Chapter 88. Mirror-Like Still Water (1)
"I'm truly sorry! Enoch!!"
Unexpectedly, what came into view was the top of Dionil's head. Seeing that, Enoch slowly tilted his head.
This was somewhat unexpected.
After being rescued by Sirocco just before falling.
Greeting Enoch, who had come outside and returned to the base camp, was Dionil, bowing at a perfect 45-degree angle.
And his follower family squad members.
"I sincerely apologize. It was my mistake."
"What was?"
"I should have searched the passage more thoroughly as you advised. Not only did we suffer casualties, but we almost failed the mission. Furthermore, I received your help."
He was probably talking about taking the explosion magic in my place. Enoch asked back without batting an eye.
"So?"
"So. Since I was able to succeed in the mission thanks to you. At least showing this courtesy is the right thing to do..."
"No. So."
Enoch tilted his head calmly.
"With empty hands?"
At that remark, Dionil froze.
Enoch slowly shook his head as if he couldn't help it. Then Enoch spread his arms wide.
"Look. What state am I in because of you?"
The explosion-proof robe he held, wrapped around his hand, was completely ruined. His body had soot and scrapes from the explosions. His clothes were soaking wet, dripping water.
Of course, the explosion-proof robe was destroyed while doing magic resistance farming. The soot and explosions on my body were bearable. And my clothes were wet because I dove for the Sword Saint's sword farming.
But that was that, and this was this.
Seeing sweat streaming down Dionil's face. Enoch extended his hand towards him.
"Anyway, if you're that sorry, the condition I said I'd mention after this mission ends. I can say it now, right?"
The condition I had requested when providing advice as a consultant to Dionil. I had said I would mention it after the mission was over.
Perhaps sensing something intuitively at Enoch's words, Dionil's expression wavered for a moment. But Enoch opened his mouth with merciless eyes.
"'Artifact Customization Ticket'. Hand it over."
"Ugh!"
At those words, Dionil's expression instantly crumpled. His reaction was perhaps natural.
An Artifact Customization Ticket was an extremely valuable item.
Unlike the standard, mass-produced artifacts of modern times, which were usually produced as ready-made goods from the start.
It was a kind of free pass application that allowed one to obtain powerful magic gear or artifacts through made-to-order customization tailored to the individual mage.
And befitting such a weighty background, the "Artifact Customization Ticket" appeared as the most important currency used in the original game.
─Guaranteed Equipment Selection Ticket.
In the original game, you could get a 'Selection Ticket' through the ceiling system when doing gacha. And that selection ticket was the 'Customization Ticket'.
As the name suggested. In the original game, you could freely choose one desired artifact.
"I heard that there's a company sponsoring you and your follower family squad."
Enoch extended his hand with a blank expression.
"That. Hand it over."
There were many leading corporations in the Magic Empire that produced artifacts, but the number of artifact manufacturing companies specializing in tactical use was not large.
And usually. In the case of well-known companies among them, for promotion, they would become sponsors for renowned combat mages active in various parts of the Empire.
Especially since the squads of famous combat mages were brands in themselves.
The magic gear and artifacts used by such individuals, when exposed to the media, created tremendous exposure effects.
From the company's perspective, they were probably aiming for just that.
Didn't they even film large-scale advertisements for successful squads?
Quickly recalling that, Enoch smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
The magic gear and artifacts of Dionil's squad members also had the logo of a familiar manufacturer stamped on them.
And for that reason, tickets for maintaining, repairing, and customizing magic gear and artifacts were also provided to the sponsoring squads.
This too. It was all a story that appeared in the original work.
As expected, Dionil seemed unable to break his promise and slowly nodded reluctantly.
"Alright. But I don't have the ticket with me right now. At least I'll need to go back and deliver it..."
Just then. Aspis stepped forward.
"Lord Dionil. I happen to have it with me. If it's alright, I would like to offer mine."
Aspis approached Enoch.
Then he took out the ticket from his pocket and handed it over.
"I apologize for the many inconveniences during this operation, Lord Enoch."
He bowed respectfully once again.
Enoch stared at him for a moment.
Where was there any reason for Aspis to apologize for rudeness or anything? They had only done what they were supposed to do.
Ultimately, only one thing was most important to me.
