GILF Hunter

Chapter 514: 514 Item

After the commotion settled down, Ian and his party decided to look around the shop.

It was a considerably interesting space, and it felt like a waste to just head back like this.

Although an unexpected event had occurred... the original purpose was to find useful items here.

Since the [Suspicious Merchant] appearing in the Labyrinth sells random items, it is difficult to obtain a specific item you’re aiming for.

However, this place was an exception: the shop directly operated by the Suspicious Merchant.

Since all the items the merchant sold were brought from here, naturally, all kinds of goods were gathered in this place.

As long as one could tolerate the slightly high prices, almost any item could be found here.

The owner of this place, the [Suspicious Merchant] Calliope, naturally noticed the guests’ gazes and her eyes sparkled.

’If there is anything you desire among the goods, a trade—’

- ....

’....’

Calliope, who had been speaking with sparkling eyes, shut her mouth while warily glancing at someone invisible.

The ghost of the Elf, whom Calliope called Master, could not maintain materialization for long due to a lack of mana. Consequently, her form had disappeared for now.

But even if she couldn’t be seen, it was certain she was currently staring intently at Calliope alongside Frenda.

Calliope, who had been scolded by her Master’s ghost for quite a while, eventually let out a sigh and spoke to the guests watching her.

’Sigh. I’ll give you one item each for free.’

’Ah, really!’

’Yes. But not from the collectibles! Only from the general merchandise.’

Having given that warning, Calliope spoke with a dejected face.

’As for your items... please wait a bit. I have to find which ones they are and bring them out. Feel free to look around the shop in the meantime, and I’ll return them when you leave.’

After receiving permission to take one item. Before scattering, Ian and the members gathered to discuss what to do.

The shop appeared excessively large to just wander around aimlessly.

Tanya, lost in thought, asked Ian.

’She said to choose an item, but what should we do?’

’There shouldn’t be any dangerous places inside here. Wander around and pick whatever you like.’

’Is it okay if we don’t pick something you need, Captain?’

’There’s nothing I absolutely must get here. There is one thing, but I can just take that myself....’

Most of the essential items were already prepared. There was no need for Ian to pick something out for every single person.

When Ian said that, everyone nodded and scattered throughout the shop with slightly excited faces.

* * *

After everyone had scattered to look around the shop.

Mika, who had been wandering nearby while watching the situation, slipped back and approached Calliope.

Mika’s goal was not the items in the shop, but to have a secret conversation with this suspicious merchant from the start.

’Excuse me....’

’Yes, are you looking for something? I’ll guide you.’

’By any chance, are there no other prophecies?’

’Other prophecies? Of course there are! What kind do you want? Wealth? Romance?’

’Well, not something new... I want to know more accurately about the thing I bought last time.’

There was too little information to be gained from the single short scene she saw in the prophecy she purchased.

If she could just find a clue about the location or the date, things would become much easier.

However, the merchant, understanding what Mika wanted, shook her head.

’I don’t recommend it. It could make the situation even more complicated.’

’Why? Isn’t it better to know more accurately to prepare?’

This was a thought commonly held by people encountering prophecies for the first time.

Calliope corrected Mika’s doubt.

’Guest. The future is uncertain, and a prophecy is a glimpse into one of those uncertain possibilities.’

’Uh... so?’

’So. Because it is uncertain, you can glimpse it and avoid it. The more accurately it is observed through multiple prophecies, the more certain that future becomes. In other words, the more detail you know, the harder it becomes to change that future.’

’I see....’

If that was true, it meant that the more Mika tried to find out accurate information in the current situation, the more dangerous it would be for Ian.

Mika lowered her head with a disappointed face and sighed.

’Don’t worry too much. You will naturally find out when that prophesied moment arrives. Now, rather than that, how about an item like this?’

Calliope very naturally led Mika away, guiding her toward the general merchandise rather than the inner part of the warehouse.

* * *

Around the same time.

Ian found a room where accessories were gathered. It was the room containing the item Ian wanted.

As he looked through the items placed there one by one, the merchant suddenly appeared behind him and spoke.

’Guest! Are you looking for something?’

Calliope had appeared suddenly without making the sound of a door opening or a footstep.

Since the Suspicious Merchant used to appear or disappear suddenly like this in the Labyrinth, it seemed this was Calliope’s specialty.

’Actually....’

’Hmm... this, this. You have quite a good eye.’

Ian quietly asked Calliope if she had the item he was looking for. And Calliope naturally nodded.

’It’s definitely here, but I’ll have to look to see where it is. Don’t worry and leave it to me! I’ll pick out the best one. I’ll give it to you secretly before you leave.’

Calliope chuckled and gave Ian her word.

* * *

And... another location inside the shop.

Frenda, who was wandering here and there, entered a certain room.

