The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 378: Disappointed

”Of course you know, after all, it’s your perverted test.”

[[No, that’s not it. Listen to me, the first test is about fighting a knight one rank lower than the person, but it gets stronger depending on the greed of the person facing it, it would become stronger.]]

”Go on, you old pervert, 눈_눈 but keep in mind that everything you say will be used against you.”

[[Hey, lad, let me finish and you’ll understand. Besides, they become more ruthless and unscrupulous because, well, those whose greed is stronger than themselves don’t deserve my legacy and also deserve some punishment.]]

”눈_눈 hmm... So you’re telling me that the illusion of his trial became so real and sadistic that it left him in that state?”

[[Exactly!, I’m glad you understand. I really didn’t expect there to be someone so greedy. And look, besides the spear... yes, let’s believe it’s a spear, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that that guy’s greed was abnormal.]]

”눈_눈”

[[I didn’t expect something like that either. You know, I should condemn this level of greed, since greedy people are the ones I hate and hated the most in life... but now I feel more pity than anything else. I feel like I should have put some filters on the test.]]

”Hmm, well, old man, it seems you’re free of guilt, and you’re not a dirty old man, just an old man.”

[[Stop calling me old man, you damn kid! Call me Artur.]]

Well, it seems that the old man is not a weird fetishist. His explanation made sense; that’s the dangerous thing about magic or things that have to do with illusions: they deceive people and, if they are powerful, they can turn false things into real ones.

The place where the old man is conducting his test doesn’t seem powerful enough to cause a phenomenon like that, but it seems that the test was so real and so intense that even when he came out of the illusion, that dwarf believed he had something stuck in him.

He must have believed it and felt it, to the point that it became a real phenomenon of his own making.

Yes, in fact, that spear is made of his own mana, which, under the deception of the illusion, he formed himself, which makes it even more tragic.

Right now, I’m really glad I’m invulnerable to illusions that affect the mind, or I might end up like him someday.

”Well, I’m calmer now, let’s see.”

The old man wasn’t lying; he was a ghost, but even when they are just souls, they replicate unconscious bodily reactions, although they are more difficult to distinguish. I was paying enough attention to understand that he wasn’t lying; angry people are easier to figure out.

And since the dwarf seemed to be an exception and the worst that could happen, I didn’t have to worry that that was where my brother was crippled.

I turned my attention back to the list.

Yes, there are many things, and I think many are what the expedition group had supposedly found.

I was going to use a space to get the Lunorite for Rosy, one of my three goals in coming here. Unfortunately, there was none of the other metals I needed.

I also hoped to find something good, like a magic branch that I didn’t have and that would be useful to me, like crystal magic.

Or an unconventional art like the ’SUPREME SACRIFICE ART’ I got from Willian’s legacy.

And in fact, there were several magic branches and a few dozen arts, but the more I looked...

”Ah! Ex-exalted a-art!”

At that moment, I heard Ophelia, who was apparently looking at the same list as me, and I understood her, to the point that I couldn’t help but speak to the old man.

”Hey, old man, what kind of crap is this!”

[[Huh? What are you saying now, crazy boy?]]

”Old man, you really don’t have anything good. Of the arts, the only decent one is a mid-range exalted one. That would only help up to the second rank of soul conversion. Look, even Ophelia is surprised at how bad they are.”

”E-eh, n-no, I, I heard that only royalty has such a powerful one...”

”Huh? What are you talking about? The one I gave you is higher rank than that.”

”Hic! I-I-I have hiccups... Uek!”

”Now you have hiccups and you bite your tongue? Aren’t you getting worse? Well, man, back to the matter at hand, is this really the best you have? I was expecting at least an Archaic rank or at least a higher Exalted one.”

[[What the hell are you talking about, kid? I was one of the richest men on the continent! And I’m proud of my great collection. And what you’re asking me for is something on par with the royal treasure of Talunhai!]]

”Oh, right... hmm, I guess my last legacy set the bar pretty high.”

[[Huh? Whose legacy was that?]]

”Ahem, no, that’s not important, man. At least in magic you seem to have some good stuff. Tell me something: that branch of space and time magic, what do they do? How am I supposed to know if I should choose it if I don’t know what runes or spells they have?”

[[That’s what I’m here for. Yes, although there’s only one spell in each. Let me tell you that the space spell expands the space inside an object several times over, and the other one slows down time. Yes, these two are fundamental spells for creating storage artifacts. Pretty amazing, right?]]

