Chapter 184
Chapter 184
Carried by Gear (1)
I welcomed the Imperial Princess's suggestion that we rest for a while. I'd already been dying of curiosity. I quickly took out the reward I'd received from the quest.
▶[Religious Quest: Legacy]
Anaye wished for her first child to find her Legacy.
1. Circle of Reincarnation: Secured.
2. Sword of the Guarding Obelisk: Not Secured.
3. Eye of the Long Slumber: Secured.
4. Carrion’s Zoetrope: Not Secured.
5. Promise of the Great Ash Tree: Secured.
I'd offered the Promise of the Great Ash Tree to Anaye, and the Circle of Reincarnation was the only one I was currently using. But the Circle of Reincarnation alone was practically overpowered.
It was only natural that I had high expectations after obtaining the ‘Eye of the Long Slumber,’ which belonged to the same category. I rolled the object around in my hand.
“Hmm.”
A small black bead. Its shape was so detailed that I wondered whether it might actually be an eye. I had no idea how I was supposed to use it.
“…….”
“Ah. Here it is.”
I turned around just in case. Anaye, who had been playing with my hair, spotted the Eye of the Long Slumber and held out her hand.
I immediately handed the black jewel to Anaye. I couldn't see her face, so I couldn't tell what expression she was making, but she somehow seemed deeply moved.
“Yes? Huh?”
Anaye tapped me a few times to draw my attention. Looking at me, Anaye mimed putting the black jewel into her own eye.
I stared at her in disbelief. There was no way I could put a jewel into my eye. Even if I couldn't feel pain, I was still somewhat reluctant to gouge out a perfectly healthy eyeball.
“Take it out. And put this in?”
Still, I asked again. I needed to make sure I'd understood her correctly. Fortunately, Anaye shook her head.
Judging from Anaye's vigorous gestures, I was supposed to close my eye and place the jewel against it? Something like that. I brought the black jewel to my left eye.
“Ooh.”
An intense, icy energy burst out and flowed into my eye. I marveled at the cool, refreshing sensation in my left eye.
Was this how it felt after getting an eye massage? With a trembling heart, I slowly opened my left eye.
“How fascinating.”
The Imperial Princess quietly exclaimed as she looked at my eye. I felt much the same. My vision had changed. The surroundings that had been completely dark suddenly brightened.
I was delighted for a moment by how much clearer I could see in the darkness. Then disappointment washed over me when I realized there didn't seem to be anything else.
My vision didn't magnify like a telescope or anything, so it didn't seem particularly useful.
“Hmm?”
Then, when I looked at the Imperial Princess, I gained a rough understanding of the Eye of the Long Slumber's ability.
―Relief―
The holographic letters floating above the Imperial Princess's head displayed her current emotional state. A deep smile spread across my face.
The Imperial Princess met my eyes and gave me a displeased look.
“You, Davide.”
“Yes. Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
“You have the expression of a wolf toying with a rabbit.”
“……How could I possibly show such irreverence toward Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess?”
I hurriedly made an excuse. There was no way I could think of the Imperial Princess as a rabbit. Unless it was a three-meter-tall rabbit that could bench, squat, and deadlift a combined 800 kilograms.
“More importantly, the color of your eye is quite brilliant.”
“Ah. Did my eye change?”
The Imperial Princess nodded at my question. I briefly asked Anaye's permission and stood up.
The small rowboat rocked slightly as I moved. I slowly approached the Imperial Princess.
―Flustered―
All I'd done was approach her, yet the Imperial Princess was flustered. Of course, she showed no outward reaction.
Without the Eye of the Long Slumber, I wouldn't even have known that the Imperial Princess was flustered right now. That was how skilled she was at concealing herself.
“How does my eye look?”
I knelt in front of the Imperial Princess and stared directly at her. The Imperial Princess gazed impassively into my eye.
―Flustered. Flustered. Flustered―
One ‘Flustered’ became three. Wondering if I'd done something wrong, I tried to back away.
