Chapter 63: Water...?
"Does it matter?"
Ronan summoned the dress from his inventory and handed it to Sarael, then turned to Alexander, who was marching toward him with a less-than-amused expression.
"Of course it goddamn matters!"
He stopped just inches away, his hand shooting out as if to grab Ronan by the collar, only to halt midway.
Ronan might have been keeping secrets from them. But he was still an S-Rank.
Neither he nor the other two party members could touch him after this revelation.
"Fuck it..."
Alexander sighed and crossed his arms, pointing at Sarael, who was staring at the dress with what looked like sparkles in her eyes.
"We’re letting you keep the dress, and considering the challenge, that thing might be an S-Rank item. The least you could do is help us the rest of the way."
Alexander was bargaining now, especially after seeing Ronan’s strength firsthand. Antagonism was no longer his priority.
"I still need experience for my student, remember? I’m not leaving anytime soon. Isn’t that right?"
"Y-Yeah."
Anastasia replied, deciding to go along with it. One hunter of S-Rank level, one goddess, and three hunters who were at least A-Rank. This was the safest place she could be right now.
"So, how’s the dress?"
Ronan turned to Sarael. Still on his back, her eyes were tracing every microscopic detail of the fabric, as if trying to remember something more about it.
But she was failing. Nothing else felt familiar.
Still, if anything, this still mattered to her. Not because of nostalgia, however.
But because this technically counted as a gift from her husband.
Her mind made the leap in logic almost stupidly easy.
[Affinity: 7%] -> [Affinity: 8.9%]
"I’m guessing you’re an S-Rank as well, little lady?"
Alexander said, but Sarael ignored him, tapping the fabric of the dress and automatically equipping it.
Now that Ronan thought about it, this was technically the first time she had actually gotten dressed. The entire time she’d been walking around, she’d only been wearing transfigured shadows.
This was the first time she was wearing actual fabric.
"Yeah, you could say that."
Ronan replied for her, then turned toward the end of the chamber, where a sudden noise echoed. A huge gap had appeared, revealing stairs leading down from the other side of the statue.
"Guess we found our next destination."
Alexander said, tightening his grip on his greatsword. The other two were just as cautious. Having an S-Rank in their group was nice...
The problem was, if Ronan ever decided to betray them and take their loot for himself, they wouldn’t really be able to stop him.
They had severely miscalculated.
"So just to confirm... we’re still getting the loot we want, right?"
Elena was already moving, with Yvraine and Anastasia following close behind.
"Yeah."
Ronan replied.
’Are you okay with that, Sarael?’
[It depends... if I really want the thing they need, you’d get it for me anyway, right? Even if it means betraying them?]
’Yeah, of course.’
[Affinity: 8.9%] -> [Affinity: 9.1%]
[You really are the best husband a goddess could ask for~]
The stairs led down into a chamber that was noticeably different from the one above. Where the upper level had been all stone and shadow and ancient runes, this place felt almost clinical.
The walls were smooth, polished to a near-mirror sheen, and the violet flames from above had been replaced by a soft white glow emanating from thin channels carved into the ceiling.
The air was warmer here too, not by much, but enough that Anastasia stopped shivering.
"This looks... newer."
She said, her rifle sweeping the room.
"Or at least better maintained."
Yvraine’s staff pulsed as she scanned the walls.
"It’s probably the fact that they’re shining. I’m sure this place is just as untouched as the last one."
The stairs opened onto a wide gallery lined with pedestals. On each pedestal sat an object. Weapons, jewelry, scrolls sealed in crystalline cases.
The chamber stretched on for what looked like hundreds of meters, more pedestals than Ronan could count at a glance.
But Alexander walked past all of it without stopping.
"None of this is what we’re looking for. Keep moving."
Anastasia stared at a dagger with a blade that seemed to absorb the light around it.
"There’s enough treasure in this room to buy a small country. And probably enough traps to destroy one as well."
"Best-case scenario, the traps are as simple as the one that held the dress. I’m in quite the mood for some hoarding."
Ronan thought of his inventory, still packed with the spoils of hundreds of dead hunters. After years of working as a porter, the urge to hoard weapons like a dragon was impossible to shake.
"Elena, that’s it, isn’t it?"
Alexander stopped and raised a hand, ordering everyone to halt as they reached their destination.
"It matches the description..."
Ahead of them stood a massive flow of water, suspended in the air and curling into the shape of infinity at the far end of the chamber. Even the treasure they had passed paled beside it.
This one surpassed them through presentation alone.
Anything tied to infinity was bound to be impressive.
"Elena, hand me the bottle."
She picked up what looked like a bottle carved with runes from her satchel and tossed it to Alexander. He caught it one-handed, then took another step forward before stopping again.
"Hey..."
Alexander turned to Ronan.
"Do you have another summon? Don’t wanna bottle that stuff up and get ambushed."
"My summons aren’t infinite, y’know? Besides, this isn’t fighting. That isn’t part of the deal."
Alexander had expected that answer, and gestured for Elena to toss him another bottle.
"The client gave us five extras just in case we broke some. What about it? We keep three bottles, you keep two. So help us out, would ya?"
Ronan said nothing. He only tapped his foot once and summoned the archer who had been killed in the chamber before, ordering it to drop its invisibility so Alexander could toss it a bottle and test for traps.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
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