"Oh, they're back."
Having safely returned from the basement, I rejoined Lucia and the others, who had been waiting as I'd instructed.
We went from darkness to bright light all at once, but my field of vision was currently relying on the "Third Eye," so I wasn't blinded. I rarely wore masks, so I hadn't had many chances to use it, but as befitting its high price, it was apparently a remarkably effective Treasure Weapon.
Lucia looked intently at the bundle I was carrying, frowned, and said: "Where did you go...?"
"Hmm... it's a secret."
"Huh?"
Lucia stared, dumbfounded. What I'd experienced underground would probably be unbelievable even if I told her.
There really are all sorts of enthusiast clubs out there... And apparently, since I possess a rare fox mask, I'm their boss.
It was an interesting experience. I don't want to get involved in any trouble, but I wasn't attacked or anything, and it didn't seem like it would lead to any complications. The only thing was, the Fox Mask Enthusiasts' Club was apparently a secret society, and they asked me not to do anything too flashy — but there's no one less flashy than me. For some reason I don't fully understand, I even ended up receiving a Treasure Weapon. In all my various experiences, this was the first time I'd received one from a stranger.
If they're going to give away Treasure Weapons, I'll gladly be the club's boss. Still, for them to have spotted a fox mask among the dropped items — those people really know their stuff.
They mentioned something about planning to go to the Martial Emperor Festival, so we'd probably meet again there.
Once we'd decided on the inn where we'd be staying, I opened the carefully wrapped bag in our room. When Luke saw what came out, his crimson eyes lit up.
"Whoa...! It's a sword! Klye, give it to me!"
"Maybe later."
What emerged was a single sword. It had a strange hilt adorned with geometric patterns. It was sheathed, but the scabbard seemed to have been made afterward — it was wooden and decidedly plain compared to the distinctive hilt.
Citry blinked and let out a low murmur.
"My, my... it's too short to be called a longsword, yet too long to be called a short sword."
"I can tell it's a Treasure Weapon, but... it's remarkably light for a sword."
Well, I'm a collector anyway. I don't swing them around, so it's no problem.
Since I received it from the Fox Mask Enthusiasts' Club, maybe it had some connection to foxes? But they gave it to me for free, so it probably wasn't anything major.
I gently drew the blade from its scabbard. The blade width was only about half that of a typical straight sword, and it seemed lacking in the durability needed for use as a weapon. It was double-edged, with a copper-like luster, and the entire blade was etched with fine grooves that formed an intricate pattern.
Treasure Weapons were manifestations of memories from the past, so there were many cases where appearance and ability didn't match. At the same time, since they were things that had genuinely existed, their appearance was still useful for inferring their capabilities. There would be no reason to deliberately shorten a blade when making a weapon.
Of course, that assumed the wielder wasn't some kind of dwarf or something — perhaps this sword had been a ceremonial blade.
Just then, Lucia furrowed her brows and scrutinized the sword before speaking.
"...Isn't that the thing that was stolen from that town the other day?"
...No way.
When my eyes went wide at her unexpected words, Lucia carefully retrieved a folded newspaper from her luggage and unfolded it for me to see.
"Look, there's a photo."
"Hoh..."
The newspaper Lucia showed me appeared to have been purchased just before we left town.
The front-page article proudly reported that thieves had broken into the museum, that they had been successfully repelled so there was no damage, and that miraculously there had been no casualties. Right in the center was a black-and-white photograph. The Treasure Weapon shown in it was indeed strikingly similar to the one I now possessed.
Wait, hold on— "The scabbard is different."
"That's right."
The Treasure Weapon in the photo had an almost identical hilt and unsheathed blade, but the scabbard was also clearly engraved with patterns.
It was certainly similar, but it wasn't the same Treasure Weapon I'd received from the Enthusiasts' Club. Besides, the theft had been a failure. The article said most of the perpetrators had been captured.
Then I suddenly widened my eyes and snapped my fingers.
"I got it. The Treasure Weapon stored in the museum appeared along with its scabbard, but the Treasure Weapon the Enthusiasts' Club obtained must have manifested without one."
Treasure Weapon manifestations usually came as sets. Swords came with scabbards, shoes came with laces, smartphones came with boxes and instruction manuals. But occasionally, some part would be missing. And that was faithfully reflected in the price.
For sword-type Treasure Weapons, it wasn't unheard of for the scabbard not to manifest — though it was rare. Conversely, there was also the deeply tragic pattern of only the scabbard appearing.
"Really... can such a coincidence happen?"
"It can. Without a doubt."
For that matter, the same Treasure Weapon appearing more than once wasn't impossible. The prevailing view was that the number of manifestations scaled with the item's historical circulation, but there had been documented cases of items believed to have existed as unique pieces appearing in two or more instances.
