Volume 3 - CH 14

“Snow-ojousama….it’s good to see you unharmed…. I thought it was the end when that monster attacked us….”

Izabella had tears in her eyes as she rushed to Snow’s side.

“It was you, Izabella, and this lady and gentleman that were fighting in the front line. I’m really glad that you are alright, Izabella….”

“I’m unworthy of those words, ojou-sama!”

Snow turned towards us.

“I’m also very thankful for your efforts. You two saved our lives. We deeply appreciate what you did for us. Let us decide on a reward for you another day.”

Snow stood in front of us and bowed politely.

“That goes for us too. With only Luce and I, we wouldn’t have been able to take down that tricky Podarge just the two of us either.”

“That Wandering Lord was aimed at us to begin with. You two simply got caught up in it….”

“Snow-sama, so you can speak properly. I almost thought that you had some kind of social anxiety.”

Luce interrupted the speaking Snow.

“Ah….I’m sorry I’ve cut in like that. Please, continue, Snow-sama.”

Luce gestured in consternation.

“I…uhm, I’m…not that. Y-yes, you two only got caught up in….uhmm….”

Snow turned crimson and kept opening and closing her mouth without any sound coming out.

“O-ojou-sama was speaking so smoothly! Why did you cut in like that, little girl! It was going so well too!”

Izabella turned pale and stood in front of Snow.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I-I was just curious….!”

Snow gripped the gauntlet of Izabella’s armor, then hid behind her.

“Ojou-sama, are you alright? Will you be fine like this?”

Izabella hunched down to be face-to-face with Snow and put a hand on her shoulder.

After Snow calmed down a bit she took a quick glance at us, but then she blushed heavily and hid her face again.

“I’m sorry, Izabella….”

Luce watched the interaction between Snow and Izabella, feeling awkward.

Who would’ve thought that just because she cut her off without thinking, it would turn out like this.

“….even so, you two seem to be quite used to fighting Dream Lords…. How many times does this make that you’ve fought one?”

Izabella asked while glancing our way.

“This is our fourth time.”

There is no particular need to hide this.

The Embryo from the Angel’s Toybox, the Death Armed from the Centipede Pit, the Skull Lord from the Graveyard of Sorrows, and the Podarge from the Phantasmal Beast Tower here makes four.

“T-the fourth time!? It really looked like you had some experience with it, but that many times….”

Izabella held a hand to her forehead and let out a quick breath.

“Fighting a battle like this four times…. amazing….”

Snow stared at us in open mouthed astonishment.

“W-well, it was my ojou-sama’s third time as well! ….although, the other two times there were nearly twenty soldiers of the marquis family present as well.”

“Izabella….please stop, it’s embarrassing.”

Snow tried to stop Izabella in a quiet voice.

The rumor had it that Snow was trying to accumulate some achievements to shore up her position as the number one candidate for the next head of the Howlod Family.

This was apparently part of that.

“Now that I think about it….this will seem like we managed to easily dispatch the Dream Lord that was set on us by an assassin. Fufuh, although this was pretty dangerous….we might be able to turn this misfortune into fortune. We will be able to shut up all those relatives at the Howlod Family who kept talking behind our backs with this.”

Izabella had a huge grin on her face.

H-how dependable….

Well, without at least that much determination, it would be hard to keep her position as an heir candidate for the Howlod Family.

“Ah…..! Elma-san, we got one this time as well!”

Luce suddenly changed her expression to a sunny one, then raced to the remains of the Podarge.

The mana making up the remains of the Podarge already dispersed somewhat, making the corpse partially see-through.

Within that, a single large metal spear was lying on the ground.

The spear had a silver color as a base, with a green bird styled pattern as decoration.

Luce held up the large spear as she hurried back to us.

“This here! It looks quite strong! ….sadly it’s a spear, so neither Elma-san nor me will be able to use it.”

As expected of Luce’s [Great Fortune].

It doesn’t miss a boss drop, even in a situation like this.

“A drop item…..? It’s quite lucky to have something drop from a Dream Lord.”

