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It took us another week to finish exploring.
When we started, I didn't think it would take us this long, but I suppose that's normal, considering it's the largest forest in the kingdom.
In the end, we didn't find any other traces of soldier presence in the forest other than the corpses next to the griffin's nest.
I guess Lilian will tell us if they were the ones we were looking for or not when we get back, since I have the corpses in my inventory.
We are heading to the capital through the forest, as we had done so long ago with my old group…
The problem is that, this time, I don't have armor from the waist up.
And that Deirdre has to use my dagger again, so I am forced to fight exclusively with magic.
Her weapons' self-repair enchantment has stopped working because they melted so badly after coming into contact with the slime.
Haaa. At least I've leveled up my Explorer class several times during these weeks in the woods.
A total of 9 levels.
So, now my Explorer class is at level 39, and it is slowly approaching the rest.
Most of them were thanks to defeating the slime, the animated armor, and the wraith.
And, while my other classes didn't level up, it wasn't something I expected to happen. Considering how slowly they are leveling since I passed the level 70 threshold.
Anyway... I guess they'll level up at a faster rate when we get to the upper floors of the labyrinth with Deirdre, and I use the experience bonus for myself again.
I distributed the stat points evenly between Agility and Strength since those are the two stats I use the most in and out of combat.
But I won't go back to unbalanced raising of my stats, so I'll probably use the next points I get on Constitution, Will, and Intelligence.
On the other hand...
Deirdre was brooding for several days after our slime encounter.
But, just when I was starting to get seriously worried about how I could get her back to her usual cheerful self, she went back to being herself.
***
We arrived at the capital mounted on Azur and hired a carriage to quickly return to the central area.
We had done this because I preferred not to raise panic, if there is no need, with the image of a dragon descending on the capital.
We get out of the carriage at the entrance of the building where the refugees are living. And, after entering, we look for Charity.
She is in the courtyard of the building, talking with a group of reptilians and therians.
When she sees us approaching her, she turns away from the group and runs to hug Deirdre.
"Welcome back," she says to us as she breaks away from Deirdre, who looks embarrassed by her friend's reception.
"Hi, how's the errand I gave you going?" I say, and with a smile I pull out from my inventory some orichalcum fragments from the armor we defeated "I think now I do have to pay you"
"Wow! I see your journey has been fruitful..." she says, taking the fragments to examine them "I have already finished your sword. I think it's one of my best pieces so far. Ahh, and I also have some gifts for you," and, as she finishes speaking, she strokes Deirdre's head. Who is still surprisingly quiet, staring at the ground.
But then, she looks up from the floor for a moment and, looking at me instead of her friend she says "hmm… Miss Charity, I have something to tell you. You see, I..."
"You're going to tell me about how you've been going to the labyrinth without telling me, right?" says Charity interrupting her. And, as Deirdre gawks at her, she continues, "Did you really think I wouldn't notice what you were doing? You underestimate me... How could I not notice if you came here with an adventurer to order a weapon?"
"I..." says Deirdre, who can't seem to find the words to apologize.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I wish you would have told me sooner, but I understand why you kept it from me," says Charity with a sympathetic expression and a calm voice, "though it hurt a little... I thought you trusted me more."
"I do trust you, Miss Charity!" exclaims Deirdre hastily. "But I was afraid you wouldn't let me go because of the promise you made to my parents."
"Well, well. I know I promised your parents that I would keep you safe, and I did, within my means. But I'm not going to control your life. We're not in the empire anymore," she says, and her tone of voice hardens as she says the last sentence. Then, sighing, she continues, "Anyway, since I knew you were going into the labyrinth behind my back, and your companion was going to have an orichalcum weapon, I decided to create you a pair of new daggers. Ones to match the level of your companion's weapon."
And with those words, from a magic pouch at her waist, she pulls out a sword and a pair of orichalcum daggers.
"This one is 'Unexpected', as unexpected was your visit and your errand," she says, raising the sword for me to admire and handing it to me, "It can greatly improve your speed and strength. Plus, it repairs automatically, so you'll never have to take it to a blacksmith for maintenance."
"Thank you," I say, admiring the blade of the sword that throws bluish-green flashes, allowing me to see the name engraved in small letters. Its shape is identical to that of my old sword, but I can tell it is much more durable and sharper.
"And these are 'Fortune and Joy', as that is what I hope you will have in this new life," she says, handing the pair of daggers, the same color as my new sword, to Deirdre. The latter is looking at her friend with moistened eyes. "Like your previous weapons, these will also greatly increase your speed, but also your strength. And they also have the repaired author function included."
"Thank you so much, Miss Charity," says Deirdre, throwing herself into a hug even with the daggers in her hands.
Hmm, if there is one proof that Deirdre knows how to handle daggers well, it is that she hasn't hurt her friend by hurriedly hugging her…
"Well, and about payment..." I say, leaving the sentence up in the air for her to tell me the price of my new weapon.
"Ahh, you'll have to talk to Drok about that," she says, laughing and dismissing it with a gesture. "Don't worry, I'll call him in a while."
...
In the end, I paid them 50 platinum coins for my sword. But I also had to give them, as part of the payment, some of the orichalcum that we took out of the armor.
Anyway, I wasn't going to make much use of it...
As a bonus for my purchase, Charity gave me a leather and mithril armor set.
Because, after hearing the story of our journey and how I lost my old armor, she said it was the least she could do since I had saved her friend's life.
And she gave another set of the same armor to Deirdre.
The metal and leather of the armor are dyed blacks, which matches my hair and eye color very well. The same is for Deirdre, who has her armor dyed of the same color.
Hmm, I don't know why she wouldn't have done the same with our weapons, though I suppose it's because orichalcum shouldn't be able to be dyed, given how difficult it is to work with.
In addition, it also self-repairs, though to me that function is useless, and increases the wearer's physical and magical resistance.
When I equip it, I see that a '+5' appears in my status, next to my Constitution and Will stats.
My sword also does the same, only this one adds '+10' to my Strength and Agility.
It's evening and I'm at the inn where I'm staying for the nights here in the capital.
Curious, I inspect with my skill the sword and see that it says 'Unexpected: Greatly increases the user's Strength and Agility. Self-repairing.'
Hmm... I had never been able to inspect Deirdre's daggers since, as the daggers were being held by her, the skill only displayed the girl's basic information.
But now I see that, in the case of things made by Charity, the information I see with my inspection skill is a bit more enlightening than normal.