‘Where should I hide the treasure note I got this time…?’
I can’t keep entrusting the notes to Yor every time.
Even if they’re thin pieces of paper, stacking several of them creates bulk, and as the number of notes increases, it’ll become obvious that there’s something between the Yeouiju and my palm.
Even aside from that, hiding all the treasure notes in one place is far too dangerous.
‘If I make a mistake and all the treasure notes I’ve worked so hard to collect get taken at once…!’
If something like that were to happen after entrusting them all to Yor, my baby dragon would feel terribly sorry and fall into self-blame.
So, it’s better to hide the treasure notes I find from now on somewhere on my body.
Not all in one place, but scattered around as much as possible.
“Is a pocket too obvious?”
“Meow meow.”
“I suppose so…”
In various creative works, people usually hide notes in their socks or underwear in situations like this.
But this is just training, and I don’t want to do something so vulgar.
It’s not something Karbaldr would do.
‘The sleeves have gaps, so if I lower my arm, the note would just fall right out.’
The training clothes I’m wearing now consist of just three elements: a shirt, pants, and boots.
Because of that, the places to hide a note are extremely limited.
If I had a belt, I could have tucked it inside.
‘Wait, no? I don’t have a belt, but…!’
The person who designed these training clothes seems to have been obsessed with making legs look longer.
Given that they paired thigh-high boots that go all the way up to the thighs with high-waisted pants that cover the lower abdomen.
Why am I bringing this up? To explain that the wide waistband of the form-fitting pants is suitable for tucking a note in.
‘Tucking it between the boot and my thigh seems fine too. That’s not quite a vulgar act…!’
I first tucked the note with ‘Carrot’ written on it into my side, then moved my arm around.
Thanks to wearing shirt garters, no matter how much I moved my arm, the shirt was firmly secured, and the hem didn’t come out of my pants, nor was it even disheveled.
So, the note I’d placed at my side didn’t come out along with the shirt.
While I was pondering where to hide the treasure note.
Since the empty capsules had been buried in the ground by Yor and camouflaged with fallen leaves, we were able to immediately start searching for capsules.
And not long after.
“Ah, Kar?!”
– I ran into Vigdis.
As soon as she spotted me, she reflexively drew her sword and took a defensive stance.
But then she saw my bag full of ‘Empty’ capsules, relaxed, and showed a pleased expression.
She seemed to have mistakenly thought I’d already found a ton of treasure.
From this series of attitude changes.
I could deduce that Vigdis had treasure capsules, but fewer than five.
In other words, she was wary that I might take her capsules at first, but then she saw my bulging bag and reacted that way.
‘She must have thought there was no reason for me to take hers, and that if things went well, she could receive some of mine or take them.’
Sure enough, the following words came out of Vigdis’s mouth.
“It seems Kar is very lucky. Even when I find capsules, most of them are duds, so I’ve only found two treasure capsules…”
It seems she was discarding the capsules containing ‘duds’ right away and only keeping those with ‘treasure’. That action itself is incredibly naive, but she even voluntarily told me how many treasures she’d found.
‘Well, from her perspective, she probably confessed honestly thinking I might help her. But despite her sharp appearance, she’s really not shrewd.’
I felt sorry for her, and without realizing it, I found myself looking at her with pity.
But it seems this gaze caused another misunderstanding.
“I’m worried I won’t be able to collect five treasures in time… Could you possibly share some of your extra treasures with me? Even just one…”
Vigdis pleaded earnestly with a pitiful expression.
But unfortunately, I was also lacking in the number of treasures I’d secured.
“That goes against the purpose of the training, so I can’t. Do you think the professor banned putting capsules in the inventory and allowed us to take what others found for no reason?”
“Ah! That’s true too. Then…”
“If you want what’s in my bag, you’ll naturally have to beat me in a fight.”
I said this, took out my whip, and provoked a battle.
I could see strength return to Vigdis’s hand gripping her sword, but she didn’t readily charge at me.
The reason was…
‘Looks like fighting 2-on-1 is burdensome for her.’
The place where Vigdis’s hesitant gaze was directed was at Yor.
Even if she used her [Iron-Blooded Steel Body] skill, taking Yor’s attacks wouldn’t cause much damage.
But Yor can not only fire arrows shaped from Aether, but can also form them into hands to grab her ankles, restricting her movements.
‘And while Vigdis has never personally experienced Yor’s [Dragon Fear] skill, she’s seen a few times that Yor has the ability to suppress an opponent’s mind!’
She’s probably worried that fighting me and Yor would just waste precious time, and thinking it might be better to focus on treasure hunting instead.
