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Chapter 49: Kill Steal

 

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「Zeph-kun! Please look at that!」

Claude was pointing at where the Sunny Raven had just disappeared, it seems it left an item there.

It’s a sword.

The item the Sunny Raven dropped is the treasure sword Freybrand.

It is loaded with flame magic and is capable of casting Red Ball without verbal chanting.

It relies on one’s own magic, the quality of that magic, and several other factors which cause the power to vary greatly. The 「Anyone can use it」 Red Ball isn’t that powerful because of it.

Though I say that, it is an interesting weapon nonetheless. Nobles and rich people usually want this sword to show off, in other words it’s a luxury item.

I wonder if it’s relatively rare at this time? In Beruta town I saw it being sold once at a stall.

At that time, I think the price was…. 3,000,000 rupi, and even at that price it sold immediately.

Why a monster turns into things like weapons, armor, etc. is unknown. But one sort of explanation is that, the magic from the surroundings in the dungeon is concentrated inside of monsters, while in combat the monsters begin to form the items according to appearance and type.

I immediately ran over to Freybrand and went to take it in my hand.

—-but my hand was deflected and I felt a light pain.

Then from the side another hand reaches out and grabs the treasure sword Freybrand.

It seems like they teleported over here, and before I could do anything, the hand had hidden the sword away inside a black coat.

「That…….why……….」

In contrast to Claude’s cry of dismay, I clicked my tongue. As I thought.

The Sunny Raven was hurt before. In all likelihood, before it fought us, it probably had already been in a battle.

While it was in battle it was probably shot while we were unable to see.

The monster is made up of the dungeon’s magical energy. The items dropped from the monsters are also made up and surrounded by the same magic and energy.

This magic will reject anyone except the one who fought the monster. Until this magic disappears the only ones who can pick up the item is the main fighter and their partner.

The definition of 「Main Fighter」 and partner are the ones who did the most damage to the monster.

If more than one party hurt the same monster, the one who did the most damage is given priority.

Therefore, those with ill intentions purposefully attacking from the side to steal the item, this is called a 「Kill Steal」, the magic association decided that this action is prohibited.

「…..! Intentionally stealing the kill from the side is banned!」

「That is pretty much only for normal monsters only. Claude, kill stealing or attacking from the side to take down a dangerous and powerful boss is a valid act.」

「That’s the case. Sorry.」

Immediately above where I was squatting I hear a familiar low husky voice.

—-this voice, can it be!?

Surprised, I raise my head and it’s just as I remember. Short black hair and a black coat. Underneath it is a well-proportioned and slim body.

Navel exposed, with a short shirt slightly open at the chest and well-toned abs.

A magic enhancing circle was drawn upside-down on black gloves. On her neck is a silver necklace with magic enhancements. Cold almond shaped eyes and a straight nose.

I remember the appearance of this woman as her coat flaps as I look at her.

「Good work」

(Master!)

I froze in surprise and somehow managed to keep myself from crying out.

This woman, once upon a time, took me in as a disciple even though it was an unreasonable request, Seruberie Shugeru.

I never interacted much with other people but, within only half a year of being with her I acknowledged her as the strongest mage I’d seen. Her impression is sharper than what I’m used to, but on the whole her atmosphere is just the same.

Her thin, wolf-like body and her sharp predatory gaze are the same as always.

My deeply emotional gaze might have seemed strange to my motionless master.

Giving me a dubious look, she wordlessly teleported away.

「What the heck was that!」

Not paying attention to the pouting and angry Claude, I stare in a daze in the direction my master has just disappeared.

She looks at my face and sees that I’m not really paying attention, and her cheeks puff up even further in displeasure.

A little bit later we return to Milly and Lydia’s side. Milly is on the verge of tears and is still continuing to cast healing on Lydia.

「We have just returned Milly-san」

When Milly hears Claude’s call, she lifts her face, and the tears gathered in her eyes start to flow down her face.

「Zeph, Claude you’re okay!」

Leaving Lydia, she leaps towards me and Claude.

H…..hugging my neck with all your strength is painful.

「You two……why are you both always so beat up……」

Now that you mention it whenever Claude and I fight together we seem to always end up in tatters…..

Maybe we don’t have very good compatibility.

As I was spacing out and thinking, Lydia abruptly sat up.

「…..huh? what’s going on guys? I mean what happened to me too?」

Since she hit her head it seems like her consciousness is confused.

Lydia looks at us with a sleepy blank expression on her face, and we all start laughing.

Since after all that’s happened we’re tired, we are ready to go back to town.

We all go to the edge of a cliff and teleport directly to the foot of the mountain. Then we waited for the carriage to come and returned to the town by evening. The loot that was in the carriage, the roc bird claw etc., was sold for 20,000 rupi, and while Milly was pleased with the money, Claude, who had seen my master take Freybrand, had a complicated expression.

By the way, since last time we used money to buy Milly and Claude equipment, this time the money is to buy equipment for me. It’s fine to use it freely but, well it’s good to take my time to choose.

We split with Lydia and the three of us were on the way back to the inn. Milly kept asking about the boss fight over and over, but we said that we had run away from it.

Claude and I had gotten our stories straight and our acting was pretty good so we weren’t found out. Claude looked at me, her gaze was threatening and a little scary demanding a proper explanation later.

When we got back to the inn, Milly went by herself to take a bath and Claude visited my room.

「What’s the meaning of this! Why is this a secret from Milly-san? And why are you siding with that person!?」

When she entered the room, Claude drew closer to me.

She was staring at me and looked like she was going to grab me at any moment.

「….Well calm down Claude. It’s not that I’m on mas…..her side. Boss hunting just has those kinds of rules. And if we were to tell Milly she’d just blow up and there’d be trouble」

「That’s……certainly you could say that I guess….」

I drive away the still dissatisfied Claude and recall what happened this noon.

The moment before master teleported, I barely managed to cast Scout Scope.

Seruberie Shugeru

Level 91

「Red」 Lvl 72/78

「Blue」 Lvl 78/85

「Green」 Lvl 45/70

「Sky」 Lvl 79/94

「Soul」 Lvl 18/65

Magic Power 1126/5715

That person has a really high magic level.

Right now my master should be around 20 years old or so…..

At that stage it is extremely hard to raise your level.

In those days Scout Scope wasn’t around so they wouldn’t really know, but reaching such a level took only 20 years.

Also there is the risk of 「Death」 that comes with long periods of hunting, there aren’t many that would hunt for such a long time, also……in those days compared to now the leveling up might reach a brake at high levels and you may only be able to level up once per year or something like that.

I don’t even know what to say about this kind of speed…..

However, what’s truly surprising isn’t just this.

Before she took off, I couldn’t see very well but, there were at least 10….special magic’s that I could see.

It was the inherent magic that was specialized to my Master that I’ve seen her use in the past. There was an enchantment spell on her equipment, which increased the effectiveness of said equipment however, that obvious enchantment was to hide her more special magic’s which she had stored away in case of emergencies.

As per usual, she is still such a careful person.

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