The Lich's New Vessel

Inside the barracks of the Garden frontier, the Guard Captain’s adjutant handed us two heavy coin purses. "This is a token of appreciation from the Guard, in recognition of your contributions as adventurers."

It’s certainly convenient that I don’t have to count them one by one to know exactly how much I’ve received. "There is more. Please, follow me." Flora and I followed the adjutant.

Creeeak— The door to the underground storage room inside the barracks opened. The adjutant lit a torch and stuck it into the wall. "This armory stores the equipment used by our guards. They may not be priceless artifacts, but they are all Imperial-made, so you won't find them lacking."

Swords, spears, armor, and shields were lined up in orderly fashion on the shelves. Flora, perhaps seeing such a large collection of arms for the first time, looked around the storage room with a face full of wonder.

"Please pick one piece of equipment each and let me know. Take your time; there is no rush. Then—" The adjutant bowed his head and retreated.

"Wow! He said we could take anything, Estelle-ssi! What should I choose? What would be the best thing to pick?" Flora couldn't hide her excitement, bouncing on her heels. Seeing her act like a naive child who had just been to a buffet for the first time, I couldn't help but smile.

"Do whatever you like, Senior. Just be careful not to hurt your hands when pulling the gear out."

"Hya— everything looks so cool... I'm conflicted—"

I left Flora to her own devices and went to find the item I had been eyeing. The Imperial steel swords and marksman bows stored here were great items for the early-to-mid game, but... I had already mapped out the growth trajectory for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Estelle in my head. A Lich whose potential as a mage would pierce the sky once fully grown. Naturally, walking the path of a mage was the most efficient route. It was, so to speak, a lottery ticket already guaranteed to win the jackpot.

"This helmet is cool! Hehe... How is it, Estelle-ssi? Do I look like a soldier? Ahem—"

Flora, wearing a helmet far too large for her, couldn't handle the weight and wobbled like a roly-poly toy. She looked happy. Yeah, if she's happy, that's enough.

"Uh, it's good." I answered absentmindedly while searching for my item. It didn't matter to me what she chose. We weren't going to be together for long anyway.

"How about this? I shoot magic pew-pew from afar, and if an enemy gets close, I go shhh- with this sword? Or maybe with a spear? Poke-poke?"

...It doesn't matter. Really.

"Or maybe? I hide behind a giant shield— ooh, it's heavy! The world's first heavy-shield mage! Doesn't that sound cool?"

"...Senior, put that down."

Oh, seriously. I tried not to care, but I couldn't take it anymore. I was itching to give her some advice. "Listen, Senior. It's fine if you want to use all that. It's fine, but you're a mage. What do you think will happen if you force yourself to wear heavy equipment when your strength is low?"

"Uh... it would be hard?"

"It would be hard. That's a given. Your movement will be sluggish, and your spellcasting will be interrupted. If you just grab whatever looks good, you won't be a mage or a warrior—you'll just be a useless person who's neither."

As I rattled off the lecture, Flora just blinked her large eyes in a daze.

"Come here." I took Flora's hand and led her to a shelf on the other side of the room. "Of all the equipment you can pick here, the most useful one for a mage is this. The Imperial Silk Gloves."

Wrist guards with thin iron plates attached to the back of the hands. I had come here looking for nothing but this. Most wrist-guard-type items don't have any significant bonus options until the mid-game. However, the Imperial Silk Gloves, despite being obtainable in the very early game, come with excellent options. In particular, they have a high probability of having the Mana Enhancement option, which is the lifeline of a mage.

After carefully examining several pairs of gloves, I handed one to my senior.

The gloves had a faintly glowing pattern engraved on them. A light green light. It meant it was an intermediate-grade rune. These gloves would be worth their weight in gold even with just a low-grade rune like Mana Enhancement, but to have an intermediate-grade rune confirmed? It was too good to give to Flora.

I could have easily lied and kept them for myself, but... 'If I didn't have these gloves, I would have.' I chuckled to myself, leaving the happy Flora behind. I had an identical pair of Imperial Silk Gloves in my own hands. However...

This pair had two unidentified runes. And not just any runes—one was light green, but the other was a deep purple. 'Crazy. A purple rune here? That means an advanced-grade rune is guaranteed.'

My luck was absurd. I was dying to identify them right now. There was no NPC in the frontier to identify items, so I had no choice but to learn the Identify spell somehow and check them myself. Wait, magic? Maybe...?

"Senior." I called out to Flora, who was obsessed with her new gloves. She was wiggling her fingers at me while wearing them. "Estelle-ssi, these gloves are amazing! The design is exactly my taste, too."

"I'm glad you like them. But by any chance, Senior, do you know how to use the Identify spell?"

"Not yet."

Dammit. I knew it. I'd have to find a grimoire and learn it myself.

The Guard Captain was secretly curious. What kind of equipment would the two young adventurers choose from the armory? When he found out they had only picked gloves, he felt a bit let down.

"It's not a bad choice, but are you sure that's all you want?"

