Translator: Shizukuku

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 145  – Research

The next morning, I went to school feeling exhausted.

Yuuta was there, also looking sleep-deprived. 

“Last night, I was training with the hero, and a huge monster appeared near the wall. It was a unique boss, and it was insanely strong. The hero made us and [ Platinum Lion ] take it down as a test of our skills… It took us until the middle of the night.”

As he told me this while yawning widely, I stared at him with my mouth agape.

“I fought a unique boss near the wall too. It was really weird. It was different from the monsters I’ve fought before and covered in corruption.”

When I reported what happened yesterday, Yuuta’s mouth and eyes widened in surprise.

“Same here, some gross, fog-like stuff appeared, and when it hit me, it gave me a [ Curse (Minor) ] status effect. The hero cured me later, though.”

“The hero carries holy water? I just happened to have some with me, so I was able to manage.”

“No, not holy water. They doused me with something called fire liquor. It’s insanely strong, not something you’d want to drink. Since there are no churches in the frontier, fire liquor is the go-to. There’s even a craftsman in the frontier town who makes it. They recommended that I keep one on hand. Apparently, the most effective fire liquor comes from the frontier town.”

“I want that fire liquor. Yuuta, could you send some to me through the guild? I’ll give you something in return.”

“Seriously? In that case, I really want that HP-boosting tart. My HP is way too low. If I don’t get stronger, the monsters in the frontier town will take me down too easily.”

Okay, it’s a deal. I’ll make it, so give me the fire liquor. Yuuta nodded in agreement, and the bargain was struck.

As we were making this promise, the teacher arrived. With an irritated expression, the teacher, even more curt than usual, barked, “Take your seats!”

Even so, was the corruption just a degraded version of a curse? But while there were many types of curses, there didn’t seem to be any different types of corruption. I wondered why. I should look up curses. Maybe there were some materials in the library or somewhere. I should go check it out.

I quietly turned around and asked Yuuta in a low voice, “What did the corruption feel like?” and he replied, “It felt like the nausea, fatigue, and stomach pain you get when you have the flu. It totally drains your energy.” Right after that, the teacher snapped, “Quiet down back there.”

And so, I spent the entire day, from evening until night, making tarts.

I was running low on Aranne Fruit, so when I delivered the completed curse-breaking item to Sei, I’d also have to stop in Sette and buy some regular fruit from Tream’s orchard to bring back.

But the good thing was that I wouldn’t have to rush back this time because Vidello-san was waiting for me. It would be nice to just walk back together at a leisurely pace instead of using teleportation. Maybe we could do some sightseeing along the way, too. If that were to be the case, I’d have to make a proper curse-breaking item before winter break!

I decided to plan a lovely trip to enjoy with Vidello-san during winter break. Let’s do that.

Thinking about all that, I stashed the tarts in my inventory and hurried down the road to the Adventurers’ Guild.

As I passed by, I noticed that Crash’s shop was as crowded as ever. My condolences.

When I arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild, it was evening, and people had gathered in the attached dining hall, making quite a racket. There was also a corner where people who probably couldn’t make a racket in real life were letting loose, and I thought about how harsh the world was as I went up to the counter.

The receptionist greeted me with a cheerful smile that showed no sign of fatigue, saying, “Thank you for your hard work. How can I help you today?”

I informed them that I wanted to send something to the frontier town and entrusted the item to them.

“Understood. Please be aware that, on rare occasions, bandits might steal the cargo along the way, and it may not reach its intended destination. If that happens, the handling fee and shipping cost will be refunded, but we advise against sending anything that is truly irreplaceable.”

I agreed and bowed, told them that I would be receiving something in return, and then left the guild. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but it was already dark outside.

I looked up at the stars twinkling in the sky, thinking to myself that the tarts had taken up more time than I’d expected.

Having sorted out the liquor situation, I headed in the opposite direction of my workshop.

Over this way was the library and the farm. 

It was too late to visit the farm now, so I would come back tomorrow, but I wondered if the library was still open. But I didn’t get my hopes up. I just had a bit of free time before logging out, but if the library was closed, I’d just log out a little earlier than usual.

