I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes - Chapter 55: A Necklace of Courage (1)

Thump thump.

Miss Adryn nonchalantly approached me with cheerful footsteps.

“But this, it seems quite valuable, would it be okay?”

Tap tap.

She leaned back on her heels, and lightly brushed my shoulder with her own.

The corners of her mouth were softly curved, forming a gentle figure of three.

The mixing of joy and mischievous was like an ‘Oh!’ admiration said directly through her expression.

“Ha ha, are you asking that quickly? Usually, don’t you ask before you receive something?”

“Given then taken…!?”

At my words, Adryn, who clasped the necklace with both hands, stepped back.

“…”

But then, she let go, placed the necklace on her hand and studied it closely, murmuring to herself.

“So, surely. It does look not just a little, but quite valuable.”

Adryn looked from the necklace to me, then carefully removed her grip.

“You, where on earth did you get this valuable looking thing? Don’t tell me…”

Thump!

She widened her eyes and spoke as if she realized something.

“You, you…! Did you steal this!?”

“Ha ha, how can you think that lowly of Miss Adryn, huh?”

Uh-oh.

Oops.

‘Oops?’

On a second thought, I did steal it, right?

‘Even didn’t just steal it, but also rummaged through pockets after defeating the target?’

“What, what? Why are you avoiding my eyes!? Did you really steal this!?”

“Ahaha, just joking. I’m joking. But did I resort to theft to get a present for Miss Adryn? It’s quite a romantic view you have of me, I’m flattered.”

“That, right? You didn’t steal it, did you? Whew, thank goodness~”

You don’t have to worry, Miss Adryn.

It wasn’t stolen from a good person; I merely reclaimed it from a scoundrel.

‘…Ah, doesn’t that make me feel guilty?’

But once I became conscious of it, it bothered me.

Even if the guy deserved it, is it justifiable to loot a person after killing them and casually use the stolen items?

Is that right?

‘Who cares about right or wrong.’

From my own perspective, there’s absolutely no problem.

People like me, who are disdainful and scornful, can’t afford to waste energy worrying about each of these things and attach unnecessary meanings to them, because our characters aren’t that benevolent.

But, what if I give that thing as a gift to someone else?

That definitely bothers me.

It feels like the dirty residue of the long-nailed Adonis is contaminating the necklace.

If, like me, the recipient of the gift is a trashy person with a personality that dwells in the pit, perhaps it’s okay.

But it’s Adryn.

A pure and delicate young lady.

Can you present a gift to such a lady, a thing with such a fiery past?

‘It feels wrong.’

At that time when I was pondering, Adryn, who was fiddling with the necklace, let out a gasp.

“What, what’s this!? This, is this possibly an artifact?”

“An artifact?”

I pretended as if I didn’t know.

If a commoner like me suddenly brings a heroic-class artifact as a gift, it’s too suspicious, so I decided to create a new setting.

Ceylon only knew that necklace is a rather valuable, not more than a necklace.

Setting finished.

“An artifact, what are you saying?”

“It’s not…? Am I mistaken…?”

Adryn brought the necklace near her ear.

What are you doing, Miss Adryn.

It’s not a magic conch, you know.

That artifact doesn’t have such a function.

“I thought I sensed a touch of mana, but…?”

An artifact refers to an object in which the operation of mana has been embedded through magic engineering or rituals.

As much as the artifact is filled with a vast mana that rivals a decent golem –

It’s tough to feel the mana contained in the artifact just by its surface.

It’s ‘contained’.

In other words, the crucial factor that determines the quality of an artifact is how well the mana is contained without leaking.

Paradoxically, the better the artifact and the greater the mana it contains, the less one can feel the existence of the mana.

On the current level of 3 stars, can our Miss Adryn feel mana from a hero-grade artifact?

It wouldn’t be easy.

There are two possibilities.

1. The design of the necklace was so refined and mystical that Adryn got confused.

2. Adryn inherently has a sensitivity to mana.

‘I knew it, Miss Adryn.’

I liked number 2 more, so I decided to believe in it.

“… I knew it wouldn’t work.”

Shortly after, Adryn untied the necklace and handed it back to me.

“Fool, I don’t think I can accept this.”

“There’s no need to burden yourself with it?”

“First of all, where did you get this necklace?”

It’s a secret.

If I say that now, it’s like admitting it’s stolen.

But I can’t say I took it from the direct master of Harashin.

As much as I didn’t want to lie to Adryn, I decided to be discreet.

“In the past, I obtained it while helping someone who was in distress.”

I wasn’t lying when I said I saved Sinia from her distress, and looted it from Edony, the one who had placed her in such a predicament.

“Did you receive this as a token of gratitude…?”

As answering would require a lie, I silently smiled in response.

Looking at me, Adryn, with a serious look on her face, said,

“Really, really, it’s not stolen, right!?”

The seriousness in her face expressed worry, not suspicion.

‘Are you my mother, Miss Adryn.’

To put Adryn at ease, I spoke in a cheerful manner without any hint of deceit.

“Haha, would I go that far to get you a gift, Miss Adryn? Don’t worry about that.”

“Oh, really? Right. There’s no way you’d go that far to give me a gift, right?”

“Exactly!”

Riffing off my hearty reply, I guess something didn’t appeal to her.

Up until a moment ago, her face was expressive and her mood seemed relaxed. Now she looked perplexed.

“Well, anyway -”

Adryn stroked the necklace she held in her hand, and handed it back again.

