy prey; it was just the messy linked quests.
Using teleport, I arrived at a small mountain village called Kilreiden, part of the city-state ‘Opal’ in the kingdom’s west.
A village that caught silk spiders unique to Kilreiden Mountain to produce spider silk—perfect for training sewing skills with a bonus.
“Huh? A traveler? Here for sewing lessons? Or to buy spider silk? If it’s buying, wait here... For lessons, you need a referral?”
A few elders emerged from behind the old man puffing on his pipe, clubs in hand.
Without clearing the linked quests, you had to fight or persuade the Kilreiden Village Youth Association—these guys—who guarded the village.
You could fight, sure, but what had they done wrong?
For easy persuasion, I opened my bag.
“...A peddler?”
“Peddler? I’m a sage.”
“Sage?”
So rural they didn’t know my name. Anyway, not important.
I pulled a vial from my bag and offered it to the elder.
“What’s this?”
“Eh. It’s really good for men. No way to put it nicely.”
“...R-Really?”
The temptation that fells any man worked like a charm.
The Youth Association elder swallowed hard and slyly grabbed the vial I showed him.
“Can I try it?”
“Of course.”
As the other elders showed curiosity and desire, the chairman downed it in one go.
“O, Ooooooh!! It’s up... It’s up! It’s standing!!”
I won’t say what stood.
The elders of the Youth Association, witnessing the chairman’s ecstatic shout and his erection, lit up and began praising me.
“Ooooh!! Sage! Is he a god?!”
“Sage punch! Sage punch!”
Why punch?
Anyway, a few vials later, amid their joyful frenzy, I earned enough favor to enter Kilreiden Village.
“Can I go in now?”
“Whew. Sure thing. Sure thing. A fine young man like you is bound for good fortune.”
“Come again! Heh heh heh!”
“Such a good lad!”
The best persuasion is always tangible goods.
Bidding farewell to the elder Youth Association, I entered the village and stopped at a dilapidated well in the corner.
It was no longer in use and sealed shut.
Without a thief in the party, you’d need to clear linked quests for a skilled thief to join temporarily and open it.
-Click.
But I could pick locks at a master thief level, so no big deal.
-Creeeak...!
The rusted iron lid opened with a grating sound.
At the same time, a thick, foul stench wafted from the dry well’s depths, signaling danger, which I ignored as I descended.
Inside the well, hidden from outside view, was a small secret passage.
-Hiss... Hiss...
A chilling sound came from within, like sharpening a blade. How long had I walked the passage inside the dry well, following that sound?
The nose-stinging stench intensified, revealing an underground secret workshop connected to the well.
“...Who’s there.”
The workshop brimmed with shamanic tools and potions.
There sat an ugly old hag in a black pointed hat.
“...Th-That?! Moonlight? N-No way...”
The witch—boss of the Sleeping Princess in the Woods quest—freaked at the sight of the sword, spouting her lines to stall me with persuasion while preparing a spell.
But I had no intention of listening, so without a word, I swung the sword, answering her question.
“Executioner.”
Severing the neck of the worm who stole young women’s lifespans and beauty to dream of eternal life.
-Slash!!
After slaying the witch, I searched the workshop and found evidence of her forging Baron Toskadon’s seal.
Also, spells to turn items into curses.
And forbidden shamanic texts on stealing young, beautiful women’s lifespans to extend her own.
I gathered it all, burned the workshop full of evil artifacts, and returned to the palace.
“I’m innocent!! It wasn’t me!! I don’t even know what that is!!”
A burly old man stood before the spinning wheel in the annex garden, shouting hoarsely.
That elder... definitely the one who’d passionately ranted about knightly training for swinging maces while making them yesterday.
Seeing the pure martial old-timer tearfully protesting his innocence was kinda awkward.
“But Baron Toskadon, I believe you, yet this came from a gift in your name. Please wait here. Once the Sage arrives...”
“If I’d truly done it, I’d end my life to prove my loyalty! Believe me!”
“We believe you. The Sage said someone borrowed your name...”
“What’s this? Didn’t explain the situation? Why’s the mood like this?”
Isina Kreig, captain of the Lily Knight Order, who’d been looking troubled beside him, beamed at me.
“Sage! Welcome... What’s that?”
“Evidence and the culprit’s head.”
I laid out the witch’s severed head and evidence. The stunned Isina gasped and asked.
“What in the world happened?”
“A curse that steals young women’s vitality and beauty. Want details? Bring Rastapa; he’s a grand sorcerer and will know why.”
