I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes - Chapter 56: A Necklace of Courage (2)

“What are you guys doing here?”

It was around when I was about to head over to the antique shop run by the owner, along with Miss Adryn.

An emotionless voice chimed in from below.

Looking down, I saw light sky-blue hair.

I wanted to reach out and touch it instinctively but refrained from doing so.

“Oh, Miss Mizu. What brings you here?”

Then, the light blue head tilted upwards and was replaced by the face of Miss Mizu looking at me.

Miss Mizu pointed somewhere with her fingers.

One of the windows of the Lebringer mansion –

As far as I remember, it was the room where Miss Mizu stayed.

“After finishing the morning training, unlike the Bauer mansion, I am spending a comfortable, dazzling, clean, and elegant time in this mansion. Outside the window, I noticed Miss Teln. It was also a scene that couldn’t be experienced shut within the confines of Bauer.”

“What kind of place is Bauer’s mansion, exactly?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important. Anyway, I saw Miss Teln lingering near our Lebringer mansion with something in the basket and I wondered if she had anything to do in our mansion-”

“In our Lebringer mansion?”

With the awareness of inclusion instilled through her words, Miss Mizu’s gaze directed towards Miss Adryn again returned to me.

“Just then, the fool made an entrance.”

Then she cast her gaze towards Adryn.

“And then, while praising Miss Teln a lot, the fool showed off the basket in his hands.”

“I’ve never gone that far!?”

“Oh really? Anyway, so just when I suspected that Miss Teln would finally be entering our Lebringer mansion!”

Miss Mizu pointed her fingers towards the necklace held in Miss Adryn’s hand.

“A huge incident. Isn’t Miss Teln going to cheat him?”

“Che-cheat!? Mizu! Your word choice-”

“It’s fine in Bauer.”

“No, I’m not talking about that. When did I ever cheat – no, no!”

Adryn slapped her hand over her mouth.

“When did I rob this fool of his necklace!”

“Really?”

Miss Mizu tilted her head.

“It seemed that way when I was looking from the window.”

“It must have looked like that because you were watching from a distance.”

“Then what? What was the conversation about?”

“What was the conversation about, did you say? Alright, listen carefully. I just asked him about the necklace in his hand.”

“Mmm.”

“He then said, it’s a gift prepared by Ceylon for me and all of a sudden, he insisted for me to have it~ Look at this~”

Adryn held out the necklace and flaunted it.

“Wow.”

Miss Mizu brought her face closer to look at the necklace.

“Amazing.”

“It’s beautiful, right?”

Miss Mizu nodded with great force.

“It’s stunning. Surely I have never seen such things in the Bauer family.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that…”

Unmoved by Adryn’s shock at her disdain for Bauer, Miss Mizu continued to stare at the necklace with fascination.

“Duly noted, gifts of such magnitude are received by a lady of Teln’s caliber.”

“Oh, well.”

Then Adryn, as if she had some words to say, tapped her fingers together.

“It’s not necessarily because I am a lady of Teln family… that he wanted to impress me…? If it was a gift with such intent… wouldn’t he have given it to Sir Drin…?”

Her voice trailed off.

Out of the corner of her eye, Adryn carefully assessed my reaction.

“Ha, ha, of course. It’s a gift given purely out of favor to our dear Miss Adryn. Regardless of any family ties.”

“Really?”

“Yes! It’s a kind of symbol of friendship, right?”

“Oh, right. Yes. A symbol of friendship.”

Click.

With a cool expression, Adryn clicked her tongue.

“Um… is there a problem or…?”

“No? Why? There’s no problem.”

The very cheerful (?) smile of Adryn did not seem like there was a problem at all, but I chose not to probe further.

‘Did I do something wrong again?’

I wondered what I could have done wrong.

I have no idea.

The heart of a young lady in her prime.

Isn’t it too difficult?

“A symbol of friendship…!”

At that moment, Miss Mizu, with stars in her previously emotionless eyes, looked up at me.

“So. If it’s unrelated to pedigree. Can someone born of the Bauer lineage like me, also anticipate such a symbol of friendship?”

“Ugh…!”

A light born in the darkness is all the more dazzling.

With all those stars in her usually emotionless eyes, she was utterly radiant.

I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘Not in your case’ in such an atmosphere.

“Of course, Miss Mizu. Not now, but soon, I will also present a symbol of friendship to you…!”

“Oh…”

Miss Mizu placed her hands over her heart.

“My heart is pounding…”

At that moment.

I felt a searing gaze and when I looked over at Adryn, she was staring at me with a meaningful expression.

“Is something wrong…?”

“No, I just thought you’d be giving these out to everyone.”

Adryn lazily waved the necklace she had been cherishing just moments ago.

“Everyone?!”

I raised my voice in surprise.

Throwing out a hero-class artifact to anyone?

That’s a complete waste of resources.

“Of course, I’d just be giving them to the important people (at least characters with a principal role)!”

“Important people…”

Damn it.

Huh.

Ridiculous.

