Chapter 60 - How To Make A Key

"Eclaite, can you repeat the sentence you just said," Cabal asked. That uncle put on a serious expression that scared me a little.

"What did I say?" My fox's ears were facing to the right and then to the left because I was confused.

"The part about Elemental Essence. Why do you say there are six Elemental Essences? Then, use them to make a key?"

Oh! Crab!

I did it again!

Now, after I know I'm not good at lying. The only thing I can do is, "I want my right to remain silent."

...

"Then don't speak," said Anna who gave me a mocking look. "She doesn't understand anything and it's useless to listen to her words."

"There's nothing wrong to hear other people's opinions. Elemental Essence was not a word that random people knew. When Eclaite said it, I was sure she knew something." Cabal tried to defend me. But, at the same time, he tried to corner me.

"As Miss Anna said, I don't know anything hahaha..."

I escaped by eating my Monster Stew. The people at this table squinted their eyes. A moment later I made a sour expression.

This Monster Stew is too much for me.

"We just need to use the traditional way," Elizaveta said what she thought.

The Amazones then placed a rough diamond the size of a big toe onto the table.

"This diamond will be yours if you tell us everything you know about Elemental Essence."

"Oh! Then I'll give you this pendant!" said Lubov. The wolf girl placed a silver pendant next to the diamond. "This pendant will increase your Strength!"

Playing along with the two women, Vier placed a bracelet next to the two Items without saying anything.

"Hey Kimi, is there anything your big sis wants?"

Kimi put down her spoon then put on a thoughtful expression. "I'm not sure... But, these days, big sis always complains, why she has to carry a big, heavy leather bag every time she goes on an adventure?"

Cabal nodded, moments later he placed a small black Leather Bag. "This Magic Bag will be yours if you tell me information about Elemental Essence."

"Come on, what's wrong with you guys?" Anna asked. "Don't you think you're exaggerating the price of her knowledge?"

"I have the same thoughts. You guys are overdoing it," I said, then nodded.

Anna paused for a moment to give me a sharp look. Then, she looked back at Cabal and the others.

"We don't know that the information she has is valuable. What will all of you do if she utters nonsense just to get all these Items?"

"Yes, as Miss Anna said, the information I have is nonsense."

Looking at our exchange, Cabal and the others put on mixed expressions.

"We can't trust this girl." Anna pointed at me.

"Once again, miss Anna is right, you shouldn't believe me," I said. I supported the woman to get a good impression from her. But...

"Stop agreeing with me, Vixen!"

Anna yelled at me again and I don't know why.

"But everything you say is true," I told Anna. Then I saw everyone face. "You don't have to offer up that precious stuff to hear what I know. You can search the information about the Foltian Great Dungeon in the city library."

"I've done it," Elizaveta said. "I've read all the books about Foltian in that library and I've never found an article about Elemental Essence that can be turned into a key."

Lubov left her seat to approach me. At the same time, Cabal said, "The information you have might solve our problem. And even if that information doesn't change anything, you still get all these items."

As Cabal finished speaking, Lubov who was standing behind me placed her two hands on my shoulders.

The wolf girl brought her mouth close to my ear to whisper, "If you don't want an easy path, I'll give you a hard path. I'll keep tickling your waist until you reveal the secret you kept."

That's an ominous threat!

I tried to stand up and run away but I can not even move my body. The wolf girl who hold me was strong.

Didn't waiting for me to make a response, Lubov started touching and then tickling my waist.

"Eep! Okay! Okay! I'll talk! So don't tickle my waist!"

"Good answer!" said Lubov. The wolf girl patted me on the shoulder before returning to her chair.

"Haa... Well, I'll say what I know." I gulped down the fruit juice to wet my throat. "Making a key for the Celestial Gate requires six Elemental Essences."

"But there are only five Elemental Essences!" said Anna. "Water, earth, fire, air, and light. As for the last ball that at first we thought was the Dark Elemental Essence is just-"

"Ordinary black ball," I said to interrupt Anna's remarks.

Anna just looked at me without saying anything. So, I'm going back to my story.

"An ordinary black ball. That's what you'll get if you kill the Spirit of Dark Knight then take the Elemental Essence it's guarding. And I say, that's the wrong move."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean, before you kill the Spirit of Dark Knight, you should have taken that Elemental Essence or black ball first. You then must use that black ball to absorb the Dark Element attacks thrown by the Spirit of dark knights. That way, once the Dark Element inside the black ball is enough, it will turn into a Dark Elemental Essence."

"There is bad news," Cabal said. "We've already killed the Spirit of Dark Knight. And it's going to take a month for the monster to appear again. That means the duration of our expedition will be longer than it should be, we need more supplies."

"If you have a strong Dark Magic user, you can fill that black ball yourself. Attack that ball with the strongest Dark Spell continuously and boom! You guys obtained one Dark Elemental Essence!"

The moment I was done saying those words, Vier and the others looked at Anna. While Anna who got all those gazes sighed long.

"Next," I said to attract their attention. Then, after they looked back at me, "to make the key you guys need. You need to bring six Elemental Essences to an Altar that has six stone pillars—"

"You mean, the altar in the middle of the seventh floor?"

"...I don't know exactly where the altar is." I lied.

I know where the altar is but I'm not going to say it. I also won't tell them about how to make the key in detail. They'd be suspicious of me if I said it. That's why...

"An altar that has six stone pillars with an engraving of each element. You guys need that altar and- oh! Is there anyone in your exploration group who can read the Ancient Language?"

"No, why?"

"Because you need someone who has that ability."

Vier and the others were confused after listening to me. So, I continued my story. "The altar has instructions for making the key and that instruction is written using the Ancient Language. The altar is also the tool to make the key you want. So, you need someone who can read the Ancient Language."

...

They remained silent for some time before Elizaveta finally asked, "Where do you know all of that?"

"My father told me." I'm lying, again.

There's no way the jerk told me something like this. He even never read a story to me.

Kimi made a strong nod. "Papa Wielth is a Mage. I'm sure he knows a lot of things."

Kimi said all of that with pride. But everyone at the table was silent. From their movements, I knew they didn't know what to say.

I'm sure, they know who truly is Wielth the Night Bearer. He was an Adventurer who had a dark criminal record.

"You're right, Kimi. Papa is cool and there's no one out there like him.." And if there were coincidences that someone like him exist, I would kill that person as well.