Enoch held the ticket up high overhead instead of answering. Then he widely spread his arms.
The surface of the ticket, bathed in sunlight, showed the manufacturer name [SIEG] along with a sophisticated hologram on the attached silver seal.
Undoubtedly a genuine ticket from the manufacturing company.
Seeing that, a small smile of pleasure spread across my lips. It was a sense of accomplishment that seemed to sweep away the accumulated fatigue.
Goal achieved.
With this, the planned productive Rhodes farming plan could be considered completely achieved.
Meanwhile, beside me, Dionil muttered with a blank expression of bewilderment, staring at me.
"No... Checking the authenticity in front of the person who gave it..."
But Enoch lightly ignored him and nodded calmly at Aspis before him.
"It's genuine. Thank you. I'll use it well."
"Ah, no. Not at all."
He laughed awkwardly, seeming a little flustered. Enoch put it away in the inside pocket of his jacket, which looked like the black suit he always wore.
With this, he would be able to execute the next plan he had made.
Now that the game had become reality. Unlike enhancing or gacha, which could be done with just a click of a button in-game, that wasn't possible here.
There was no status window or anything like that from the start. Even the messages that were somewhat similar only appeared in the Inner World.
It would be difficult to hope for much in this situation.
But if that was the case, the story changed if I went to the 'place of use' for this ticket and had it manufactured myself.
In fact, I could be certain about this because there was information about what could be manufactured with the crafting ticket.
Enoch had planned meticulously so far. And accordingly, he moved as accurately and promptly as possible.
As a result, he had finally entered the initial stage where he could seriously follow the nurturing method from the original work.
The satisfaction of methodically acquiring the necessary things one by one.
Enoch had to admit inwardly that his heart was beating quite fast with that pleasure.
In the reality of surviving by risking his life until now. This sense of accomplishment was quite addictive.
Not as much as the growth of the sword, of course.
Just then, he saw other members of the Academia approaching in a group from the side. Among them were some of the people Enoch had seen in Rhodes earlier.
Perhaps they had already finished talking with Dionil. They immediately approached Enoch.
"... "
I had been so focused on playing minesweeper with my body earlier that I only noticed now, but most of the Academia Expedition Team members were students and were dressed in uniforms.
Although it was likely a uniform made of material sturdy enough for exploring ruins like this. Like the girl named Emma earlier. As expected of Academia members, they seemed to have a quite strong sense of belonging.
"Lord Enoch, thanks to you throwing yourself in to rescue us, all of our precious Academia personnel were saved. We are truly grateful!"
"A-Are you alright?"
Perhaps it was because they were relieved that no one from the Academia side had died that they were recovering quickly. The terrified expressions they had earlier were gone.
"We were saved thanks to you! We are truly grateful!!"
"We- We would definitely like to invite you when the festival is held at the Academia later!"
Seeing them swarm around like that and reacting quite noisily, Enoch began to roughly consider how to get away.
"That would be rude to someone who has just returned."
Just then. Their crowd parted, and the overall person in charge stepped forward.
Then, pushing others back, he approached Enoch and opened his mouth.
"Thanks to the selfless sacrifice you showed, Lord Enoch, all of Academia's valuable personnel were able to survive. We are deeply grateful once again."
"Your gratitude has been received."
Enoch just nodded his head once. It wasn't something he did to receive thanks anyway.
He had already obtained what he needed.
But the face of the person in charge, who had approached so closely, looked somewhat anxious. He glanced around and asked quietly, as if whispering.
"So, perhaps... What about the Academia's explosion-proof robe you borrowed and used this time...?"
"Ah. About that."
Enoch slightly showed him what was in his hand. Seeing that, the Academia Expedition Team's overall person in charge screamed.
"No, my robe!!!"
The object 'that was' a robe, completely charred, held in Enoch's hand. Seeing that, he let out something akin to a scream. Then he groaned, holding his head.
"Ugh, the Academia President will kill me! If I lose even one more piece of equipment, he'll say something again...!"
"... "
Enoch stared at it blankly. Were only eccentric people like that gathered at the Academia?
His image seemed relatively normal in the original work.
Beside him, Aspis was gently patting his back in a polite manner, saying, "Still, it's better than the Academia expedition members actually dying, isn't it?"