Adryn murmured with her head turned away and began to move somewhere.

“Hey, Miss Adryn? Miss Adryn? Where you going-”

“Where am I going? I’m going to see the artificer I heard about! Follow me!”

“Yes!”

Adryn was leading the way and below her came the familiar voice.

“What artificer?”

Miss Mizu had joined my side, matching my pace.

She still held her hands over her heart.

“It’s quite a complicated matter to explain succinctly.”

“Complicated. Oh. A spice that stirs interest. Can I come along?”

“I don’t think it’s that intriguing…?”

“Ah. Is that a tactful rejection?”

Miss Mizu stopped walking.

“No way. As long as Miss Adryn’s fine with it, I don’t mind.”

“What are you guys talking about excluding me?”

At that moment, Adryn, who had been trailing behind, interjected into the conversation.

“It seems that Miss Mizu is interested in our work.”

“Fascinating.”

“Interesting? Well, I don’t think it’s that interesting. Mizu, would you like to come as well?”

Nods.

“So this is how our Team 17 gathers once again. Is this destiny?”

“Ah. Shall we go then? We’re aiming for first place again this time.”

“Damn, what are these kids uttering.”

***

“Is this the place?”

The place we arrived at following Miss Adryn’s guidance was especially desolate within the second district-

it was just barely sunlit enough to differentiate its status as the edge of the second district rather than a back alley.

“Transparent magnifying glass?”

“Yes, right here.”

Miss Adryn answered Mizu’s and my question.

“Um…”

“Hmm…”

Then the sound that simultaneously leaked out from Mizu’s and my mouth.

“What’s with that reaction.”

“What should I say…”

“I wonder if it’s okay to say this…”

Mizu and I scanned the exterior of the building with a sign that read ‘Transparent Magnifying Glass’.

The ‘Transparent Magnifying Glass’, even for a figure like Miss Adryn to confidently introduce, seemed lackluster for a building located in the second district, no matter how peripheral it may be.

And the biggest reason for it looking lackluster was-

“…Is this place still operating?”

Dust.

The sign, which could be considered the face of the building, was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Starting from that, traces of the building not being maintained at all were visible everywhere around the shop.

It was like a passage made by gnawing rats, a small crack in the wall that someone like me could easily fix with just a few minutes of work.

“…It wasn’t like this the last time I came.”

It seemed like even Miss Adryn, who suggested coming here, was surprised at the deteriorating appearance of the Transparent Magnifying Glass Antique shop.

“Miss Adryn, when was the last time you were here?”

“Let’s see… it was when I came here with my father-”

Adryn folded three of her fingers.

“So it became like this in just three months?”

“… Years.”

“What?”

“Not three months. Three years.”

“…”

“…”

Mizu and I simultaneously gaped at Adryn.

“Wha, What! What is it? If you have any complaints, say it!”

“No, no. Well, we don’t have any particular complaints. Um. Because it’s a place introduced by Miss Adryn, it’s sure to be good.”

“Right. Since Miss Adryn confidently recommended it, there must be a reason. Yeah.”

Adryn averted her eyes.

“It’s, it’s just the outside. The inside of the building will be fine…!”

With that hopeful step, we followed Adryn into the building.

“Umm…?”

A strange sound came from Adryn, who first walked in.

“Huh…”

“Uh…”

Then similar sounds came from Mizu and myself.

The impression inside the building was not much different from the outside.

Let’s forget about the size of the store, the interior, and the standard of the antiques displayed in the shop which reflected the shop’s grade.

Dust.

Just as before, it seemed like no maintenance had taken place, dust was piled up in various places in the shop.

‘It’s bad.’

Is this the place our Adryn recommended? Yippee! I will find faults in it and tease Adryn!

That’s not because I have some kind of wicked, mother-in-law-like mindset.

Just, the dust was piled up so badly, it could be seen with the naked eye.

In the sight of Adryn’s confusion, I couldn’t help but blurt out a remark.

“Miss Adryn, it’s definitely an antique shop. If there were a little more exaggeration, I would believe it to be a relic exhibition.”

“…”

Inside the shop, blue light faintly coated everything.

Surrounding us was a gloomy atmosphere, and in this place, Miss Adryn was blushing to bring balance between the positive and negative.

‘Huh?’

Just then,

The owner of the presence I had been feeling from inside the shop came out to the counter.

“Who are you guys?”

It was a middle-aged man with shaved hair and a lean body.

If he held a magnifying glass over there, it would surely give off a meticulous appraiser vibe.

But why.

I wanted to give him a dagger rather than a magnifying glass.

It smelled of blood.

When I saw the man, it wasn’t really as if I could smell the metal in the air, but it felt as if such an odor was stabbing my nose.

I started keeping an eye on that man who tended the shop that Miss Adryn had confidently introduced.

I hoped that the bad impression I was getting from him was simply because of his rude behavior towards customers.

“Ah, um- I’m Adryn of the Teln family. Is Mr. Klom- By any chance, is he here?”

Teln.

