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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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Chapter 06: Divine Artifact (3)
“Then allow me to personally guide you to the exit—”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll take my leave now.”
Sff—
Karayan tried to escort me out of the underground arena, but I turned away, politely declining her offer.
Who knew acting tough in front of someone would be this exhausting?
‘…It’s been so long since I had to pretend like this that I can barely breathe.’
Now that everything was settled, I wanted nothing more than to get out of Karayan’s line of sight as fast as possible.
‘Wait.’
But I didn’t get far before regret hit me.
‘…Where the hell is the exit?’
This is insane.
I thought I had memorized the entire map of the underground arena…
But it’s a whole different story when game graphics turn into actual physical space. Everything's confusing.
* * *
“Hoo…”
Left alone, Karayan let out a deep sigh.
Her Savior had left the Ruins Guild.
Just like their sudden meeting, his departure had come just as abruptly.
‘I should’ve seen him off…’
Clicking her tongue, Karayan swallowed her disappointment.
She had wanted to escort her benefactor to the main gates of the underground arena.
But when he told her not to follow, she couldn’t bring herself to go against his words.
In the end, the last thing she did was hand over the pouch of money before returning alone to the uppermost floor.
“……”
Sff—
When she looked down, the full view of the underground arena unfolded before her eyes.
On the barren dirt floor, dried bloodstains remained stuck like scars—evidence of the brutal match that had just taken place.
Yes.
It was right there, in that very spot, that her savior had slain the Human Butcher Barba in a single strike.
Just like the time he effortlessly killed the monster that had tried to take her life in the frontier.
Thump-thump—
Leah de Karayan’s heart beat faster.
Who could’ve imagined she would meet him again so suddenly, in the middle of her monotonous days?
The swordsman who had saved her life in the frontier.
To Karayan, he was nothing short of a prince on a white horse.
That memory—the moment he rescued her—shone brighter than anything else in her bleak, grey-colored life.
She’d started to forget his voice, his face, everything about him…
So getting to see him again like this overwhelmed her with emotion.
‘…Though none of my questions were answered.’
She finally got the reunion she had so desperately longed for.
And yet, the man’s identity remained just as shrouded in mystery as ever.
She didn’t know his true background—or even his name.
In truth, nothing had changed at all since the first time they met.
“……”
Heh—
As she realized that, a bitter smile slipped out before she could stop it.
But it was okay.
Because he had promised her one thing: That he would come back to the Ruins Guild someday.
‘It wasn’t just to repay a childhood debt…’
All of this had been a calculated move.
That man was overwhelmingly powerful. Even Loren, her elite guard, hadn’t been able to react to his movements.
So if a measly 100 million shillings and a Featherblade could earn that kind of person’s goodwill—
That was a bargain.
“Sigh…”
Well, at least that’s how Karayan justified her own actions.
After all, she had never gone this far for anyone before.
Knock knock—
Several hours later…
A knock came from beyond the door to the VIP room.
At the sound, Karayan slightly furrowed her brow and spoke.
“Who is it?”
The knight, Loren, replied cautiously beside her, “It’s the item appraiser, Master.”
“...The appraiser?”
“Yes. Meister Gob—the one you requested a reappraisal of Frostglow from.”
“Ah.”
Karayan nodded briefly.
She’d had Frostglow reappraised, just as her savior had advised. It seemed the process had already finished.
‘Wait a second…’
She frowned.
Could a detailed reappraisal be finished this quickly?
Something felt… off.
“Open the door.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sssrrrk—
As soon as Karayan gave the command, a shadow moved toward the entrance.
Soon, the firmly shut door slowly creaked open.
And standing outside was an elderly man with white hair who bowed his head deeply as he entered.
“Pardon the intrusion, Master. I came because…”
The appraiser trailed off mid-sentence.
Through the lens of his monocle, his wrinkled eyes were visibly trembling.
Karayan’s brows knitted slightly.
“Why the hesitation, Meister Gob? Did Frostglow get damaged or something?”
“No, no. I checked its condition thoroughly after hearing it had fallen to the floor. The blade didn’t have a single scratch—there wasn’t even any dust on it. However…”
Gulp—
The appraiser swallowed dryly, his face tense with nerves.
And then, the words he spoke next left Karayan completely stunned—mind blank.
“It appears that Frostglow… may be a counterfeit.”
“……What?”
* * *
Step. Step. Step.
Lea de Karayan rushed down to the secret vault.
Stopping in front of Frostglow’s display case, she narrowed her eyes.
For a fake, the sword’s quality was far too high.
More than that, her innate ability itself was telling her the sword was genuine.
“……”
Karayan focused her gaze on Frostglow, eyes squinting in concentration.
With a sudden jolt of pain in her head, a semi-transparent window flickered into her view.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
【??】
Creator: ■■□ ■■■■□ ■■
Equipment Grade: ??
[Equipment Description]
A weapon forged by a master craftsman—member of the Pantheon and representative of the one who maintains the balance of the world.
It may be that, in pursuit of this fearsome blade, a wave of bloodthirsty greed will someday sweep across mankind…
[Equipment Effect]
??
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A Skill.
A rare and extraordinary power that manifests differently from person to person.
And the ability Karayan had been born with was—
【Gilded Eye】
An ability to identify things that hold monetary value—treasures hidden in the mud, so to speak.
When Karayan focused her senses on an object, she could glean limited but crucial information about it.
This very ability had allowed her to unearth countless gems in the rough—and with that edge, she’d risen to power as one of the underworld’s top merchants.
