“By the way, take this.”
Watching Kurimu play with the pile of shuriken she had just handed over, Ai Yue remembered something. She reached into her Magic Bag, pulled out a bracelet engraved with a specific insignia, and offered it to Bululu.
“Master Ai Yue, this is…”
“It’s a gift for you. Although it isn’t traditional equipment, it still provides a boost to your strength.”
The bracelet Ai Yue gave Bululu didn’t have any unique active effects. Instead, its passive bonuses to all attributes were significantly higher than other gear.
Actually, saying it had no special effect wasn’t entirely accurate. Its special effect was simply a massive further enhancement of base attributes. It was an item that traded complex mechanics for raw, overwhelming numerical value.
Using the Information Panel’s attributes as a reference, Ai Yue’s unweakened base stats were roughly: [STR: 49,250, AGI: 43,230, INT: 157,520]. Although the Succubus Raiment was a bound item that occupied all armor slots and couldn’t be changed, it provided extra bonuses based on the wearer’s own attributes. It usually added about 15,000 to her Strength, Intelligence, and Agility. Incidentally, the currently weakened Ai Yue had dropped to about: [STR: 19, AGI: 16, INT: 60], causing her equipment bonuses to temporarily vanish.
The bracelet she gave to Bululu was a Level 61 piece of equipment. The attribute bonuses it provided totaled at least 3,000. One had to realize that the total attribute value for a Level 61 character without weapons or armor was only around 12,000. An immediate increase of 3,000 was a massive leap.
“I see. Thank you, Master Ai Yue.”
Bululu’s hands trembled slightly as she took the bracelet, and then she immediately lifted her skirt.
…Wait, her skirt?
“Wait, Bululu, what are you doing!?”
The skirts of the Demon King’s Castle maids were generally on the longer side, so the thighs wrapped in white stockings that were usually hidden were now fully revealed to Ai Yue.
While she couldn’t compare to a Succubus like Ai Yue, whose beauty stats were maxed out to the point of overflowing, Bululu was still exceptionally attractive. She was a true beauty in the making. Perhaps because goblins matured early, even as a mutant, Bululu had a hint of maturity hidden beneath her youthful exterior.
“Hmm? I’m putting on the gift Master Ai Yue gave me. Isn’t this a thigh ring?”
“Huh? A thigh ring?”
Hearing that word, Ai Yue took a closer look at the bracelet. For the petite Bululu, there was no way she could wear it on her wrist; instead, it was the perfect size for her thigh.
‘Wait, does this equipment not have an auto-size function?’
‘Oh, right. Since all the special effect slots were used to further enhance attributes, it probably doesn’t have quality-of-life features like size adjustment.’
“…Fine.”
Though she had many things she wanted to complain about, Ai Yue chose to compromise. She let Bululu wear the bracelet — which was supposed to be on her wrist — on her thigh.
Although the size made it impossible for Bululu to wear on her hand, it wasn’t excessively large. In fact, it was still a bit tight for her thigh. This resulted in the small black leather band digging into Bululu’s slender, white-stockinged leg, adding a certain plumpness to the look.
‘How lewd.’
“This…”
Just as Ai Yue was appreciating — no, waiting for Bululu to finish equipping the new gear, Bululu suddenly let out a gasp of shock.
“What… what’s wrong?”
“This thigh ring… Why didn’t I think of using it like this!?”
With that, Bululu pulled out several small pouches, each about the size of a palm, and attached them to the thigh ring.
“Normally, if these pouches are hung from the waist, they’re hard to hide. But if they’re hidden under a skirt, they’re perfectly concealed. As expected of Master Ai Yue! You solved a problem that has bothered me for so long with such ease!”
“Uh… as long as you’re happy.”
Ai Yue hadn’t expected that giving a bracelet would result in it becoming a thigh ring, much less that it would solve a lingering problem for Bululu. She was somewhat speechless.
But then again, Bululu’s logic wasn’t wrong. In fact, it was quite practical. Perhaps Ai Yue should follow suit and wear a thigh ring to carry items?
“Ahem! Setting that aside, you should test how much your strength has improved.”
Bringing the conversation back to the test, Ai Yue looked around and saw there weren’t many trees left to block her view, so she placed a Straw Dummy on the ground.
“Use this to practice a bit.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Bululu stepped in front of the Straw Dummy and clenched her fist. The Magic Power within her flowed spontaneously, gathering in her hand in one swift, smooth motion.
Then, she threw a punch. The intense wind from the strike bypassed the Straw Dummy, blowing through the forest behind it until the trees leaned over and half of them were uprooted. However, nearly all the actual impact was dumped into the Straw Dummy and absorbed.
The Straw Dummy was a placeable item from the game specifically used to test damage. It was virtually indestructible and could absorb nearly 100% of an attack while displaying the damage taken as a numerical value.
After Bululu’s punch landed, a line of numbers popped up above the dummy’s head:
[98,723]
Nearly 100,000 damage. That was quite impressive… No, wait, something was wrong!
Ai Yue almost screamed out loud. One had to understand that a damage value of 100,000 — even if resistance, defense, and damage reduction were factored in — was still enough to deal massive damage to a Level 61 being, the bottom tier of B-Rank. At that level, a person’s combined HP and MP only totaled about 400,000.
That kind of damage was not something that could be achieved just by equipping a same-level item specialized in attribute bonuses. If it were that easy, leveling would be pointless, and everyone would just hunt for high-level gear. While high-level equipment had level requirements, that wasn’t the main point.
The point was, how did Bululu manage to hit that hard with one punch?
Even if a piece of equipment improved strength, it shouldn’t be by such a ridiculous margin.
There was only one explanation for this…
“Bululu, come here for a second.”
Ai Yue told Bululu to step closer and pulled out an Identification Magnifier.
This was another tool Ai Yue had found in the Demon King’s Castle Treasury. It was an item with an appraisal function that allowed the user to see more detailed information on a person’s Information Panel — beyond just their name and race — than what was normally visible.
Ai Yue aimed the magnifier at Bululu and activated the effect. The girl’s detailed status immediately appeared on the lens:
[Information Panel]
Name: Bululu
Race: Goblin? (Level 82)
Age: 8
HP: 1,310,000 / 1,210,000
MP: 350,000 / 350,000
Attributes: STR: 17,723 (+1,210), AGI: 15,325 (+1,210), INT: 4,952 (+1,210)
Weapon: None
Armor: Demon King’s Castle Maid Uniform, Ring of Abundance
Looking at the panel, Ai Yue fell into a long silence.
It took quite a while before she finally squeezed out a single sentence:
“Is she really only 8 years old!?”