Enoch glanced at him and chuckled faintly.
Ultimately, it was the person in charge's own doing.
If the Academia had checked in advance whether there were Magical Beasts in Rhodes, this wouldn't have happened.
But was it truly just a simple oversight?
Enoch's gaze narrowed, thinking that far.
Honestly, looking only at the circumstances of the incident, he might not have been able to blame only them.
'There are still questions remaining.'
Enoch also had to admit it.
He had obtained everything he could from this Rhodes. But in the process, there were definitely incidents that he couldn't understand with his existing knowledge.
More than one or two things were bothering him.
Firstly,
Why did Flare appear here?
Judging from her words earlier, it was highly likely she was acting under orders from Vendetta.
But I couldn't know for sure what orders she received or what her purpose was in coming to Rhodes.
However, judging from the events Enoch had gone through so far. There were factors he could somewhat speculate about.
'Is it related to the Magical Beasts that appeared in Rhodes?'
Enoch habitually touched his mouth as if covering it.
According to the Academia Expedition Team, Magical Beasts that weren't originally in Rhodes had appeared.
Perhaps Flare, who belonged to Vendetta, coming here was related to that phenomenon.
Of course, the Magical Beastification experiments were related to human experimentation. And the Truncatus in Rhodes this time were naturally occurring Magical Beasts, which was different.
But given that Tantalus, Vendetta's Annihilation Officer, showed a strong obsession with Magical Beastification experiments, the appearance of Flare, who belonged to Vendetta, and the horde of Magical Beasts that appeared in Rhodes seemed to have a strange correlation.
'And Flare's last words are also bothering me.'
She said there was no reason to avenge Tantalus?
As a member of Vendetta. It would be strange for her not to react to the death of Tantalus, an Annihilation Officer.
Enoch shook his head as he tried to piece together the fragmented truths like a puzzle.
'At least, it's not a situation I can't accept.'
In any case, there was no way to know if all these events were part of the official history from the original work.
5 years ago, the detailed circumstances of Dionil's mission in Rhodes were not described.
Therefore, there was virtually no way to know if the appearance of Flare or the Magical Beasts were events that happened in the official history but were simply not depicted.
However, to avoid Enoch's death, he had changed Sirocco's future. And her tribe, the Beast-kin, had avoided the fate of destruction as written in the official history.
If so, the future of the official history from now on.
In other words, the developments I knew might have been partially distorted.
Even if there was no direct correlation. Even if only a very small part of the past was changed, the future of the official history could flow differently like a butterfly effect.
That was something he had thoroughly kept in mind from the beginning.
For survival. Or developments that he would be forced to change depending on the situation, would continue to exist in the future.
In other words. Even if he tried his best not to change the remaining events, there was no way to know for certain where and how any critical variable might occur.
'Therefore, I must sharpen all my senses.'
Maximize my imagination to predict the future.
And never stop preparing.
A single mistake or failure could directly lead to losing my life. Or a catastrophe of losing something precious.
He had reminded himself of these facts multiple times until now, but it became clearer in Rhodes this time, unexpectedly meeting Flare.
He definitely had knowledge of the original work.
However, being 5 years before the original work, it was impossible to use it exactly as it was.
But, there was always a way to apply at least some of that knowledge. Perhaps some things were even more possible because it was reality.
For now, he just needed to make the most of that and steadily solve the tasks before him, one by one.
Thinking that far, Enoch slowly turned his head. He had finished his general assessment of the situation. Then it was time to put the next plan into action.
'Because nothing gets solved by standing still.'
5 years before the original work. Judging from the descriptions, there was still a little time left before the next important event that I needed to intervene in would begin.
However, even before that, there was no room for idleness.
Enoch glanced at the sword wrapped in the charred, long piece of cloth he held in his hand.
A faint smile spread across his lips.
He had even dived to the bottom of a ruin site full of water to retrieve the sword.
He needed to do that much spec-up for it to be worthwhile.
Enoch clenched his hand gripping the sword tightly. At his fingertips, he felt the touch of the greatsword hidden beneath the cloth.
'Was it a knight in silver armor?'
Perhaps the knight holding the sword was the Sword Saint himself.
A faint smile spread across Enoch's lips.
How much spec-up would he be able to gain with the Sword Saint he had drawn this time?