Chapter 322 - Weapon

Mercury woke up with a set, he clearly remembered dreaming, but the contents of the dream seemed lost on  him, like a fleeting thought, it was gone in the wind

'Whatever…'

He sat himself up, the first thing he remembered about yesterday was the young knight that had visited them and the message he had brought with him

'My old tomb… I wonder who this vessel belonged to or rather what it belonged to… he clearly said some sort of weapon…'

Mercury thought back to his fight with the city lord some weeks ago and clearly remembered that something had sapped him of strength as he fought, he could still feel the burning sensation under his right eye, he reached up and touched the spot on his face, before he remembered that he had a tattoo there

'Maybe it's some sort of seal..? Makes sense, if I had such a terrible weapon laying around I would put safety on it too…'

Mercury sighed before he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and let out a yawn before he got up and took a quick shower before he got dressed and walked downstairs, where he was greeted with the usual sound of metal meeting metal from the forge, this meant that Marie had been up early and was working the forge, Mercury sighed and for a moment he considered going in a helping her right off the bat, then his stomach let out a growl before he shook his head and decided to get some food in himself firstly Jey came into view, she was sitting at the dining table seemingly meditating with her eyes closed, as always she was wearing her full armor with only the helmet removed which sat on the table in front of her when Mercury entered the room the gem embedded in her armor lit up slightly before she opened her eyes and spoke

"Good morning Mercury"

"Yeah good morning Jey"

"Oh Mercury, one moment…"

Mercury turned and saw Julia cooking, or rather she appeared… To be fighting with something

"Oh, you piece of shit come on, come on…. Goddammit!"

Mercury walked over rather curious and after looking at the mess in the kitchen he deduced that she was trying, trying really hard to make an omelet, or maybe scrambled eggs? Though she seemed stuck on the 'cracking the eggs' part of the recipe

"Julia dear---"

"Don't tell me what I can't do!"

"That's not my intention, I just want to help you"

Julie apparently pent up with frustration  let it all out with a rather long sigh, then Mike looked at the mess she had made and suggested

"We could just set it on fire and see what happens?"

"Why are you asking me..?"

"Well that was a joke, come, let's clean up, and then I'll help you out with making some eggs"

Julia gave a surprisingly meek nod before she muttered

"Okay…"

Soon the two of them made something that seemed to be scrambled eggs, then because Julia suddenly was emboldened by her success she made about 4 servings of the eggs, one for her, one for Mercury, one for Marie, and one for Jey, after she went and got Marie Mercury explained to Marie that apparently, he was some kind of terrible weapon, to which Marie simply nodded

"Yeah, I kind of figured that"

Mercury tilted his head slightly before he asked

"Really? How did you figure that?"

Marie munched on her eggs for a bit before she explained

"Just a feeling? You know when we first met I got the feeling that you were kind of like a sheathed weapon… P-Plus the way your body is built, it's like it's made for combat..."

Jey nodded before she spoke teasingly

"Lewd"

Julia nodded

"Lewd indeed"

Marie's face lit up before she quickly munched on the eggs, seemingly becoming healed by their taste as she recovered in mere moments

"Still these eggs are really good…"

Mercury showed a smile as he spoke

"You should say that to Julia"

After a slightly heartwarming breakfast, Mercury left the weapons shop to visit the temple, he soon arrived and was given a prayer room, he closed the door behind him and touched the crystal ball in the middle of the room

[SUBJECT NUMBER #5 CONFIRMED, REQUEST DESCEND Y/N?]

"Yes"

[POWERING UP ISOLATION BARRIER… COMPLETE, DIALING UP ARCHANGEL NUMBER #26… DIAL-UP COMPLETE, STARTING DECENED…]

Mercury looked over at the avatar that soon opened its eyes and sat up before it proceed to glare at Mercury

"...What's wrong Party?"