Frostglow, too, had once been one of those discoveries.
‘What… is this?’
Karayan frowned.
‘…There’s no way this is a fake.’
She began reading through the description her Gilded Eye presented.
This ability had never steered her wrong. It had brought her nothing but massive profits time and time again.
According to the skill’s reading, this weapon had definitely been forged by the so-called Master of Flame and Forge.
The character count for the creator’s name, the mention of the Pantheon, a master representing the gods—it all lined up.
Though the available information was limited, the facts uncovered so far made it easy enough to grasp the situation.
‘Above all, it looks exactly like Frostglow.’
A sword that began with a blade of shimmering blue, gradually transitioning to a reddish metallic hue.
Although the weapon had been completely rusted over when it was first acquired, once it was restored, its appearance matched the legendary descriptions of Frostglow to the letter.
Karayan studied the weapon for a while, then finally spoke.
“You're saying this is a fake?”
“...To be honest, calling it a fake is a little ambiguous.”
“What?”
Karayan's brows knit sharply at the appraiser’s vague answer.
Sensing her displeasure, the appraiser hastily raised his hands and tried to explain.
“Of course, it’s definitely true that the creator is none other than the great Master of Flame and Forge. However…”
“However?”
“...This weapon itself is not Frostglow.”
—Pause.
An icy silence fell over the secret vault once again.
So the creator was the Master of Flame and Forge, yet the weapon itself wasn’t Frostglow?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Perhaps sensing her confusion from the look on her face, the appraiser continued to elaborate.
“All of the divine artifacts created by the great Master of Flame and Forge are engraved with a serial number. And indeed, this weapon bears traces of such an engraving.”
“……”
“But because you, Master, had instructed me to investigate it as a possible counterfeit, I examined the blade more closely and noticed something odd…”
“Just get to the point.”
“...My apologies.”
Chastened by Karayan’s irritation, the appraiser paused and then calmly delivered his conclusion.
“It appears this sword was a trial piece—something the Master of Flame and Forge crafted as a practice run before formally creating Frostglow.”
At those words, Karayan found herself letting out a sigh, almost involuntarily.
“...A trial piece?”
A trial piece.
A prototype forged by the Master of Flame and Forge before creating the final version of Frostglow.
That explanation made the appraiser’s earlier contradictions start to make sense.
And it also aligned perfectly with what Karayan’s own skill, 【Gilded Eye】, had revealed to her.
‘It’s shocking, but not unbelievable.’
That old man was the most skilled appraiser in the entire Ruins Guild.
The odds of his evaluation being wrong were extremely low.
Of course, further verification would be needed, but Karayan chose, for now, to accept his conclusion as truth.
“So what you’re saying is… this sword is a replica of Frostglow?”
“Rather than a replica, I’d say it’s a prototype. A test model would be the more accurate term.”
Karayan sighed, a deep breath tinged with complexity.
“Hoo… Either way, if we had put this up for auction claiming it was the real Frostglow, the Ruins Guild’s reputation would’ve taken a massive hit.”
“...That was my failure. I’m truly sorry.”
The appraiser bowed deeply.
He clearly felt responsible for not identifying the sword as a prototype during the initial appraisal.
But Karayan had no intention of blaming him.
A prototype forged personally by the Master of Flame and Forge?
With no point of comparison, how could anyone be expected to distinguish it as a test model on the first try?
Just discovering that the sword wasn’t genuine before the auction began was something to be thankful for.
‘Still…’
Right then, a single question flashed through Karayan’s mind.
‘…How did the benefactor figure out it wasn’t the real Frostglow?’
He hadn’t spent hours scrutinizing the weapon like the appraiser had.
All he’d done was glance at it once—and yet, he’d instantly seen through its true nature.
With that realization, Karayan immediately turned to the appraiser.
“Meister Gob.”
“...Yes?”
“If someone told you they recognized Frostglow as a prototype at just a glance… would you believe them?”
“At a glance…?”
“As in, they only looked at it for a few seconds. That kind of glance.”
At that, the appraiser’s eyes widened, and he frantically shook his head.
“N-no. That’s absolutely impossible. I say this with the utmost respect, but even the great Master of Flame and Forge himself probably couldn’t tell the real Frostglow apart from the prototype in just a few seconds.”
“……”
“The prototype’s level of completion is that high. If you hadn’t instructed me to assume it might be fake and approach the appraisal critically, I would have been convinced it was genuine.”
Even the creator himself wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the original from the prototype at a glance?
So identifying Frostglow as inauthentic in such a short time should have been impossible.
At least… based on the standards of the Ruins Guild’s most skilled appraiser.
‘…Then who is he, really?’
The benefactor had discerned Frostglow’s true nature instantly.
He could’ve used that knowledge to boast—but instead, he had stayed indifferent.
And not only that. Despite his extraordinary eye for value, the only weapon he chose to take from the secret vault was the Featherblade.
That’s right. That so-called divine weapon that everyone had dismissed as worthless junk.
“Hoo…”
She didn’t understand.
Once again, she’d received help from him without giving anything in return.
And that only made the weight in Karayan’s heart heavier.
* * *
〔Hidden Message: You have completed the tutorial perfectly for the first time.〕
〔Hidden Message: You have avoided an inevitable death.〕
〔Hidden Message: The law of causality has been disrupted.〕
〔Hidden Message: The Pantheon is astonished by your unprecedented achievement. The Forgotten Harmonizers now turn their attention to your path.〕
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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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