An empty room.

Only a single small crystal of unknown identity was floating in the middle of the room.

It was a place with a completely different atmosphere from the rooms until now, which were filled with shelves displaying goods.

’What is... this place?’

’Ah! Does this place interest you, Hero?’

’Eek!’

Surprised by the merchant’s voice suddenly heard, Frenda looked back.

The Elf called Calliope was standing in the room before she knew it.

’Excuse me... what kind of room is this?’

’You mean that! It’s an item I struggled quite a bit to capture.’

’Capture...?’

’Yes. This is something that wanders around inside the Labyrinth. Since I didn’t know when or where it would appear, I had a hard time searching for it while being prepared for capture.’

Glancing at the crystal floating in the room, Frenda tilted her head. It was an item she couldn’t understand at all based on the story so far.

- ...You still enjoy collecting things like that.

The voice of the Elf sighing reached Frenda’s head.

Calliope explained to Frenda as if boasting, with a quite proud face.

’This is a wish-granting crystal.’

’...It grants wishes?’

’Ah... of course, not all of them! There are limits. Since it operates on mana after all.... It’s difficult to create objects to take outside, and only things that can be realized within this room are possible.’

Frenda’s head tilted further.

A wish to the extent of being realized in a room...

She couldn’t quite grasp how one would utilize such a thing.

’What do you think?’

’I’m not sure. Even if it’s a wish, I haven’t really thought about what to wish for.’

’No need to worry. This isn’t an item where you directly make a wish; it reads the heart of the person who touches it and creates what they want most. It can even show things that the unconscious mind desired but hadn’t realized yet, which is its greatest charm.’

It didn’t seem to be an item with a usage limit. Calliope quite readily made the offer to Frenda.

’If you’re interested, you can try using it.’

’Eh....’

Frenda was flustered by the sudden proposal.

...She did feel a bit of curiosity.

Most of the items here were expensive treasures or items for combat, so there weren’t many items that piqued the interest of Frenda, a priestess.

In comparison, this... reading the heart and granting a wish made it seem like an incredible item.

As Frenda showed interest in the crystal, the Elf’s voice added an explanation.

- It’s a trifling thing. It’s something that occasionally occurs in environments where mana becomes dense—like a precursor before a spirit is born. It’s a thing that can do no more than show illusions or change the surrounding environment in response to will.

In other words, a state before a spirit is formed.

It meant it was an object where only the power of a spirit was gathered, without a will having formed yet.

...Even so, wasn’t it an amazing item?

Frenda, becoming even more interested, asked Calliope.

’Nothing dangerous will happen, right?’

’Don’t worry. This does not harm people.’

’Th-then. Excuse me....’

The moment Frenda touched the crystal.

Suddenly, the door connected to the other side of the room opened.

’Hmm?’

The one who opened the door and entered was Ian.

Since the place was intertwined like a spiderweb, it seemed he had arrived here by chance while wandering through the rooms.

’This place is...?’

’Ah. Captain.’

...Click.

Ian, having entered the room, looked back upon hearing the sound of some mechanism operating at the door he had entered through.

It definitely sounded like the sound of a door locking....

Thinking that, Ian tried to open the door again, but it wouldn’t budge.

Seeing this, Frenda also hurriedly approached the door she had entered through and tried turning the handle. Of course, the locked door did not move an inch.

The two realized that all the doors leading out of this room were locked.

’It seems we’re trapped?’

’....’

You said it wasn’t dangerous...!

Frenda hurriedly looked around the room, but the merchant had disappeared before she knew it.

Only then did Frenda realize that the environment inside the room had changed strangely. The interior had changed so instantly that she hadn’t even noticed when it happened.

A large bed.

A small lantern emitting a soft light.

’Is this... a bedroom?’

While muttering that and looking around the room, Frenda discovered a sign hanging on one wall. It was a sign that definitely wasn’t there when she entered.

Frenda raised her head with a dazed expression and read the words written on the sign.

’A room you cannot leave... unless you have sex...?’

’What... is this?’

Frenda muttered so.

Then, Frenda recalled the explanation she heard a moment ago. The explanation that it grants a wish in the unconscious mind that the person hadn’t even realized themselves.

...Could it be that her unconscious mind had made such a scandalous imagination?

Seeing Ian’s face, who appeared suddenly just before she touched the crystal, perhaps... slightly... it seemed she might have unintentionally thought of such a thing.

Even so, for something like this to happen so suddenly.

Frenda held her head.

And Ian also looked up at the sign and thought.

No, I... a mod where this kind of trap appears....

I never installed....

Never....

Ian, unable to be certain that he hadn’t, fell into thought once again.

...I thought I had definitely turned this kind of mod OFF, but was I wrong?

Ian likewise held his head.