As the shopkeeper chewed over the name, I didn’t miss the faint appearance of annoyance that crossed his face.

Grin.

The rude shopkeeper suddenly put on a polite face and smiled kindly.

“Thank you for visiting our humble abode, Miss Teln. Are you looking for Klom?”

“Yes, I have something that I want Klom to take a look at.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Pardon?”

“Klom left this shop to me a long time ago and went abroad.”

“Oh…”

“So, it’s unfortunate but-… Hm?”

Just then, the man’s gaze turned towards Adryn’s hand in which she was cradling her Amulet of Courage.

Thump.

My heightened senses caught his subtle changes.

The accumulation of those subtle changes resulted in a mix of anxiety and excitement.

“Miss Teln, is the item you want to appraise that necklace in your hand?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. That’s correct…”

I was wondering what kind of person the Klom that Adryn first tried to introduce was.

Considering Adryn’s response now, it makes me think that he was completely different from this guy.

“I can look at it for you.”

“…Are you sure?”

“What do you think the reason would be for Klom to leave the shop to me?”

Right.

What could it be?

Looking at the state of the shop now, there was no way to know why the appraiser Klom, whom Adryn had been confident in introducing, left his shop to such a guy.

‘Whoa, calm down. Calm down.’

But you never know.

Despite his appearance, he could have an amazing skill and stubborn work ethic, like a quirky craftsman.

What do we do?

Adryn asked me with her eyes.

Should we give it a try?

When I responded with my eyes, Adryn nodded and handed the necklace to the man.

As the man took the necklace, a slight ripple crossed his face.

“One moment, please wait here.”

His voice trembling with some sort of emotion, he went into the room behind the counter.

“…I’m sorry.”

It was Adryn who was whispering then.

“I had no idea the owner had changed so suddenly…”

She seemed disappointed, curling in on herself.

No, that was Adryn.

In a state of utter disappointment, Adryn spoke.

To that, I pointed to the room the man had entered and said,

“Still, it’s fortunate. He seems pretty outstanding as an appraiser, don’t you think? The atmosphere is complete-”

“…Really?”

Cautiously, Adryn asked with her eyes slightly widened.

I turned my gaze to Mizu.

“I agree. Looking at his meticulous appearance, he seems like a gifted appraiser.”

“…Really?”

With that, Adryn finally brightened up a bit.

“Right, that’s true. Mr. Klom wouldn’t have left the shop to just anyone.”

Sure enough.

Adryn, who had been hunched over, straightened her shoulders again.

At that moment.

The man who had entered the room came back.

“This is an extraordinary item…!”

The man, not trying to hide his admiration, stated the result of the appraisal.

“This is not just a simple ornament.”

“Pardon? It’s not just a simple ornament?”

“This is, an artifact…!”

Artifact!?

Both Adryn and Mizu looked surprised.

“An artifact…!”

For now, I pretend to be surprised,

“That’s right. There’s a tremendous amount of power within it. I’d estimate it to be a minimum of a 4th-grade artifact.”

“Wow.”

“A, A 4th-grade artifact…!?”

The 4th grade.

Based on my knowledge of the game that was ingrained in my brain, I tried to convert that class into a familiar rank.

5th grade.

Average.

4th grade.

Rare.

3rd grade.

Special.

The heroic was in 2nd grade.

In other words, he had rated the artifact two grades lower than its actual value.

“If you were to put a price on that value-”

The appraiser filled in an amount on the appraisal certificate and showed it to Adryn and Mizu.

“Shocked.”

“Wow…”

The mouth of Adryn and Mizu shows no signs of closing.

Like that, the amount written on the appraisal certificate was tremendous.

However,

Needless to say, it didn’t live up to the value a heroic artifact should have.

Would that amount be enough to buy a mansion located in the uptown part of a large city?

Not at all.

With that amount, wouldn’t Adryn have enough money in her very confident, gold-brimming purse to cover the cost?

So,

I was quiet.

Because that was what I wanted.

In this way, Adryn would pay a fair amount according to the faulty appraisal and take the necklace.

So Adryn would be happy to get a heroic artifact without any guilt,

And I would be happy to get a decent amount of money in return for the artifact that I originally intended to give away for free.

“So, that’s why-”

Just as the situation was panning out to everyone’s satisfaction,

The appraiser, despite having fulfilled his role, made an unnecessary addition.

“Would you perhaps… be willing to sell this artifact to me?”

“Pardon…?”

As confusion showed on Adryn’s face, the appraiser quickly rephrased his question.

“No, no…! I’ll find out about the auction for you! If you entrust it to the auction, you might get much more value than this!”

Look at this guy.

An appraiser greedily clinging with eyes gleaming with avarice.

I snickered within myself looking at his display.

To be precise,

Feeling the presence of those who were hiding in the dark and watching us,

It seemed that my decision to give this artifact to our Miss Adryn instead of selling it was right.

Seeing how these bugs swarmed the moment I briefly took it out,

The courage contained in the necklace spurred rash courage in these worthless men.