This explanation was far more natural than assuming the Fox Mask Enthusiasts' Club were villains who had burned down a town and stolen items from the museum. In other words, it was the same item as the one that had been stolen, but it wasn't the stolen item itself.
I patted the newspaper and continued, still facing Lucia's skeptical gaze.
"For starters, jumping to the conclusion that they're the same thing based on a photo alone is premature — no, wait a second?"
"...What is it?"
I stared at the newspaper with a grave expression, eyes wide as saucers.
According to the newspaper, this Treasure Weapon was called the "Key of the Earth," and was apparently one of the national treasures.
Setting aside whether it was the same item, and setting aside the missing scabbard, the discovery of a second one was nothing short of major news.
If I brought this Treasure Weapon and made a request, they'd probably let me see the museum's treasure up close. They might even let me touch it.
"...Let's stop by the museum on the way back."
"...On the way back is fine?"
No, it wasn't just that. If I did the museum a favor, they'd surely show me other precious Treasure Weapons as well.
I'd also have to properly thank the Fox Mask Enthusiasts' Club again.
And then I handed the Treasure Weapon over to Luke, who had been staring at the sword like a dog waiting for permission to play.
"Here you go. No cutting people with it."
"Yeeeeaaaah! So, anyone but people — anyone but people is fine, right?!"
Luke loved swords. And naturally, he also loved sword-type Treasure Weapons. Letting Luke — who was already dangerous with just a regular sword — swing a sword-type Treasure Weapon would be insane, so normally I only let him use a wooden training sword. But Luke had actually tried out most of the Treasure Weapons in my collection.
He checked the blade length, and Luke swallowed hard.
"This blade length, the overall length, the weight, these patterns — Klye, this sword is incredibly unwieldy. It's like a toy."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"And no matter how much mana I charge into it, it never gets full! The feedback is different. I can't charge this sword!"
"Yeah, yeah, right?"
Luke was shouting excitedly. At this point, he was happy with any sword.
Incidentally, Luke was a swordsman, but he also had far more mana than I did and could draw out the power of most sword-type Treasure Weapons. If even Luke couldn't fully charge it, this Treasure Weapon apparently had truly terrible mana consumption.
He wore the same expression Lucia had when I'd asked her to charge something. Luke clenched his fists, trembling with intensity, and shouted: "That means... once I'm able to charge this sword, I'll climb another rank as a swordsman. That's what you're saying, Klye!"
"Yeah, yeah... I guess so."
"...If only a certain someone would follow his example."
Luke's behavior had caused my standing with Lucia to drop.
At Luke's simplicity, both Liliz and Citry wore exasperated expressions. Anthem was the only one I couldn't tell — he couldn't remove his armor to enter the inn, so I had no idea. But he was probably exasperated too. Luke really hadn't changed at all.
"Klye, can I keep this sword?"
"Sure. This scabbard doesn't seem to be a Treasure Weapon anyway, so it'd be better to keep it in yours."
The scabbard Luke carried was a special item that could hold multiple swords.
I wanted to examine it more closely, but we were in the middle of a journey. Given that I'd dropped the sword I'd been carrying in the middle of the Treasure Hall the other day, it would be much safer with Luke.
Luke cheered at my beaming smile and immediately started swinging the sword around.
Our destination was just a little further. We'd been quite lucky this time — we'd already had two good encounters. Just then, a reply came from the sister fox and brother fox who'd sent the Fox Mask Enthusiasts' Club photo.
"Lame."
"I want it!"
It seemed the sister wasn't impressed, but the brother approved.
§ And so, we safely arrived at the venue of the Martial Emperor Festival — the city of swords and combat, Krito.
The towns we'd passed through along the way had fragments of excitement, but the fervor engulfing the main city was on an entirely different level. It was as though the excitement and taut anticipation that Treasure Hunters supposedly felt before battle was radiating all the way out to us.
A casual glance was enough to see that seasoned mercenaries, Hunters, and fierce-looking individuals who clearly made violence their livelihood were overflowing everywhere. You could spot Treasure Hunters throughout the imperial capital too, but this was a different league entirely.
And in this city, those who took pride in their own strength would clash and compete for supremacy. Any man couldn't help but get excited.
Man, I'm glad I'm just a spectator!
Citry — one of those very participants — beamed happily.
"Klye-san, they should be accepting participant registrations by now, so I'll head over. If we're in the same Party, we should be able to register together."
"Ah, take care."
"Could I borrow those tickets?"
Citry really was a hard worker.
I handed over the platinum tickets as she asked, then gazed absently at the warriors striding through the streets, struck a hard-boiled pose, and declared: "The war... is about to begin."