Chapter 83
The remaining time for the quest was two hours! Then I finished the plating for one shield. The information of the finished item popped up.
[Divine Shield]
Rating: Rare
Durability: 360/360 Defense: 189 Magic Resistance: 150
* There is a rare chance of completely resisting dark spells.
An item made by a craftsman with great skills and potential, but his experience and reputation is somewhat lacking.
Thanks to the power of Cassus, a priest of the Rebecca Church, it shines with the divine power of the goddess of light. Due to its strength against dark magic, all followers of demons and the Yatan Church will suffer when facing this shield.
User Restriction: Level 190 or higher. More than 500 strength. More than 1,000 divine power. A member of the Rebecca Church.
Weight: 800
[A rare rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +2 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +30.]
“T-This is shit.”
The first final product was a rare rated shield. I was hoping for it to have at least the epic rating, so I was beyond frustrated.
“…One of my hopes has disappeared.”
I invested almost all my fortune in making these two shields. If the next shield was rare rated and this quest failed, it would be hard for me to break even. As I shook from the anger that I couldn’t endure, Cassus spoke.
“The other one will be finished with good results.”
I exclaimed. “I thought you said that praying would have a clear effect! But what is this? Does a god really exist?”
“…”
Cassus didn’t say anything, despite being the target of my venting. There was no change in his expression, but he seemed to think I was being absurd. I had been stuck with him for the last two days, so it was possible to read his expressionless face to a certain extent.
“Ah…I’m sorry.”
I shouldn’t blame the innocent Cassus. It was just my dirty luck. I apologized and carefully finished plating the remaining shield. Then…
[Perfect Divine Shield]
Rating: Legendary
Durability: 680/680 Defense: 370 Magic Resistance: 280
* There is a high chance of completely resisting dark spells.
* The skill ‘Divine Light’ will be generated.
* The skill ‘Divine Favor’ will be generated.
An item made by a craftsman with great skills and potential, but his experience and reputation is somewhat lacking.
Thanks to the power of Cassus, a priest of the Rebecca Church, it shines with the divine power of the goddess of light. Due to its strength against dark magic, all followers of demons and the Yatan Church will suffer when facing this shield.
User Restriction: Level 190 or higher. More than 500 strength. More than 1,000 divine power. A member of the Rebecca Church.
Weight: 800
[An legendary rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +25 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +1,000.]
“K-Keok!”
I was so surprised that my breath was blocked for a moment. Cassus’ pallid face smiled for the first time as he looked closely at the shield.
“Congratulations.”
“…”
His pale skin and eyes gave off a bad impression when he was emotionless, but he looked good when he smiled like this. I felt some appreciation towards Cassus for the first time.
“This is all thanks to your prayers!”
“It is Goddess Rebecca’s divine favor.”
“Yes! That’s right! Goddess Rebecca, hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”
“Goddess Rebecca is eternal. Don’t cheer for her like that.”
“…Ah, yes.”
“Now, let’s return to the administrator.”
“Understood!”
I placed the shields in my inventory and rushed off quickly, filled with a desire to show the shields to the administrator as quickly as possible. However, Cassus didn’t lag behind my speed, despite only seeming like he was walking.
‘Is he walking so fast because his legs are long?’
We arrived at the administrator’s office as I was thinking.
“You came.”
The administrator who always greeted me energetically was nowhere to be seen.
‘His face doesn’t look good. Did he have a fight with his wife? But his depressed mood will be gone the moment he sees this!’
I handed the legendary Divine Shield to the administrator.
“Now, how about this? Isn’t it impressive? No, isn’t it amazing?”
“…”
The administrator didn’t say anything. He just looked closely at the Divine Shield. Heh, he was struck speechless. Last time I made a legendary sword, and now it was a legendary shield! He must be wondering if it was possible for such a great blacksmith to exist in the world, while also being confused over whether this was a dream or not.
