The path to Magic Tail was unusually congested compared to normal.
The knights' order responsible for maintaining peace in the Imperial Capital had deployed, controlling the crowd of onlookers who had gathered with their rubbernecking instincts in full display.
Apparently, Magic Tail had been robbed.
Eva brought me that information the next morning, while I was in the Clan Master's room mulling over future prospects.
The time was last night. The perpetrators were a Criminal Party that had accepted a commission to steal a specific item — the so-called Shadow Lynx. A band of ex-Hunters turned thieves, they sometimes used Treasure Halls as their workplace.
Among Hunters, there were occasionally those who gave up on conquering Treasure Halls and instead used the power they'd cultivated from absorbing Mana Material to commit crimes. People who had coldly calculated that robbing others was more efficient than risking their lives fighting Phantoms and Monsters.
The Explorer's Guild called such dangerous "former" Hunter parties — parties engaged in illegal activities — Criminal Parties, and placed bounties on them.
The difference from Citry, who had been penalized by having her Level reduced to a minus value, was that while Citry could still be loosely categorized as a decent Hunter, these people were outright criminals.
Many Hunters who spent their days fighting Monsters and Phantoms grew thin on ethical standards. Those who felt no hesitation whatsoever about "killing" or "stealing" — Red Parties who possessed genuine Hunter skills — were a major threat to law-abiding citizens and Hunters alike.
According to Eva, small trading houses that couldn't afford to hire bodyguards on a permanent basis found them a persistent headache. To repel a Red Party, you had to spend a fortune hiring Hunters of equivalent caliber, so it was entirely understandable.
"I figured they'd show up eventually... Looks like some fool took the bait already," Citry said in a weary voice, but I was in no mood for that. If I'd looked in a mirror, I'd have seen my own face drained of color.
All I'd done was find a Treasure Weapon I kind of wanted and ask a fellow Hunter for a loan to get my hands on it before the auction.
But as the days passed, the situation snowballed, and it eventually reached the Treasure Weapon shop I'd been a loyal customer of for years.
I swear, I hadn't anticipated any of this. Sure, maybe I'd been a bit careless, but just because I was Level 8 didn't mean I was anything more than a regular Hunter.
This wasn't some storied Treasure Weapon with centuries of history. How was I supposed to imagine this situation?
As I pressed my churning stomach in pain, Citry remained perfectly composed.
"I can't believe a force that targets Treasure Weapon shops was still surviving in this city, even operating at night... How careless of me. If I'd looked into it properly, I might have pointed you toward a different path..."
"...Well, it can't be helped."
The silver lining was that the robbery had been thwarted.
The knights had cordoned off the scene and civilians were being kept away, but I used a high-level Hunter's privileges to push through.
The scene in front of Magic Tail was like a battlefield.
The road was cracked wide open, the metal fence that had surrounded the shop was completely blown away, the signboard lay on the ground, and the wall of the house across the street was pockmarked with countless bullet holes and caked with thick bloodstains.
The antique-looking door had been split clean in two, and a burnt smell lingered in the air.
From the depths of the now doorless shop came shouting.
"I've got work to do here! I can't be bothered with one or two damn robbers when the auction's coming up! Son of a — every last one of you is dancing to that kid's tune — Bodyguard? I don't need one! We've got plenty of guards of our own! *Good* guards! What I need is someone to help me clean up this mess more than a damn bodyguard!"
That was his voice when he was in a truly foul mood. Would apologizing even help?
At the very least, I should have brought Tino along.
Ugh, I really didn't want to go in. But I couldn't very well stay outside.
I glanced around, took a deep breath, and stepped into the half-destroyed shop.
§ "You! Oh, you little brat — you've got some nerve!"
"I'm... so sorry..."
The moment Marchis-san saw my face, he launched into a tirade with the fury of a wrathful demon, and I shrank back.
The inside of the shop was no better than the outside. A battle had clearly taken place — the shelves had toppled over and the counter was sliced cleanly in two. Still, the fact that not a single crack had appeared in the glass cases housing the Treasure Weapons was impressive, to say the least.
It seemed that while the fixtures had taken damage, no one had been physically hurt. Inside the shop stood a security guard clad head to toe in Treasure Weapon gear, just like always. He was a dour man as usual, but today he had a vaguely pleased expression about him.