“Ah... We actually felt a bad vibe from the spinning wheel suddenly, so another knight went to fetch him.”
Soon, Rastapa arrived flustered with knights in tow. After examining the docs, reagents, and finally the now-ominously reeking spinning wheel, he asked incredulously.
“What lunatic used forbidden shamanism?”
“Not lunatic—a bitch.”
I held up the witch’s head. Rastapa inspected it closely, then grimaced, flapping his huge mouth and twitching his antennae.
“Ugh. She devoured massive life force. Vicious. Vicious. Karma piled up in her eyes.”
As expected of a grand sorcerer; he saw it all at a glance.
Rastapa calmly explained to the curious Isina.
It was the full explanation only gotten from properly clearing the quest.
“I see. Sigh. Why...”
“Proof Lucille’s name has spread across the continent.”
This quest triggers for the most famous princess at the start time.
Meaning Lucille had grown that much.
As her teacher, I felt pretty proud. It was as good as world recognition.
“But where’s Veronica?”
“Right here.”
Veronica emerged from the annex with Lukendi, tapping the spinning wheel with her Divine Mark and frowning prettily.
“Got purification ready.”
“Perfect. Was about to ask.”
Culprit caught, evidence secured.
Saved the almost-framed guy, so no need to keep that thing.
Veronica purified the spinning wheel at once, and soon it began to change.
As the curse vanished, a soft glow emanated from it.
“That’s valuable. Thread from that wheel is guaranteed top-grade.”
Artisans would lose their minds.
I handed the spinning wheel to Baron Toskadon.
“Good work.”
“S-Sage...”
“Don’t cry! I hate seeing old men cry! Especially big, tough-looking ones!!”
“Sniff. Still... Th-This grace!! I’ll never forget it! Sage. Remember—you have a spear that never betrays you!!”
“Nah. Forget it.”
“Sniff...”
It was a precious spinning wheel, but I’d maxed sewing achievements and had no time to spin thread anyway.
So I gave it to the baron who’d nearly become a traitor, patted his shoulder, and comforted him.
“And that’s not the point now. Your gift was swapped for a cursed spinning wheel! So sell that or whatever and get a new one. Party’s tonight, right?”
The感動 tearful Baron Toskadon panicked.
He’d forgotten, but the spinning wheel had replaced his gift.
Meaning the present he’d prepared for the princess was gone.
As he pondered, Veronica approached.
“But how’d she swap it? Where’s Baron Toskadon’s original gift?”
“I can explain that. Listen up. Shamanism is a cycle, a concept. Using that, the curse’s activation...”
The grand sorcerer’s lecture—priceless even for money—began.
After expounding shamanic knowledge at length, Rastapa surveyed everyone proudly.
“Any questions?”
Of course, no one did.
Almost no one understood.
No shamans here—why give such advanced lecture...
“Simple version: possible because it was a super old curse.”
“...Ah. R-Really? Then this won’t happen again...”
“Won’t. Can’t. Solidifying a curse takes centuries of the same one.”
Meaning the witch drained far more than one or two lives.
“Anyway. Glad it’s solved...”
“Yep. No need to dwell on done deals. Look to the future, not the past. Now, then...”
The sun was setting.
Time for the party to start.
“Let’s prepare for the future.”
Today’s highlight.
The princess’s birthday party was about to begin.
***
Lucille, who’d heard the news and waited with eyes squeezed shut, rushed to Lukel as he entered.
“How’d it go?”
“As expected, the Sage resolved everything.”
She’d heard a powerful curse was on a gift sent to her.
And that the Sage had personally moved to fix it.
She couldn’t help but worry.
So many people had worked hard for her birthday party.
And the Sage had such high hopes for its success.
The anxiety that it all might come to nothing had made time blur.
Yet her master had solved it again.
“Amazing. Truly.”
“...Yes.”
He was always like that.
From pulling her out of this tiny room, the Sage had always been her hero.
So Lucille smiled brightly.
“He’s truly incredible. So...”
Swallowing, Lucille steeled herself.
She was the sole disciple of that incredible Sage.
That pride.
Greater than her old dream of being a hero—the pride of being the Sage’s disciple.
Still wrapped in her shell, it was making her stronger.
“I need to be amazing too.”
As the Sage’s one and only disciple.
So.
‘Master...’
Your desired growth for me.
‘I’ll definitely achieve it.’
Thus, my great master. I’ll make you satisfied and happy.
Lucille vowed inwardly once more before opening the door to the party hall.
Author's Note
Rain’s pouring ㅠ Take your umbrellas when you go out! See you again at 10~