Izabella said, looking happy.

I also took a look at the status of the spear in Luce’s hands.

――――――――――――――――――――

〈Spear of the Bird King〉《Recommended Level: 75》

【Attack:＋35】

【Market Value: 40 million gold】

A large spear with a strong power of wind imbued in it.

It’s a good weapon, but indeed we can’t use it.

Using an unfamiliar weapon only leads to accidents.

It may be fine to just keep it because of that interesting weapon Skill, but I can’t really imagine a situation where it would be especially useful to have instead.

It will most likely end up as a tradeable asset for the future.

Even so, 40 million gold is a large amount of money.

“….ah, that’s right, Izabella. How much was that [Reaper Assassin]….?”

I asked Izabella, dreading the answer.

Even the Skillbook of the [Smoldering Fang of Madness], which was pretty unpopular in this world thanks to its uneven performance, had a 30 million Market Value.

I can’t even imagine what a straightforwardly rare and powerful Skillbook like the [Reaper Assassin] would go for….

It also depends on the two of them whether they want to trade it at its Market Value.

I expect it will be at least 80 million gold….and double that at the worst.

“That depends, Elma. How about you let us have this spear…..and call it even with that?”

Izabella proposed.

“A-are you okay with that….? That may have been able to get you a 100 million gold, you know?”

“T-that was something that cost that much!? I-I already used it up too!?”

Hearing what I said, Luce went chalk white.

“I’m sorry! I….I will throw it back up right away!”

Luce was clenching her own throat.

“That’s, not something you can just throw up…..”

“Although it wasn’t intentional….you two saved our lives. Also….it would be helpful for us to have a straightforward proof that we managed to take down the Dream Lord of the Phantasmal Beast Tower. The Spear of the Bird King would be perfect for that.”

I see…So they want to use it to boost their acclaim.

“If that’s the case, then….are you fine with that, Luce?”

“Y-yes! It would be terrible to fall into a 100 million gold debt otherwise….!”

….well, if they would accept other items as well, then we could cover that 100 million gold somehow.

We still have the four Soul Reaper Scythe that dropped instead of what we wanted from farming Grim Reapers in this Phantasmal Beast Tower.

Those by themselves are worth 60 million gold.

“…..Izabella, let’s not accept that Spear of the Bird King.”

Snow interjected.

“O-ojou-sama!? Why! If we had this spear, then….!”

“They saved our lives…. even though we got them mixed up in our succession matters. We can’t hold the value of an item they used to do that over their head like this. Also….we might’ve focused too much on pursuing fame and forgot what’s truly important. First, I need to….be more prepared as an heir candidate.”

“B-but there are others that would use underhanded means to become the next Lord! This incident must’ve been perpetrated by one of them as well….! We can’t protect the Howlod Family with just naive words!”

“Izabella….I did not like acting and fighting like an adventurer. I simply thought that I couldn’t do anything else to gain father’s approval and ensure mother’s position. However….the sight of Elma-san and Luce-san fighting I saw from the back line….it was very awe-inspiring. I wouldn’t have thought that people the same age as me would be able to bravely fight like that.”

“Snow-ojousama…..”

“I was praised as a prodigy, so I was vain enough to think of myself as strong enough. I want to rethink my life and re-train myself from the ground up. Also, if I can’t fend off the underhanded methods of others with sheer strength, then I won’t be able to serve as the next head of the Howlod Family in my opinion. I know that I can’t get by with only some naive words. Even so, I want to become the next head of the family by getting my prowess recognized. Even if it won’t be easy by any means.”

“I witnessed ojou-sama’s resolve. Indeed, as a representative of ojou-sama, trying to hold the value of the item we provided over the head of our saviors like that….it was too ignoble of me. I’m very happy to see your growth, ojou-sama.”

After Izabella bowed to Snow, she turned to our direction.

“….so this is how it is, Elma! You should sell us that spear for 40 million gold, hush money included- ouch ouch ouch, that hurts ojou-sama!”

Snow kept pinching Izabella through a gap in her armor with a sullen expression.