Treasure Weapon shops that dealt in high-end merchandise maintained a higher standard of security than ordinary stores. Magic Tail, situated in a remote area where even the knights rarely ventured, boasted ironclad defenses despite its outward appearance.
In the decades since it had opened in this Imperial Capital, Magic Tail had reportedly never been successfully robbed once.
"For crying out loud, if you're going to rob someone, do it during the day! During the day! Thanks to you lot, I haven't slept a wink!"
Marchis-san said with irritation. He had enormous dark circles under his eyes.
With the auction so close and this commotion on top of it, even Marchis-san — who usually seemed far more energetic and long-lived than me — was clearly worn down.
But above all, I was relieved he was safe. If Marchis-san had been struck down by some robber's blade, the guilt would have been unbearable.
Oblivious to my inner relief, Marchis-san cast his gaze around the room.
"Hey, Kly! Where's the girl?! If you're coming to visit, bring her with you! In fact, you're not even needed here! You're just in the way!"
...So it seemed I really didn't need to come after all.
A knight was examining the damage inside the shop with a weary expression, muttering something under his breath like "The criminals have already been apprehended, can we wrap this up?" — clearly fed up with this old man.
"I brought Citry in his place. How about you cut us some slack?"
"Don't give me that — she's no substitute! Hm? Citry, last night wasn't your doing, was it?!"
This old man had way too much energy. He seemed more suited to being a Hunter than I was.
At the unfair accusation, Citry furrowed her brows in indignation and shot back an offhand reply.
"I would never...! Besides, Kly-san has already stopped me. And even if, by some one-in-a-billion chance, I were to send someone... I'd at least pick more capable people."
"Then we're good! If you've got time, help with the cleanup — that'd be a load off. My employees here can only stand around doing nothing."
The security guard, standing well within earshot, didn't so much as flinch at Marchis-san's verbal barrage. He stood ramrod straight, staring blankly into the void. A scarecrow, maybe?
Citry began cleaning without a single complaint. I sat down on the broken counter, surveyed the shop once more, and spoke.
"You got hit pretty hard this time, huh? No one was hurt?"
"No injuries! The other side was a Red Party — three ex-Hunters turned thieves. The damage to the shop was done by our own security! The guy kept saying it was his first time using Treasure Weapons in a while and he couldn't hold back — the nerve! I lend you Treasure Weapons so you can protect the store, not tear it apart!"
...So the robbers hadn't done the damage after all.
The guard who had been called out didn't move so much as an inch. I suppose eccentrics attract eccentrics. And to think that just using his equipped Treasure Weapons was enough to wipe out an entire Red Party — how formidable was he? At the very least, stronger than me.
Having vented his frustrations to his satisfaction, Marchis-san took a sip of water and let out a deep sigh.
"So, what do you want? I don't need compensation — I'm in the black thanks to the bounty on the Red Party. And my granddaughter came to visit too."
"No, but—"
"And I don't need an apology about that rumor either. You let yourself get played by someone else's words — but there's no such thing as the strongest Treasure Weapon! If something like that actually existed, I'd love to see it!"
With nothing to gain a foothold on, Marchis-san simply said everything he wanted to say and slammed his fist on the counter.
The most *dangerous* Treasure Weapon, yes. But the *strongest* Treasure Weapon — that didn't exist. That was his catchphrase, born from decades in this business.
He didn't seem to believe the rumor in the slightest.
Whether it was because he trusted me, or because he didn't, either way his stubborn words lifted a weight from my shoulders.
I decided to wrap things up on a lighter note with a smile.
"The most dangerous Treasure Weapon — perhaps the most terrifying thing isn't actually a Treasure Weapon at all, but the human heart."
"Shut up! What's terrifying is *you*, drawing everyone's attention just by trying to buy a Treasure Weapon!"
He scowled and shouted at me. That was absolutely, perfectly accurate.
I let out a deep sigh and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, human foolishness knows no bounds."
"Shut up! Don't spout empty platitudes!"
Compared to that, what was a ten-digit debt anyway?
Come to think of it, if I got married, wouldn't the debt technically disappear?
Citry was scurrying about with the cleanup. I don't know what she'd said to persuade them, but she'd even roped in the knights who had come for the scene investigation and was directing them. At least clearing the initial rubble shouldn't take too long.
Magic Tail also served as Marchis-san's home. At the very least, they needed to put up a door — this was a security issue even before it was an aesthetic one. Once we got back to the Clan House, I'd consult Eva about it.
