Chapter : 204

There are two ways for a wizard to obtain a staff.

First, they often come out as drop items from dungeons or gates.

In this case, there is no limit to the grade, but the problem is that there is also no lower limit.

You might get a trash item with such grotesque performance that you involuntarily shout, “Is this really a dungeon drop item? Are you kidding me right now!”

The staff my father uses was a drop item like this. As expected of Father, to have both skill and luck, I’m truly jealous.

And the second way was to commission a craftsman like Mordegar to make one.

In this case, materials, the craftsman’s skill, and the luck of the day greatly influence the finished product.

‘Either way, it’s a luck-based trash game.’

Whether you commission it or farm it yourself, it’s random; truly fitting for a gacha trash game.

「Lapis Academy」, a pay-to-win trash game, even inserted a craftsman gacha here.

Only with a good craftsman pulled from gacha would the probability of obtaining good equipment increase even by 3%.

And unlike other high-ranking craftsmen whose existence was uncertain, Mordin was the only craftsman character mentioned in the story.

He was also a character unlocked only after progressing through a certain amount of the main story, so when a newbie appeared who burned a huge sum of 1 million won to pull Mordegar without knowing that, the community collectively lamented.

Even veterans like me ponder for about two days before entering the craftsman gacha! But a newbie entered and even burned 1 million won?

Tsk tsk tsk…. The community, beyond lamenting, eventually tried to hold a funeral for the freshly entered newbie.

‘But then, something shocking happened to everyone.’

The newbie, whom everyone thought would die after burning 1 million won on the craftsman draw, grew into a splendid wallet warrior and became the game’s ranker 「Burned100OnCraftsmanWhoDoesntAppear」.

It was a truly beautiful and tragic story.

I should refrain from mentioning how much they spent to become a ranker.

I was about to use Mordegar, the craftsman whom that newbie couldn’t get even after burning 1 million won so desperately to obtain, for free right now!

“It’s possible.”

“Really…?”

I intended to make him do it even if I had to use any threats, but Mordin agreed surprisingly easily.

Rather, I looked at him with suspicious eyes at the refreshing answer. Does he have some other ulterior motive perhaps?

“Do you mean it seriously?”

“Didn’t you say it with your own mouth? Even if I don’t want to, do it thinking I’m repaying the debt of my life.”

“That is true, but even though I’m asking you to make a weapon to defeat Iris?”

When I asked back, Mordegar’s gaze suddenly turned elsewhere.

A deep weight was felt in that gaze, which seemed to contain a bit of bitterness.

“I am no longer the Golden Mordegar. If I can’t stop my sister now, ending it like this might be one way.”

Although he said that, Mordin’s fingertips were trembling.

I think I know why this human stubbornly insisted on the title Mordin.

As long as he uses the name ‘Mordegar’, he wouldn’t be able to escape the past entangled with Iris.

He himself knew that it was impossible to draw a future he had never imagined.

“…If I have one wish, it is just that my sister’s end is not painful. That is all.”

“That is quite….”

A wish that is disgustingly undeserved yet modest.

“I dislike you, you know that right?”

“There is no way I wouldn’t know. Nevertheless, asking me, whom you hate terribly, for help means you want to complete the staff that much.”

That was also the correct answer.

It is true that it’s a bit annoying that the opponent has figured me out well.

“What do you plan to do about the materials?”

“I plan to raid the Lisitoel family warehouse.”

Anyway, as Theo ‘Lisitoel’, I also had the right to use that warehouse.

Furthermore, according to the Lisitoel family tradition, they said the warehouse could be used freely for staff production if nothing else, so it was a welcome story from my perspective.

Long live noble status!

I was even more glad that among the many noble families, it was Lisitoel.

Since it’s a family that has produced wizards for generations, the warehouse must be overflowing with materials suitable for making staffs!

“Indeed, if it’s the Lisitoel warehouse, it would be overflowing.”

“Actually, there is one function that absolutely must be added.”

“What is it?”

I whispered to him.

“To make that possible, you would have to give up some other performance features?”

“Even if there are no other performance features at all, I ask you to manage just that somehow.”

Because this is the most important thing.

Other things can be compromised, but the function I mentioned was absolutely necessary.

Whether this exists or not will determine many things in the future.

After seemingly agonizing for a moment, Mordin eventually nodded.

At the meaning that he accepted the request, I smiled satisfactorily.

“Then, I leave it in your hands.”

With this, I have secured one of the Joker cards.

But this alone is still far from enough, so I must arrange more things.

I will definitely survive from Iris.

In that process, no one must be sacrificed.

These two are the basic premises.

‘Can I do it?’

No, I must do it.

I, and we, will definitely win.

* * *

“Zephyros, are you a bit okay?”

At Lucian’s question, Zephyros’s mind was distracted elsewhere for a moment.

Along with that, the wind slipped out of his control, brushing past Zephyros’s hair and cutting a few strands with a swish.

“Ah.”

Fortunately, it was only at the level of cutting a few strands of back hair.

“Squeak-kik-kik!”

