In the early morning, the main road of the royal capital was already bustling with activity as a carriage slowly made its way forward.
“Xingxian, Telistain, there are many things I don’t understand about the battles of the exclusive knights, but the bow in her hands without a string is an extremely powerful weapon. Ordinary arms can’t withstand it. Even if Silver-Gray Fang wanted to gift you a weapon, I’m afraid it would be difficult for her to bring out something to rival the one in Xingxian’s hands.”
Cecilia sat in the carriage, gazing out at the ever-changing scenery while speaking to Rita.
“That’s why, this time, our destination is Father’s treasury, to see if there’s a suitable weapon for you to use.”
Rita nodded. She had already experienced firsthand just how extraordinary the weapons of the Emblem Knights were—Brownie’s twisted longsword and Xingxian’s giant bow could both easily shatter her own arms. Without a suitable weapon, she didn’t even have the qualification to stand on equal footing with them.
Now, her hands were empty; even a skillful woman cannot cook without rice.
Besides, even a dream demon can’t just rely on their claws in battle, can they?
“I understand, but… there’s just one thing…”
“Speak.”
“Isn’t Lady Cecilia still under Seal? Is it really okay for you to come out with me like this? Wouldn’t this count as violating His Majesty’s orders?”
“What’s the harm? Father allowed Sister to be so wanton before everyone in the court—why wouldn’t he let me come out for a stroll?”
Despite that, Rita still couldn’t quite figure it out.
On one hand, they had to uphold the rules; on the other, the rules were made so arbitrarily. Rita simply couldn’t tell where the boundaries truly lay.
“Don’t overthink it. It’s just that Father treats all his daughters very well, that’s all.” Cecilia said, pointing ahead with her finger. “Alright, we’re here.”
If Cecilia hadn’t reminded her, Rita would never have guessed that this place was the king’s treasury.
It was understandable that the treasury wasn’t inside the palace itself—the items within were indeed important, but the safety of the royal family was even more so. Thus, the treasury was set up elsewhere in the city, and the two of them had left early by carriage.
However, though this building was grand and ancient enough, it was nothing like the magnificent, awe-inspiring treasury Rita had imagined.
Weren’t novels supposed to describe this differently? Shouldn’t there be layer upon layer of magical protection, two old men standing at the entrance, and at a wave of their hands a magical array would flare up, the grand doors clanging loudly before opening slowly, and finally, the two old men would say, “You only have an hour inside,” or something like that?
Why, then, was there only a sleepy-looking young girl at the entrance, wearing glasses, dark circles under her eyes, yawning repeatedly and reading a book?
Though called a young girl, she was probably about the same age as Cecilia, and wasn’t much shorter either.
Cecilia led the way, and the girl snapped her book shut with a slap, pushed up her glasses, and walked forward to meet them.
“Fourth Princess… haah… My name is Indix, I’m the Treasury Keeper here.” The girl yawned long and deeply. “His Majesty’s verbal command came a few days ago, you’re here to accompany this young lady, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. We’ll be troubling you today, Lady Indix.” Cecilia was exceptionally polite, making Rita lower her head a bit as well.
Indix yawned again, looking a little more awake now, and pulled out a key to insert into the door of the building behind her.
It wasn’t until the key entered the lock that Rita realized the door was made from Golden Wood. Golden patterns began to spread across the gray-white door panels, slowly lighting up the entire door, which then gently swung open.
The three walked inside together. Indix closed the door behind them, and before them was yet another door. Indix raised her hand, summoned a magic array in the air, manipulated it a few times, and the second door opened in turn.
Beyond the two doors was a wide staircase leading down below ground. Rita could feel a formless pressure swirling around them, but Cecilia and Indix were completely unfazed.
Noticing the change in Rita’s expression, Indix glanced over at her and lazily explained, “There’s a lot of magic here. It’s normal to feel a bit uncomfortable with the heavy concentration of mana.”
After descending the stairs, they came to a third door. This time, Indix simply pulled out a handful of keys, and finally, the treasury was revealed.
Although it looked ordinary, the protective measures were clearly thorough; this meant the Treasury Keeper wasn’t simple either.
Rita mused to herself, continuing quietly onward.
What greeted her eyes wasn’t the mountain of treasure she had imagined, but a deep corridor. On both sides were many small rooms, where the so-called treasures were likely stored.
