CH 279.1

“Thank you for your hard work, Cry-san. I will be in charge of your escort today! Please act like you are on the winning boat1 today!” (Sytry)

“Killkill……?” (Kilkill-kun)

Sytry put her hands together and smiled carefreely, while Kilkill-kun, who still maintained its slender physique from its forced diet, tilted its head.

While polishing my Relics in my usual position in the Clan Master room, I said while staring at the mysterious duo of Sytry and Kilkill-kun, who were lined up and posing in front of me.

“It feels like it has been a long time since I have seen Sytry’s face.” (Cry)

“I am also happy to see Cry-san after such a long time!” (Sytry)

It is all well to be happy, but…… I didn’t say I was happy to see Sytry, did I? No but I am happy to see you!

The sun was *pokapoka* shining through the window behind me. The Imperial Capital was peaceful, a complete turnaround from the Magic Sword incident. It seems that the riot was buried in darkness by the authorities after all.

Sytry turned around in a natural manner and said with an upturned gaze.

“Onee-chan told me about it, Cry-san! It seems like you are doing something interesting again.” (Sytry)

It was as if her whole body was showing how excited she was. If she had a tail, it would definitely be wagging. I sighed deeply and looked down at the crown-shaped Relic I was polishing and said.

“Although Liz looked quite unhappy……” (Cry)

Also, I am not doing anything particularly interesting either………… I am not doing anything interesting nor am I doing anything uninteresting. In other words, I am doing nothing. If I have to say what was interesting it would be that Hugh guy.

I was swept away by the situation and gave him random instructions, but will it be alright, right? It seems that he was sent by Franz-san to do something tho’……

When my excitement was dropping considerably because I had the premonition that I was about to get involved in something strange, Sytry told me cheerfully.

“*Kusukusukusu*…… Onee-chan is unhappy because she is not in charge of the escort today. She said she felt like she was put on the back burner…… It seems like there was something she couldn’t miss today――But yesterday, I was busy all day too!” (Sytry)

“I see, I see.” (Cry)

I don’t understand it at all, but I see…… Glad you are having fun! I am already tired tho’.

However, you would be wrong if you think I would always be involved in an incident in silence.

According to Franz-san, this time disturbance seems to be related to curses. And, unfortunately, curses and Relic are inextricably linked.

A Relic is a reproduction of an item that existed in the past. And the more widespread and well-known the item was in the past, the more likely it is to appear.

Cursed items are created by intense thought. Most of them are one-of-a-kind items, so they do not fulfill the conditions to become a Relic, which is to be 『A widespread and well-known item』.

In other words, what this means is that――A cursed item that appears very rarely as a Relic is very likely to be a terrible item that was so widely recognized that it would appear as a Relic, even though there was only one in the past.

Of course, most of my Relics are safe. I don’t have a single cursed Relic, but in the unlikely event that one of my Relics causes something to happen, this time it wouldn’t be funny.

Basically, I have already confirmed the abilities of all the Relics I have, but I can’t deny the possibility that one of my childhood friends accidentally mixed a Relic they acquired in my collection and forgot to tell me about it.

I reconfirm their abilities as I polish each Relic one by one for maintenance. And I beckoned the smiling Sytry over and placed a crown-type Relic I had just finished polishing on her head.

Sytry opened her eyes widely and said a little impatiently.

“!! I-I-Is this my cursed item?” (Sytry)

Liz said something similar…… Why do you girls want to be cursed so badly?

“I don’t have cursed items…… That Relic only has the effect of making your hair grow a little easier (Cost 10 million)…… Not this one, not this one either……” (Cry)

I placed a pendant-type Relic with a polished bright red jewel around Sytry’s neck, I placed a necklace-type Relic around her neck, I placed a necklace-type Relic around her neck, and then I placed another necklace-type Relic around her neck. She asked me how many of them I have, but Sytry, who was used as a mannequin, looked very happy while blushing her cheeks.

No, I am not giving you a gift, okay? …… But if you really insist, I can share a little with you. It was bought with my loan from you anyway.