”...That’s it? No attack spells, slow spells, or anything like that? You don’t even have a basic space attack spell?”

I was more than disappointed. My alternate self left me special branches, but nothing attack-related: only movement, protection, defense... but no offensive spells.

And I don’t have time magic, or rather entropy magic. I don’t have any runes, let alone a spell, but I know what it is. The element of time doesn’t really exist, it’s not even a non-elemental branch; it’s something that simulates time.

My alternate self calls it entropy magic: it’s like star magic that has more than two elements that conform it, and this magic is created from a fusion of ice, darkness, and the variant of the earth element that is gravity and the variant of the fire element that is heat.

And yet it is an exception because, as far as I know, there is no one with an affinity for entropy or any god of entropy.

It is a very peculiar branch of magic, and is usually known as temporal magic due to its effects.

What this old man has is just a spell, and one of the most basic ones, used to create storage. It doesn’t really interest me.

I mean, why would I want to make storage? The runes alone can serve me, but I really don’t have time to discover a branch of magic that is based on foour elements, starting with a simple basic spell, and from what I know, it’s even more complicated than the spatial and stellar branches combined.

It’s a waste of time and might not lead to anything. I really expected more from this legacy.

[[...boy, stop getting lost in your thoughts. Besides complaining, just knowing this could make you very rich. Storage is always crucial. Or is there something better in this era?]]

”No... hmm... yes, they’re rare and expensive.”

Come to think of it, this continent doesn’t even have that technology, and storage devices are exported from outside, from the Talunhai continent, the largest continent and the center of the southern region of this world.

That’s why they’re so expensive and only the elite own them. But with the most powerful innate power this body has—my family—I easily equipped my entire harem and even those who couldn’t afford one like Ban, Silvia, and Lys, and I have some extras stored away.

Come to think of it, most things here would be revolutionary and would boost the magic-art technology of the Five Kingdoms, although it doesn’t compare to what I have.

’Hmm... I feel like there’s something wrong, that I’m overlooking something.’

[[Tsk, so kid, are you just complaining to annoy me? Make up your mind. Some have started to pass the second test, and I have to guide them through the third; if someone else takes it away from you, don’t blame me.]]

”Fine, but one thing: these weapons, what rank are they made for, roughly?”

At least I thought I could get something good out of the weapons that were there.

I was hoping there would be something useful, at least so Ciel could remodel it. Weapons don’t have a strict rank, but you can deduce the rank from the materials and craftsmanship.

For example, with lunarite, you can make weapons of morphogenesis 8, 9, or even 10 if the blacksmith is competent and you have other good materials.

And here there were codes like ’sword shadowglint Iron’, which allowed me to deduce from the material that they were for people of morphogenesis 7 or 8, but some did not have the name of the main material.

I had obtained an evaluation artifact that I hadn’t been able to use much from Willian’s legacy, which could tell me the materials, the quality, and thus help me evaluate them better, but since it was only a list, I couldn’t use it.

[[Hey, kid, don’t be surprised, but I have a weapon made of Phantom Silver, which was highly coveted in my time.]]

”Oh, I don’t know that material. Oh, here it is... What are the approximate ranges of weapons made from that material?”

[[Hehe, it’s a weapon that even someone in soul conversion can use.]]

”So?”

[[So what?]]

”What approximate rank? Three, four? More?”

[[Uh... well... rank one... ahem... maybe two.]]

”What crap! I heard that in the previous era this continent was unified and was a powerful empire. How come you only have crap!?”

[[Brat, you’re the only crap here! Where the hell are your standards? Or what, are you telling me that this is now a continent where a weapon like that is considered crap?]]

”...Ah, no, you’re right, I don’t think there are many.”

[[You little shit, you’re fucking with me! Choose quickly! Let’s get this over with! If I keep talking to you, I’m going to die... no, I’ll turn into an evil spirit!]]

’Well, if you do, I’ll purify you.’

Yes, I think my senses are a little distorted, not only by my memories, but also by William’s legacy. The first king, Maximilian and his group, came from outside the continent, and who knows how far he had travelled, accumulating many good things.

And even if it did not leave much to the kingdom due to karma or some other reason, perhaps, despite being divided, the five current kingdoms are more powerful than the ancient empire that existed here, even though they lack many other things.

’Come to think of it, even Willian’s legacy was very limited.’