‘Even I am wondering if this is a dream.’
As the number of items that I made increased, I couldn’t help getting a feeling. In order to create high rated items, it was necessary to have good luck, quality materials, time invested, and effort.
The first item I made in Bairan Village were the epic rated Special Jaffa Arrows, so I thought it was easy to make an epic rated item.
But what was the truth? I was mistaken.
Since I made a unique rated dagger in a short time period during the item making game with Euphemina, I thought it was easy to make unique rated items for a while.
But what was the truth? I was once again mistaken.
‘Making a legendary item is like winning the lottery.’
Once I concluded that, I suddenly remembered Cassus’ prayer.
‘Maybe the prayer really did have an effect.’
I was sincerely grateful for his hard work in praying for the two days that I made the items. I turned my gaze towards Cassus. He was once again expressionless, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable.
I smiled at Cassus. Then his expression stiffened. “Do you have any complaints towards me?”
“…”
Was my smiling face that strange? One day, I would have to practice smiling in front of a mirror. I was seriously considering it when the administrator opened his mouth.
“Good work.”
Huh? What was this boring reaction? Didn’t he originally make a fuss? He was the one who made a fuss when I first came with the Sword of Self-transcendence, so why was he so calm this time?
While I was surprised by the unexpected reaction, the administrator said to me. “I will determine the value as soon as possible. You should go back for today.”
“Didn’t you price the Sword of Self-transcendence immediately? Why do I have to go back empty handed today?”
“There is a financial crisis due to the recent war. I will set a price after meeting with the lady.”
“…Hrmm, okay.”
I was convinced and extended a hand towards the administrator. The administrator asked with confusion, “This hand?”
What? I pointed to the Divine Shield in the administrator’s hand.
“That, give it to me.”
The administrator frowned. “Why do I need to give it back?”
“Eh?”
What was wrong with this old man today? Did he take the wrong medication?
“Isn’t it natural to return the item to the owner?”
“Owner? Are you the owner of this shield?”
“Then whose is it if it isn’t mine?”
“You…what are you saying? The owner of this shield is someone we can’t go against…!”
The administrator’s face reddened. He seemed sincerely angry.
‘Someone we can’t go against? Is he talking about Lady Irene? Anyway, money hasn’t been paid yet, so isn’t this shield mine? I am exercising ownership over my property, so why is he so angry?’
As I was feeling strange towards the administrator,
“Guards! Come and capture this person!”
The guards outside the administrator’s office were summoned. Four guards armed with armor and spears rushed into the office. Then hesitated when they saw I was the target, but eventually followed orders and seized me.
I was frustrated and offended. “What are you doing right now? Why are you capturing an innocent person? Isn’t this misconduct?”
The administrator held the shield tightly and exclaimed. “Shut up! I treated you well due to your accomplishments in the past, yet you dare to go beyond your means!”
“Excuse me? It is common sense. Who is the one in the wrong right now?”
But the administrator didn’t bother talking to me anymore. “Lock him in the castle’s dungeon right now!”
“What? Y-You crazy person!”
The moment that the administrator was about to leave the office with the Divine Shield…
“Wait there.”
Cassus blocked the administrator’s way. Then he drew a cross over the administrator’s head.
“Light of Purification.”
Chwaaaaak!
A brilliant light flashed through the office. The light wasn’t intense enough to hurt my eyes. Rather, the light gave off a restful feeling. Then the administrator looked around with surprise.
“Eh? What is this situation? What is everybody doing here? Grid, why are the guards capturing you? Eh? What is this shield? Why am I holding something like this?”
“…?”
Did the administrator already have dementia, despite only being middle-aged? The administrator was crying out with confusion. Then he suddenly staggered and fell down.
“A-Administrator?”
As the guards rushed to support him, Cassus approached me and said. “Indeed, the administrator was brainwashed by the Yatan Church.”
“Brainwashed?”