“Seriously, I will be troubled if you ask me anything. I just made a big fuss the other day and everyone is relying too much on me because of my Level 8. Sytry, show me your hands.” (Cry)

It is hard to understand why everyone trusts me so much only because of the position of Level 8, even though I have been involved in so many troubles and have not even solved one of them successfully. If you think about it for a moment, it is obvious that I have done nothing worthwhile.

While *guchiguchi* muttering in my mind, I put the polished rings one by one on Sytry’s finger that was in front of me.

“! Cry…… Cry-san, does this act have any meaning!?” (Sytry)

“…… No, it doesn’t really mean anything. Luke and Liz won’t sit still, Lucia will punch me and it is too tiring to climb on Anthem……………… you don’t like it?” (Cry)

“Not at all!! How-However, you have a lot of them……” (Sytry)

In fact, I had always wanted to object to the fact that I was always the only one who was wearing a bunch of Relics, even though Sytry and the others were not particularly wearing any. Even if I don’t activate it, I feel sorry for them if I don’t equip them once in a while.

Maybe it was tickling, Sytry muttered with a bright red face while *muzumuzu* squirming and shaking her body.

“Is this maybe………… A proposal?” (Sytry)

“Killkill……” (Kilkill-kun)

Kilkill-kun raised a somewhat uneasy voice to its emotionally unstable master. A proposal…… Didn’t I just say that this didn’t have any particular meaning!?

As for the piercings………… She doesn’t need to wear them as I have to pierce her ears.

I talk to the *sowasowa* fidgety Sytry to calm her down.

“But how credible is the prophecy that Franz-san said? It was there is a shadow over the Imperial Capital, right? He said it was a curse or something, but, Sytry, do you know anything about it?” (Cry)

“…… The prophecies of the Institute of Divination and Mystic Arts are reputed to be often accurate…… So the Empire law allows the Empire army to operate on the basis of the prophecies.” (Sytry)

I wonder if it will be correct…… But I can’t trust them because there was the example of Sora making a similar oracle…… That girl was really bad news.

In the first place, even if a curse or something like that were to strike the Imperial Capital, it would be suppressed without causing a lot of damage. Despite everything, the Imperial Capital is still safe enough for me to stay there.

“However, if the prophecy is so grandiose――If it is a curse, it must be a curse with a very deep grudge. It would take more than a skilled sorcerer to cast such a curse――So it is unavoidable that Franz-san is wary of Relics. There are no indications of a lot of casualties around the imperial capital and since the area has already been checked, it is unlikely an item of that nature would be brought in from the outside. Speaking of which, I heard that Onii-chan too…… He has also been mobilized at the request of the country. Because the Church is an expert in curses.” (Sytry)

“They are fully prepared huh.” (Cry)

This is the basis of sorcery, but a powerful curse is not something that can be cast just by trying.

The most dangerous pattern is the curse left by the grudge of a person who died. Such curses are extremely powerful and often target indiscriminately, and by the time the information spreads, many deaths have already occurred.

However, this is probably not the case this time. After excluding all those hypotheses, the only possibility left is a cursed item.

The Imperial Capital is called the holy land of Treasure Hunters and the number of Relics brought in day and night is outstanding, so when you think about it, is it unavoidable for Franz-san to contact me…… Right? No, no, there must be more people you can contact, no!

I make her put on a glasses-type Relic, put a stole-type Relic on her shoulder, and since I don’t know where to attach the chain-type Relic, I *guruguru* wrapped it around her body for the time being. It is the completion of the Relics-covered Sytry.

Yeah, it doesn’t look like there is an unknown Relic mixed in. This time it wouldn’t be my fault.

“I-I have been dyed in Cry-san’s color…… I can’t become a bride anymore.” (Sytry)

I know, if you know that an incident will occur in the Imperial Capital, why don’t I just leave the Imperial Capital……?

………… No, I can’t, I would definitely get caught at a checkpoint and cause unwanted misunderstandings. It is best to stay still and quiet.

Footnotes

Winning boat: here Sytry means that he can act without worrying about anything as she is with Cry.