CH 136

It was a crucial period where I had to adjust my condition. It didn’t matter if Mayer assumed a light attitude as if going out on a walk. For me, it was the first opportunity to show my abilities to the other members of the Dark Knights. I had to keep on my toes to avoid making any mistakes. Seeming to only remember after I asked, Mayer coughed. “I have something to give you.”

“Something to give? But I’ve already accepted more than enough…”

I had gotten the wine cellar key, so what more could I take? I felt that I had received enough, but he smirked as if amused by my commoner thinking. Seeing him laugh like that, he really looked like the final boss… Truly the picture of majestic. As I grumbled to myself, a chest large enough to cover the table was pushed in front of me. It was made of ebony wood and decorated lavishly with the Knox family’s coat of arms in gold. A thick lock that was already opened hung on the chest. Whichever way I looked, it didn’t seem like a container for anything ordinary. “What is this?” I asked, curious.

“Open it. No, I will do it for you.”

The instant I tried opening the chest, Mayer pushed my hands away. Apparently, he was afraid I would get my fingers caught in the lid while trying to lift it up. He was treating me like an actual four-year-old child. The heavy lid of the chest opened easily by Mayer’s large hand. Its inside was lined with golden velvet woven with delicate patterns. The velvet alone was a valuable piece of work, but no one could dare to compare it to the item it contained. Had I seen it wrongly? I gaped as I muttered blankly, “This is…”

Making light of my denial of reality, Mayer picked up the item in the chest without hesitation. “I instructed for it to be well adjusted to your size, but I do not know if it went well.”

“But this is… Lena’s Cloak!” I gasped.

Expedition corps members normally had their equipment made at a smithy. Reputable blacksmiths were respected as master craftsmen and any weapons or armor made by them sold at high prices. Mayer’s black armor and the uniform of the Dark Knights were all made by the best master craftsmen in the empire. But some items held even greater value than such crafted products—the artifacts that could be obtained by clearing dungeons. Along with the fall of the demon lord and warping of dimensions a thousand years ago, legendary swords, accessories, and the like dropped into the demon realm. These artifacts were far greater than what was man-made, and clearing a dungeon did not mean they could be obtained easily. With so few artifacts available for sale, they were practically priceless.

Lena’s Cloak was an equipment artifact that the Dark Knights had obtained 4 years ago in a high-level dungeon. Made of a silky material that was like the night sky, it was imbued with the element of wind. This cloak evoked wind around the wearer and increased their evasive ability. It was a versatile and rare artifact that even possessed a special attribute, and the sight of it made me step back in awe. This couldn’t be what Mayer meant to give me, could it?

But, as if to contradict my thought, he took out another chest. Then another. And then another. The chests contained all kinds of equipment artifacts, such as Sinus’ Boots, the Ring of Blessing, the Ring of the Hawk, and more. “I felt raising your defense would do little, and so… I made a selection focused on agility and evasion as much as possible. The Ring of the Hawk will broaden your range of vision, so it will also help you.”

“I’m not one to refuse these sorts of things, alright?” I promptly accepted Mayer’s gifts. I didn’t even get to touch an artifact in the first playthrough. After all, even if Fabian Corps managed to gain an artifact, it wouldn’t be distributed to a support mage like me.

Mayer was lenient despite my materialistic reaction. “That is a relief. I was worried since you always found fault with me giving you things.”

“Well, that was just me nagging you.” Although I retorted out of habit, my voice was much softer than usual. Probably because I was just showered with so many precious things. I looked at the artifacts Mayer had given me. They shimmered with light by themselves, perhaps because they held magical power. Agility and evasion… I felt it would be better if someone else used them. Mages with weak mobility would desire artifacts like these. They would be perfect for archer-types too. What if I were to give them to Sevi? Julieta or Nova didn’t seem like bad choices either.

But Mayer seemed to have read my mind as he warned, “Do not even dream of passing them on to someone else. Or else you will end up seeing those artifacts shattered into pieces.”

Would that result in my loss or yours? Even if he threatened to shatter his own things… But it turned out his threat was very effective on the plebian that I was.