“I can’t accept this.”

“You shouldn’t bother yourself.”

“You, you should bother yourself, idiot. Did you check what this is before gifting it to me? What if it’s a really valuable object?”

“Didn’t I choose it as a gift for Miss Adryn because it seemed like a nice item?”

“…”

Adryn’s mouth turned into a wave-like shape at my response.

Adryn, avoiding eye contact with a chubby expression, spoke.

“This guy really just, blurts out anything that comes to mind.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Just accepting the thought, you fool! How could you accept something that looks so precious!”

Human psychology is quite amazing.

Just a moment ago, Adryn could not feel more injustice and disappointment when the necklace was almost forcibly taken from her.

But now, when she was trying to return the necklace?

‘Does she not actually want to accept it?’

In my head, the reason ‘why The Right Arm seemed anxious and was looking around when Adryn rejected the necklace’ came to mind.

According to that, Adryn is supposed to have that necklace.

The first reason is that it suits her well.

Adryn, with orange hair and eyes filled with lustre.

The necklace with a container filled with radiant orange gem.

I could not think of a better combination.

Isn’t there anyone who could wear the necklace as well as Adryn?

And the second reason.

When I think about it, selling hero-class artefacts at auction houses –

That is, it didn’t seem very wise to distribute them in the market.

Then I might be able to get some living expenses and live a comfortable life in the academy.

But that’s hero-grade artefact.

Considering the power contained within it, the act of distributing this artifact in the market?

It was virtually like distributing military supplies to the market.

Could the artifact go around and fall into the hands of villains?

My choice could have resulted in providing strength to the opponents.

Even when Adonis with long nails was in a relatively advantageous position during a battle with Sinia, this artefact took up a significant part.

Resistance to abnormal status ‘Fear’.

Anyone who’s ever fought in a real battle would know how useful it is in the field.

Therefore, if there’s an artifact that has no significant impact on the power but is of no use to me, it was correct to hand it over to the hero faction that I can consider as my allies.

‘Like giving it to a sub-character.’

Our Adryn is undoubtedly noble and is one of the key figures in the hero faction.

In addition, she was one of the people that necklace suited best.

There was no one more suitable to be the owner of this necklace than our Adryn.

Having made up my mind, I quickly pulled my hand away as Adryn was about to place the necklace on my palm.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

“Miss Adryn, I’ve already made up my mind. Please accept it.”

“Ah! Enough! How can I accept something so precious! I will gratefully accept your sentiments and just give it back!”

But Adryn’s resistance (?) was stronger than I thought.

Adryn, trying to catch my hand and place the necklace back on, was swinging her arm vigorously.

It crossed my mind at this point.

‘Do I really have to insist on giving it to Adryn, who is being awkward?’

Adryn ‘most’ suited to be the owner of this necklace.

But was she the only applicable owner of the necklace? That was not the case.

“Then, maybe giving it to Mizu or Miss Drin would be…”

I tried to accept the necklace extended by Adryn with such a thought.

“…!”

Then, Adryn stepped back, clutching the necklace with both hands.

“Hmm? What is it? Weren’t you going to give it back?”

“No, no…! Why does the conversation turn that way!? If you were prepared to give it to me, why those two-”

“Well… Because Miss Adryn won’t accept it…?”

Ouch!

Adryn flared up, clutching the necklace with both hands.

“Hey, you fool! Why does the conversation turn that way!? If I’m not going to accept it, you can just keep it!”

“But…It’s meaningless even if I keep it.”

“…Besides!”

Suddenly, Adryn looked away and said in an embarrassed tone.

“You said it suited me well. Was that just a passing remark…!?”

Hmm.

What’s this about?

I had no idea why Adryn was acting like that.

‘So, are you saying you will accept the necklace, or are you saying you won’t?’

The heart of a young miss.

It’s difficult.

It was not something I, who mostly had experiences with women in 2D, could deal with lightly.

Losing confidence, I cautiously continued speaking.

“So, I’d be most thrilled if you could accept it, Miss Adryn…”

“…”

Ugh.

Adryn crossed her arms and went into a contemplative mode.

Then she soon brightened up as if she had an idea, “Ah! I know an appraiser in district 2?”

“An appraiser?”

“Yes! Let’s go to that appraiser and get this necklace appraised first. Then-”

Adryn brought out something from her bosom and placed it on her palm.

The weighty coin purse was rough on the outside.

“I’ll pay the appropriate price to that appraiser. How about it?”

“Uh… If that happens, it’s no longer a gift…”

And more importantly-

I stared at the heavy purse, the source of Adryn’s display of confidence.

Ahem!

Looking at her confident face, it was probably full of gold coins.

However-

‘How much is the value of a hero-grade artifact?’

Then, a phrase I saw on a wiki page came to mind.

[According to the narrative in the work, the value of a hero-grade artifact is equivalent to a mansion in the suburbs of a metropolis]

“Uh…”

With that phrase in my mind, I looked again at Adryn’s confident purse filled with gold coins.

‘Can that purse buy a mansion in district 1…?’

Probably not.

By a long shot.

“What~ What are you going to do~ I’m going to buy it with my own money, what are you going to do, huh~?”

However, seeing Adryn’s shoulders raised high with confidence, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth.

“Th, that sounds good then.”

So.

All I could do was pray desperately.

I hoped that the skill of the appraiser Adryn knows was terribly lacking.

So that the value of that necklace could be beaten down to the amount of gold coins in that confident, gold-plentiful purse.