I had a little over an hour left in the day. But, If I went to see Vidello-san, I knew it wouldn’t be enough, and if I kept visiting every day and staying up late, we’d both end up sleep-deprived. I also didn’t want to go to Crash’s shop and see that crowd again. If Crash’s shop weren’t so busy, I’d have gone there to work on leveling up my Ancient Magic Language skills in the back. I’m feeling a bit resentful towards you, Vil-san. Just kidding. I don’t resent you.

When I arrived in front of the library, bright lights were shining from inside. I wondered if it was okay to go in.

I hesitantly opened the door and the librarian at the reception desk looked at me and smiled.

“Looking for something at such a late hour? How diligent of you. If you’d like, may I assist you with your search?”

Wait, the library was actually open? And they were even offering to help. I was so happy.

Relieved, I stepped inside the library. The librarian stood up from the reception chair and gestured for me to come in.

“Um, I wanted to research curses.”

“Curses…? Understood. Would you please follow me?”

I followed the librarian, who started walking, slipping through the spaces between the bookshelves.

We passed through a door at the back, and then she placed her hand on another door.

I’d never been to this part of the library before, and if I’d only been given verbal directions, I definitely would have gotten lost.

The librarian opened the door.

When I looked inside, there were a few shelves and a grand cabinet in the center. The cabinet contained old-looking books.

They were bound with chains and locks.

“The more dangerous books related to curses and dark magic are in the locked cabinet in the center, so if you want to read them, please let me know. I’ll lend them to those who are qualified to read them. As for the books around it, feel free to read as you like. Well then.”

With that, the librarian sat down at a desk in the corner of the room and picked up a pen. It seemed like this was where she did her work. I glanced sideways at the librarian while approaching the bookshelf.

Indeed, the locked cabinet contained books on curses and dark magic. Moving to the surrounding shelves, I found books related to corruption.

The librarian was busily working away. I didn’t want to disturb her, so I reached for a book on the shelf first.

The book was called [ Monsters and Corruption ].

I was curious because it was the same topic as the problem I dealt with the other day. Yesterday, at almost exactly the same time, both Yuuta and Tre encountered corrupted monsters.

Maybe they appeared in other towns as well. And maybe some players took on quests to hunt those monsters down.

I sat down in the reading space nearby and immediately opened the book.

Inside, it covered topics such as the relationship between monsters and corruption, and how to handle corrupted monsters when they appear.

It was said that when monsters were exposed to a certain amount of the magical essence emitted by the Demon Continent, they underwent sudden mutations and became terrifying creatures that emitted corrupted magical essence. That was what happened with the unique bosses that appeared yesterday, like the wild boar mammoth.

This magical essence was fundamentally different from the magic that usually flowed through the continent or the magical essence that formed monsters and was more like a mass of stagnant, condensed magical essence.

Sometimes, when concentrations of magical essence became stagnant and rotten, abnormal, tainted monsters would appear. I wondered if there was a fixed cycle for when that happened. It was intriguing.

This stagnant and rotten magical essence was generally referred to as [ Corruption ], and when it became severe, it was said to transform into a curse.

Oh, so that’s why it was a [ Curse (Minor) ] status effect.

Corruption could be dispelled by the magic contained in alcohol or by holy water. Oh, wow, I didn’t know that alcohol contained magic.

Although I had a general understanding of corruption, I didn’t grasp the details very well. Because of this, the book was more interesting than I expected, and I ended up reading the whole thing. When I closed the first book, only five minutes had passed. Perhaps it was the benefit of my speed-reading skill. I was grateful.

I returned the book to the shelf and picked up the next one.

And so, I ended up spending an hour reading books out of mere curiosity rather than for research. My alarm went off, and I snapped back to reality. I had read about 20 books.

I decided to read the upper shelves tomorrow and I called out to the librarian, who stopped what she was doing and stood up.

“Thank you very much. I would like to read the books in the locked cabinet tomorrow.”

“Certainly. If you touch the small crystal in front of the door and it glows blue, it means you are qualified to read them, and I will give them to you then.”

I nodded while tilting my head, wondering what she meant by qualified.

The librarian guided me back to the entrance, and I thanked her and opened the door. When I glanced back, I saw the librarian at the reception desk, waving goodbye with a smile.