Seriously, I had no idea what part of this was making her flustered. Just then, the Imperial Princess placed a hand on my shoulder and held me in place.
“Your eyes originally resembled golden amber. Yet your left eye now reminds me of black aquamarine from the deepest depths of the sea.”
“Thank you.”
Had my eye color changed? Still, that was quite a detailed description.
“Ah. The color of your eye is the same. I merely meant that was the impression it gave me.”
I stared blankly at the Imperial Princess after hearing what she added. If the color was exactly the same, what did aquamarine have to do with anything?
Seeing my stupid expression, the Imperial Princess giggled. It was a carefree laugh unlike her usual self. I returned to where I'd originally been sitting.
“Hmm.”
Anaye readily offered me her embrace. Contrary to her pallid skin, Anaye's body was incredibly hot.
Perhaps because I couldn't feel pain, I was rather insensitive to heat. Yet Anaye's body temperature was high enough that even I found her hot.
Maybe that was why it felt so comfortable and warm. When else would I get to enjoy the luxury of being held by a goddess? I decided to enjoy it to my heart's content.
―Displeasure―
I immediately turned my head.
The Imperial Princess was looking at me.
“…….”
“…….”
―Displeasure. Displeasure―
The number had increased.
“Why are you displeased?”
“……What?”
The Imperial Princess's expression froze. I realized my mistake only after the words had left my mouth.
She hadn't said anything.
“I can see your emotions.”
“…….”
The Imperial Princess's eyes narrowed.
―Shock―
I grinned when I saw the word above her head. This was more entertaining than I'd expected.
“Your emotions appear above your head.”
“……Is that the power of that eye?”
“Yes. It seems so.”
The Imperial Princess stared intently at my left eye.
―Curiosity―
Her emotional changes were surprisingly easy to read. It was amusing how the words changed one after another despite her face remaining almost entirely expressionless.
“Does it show only simple emotions?”
“I don't know yet.”
I hadn't had enough time to test it. I looked toward Anaye.
Nothing appeared.
“Hmm.”
Perhaps it didn't work on gods.
I turned toward the black Shadow.
Nothing appeared there either.
So there were conditions attached to the ability. At the very least, it didn't seem capable of indiscriminately reading the emotions of every being.
“A useful ability.”
“Yes. I think it'll be quite useful.”
It would be tremendously useful during negotiations. Even if all I could see were simple emotions, that alone would tell me whether the other person was shaken or relieved by my words.
The Imperial Princess looked at me for a moment before letting out a small cough.
“Ahem.”
When I continued staring blankly, the Imperial Princess cleared her throat. She had apparently realized that the reaction she'd just shown wasn't exactly normal.
“You, Davide.”
“Yes. Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
“Report your status.”
At the Imperial Princess's words, I looked into the air. A familiar system message appeared there.
▶[Event Dungeon: The Imperial Princess's Mental World]
Loading previous play record.
Selected Option.
―Adaptive Body(Anaye).
There wasn't even anything to choose. It remained exactly as it had been after we'd cleared Stage 1 last time.
“It's the same as before.”
“I see.”
“What about Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess?”
The Imperial Princess let out a deep sigh at my question. Well, her body had become that young. There was no way everything else could be fine.
We were currently in the eastern section where the Imperial Princess stayed. That left the west, north, south, and center. Five stages remained in total.
“Where would it be best to go?”
“Hmm. Since we are in the east, it would seem best to proceed counterclockwise. There is a large road leading toward the center in the south.”
The Imperial Princess's suggestion was reasonable. A wide, open road might be preferable to a complicated route. There was a risk of being surrounded by large numbers of enemies, but by then my specs would probably be quite formidable as well.
“Then how about searching for an Artifact first?”
“An Artifact?”
The Imperial Princess sank into deep thought at my suggestion. After pondering for a moment, she nodded.
“That is a reasonable choice. I cannot remain nothing but a burden either.”
“How could Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess possibly be a burden? Simply having you by my side gives me strength.”
“I-Is that so?”
“?”
I tilted my head at the unexpected reaction. Normally, the Imperial Princess would have told me that was enough flattery.