He had wanted to drop a hint. They looked like novice adventurers at a glance, so they might not know. If they looked carefully, there were precious items with low-grade magic runes among the unidentified gear. Wouldn't it be better to reconsider...? Perhaps it was just because they lacked experience. It seemed their eye for the true value of items was still underdeveloped.

"It's fine, Captain. I like these."

"Well, if that's what you want, so be it." The Guard Captain shrugged. "More importantly, I have one more favor to ask. Could I borrow the key to the underground waterway for a moment?"

"...The underground waterway? Why?"

"I accidentally lost something, and it seems to have washed into the waterway along the water flow. It's a precious item, so I want to go look for it myself."

"Hmm—" He pondered for a moment. The waterway, which crisscrossed beneath the frontier, was no different from a labyrinth. Even the soldiers who knew the paths often got lost and couldn't find their way out, so the doors were usually kept locked. In principle, adventurers shouldn't be allowed in.

"I understand your situation, but monsters appear in the underground waterway. It's too dangerous."

"It's fine. We won't go deep inside. We'll just search near the entrance and come right back out."

He thought that much might be acceptable. "And what if monsters appear? Captain, we're adventurers too. Isn't it our job to step forward and face danger instead of the innocent citizens? Isn't that right?"

"...That's true. You're right."

The Guard Captain was quite impressed by Estelle’s words. She was small, not even reaching his shoulder, and her experience was shallow—but the girl before him was already a full-fledged adventurer. 'I should learn from her.' The Guard Captain handed the key to Estelle.

"Still, keep this in mind. Don't push yourselves. If the situation looks bad, run away immediately. Understand?"

"Yeah, I will."

After the two adventurers left, the Guard Captain turned his chair and looked out the window for a while. The gloomy sky. The unchanging landscape of the frontier. "I hope nothing happens." Although there was no one else in his office, the Guard Captain muttered as if speaking to someone. "Honestly, I liked them both."

He didn't mean it in a romantic way. He felt a purely human affinity for them. Most adventurers were only interested in their own gain, regardless of their ability... but these two young women were different. Flora’s pure and bright demeanor was pleasant to watch. Estelle, despite being so tiny, had been blunt and informal, which had been startling at first, but that had also been funny and cute. Plus, she knew how to make that delicious dish—what was it called, right, curry—she knew how to make curry, too.

"And there's more. You two resemble Yuria. If you had met her, you might have gotten along well."

The Guard Captain looked at the photo in the small frame on his desk. A moment of silence followed... and soon, his shoulders trembled slightly. "Yuria... please, let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me hear from you. Where are you right now...?"

The first night at the shelter. Fortunately, no one in our tent was snoring, but for some reason, I couldn't fall asleep easily. I left Flora, who was sleeping soundly, and went outside. 'It's a tent for female adventurers, so nothing will happen if I leave her.' Walking while feeling the cool night breeze wasn't a bad feeling at all.

The day had gone exactly as planned. The Corruption of the Cafeteria quest had been cleared smoothly. I was happy with the money and equipment I’d gained as rewards, but my real target was the key to the underground waterway. The Guard Captain was right; the underground waterway was dangerous. But at the same time, it was a goldmine of a hunting ground.

'Hunting grounds where monsters are packed into tight spaces like the underground waterway are rare around here.' The frontier and its surrounding areas were vast. Monsters were scattered thinly, like grains of rice sprinkled on the ground. It took too much time to find them one by one, and the competition between adventurers was fierce. On the other hand, the underground waterway was a hunting ground I could monopolize entirely.

'It's basically a hyper-burning hunting ground. I can't give this up.'

However, I was pondering a different problem. Now, what should I do? Whether or not to take Flora to the underground waterway.

'She’ll definitely be a help.' She might look like just a good-natured girl for now, but Flora was a mage. It wouldn't be easy to find a companion of this caliber in the frontier. And above all...

'We've built up some trust.' No matter how capable a companion is, there's no guarantee they won't stab you in the back at a critical moment. No, it's more accurate to say that the more capable a companion is, the higher the risk of betrayal. In that sense, Flora was reliable. After watching her throughout the day, I had a rough estimate of what kind of person she was.

'A girl whose head is full of flowers.' She didn't know how to think about deceiving others. If anything, I was the one worried while watching her. I wondered if she’d go somewhere and get scammed or taken for a ride. Yeah, I’ve decided. I’ll conquer the underground waterway with Flora.

As I walked while thinking that, I found myself at the cafeteria tent before I knew it. 'Come to think of it, they said a different cook would be in charge of the cafeteria starting tomorrow.' Well, the quest was over, and what happened after that was none of my business. They'd figure it out.

However, the trash bags lined up outside the tent caught my attention for some reason. It felt like my heart was being pulled toward them like a magnet. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walked toward the trash bags like someone possessed. 'Is there something here?' There was nothing to see. It should only be trash from cooking... so why did I have a premonition that my soulmate was buried in there? What was it? Potato peels? Dirty tissues? ...No, this is it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The empty can that had held the curry powder. This thing was calling to me. The next moment, a message appeared.