"Oh, by the way — were you able to appraise that thing?"
Regardless of the circumstances, that Treasure Weapon had already become the center of attention in the Imperial Capital.
I didn't know why Eclair-san had mistaken it for the strongest Treasure Weapon, but once its abilities were confirmed, this whole uproar would finally come to a close.
Transformation-type Treasure Weapons were restricted in use within the Imperial Capital. Nobles had their reputation to consider, so the winning bid should drop significantly.
To this question — my last shred of hope — Marchis-san shook his head firmly.
"Mm... yeah, that's right. I dug through the archives and cross-referenced a few things, but we'll have to go with 'appraisal not possible.'"
Just as I'd expected. My shoulders slumped slightly.
Marchis-san took great pride in his work, and it was precisely because of that pride that he didn't hide risks or stake his reputation on an appraisal.
"The usage risk is S-rank. Mask-type ones are notoriously troublesome. A person's expression reveals their essence, and Treasure Weapons that conceal it behind a mask tend to bring about drastic changes — to the mind and body. Many also come with restrictions on activation conditions. I tried activating it with a Golem, but nothing happened. Judging from the mask's shape, it probably only activates on a living creature."
"...I see."
"Nine times out of ten, it's nothing good. If someone still wants to bid on it with full knowledge of that, that's their own responsibility."
Impressive, as always. Attempting a Treasure Weapon's activation through a Golem — something already inherently difficult — was something probably only Marchis-san in this entire Imperial Capital could manage.
When I'd obtained the Changing Human Face from a band of thieves before, testimony from one of their members had revealed its effects. But if Marchis-san had gone to those lengths and still deemed it unappraisable, then without using a human test subject, learning its effects would be nearly impossible.
Treasure Weapon listings at auction included the items tested during appraisal as well as the appraiser's written notes. If Marchis-san recorded exactly what he'd just said, many of the Hunters who had been desperately trying to buy it should come to their senses.
But that left one final hurdle — Eclair-san. I didn't know her reasons, but she was fixated on the phantom of the strongest Treasure Weapon. As a noble's young lady, she probably didn't even grasp the weight of Marchis-san's words.
The trading house wouldn't back down either, so long as Eclair-san refused to give up on the auction.
"Kly's Party symbol is one thing, but the risk of that flesh mask is on another level entirely. I don't understand why everyone's going so crazy over it."
*I'm* the one in the biggest bind here — somehow this all ended up being my fault. Honestly, I just wanted the auction to be over already. At the end of the day, even if you had a powerful Treasure Weapon and were thoroughly experienced with it, what good did it do if the wielder themselves was weak?
Even without Treasure Weapons, strong people were strong. And even with them, weak people remained weak. That was why the Mourning Specter's members never stopped training.
According to Citry, the greatest "trait" of the modern era was human strength itself.
Ancient civilizations had been advanced, but the raw power of the human species hadn't been all that impressive. In the modern era, while the level of civilization wasn't as high, the baseline strength of an unaided human was at its peak, or so she said.
"...Exactly. Everyone places too many ideals on Treasure Weapons."
Marchis-san nodded sagely at my words.
I took stock of the situation and considered the best and worst scenarios.
The best case: the noble young lady, the trading house, and the other Hunters all gave up on acquiring the Treasure Weapon, and I could snap it up at a bargain.
The worst case: the young lady or the trading house obtained the Treasure Weapon — used it without fear of the risk — the effects were revealed — and those effects turned out to be something unexpected, sending them storming toward me.
It was an absurdly unreasonable scenario, but the other party was a noble's daughter capable of anything. When it came to political power, I was overwhelmingly outmatched, so there was no telling what I might end up dealing with.
I didn't even want that Treasure Weapon anymore. If someone gave it to me, I'd take it, but I wasn't about to spend Citry's wedding fund to get my hands on it.
However, since I was ultimately the one who'd set this whole mess in motion, I should at least lay down some preventive measures.
The feeling was one of extreme reluctance — I really didn't want to do it. But leaving a messy situation unattended always made things worse down the line.
"Taking Marchis-san's words into account, I should probably have a conversation with Eclair-san... Will you come along?"
When I asked Citry, who was busy helping with the cleanup, she pressed a hand to her cheek and gave me a dreamy smile.
"Of course, Kly-san. Let's make sure that young lady who's so fond of Ark-san gets to know us properly."