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Volume 8 Chapter 4 Part 4

If I continue to deal with Luke for Skill Crystals and equipment with that two-way relationship of ours, then I have to make sure that this partnership is going to remain a give or take one that can last as long as possible on equal terms, even if I might no need him as much as I did before now that I managed to get my hands on the White Magic Crystal, which effectively eliminates most if not all of my money problems.

When you have no money, you won’t think of any good money-making ideas, but once you obtain enough money to live a relatively comfortable life without having to worry about anything, then you’ll be able to start thinking about coming up with good methods of making money without worrying about every single day. That’s just how it works.

「It should be easier to obtain the Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystal now,  so please try to get it if you get the chance.」

I placed an order for the Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystal with Luke. The price should settle down now that that house of that broker is no longer buying it.

「You’re still in need of it? Very well then.」

Also, I realized something after hearing Luke’s reply.

In his eyes, it should be pretty strange that I wanted him to get his hands on the Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystal if I already had a staff with 「MP Absorption」on me, right? Well, definitely, but in this particular case, it shouldn’t be viewed as such.

Since me and my Party are frequently coming into the Labyrinths, then isn’t it obvious that all of my Party Members deserve to have the best equipment possible to ensure that our Labyrinth-conquering experience is going to be as smooth as possible? Like, for example, adding「MP Absorption」 to a weapon that already possesses 「HP Absorption」 Skill. In that case, we would have one of the best possible weapons in the entire game.

It’s okay. It’s going to be fine. Luke doesn’t seem to mind it that much either. And besides, each person has their own circumstances, and as long as he won’t pry into mine, then there’s no reason to start worrying about it.

After placing the order, I return to the house.

「Do nobles often receive items with Skills attached to them as betrothal gifts?」

While having dinner with the girls, I asked Sherry about it. The Soul Sucking Staff was meant to be used as a betrothal gift, after all, and The Duke of Harz also presented the Ring of Determination to Cassia’s family as his own betrothal gift.

「I don’t know much about nobles, but I certainly haven’t heard of something like that ever being a tradition that every noble has to abide by.」

「Just today, I heard a story that the weapon with 「MP Absorption」 was meant to be presented as a gift to a young noblewoman who is getting married.」

「Oh. I see. So that’s what you meant.」

Sherry seems to understand what I am going on about.

「That being said, I don’t know where that young noblewoman is from or whether on not she’s an important figure to be receiving a weapon with such a useful Skill.」

「If she’s a noblewoman who is supposed to receive a Soul Sucking Staff as her betrothal gift, then I am pretty sure that she has to be a Mage who’s going to be using that weapon herself. If it wasn’t going to be like that, then pretty much a weapon with any other Skill in it should’ve sufficed.」

「Even though she’s the bride? I mean, I can definitely see why that would make sense from a practical standpoint, but still…」

It doesn’t seem like a regular betrothal present to me.

「Their family is probably planning to increase in power, and that’s why they want to gather as much items with powerful Skills as possible.」

「You understand that much? As expected of Sherry. I would’ve never picked up on that on my own.」

Yeah, except Luke said the exact same thing to me before, so I wasn’t all that surprised at Sherry’s words as I would have been if she was the first one to make that reveal to me.

「Master, you’re not going to lose, right? You cannot lose!」

「L-Lose? W-Well, of course I don’t intend to lose…」

I replied to Roxanne, even though I had trouble understanding what she was talking about right now.

「Uhm, you see, master… For a party with a Wizard or a Mage in it, their damage output is going to increase exponentially.」

Did Sherry start explaining because she noticed I didn’t understand?

「That’s true.」

「A Mage is an indispensable piece for a Party aiming to take an active role in the exploration of the Labyrinths, because their magic is going to be making the brunt of the force that’s going to be dealing with monsters on the higher levels.」

「You’re most probably right.」

「However, not everyone can become a Mage. It is limited to children of nobles and very rich families.」

Because they’re forced to use the Orb of Self Destruction when they’re still infants since it won’t kill them even if it does end up working properly. That’s why for everyone else, it looks like becoming a Mage might be quite difficult, to the point where it is actually not worth to even think of trying to become one.

「I’ve heard about that.」

「And even if you raise a Mage from the time when they’re a baby, it takes tens or years for them to become a first-class Mage that can make themselves useful in an actual battle.」

「I understand, I understand.」

「That  is why I think that the family that wanted the weapon with 「MP Absorption」in it wanted it so that they could increase their own strength. After all, the best and most reliable way of shortening that waiting time as much as possible is to take someone who’s already a mage as your spouse or an in-law.」

I see. Is she trying to say that a Mage who has a weapon with 「MP Absorption」in it would definitely play an active role in pretty much every Party?

「She is probably already quite skilled, but now she will have a better weapon as well.」

「I see. Well, I can’t say that my aim was to ever compete with other Mages, but as far as weapons are concerned, I think that I managed to secure us the one that’s going to be better than the Soul Sucking Staff. Take a look at this.」

I say as I pull The Holy Spear from my Item Box.

「A spear?」

「A spear.」

「Spear, desu.」

「It’s the spear that strengthens magic, just like Sherry said.」

I say as I present The Holy Spear to Sherry.

「The Holy Spear? Yes, I remember saying something about that.」

「It was good that you remembered that.」

Which is why I will be torturing you so hard tonight that you won’t even be able to think straight and utilize that great memory of yours. Things are going to be wild, so you better prepare yourself.

「I think the Holy Spear is a considerably valuable weapon to have, so you made a good choice by obtaining it.」

Sherry says timidly.

「I got it by trading the weapon you fused earlier,  so you’ve contributed to us getting it, Sherry.」

「This is the first time I’ve  ever seen one myself. So it really exists.」

You’ve never seen one? Well, I shouldn’t be all that surprised, since there probably aren’t any museums or exhibitions for this kind of thing in this world, and even in my case there are a lot of things that I have never seen, even on TV.

The next morning, we entered the Labyrinth to check how easy the Holy Spear was to use. As for what happened last night, I don’t remember everything that happened when I started torturing and punishing the girls. I found Sex Maniac active when I got up in the morning, so I must have punished them quite a bit before passing out without even being able to change that Job back into something else.

The Holy Spear is only slightly worse than the Rod of Offerings. Still, that’s an awesome weapon in its own right. If it’s only slightly worse than the Rod of Offerings when it has no Skills in it, then just imagine how amazing it will be after having 「Increase INT x2」and four other Skills imbued into it as well.