“Didn’t it say from the beginning? Only members of the Rebecca Church can handle the Divine Shield. There is no one in Winston who can use the Divine Shield. Even if the Divine Shield is owned, it is impossible for Winston to use it to defend against the Yatan Church. So why did the administrator ask you to create the Divine Shield?”
“Come to think of it…”
“I was suspicious from the time the administrator asked the Rebecca Church to send a priest to make the Divine Shield. If the administrator was really trying to defend Winston using the Divine Shield, he would’ve asked not just for help to make it, but the support of a paladin to use the shield.”
“I see. I made a small mistake. So I was suspected.”
One of the four guards supporting the fallen administrator muttered. Cassus’ gaze fell on the guard as a dark energy erupted from the guard’s body. Then after a while, the darkness was lifted and the young guard became an old man.
“Eh?”
I panicked and the rest of the guards were shocked.
“W-Who are you? Where did Roy go?”
Their companion suddenly turned into an old man. The old man waved his hand like the guards were annoying. Then black nails suddenly appeared in the air, killing the guards.
Cassus saw him.
“Dirty infidel, you dare to commit murder in front of a priest of Rebecca?”
The old man laughed at Cassus while picking up the Divine Shield that the administrator had dropped. “From my point of view, you are the dirty infidel.”
Peeng!
Before the old man finished talking! An explosion occurred and the wall of the office broke. A girl appeared from among the dust. ‘Isabel’ was written in green above her head, and she was a pretty girl in an embroidered blue dress, making her seem reminiscent of a heroine from a manhwa.
Then Cassus rebuked Isabel. “Why did you go through the wall when there is a door?”
Isabel gave a refreshing laugh. “Isn’t this cooler?”
“…”
What was going on now? What the hell was going on? I couldn’t understand the situation. Then Isabel raised a hand. A gold circle appeared in the air and a white spear emerged from it. The old man was shocked as he saw it.
“Lifael’s Spear…? D-Don’t tell me!”
“What does the Yatan Church want with the Divine Shield?”
Isabel smiled while holding the white spear.
“Unbelievable! Why is Rebecca’s Daughter here…?”
The old man was forced to run away from Isabel.
“Shall we play?”
Isabel licked the spear before chasing after the old man, with Cassus following her. I was left alone in the office.
“What is this? No, wait…”
Something flashed through my head.
“Hey, this crazy geezer! My shield!”
I belatedly realized that the old man took my Divine Shield and rushed out of the office.
Isabel and Cassus were at the end of the corridor. I thought I would be able to chase the old man if I followed them, but I couldn’t keep up. Their running speed was on a different level from the general public.
‘I am going to miss them!’
I squeezed out all my strength and ran. But in the end, I completely lost Isabel and Cassus.
“Pant… pant.. where? Which way did they go?”
Winston Castle was very large. There were hundreds of rooms. I came to a point where it was impossible to figure out which direction Isabel and Cassus went in.
“Ugh…! It would be good if there were witnesses!”
I wandered around the third floor of Winston Castle. As I walked down the corridors, I waited for a new notification window to appear. What notification window was I waiting for? Of course, it was the new quest notification window!
I invested huge amounts of materials into the le.gen.da.ry. shield, so there should be a quest to retrieve the shield from the old man! But…
“…”
Five minutes later,
“…”
10 minutes later,
“…”
30 minutes passed and a new quest information window didn’t pop up.
“This really stinks.”
Random quests were always foisted on me, so why didn’t the desired quest appear in this situation?
“Shit! Shit! Is this a lie? Eh?”
Was it so easy to lose a legendary item that I made? Wouldn’t it sell for hundreds of millions of won?
“No way…”
I was robbed of a legendary item! Uncontrollable anger bubbled up.
“Uwaaaaaah! Gimme my shield, you @ ~ # $! I could pay off half my debt if I sold that, you #$!~^ jerks!”
My shout contained all my heartbreak. But my cry only echoed in the void.