Perhaps because her body had grown younger and her age had regressed along with it, her reactions were somewhat different. Under my gaze, the Imperial Princess's face reddened.
“A-Ahem! What are you looking at me like that for! Hurry, hurry and carry me so we may proceed!”
I chuckled at the Imperial Princess's outburst and turned my back toward her. The substantial weight against my back somehow felt pleasant.
Seeing her plump cheeks still carrying baby fat, I could guess where that weight came from. With the Imperial Princess on my back, I tore down a curtain and wrapped it securely around us.
The Imperial Princess falling off during intense movement absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
“My personal armory is on the way north. I shall guide you.”
I took a deep breath at the Imperial Princess's words. Having all my abilities disappear and only Adaptive Body remain created a faint sense of tension.
I threw the door open and immediately ran along the route the Imperial Princess indicated. Zombies appeared at every turn, but they weren't enough to become major obstacles.
“Go through that door and we will leave ‘Samoa Palace’!”
I accelerated as I listened to the Imperial Princess. ‘Samoa Palace’ was the name of the building we'd been in until now.
As befitted an Imperial building, it was ridiculously huge. Zombies we hadn't managed to deal with were following behind us.
“Hoo!”
When sunlight finally touched my skin, I exhaled deeply. I still couldn't relax. Countless hostile monsters were present here.
Only now did I realize that even running itself was work. At the very least, we needed to secure somewhere safe before resting.
“We are going straight to the armory!”
The Imperial Princess gritted her teeth as she guided me. She might have inherited exceptionally strong blood from birth, but she was still in the body of a child.
A six-year-old child, at that. Her frail body was having a difficult time simply being carried on my back.
I'd been kicking off walls and throwing myself around in a desperate attempt to escape the zombies, and that was inflicting its own share of suffering on her.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
I was confident in my stamina. On top of that, I couldn't feel pain, so I had no intention of slowing down.
But there was nothing I could do about my increasingly ragged breathing. Sensing that my breathing was becoming unstable, the Imperial Princess focused on encouraging me.
“The armory is underground! Just a little farther!”
Between one palace and another—in other words, between the largest buildings—stood dozens of smaller structures. Together, they protected the central building almost like a single fortress wall.
I frowned when the Imperial Princess said the armory was underground. If it was underground, breaking through an encirclement would become extremely difficult.
The buildings themselves were so spacious that evasive maneuvers were easy, but underground would be different. Assuming that an Imperial underground facility would also be spacious, I kept moving.
“There! The armory is beneath that building!”
The building the Imperial Princess pointed toward resembled the Imperial Knight Order's garrison at the Academy.
I immediately sprinted toward it.
“Ah!”
The Imperial Princess screamed.
Still moving at full speed, I collided with something and was sent flying. I hit the ground face-first, doing everything I could to keep the Imperial Princess from taking the impact.
She hadn't escaped completely unharmed, and the Imperial Princess screamed. I hurriedly checked her condition. Her right arm had scraped against the ground and was red like a burn.
“Something's blocking us!”
“Ugh.”
The Imperial Princess couldn't easily recover from the pain. No matter how extraordinary her mental fortitude was, pain felt through the body of a six-year-old child was different.
Had she been in her original body, she probably wouldn't have reacted like this. Her strengthened body would have dulled the pain, and she would also have had her Artifacts and armor.
But right now, she had none of those things.
“Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess!”
I gritted my teeth and stood up. Before I knew it, an enormous horde of zombies was slowly approaching us.
I'd apparently smashed face-first into the barrier surrounding the armory, because something seemed wrong with my nasal bone. Blood poured endlessly from my nose.
I roughly set my nose back into place and took a stance.
“A b-barrier.”
▶[Event Stage: Armory Key]
Condition: Eliminate all monsters in the corresponding area.
Reward: Armory Key.
Only then did the Imperial Princess regain her senses and stare blankly at the armory. At the same time, a system message appeared before my eyes.
Apparently, we'd have to kill every last zombie.