Even just passing by the doors, Rita saw things that left her in awe.
A Giant Dragon Skull hung in the center of one room—it was impossible for Rita not to notice it. In another, a Magic Crystal Cup studded with gems glimmered with a magical aura; Rita didn’t even dare imagine how expensive it would be without the magic alone.
Compared to what lay deeper within, these were considered ordinary. Rita even saw a living Gemstone Tree, a pink flying mammal darting about, and a Giant Egg of such absurd size that she couldn’t even guess what it was.
No wonder there were hardly any gold coins or jewels here—these were the truly valuable things.
“Rita, don’t get any funny ideas.” Cecilia reminded her, not too sternly but not too lightly either.
“I—I wasn’t thinking about taking anything. That would be theft!” Rita stammered in protest.
Indix said nothing the entire time, leading the two around a corner and stopping.
“From here on is mostly equipment. There aren’t that many kinds, but they’re some of the rarest in the kingdom. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me. As long as you don’t damage the treasury, it’s okay to test things a bit.”
This counts as not many kinds? These are considered rare?
Rita’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. Although some of them truly couldn’t compare to Xingxian’s weapon, the quality was first-rate. Most of them could probably rival Momoka’s fiery red spear.
You know, Momoka’s spear was the best thing Rita had ever seen. Barring any surprises, that spear would probably serve its owner for life.
Cough, no point thinking about Momoka now—better look at the options here.
Rita examined the weapons while listening to Indix’s patient explanations.
“This sword is called Longclaw, forged from Snow-melt Steel. It was crafted using the same technique as the one Silver-Gray Fang wields, and only two such swords were ever made by that smith.”
“This sword was forged by smelting a siren’s scales into Mountain Copper, and it contains the siren’s lingering resentment. It’s said that anyone struck by it will suffer a mental shock and won’t recover for a while, though no one’s really tested it for obvious reasons.”
“This rapier is called Needle, once the blade of an assassin master. After she passed, His Majesty had the sword brought into the treasury. Legend says the assassin slew the King of Ghouls with it, making it truly worthy of the title ‘Kingslayer.’”
“Although this sword is rather ugly, don’t underestimate it—it was made from the materials of a Radiant Howling Dragon. In fact, it’d be strange if a weapon made from such things could look nice.”
As far as weapons went, everything Rita was interested in met her standards.
So far, the Siren Sword was the one Rita was most satisfied with. Its charm and mental attack properties fit perfectly with her dream demon abilities.
Of course, Needle was excellent as well, perfectly suited to her swift-attack style. While the ‘Kingslayer’ reputation was a bit ominous, Rita was never superstitious—she cared only for a weapon’s strength.
There were a few others that looked good enough to make her hesitate, and Rita even checked out weapons besides swords, since holy knight arms weren’t limited to swords alone.
Back and forth, Rita spent a good amount of time but still couldn’t make up her mind.
On the matter of choosing a weapon, Cecilia was of no help at all; she was just accompanying Rita today.
In truth, Rita had never encountered any truly good weapons before, and only cared if something suited her—material, weight, or extra effects were all secondary.
Deep in thought, Rita wandered further inside.
“Up ahead isn’t the weapon section. Though His Majesty permits free browsing after entering the treasury, I doubt you’ll find what you want there.” Indix reminded her.
“Oh, that’s true.” Rita rubbed her head, ready to turn back, when something caught her eye in the distance.
Though she wasn’t sure it even counted as ‘something.’
It was a silver sphere, floating in midair like mercury.
If that were all, it wouldn’t have drawn her attention, but around the sphere, colored stripes flickered—like the glitched bars that appear when a computer freezes—so bright and obvious that Rita wondered if she’d stumbled upon a bug in a game.
Right, she was in a game world to begin with.
“What’s that little ball wrapped in those colorful blocks? What is it?” Rita pointed at it and asked offhandedly.
But she got no answer from the others; instead, she saw Indix and Cecilia looking at her in utter confusion.
“A little ball wrapped in colorful blocks? Rita, what are you talking about? Where is there something like that?” Cecilia frowned, asking.
But Indix followed the direction of Rita’s pointing, then paused, her face growing serious—her earlier laziness completely gone—as she strode quickly to Rita’s side, pointing at the silver sphere.
“Are you talking about this thing?”