Some time passed with Party remaining mute as she glared at him, Mercury sighed before he spoke

"I am sorry"

Some more time passed and just as Mercury was about to apologize again Party spoke in a slightly cold tone

[What do I care if Mars rips your head off, I am just your one and only parent]

Mercury lowered his head and spoke again

"I am very sorry, Party…"

Mercury kept his head down for a bit before he glanced up and saw Party still glared at him, he sighed and sat down on the floor before he locked eyes with Party before he spoke once more

"I am sorry that I didn't call you sooner"

Party kept her glare for a bit more before she sighed and her glare eased up a bit before she spoke

[If your life is ever threatened like this again, I am the first one you contract, is that understood?]

"Yes Ma'am!"

The glare on Party's face eased up completely before she went back to having her usual smile as she asked

[So, what brings you by today, Mercury~?]

"Well… It's a long story, but first I found out something about this vessel"

[Oh~? Do tell~]

Mercury told Party about the pyramid and that he apparently was some sort of weapon, Party nodded and when he was done she had a rare thoughtful expression on her face before she spoke

[I'll check on my side of things, you should make your way towards that pyramid soon-ish]

"Got it"

Mercury walked out of the temple and found someone he wasn't expecting, it was the other crusader that was assigned to Julia, the one that had killed him once before Mercury had beat him up, Mercury showed a slight smile before he asked

"What's up?"

The crusader looked at Mercury for a bit before he sighed and spoke as he reached his hand out

"My name is Ben, we came off on the wrong foot"

Mercury kept his calm smile as he shook Ben's hand, then after a few seconds of sizing each other up Mercury showed a full-on smile

"Let's get along Ben"

"...Fine"

"Come on, don't be mad that I beat you up~"

Ben showed a slightly embarrassed look on his face before he fake coughed and spoke

"Truthfully it's Julia that wants us to be friends, she says it makes the air awkward around the dinner table"

"It certainly does, so what's your story Ben, got a girlfriend?"

Ben showed a signature look of superiority as he spoke

"A wife, she's currently 6 months pregnant with our first child"

Mercury felt slightly ticked off by that, so he showed a slightly nasty smile as he joked

"Then it's good that I didn't kill you as I planned, I would hate to make your wife a widow… That said, I could take good care of her?"

"What did you say, you bastard!?"

Mercury laughed before he spoke

"Don't worry I am kidding… We can be friends alright, but first…"

"First what?"

"We go drinking!"

Ben sighed before he followed after Mercury to the nearest bar, after a few rounds of competitive drinking Mercury emerged on top thanks to his superior stats, then the two of them left the bar after Ben paid for them, as the two of them walked down the street slightly tipsy Ben suddenly asked

"So… How many girlfriends do you plan to get?"

Mercury rubbed his nose as he swung his arm around Ben's shoulder, then he spoke

"Well… I am fine with what I got… That said, if I do my thing, I do my thing, you know?"

"Heh… spoken like a true bastard"

Mercury laughed 

"You got that right, I am a bastard… a bastard that's got a girlfriend more than you"

"Shut up, my Helia won't lose out to anyone!"

The two of them laughed as they walked back towards the weapon's shop Mercury that would be closing at the end of the week when they would leave for the capital of Juliantia…

The next morning Mercury awoke fresh as he could be, he took a quick shower before he walked downstairs and found the others at the dinner table already, he sat down on his chair as he greeted them

"Good morning"

Julia showed a smile and piled some food onto Mercury's plate before she asked

"Did you have fun last night?"

Mercury looked over at Ben that seemed to have a hangover and showed a smile

"Sure, a shame Ben such a weak drinker though"

Ben stopped massaging his temples before he raised the middle finger at Mercury as he cursed

"Well you drink like a hole in the ground, you bastard"

Jey sighed as she hit Ben in the back of the head with her palm as she scolded him

"No cursing next to Max"

Ben looked like his hangover worsened from the slap so he remained silent as Julia and Mercury giggled at him