If that’s the case.
“Don’t worry. Yor won’t interfere; I’ll fight alone.”
“Really?!”
“Let me say this just in case: this isn’t a decision made out of consideration for you. If I become too dependent on Yor, my own growth will stagnate. Unless the opponent is so overwhelmingly stronger that I can never win alone, I judged that fighting alone is better for my own development.”
“Pfft! Is that so? Understood.”
The light of conflict in Vigdis’s face disappeared in an instant, and a relieved smile appeared on her lips.
She must have mistaken what I just said for a tsundere remark.
She likely fell into the misconception that I was trying to accommodate her, within the limits of maintaining the training’s purpose.
Ah!
‘In reality, I was just blabbering on purpose to induce her to let her guard down…’
But even so, this was embarrassing.
Even though it was an action based on thorough calculation. No, that’s why I felt even more self-loathing.
Because I couldn’t deny the reality that tsundere dialogue had just flowed from my mouth.
‘After going this far, I absolutely have to take Vigdis’s treasure note. If I don’t, I’ll truly become a tsundere…’
I felt self-loathing about this too.
But I activated [Encourage] while repeating the phrase ‘do my best’ in my head, and brought up continuing the battle.
“Any, anyway… Let’s stop the useless chatter and just come at me.”
“Yes!”
If Reysir had been in this place, he would have laughed for a long time seeing my flushed face.
Fortunately, Vigdis didn’t.
I was very grateful that she immediately put on a serious face and engaged in battle.
And my conscience ached terribly for deceiving such a kind and naive person.
‘But I don’t want to wear a childish headband for a full 4 hours and be called an embarrassing nickname like Dandy!’
It can’t be helped. And I didn’t lie.
While rationalizing my actions this way, I activated the [Encourage] skill.
Then, I quietly observed Vigdis charging at me with my eyes, while my mind was occupied with thoughts of using the [Character Analysis] skill.
‘Vigdis is probably letting her guard down, thinking I’ll subtly lose to hand over the treasure capsules to her. But that doesn’t mean she’ll swing her sword carelessly. Her attitude toward swordsmanship is always serious.’
So, I should never underestimate her.
But the problem is that since the whip generates a Sonic Boom, it’s a very flashy weapon.
The sound is also quite distinctive.
If the whip’s characteristic sound of tearing through the air rings out.
Those weaker than me will flee far away, and those confident they can beat me will come looking for the treasure I have.
‘Pret would probably just come to watch the fight, so that’s fine, and Fjodra is a bit concerning. But the biggest problem is, as always…!’
The original protagonist, Reysir Daudabina.
Even if I combine forces with Yor, I can never beat him. I can’t even escape.
***
After taking Vigdis’s capsules, if I can successfully quickly extract and hide the note.
Since I’m not carrying the treasure capsules on my body but have hidden them elsewhere, I might be able to shake him off by lying about it.
‘Let’s not take unnecessary risks!’
After a brief internal conflict, I put the whip into my inventory and pulled out two daggers in both hands.
I can fight without the whip for now, and if it really doesn’t work out, I can just take it out again.
‘I also thought of a way to use the fact that Vigdis is off guard.’
Vigdis briefly showed a questioning expression at my sudden action of putting away my main weapon, but soon returned to her original expression.
After all, she was under the delusion that I was trying to go easy on her.
I suppose she thought I was just practicing close-quarters combat and didn’t think much of it.
When the distance closed to a certain point, Vigdis swung her sword in an honest trajectory.
I blocked the attack by crossing my two daggers, then put strength into both arms and pushed to deflect her sword.
‘It seems my strength is slightly superior. Just barely…’
A thought of relief crossed my mind, but my mouth tasted bitter.
In chapter 140. That is, while heading to the Gate facility after the Graduation Ceremony, Vigdis revealed that her strength stat was 40.
So, by using [Encourage] to strengthen the effect of [Encourage], and applying the two keywords ‘My Possession Body’ and ‘My Existence’, I thought I could secure a clear advantage in strength.
‘But from what I just felt, it wasn’t to that extent.’
During the break, my strength only went up by a measly ‘1’.
Meanwhile, Vigdis’s strength stat seemed to have increased by about ‘5’ in the same period.
‘That means, when comparing the pure strength stat excluding buffs… No, let’s not think any deeper about this issue. I’m in the middle of a fight. I need to focus!’
I forced out the random thoughts that had popped into my head and concentrated on evading or parrying Vigdis’s attacks.
Occasionally, the thought of using the [Elation] skill whenever our weapons clashed crossed my mind.
But I deliberately ignored it.