‘Lou’ sitting on Zephyros’s head mocked Zephyros.

“Hey, didn’t this bird just laugh at me?”

“It’s probably just your feeling.”

“I really don’t think it’s just a feeling.”

It definitely snickered?

“No, it’s just a feeling.”

Lucian turned his head sharply, unable to look Zephyros in the face properly.

Lucian himself must be unaware that he has a habit of not being able to make eye contact properly when lying.

Zephyros reluctantly decided to fall for the obvious lie.

“Is controlling the power still difficult?”

“…Yeah, a bit.”

Until now, the way Zephyros handled power was that if he drew out mana, the wind moved according to his will.

The good thing about this method was that it didn’t consume much of Zephyros’s mental power.

Because it was a method where if Zephyros just asked the wind, the wind would grant that request.

However, now that the wind is silent, he can no longer use the power of the wind.

To be precise, he only thought so.

Was it thanks to drawing out power strongly once in the dream world? He became able to handle the wind ‘directly’ rather than in the form of asking the wind.

The downside was that power control was terribly difficult. If he relaxed his concentration even a little, the wind would wander around as it pleased, thinking it was its chance.

It wouldn’t matter as long as he didn’t get hurt, but the problem was that it didn’t discriminate between opponents and even rushed to harm Zephyros himself.

For some reason, when he was with Lou, the wind was handled more easily than expected, so he was training intensely to adapt to the wind next to Lou somehow.

Even though the damn bird-brain mocked him without knowing how he felt.

“Lou, don’t tease him too much.”

At Zephyros’s words, Lou, who fluttered and landed on Lucian’s fingertip, cried Squeak?

It seemed he was feigning innocence, pretending not to understand what he was saying.

“Wow, really! So annoying.”

“Still, thanks to him, you are learning the knack of controlling power to some extent.”

“If not for that, I would have roasted him whole already.”

Utmost sincerity was felt in those murderous words.

Leaving the laughing Lucian behind, Lou pecked at Zephyros’s head persistently, peck peck.

He pecked so persistently that one might wonder if blood would start flowing from the head soon.

“Will you be able to get the hang of it within a week?”

“If I can’t do that much, the name of the Duchy of Wind will cry.”

It was just that he hadn’t got the hang of it yet because it was his first time now; he was confident that once he got the hang of it, he could handle the wind without much difficulty.

“Until then, I need Lou’s help, so cut me some slack.”

“If not for that, I would have blown him away already.”

“SQUEAAAK!!!”

Ungrateful! As if shouting that, Lou pecked at Zephyros’s head at a faster speed.

“You guys really don’t get along.”

“It’s all because Theo gave up on education.”

“PYAAAAAK!!!”

Don’t badmouth Theo!

Finally, with a CRACK! sound, blood spurted from Zephyros’s forehead.

“Ouch!”

This damn bird! Zephyros reached out to catch Lou, but Lou, with blood on his beak, quickly ran away without looking back.

“I’ll bring Lou back, so you go get treated.”

“Phew, alright.”

Zephyros, who was turning away, suddenly stopped walking.

“What I said about it not being your fault, I meant it.”

“I know. And about the thing with your father….”

“Don’t mind that.”

Zephyros didn’t lie.

His mother was murdered by his father. Lucian couldn’t even dare to gauge Zephyros’s feelings when he learned such a heavy truth.

It must have hurt a lot, very much.

“Somehow… I feel sorry.”

“For what?”

“I feel like I whined about something trivial.”

“That… is not it.”

The size of the wounds of the heart cannot be compared with anyone else.

Each person’s wound is painfully difficult enough to die for themselves.

There is no such thing as a ‘trivial wound’.

Just as Zephyros’s wound hurts, Lucian’s wound must have clearly hurt to the point where he couldn’t shake it off easily.

“No one can dare to gauge another person’s wound.”

“…That is true.”

Lucian laughed lightly.

Indeed, there probably isn’t a wound that doesn’t hurt.

The important thing is not to ignore others’ wounds just because my wound hurts.

“Hey, at this rate, you’ll lose Lou. We absolutely have to use that damn bird, so send him back. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it.”

Lucian, smiling brightly, headed towards where Lou flew.

Touching the trickling blood for a moment, Zephyros let out a heavy sigh.

“Boreas Nevera.”

The owner of the name muttered quietly was the current Duke of Nevera.

The terrible culprit who killed his mother, and the father who passed down half of the blood flowing in this body.

「Zephy, my baby. Please, do not resent your father too much.」

The kind mother who, even while shedding tears in fear of her husband murdering her, wished for her son who would be left alone not to be bound by resentment and revenge until the end.

Thanks to her, what remained for Zephyros was not heavy resentment but the whispers of his kind mother.

「Because he is your father.」

It would have been better if she hadn’t said those words; perhaps he could have been a bit freer from this resentment.

His mother’s kindness was always a shackle and lingering attachment holding Zephyros back.

“I should go to Professor Artemia and get treated.”

Will the day ever come when he becomes free from it?

The wind caught in the shackles moved forward silently.

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