The Moving Palace.
So this was the rumored VIP area.
When I stepped out of the identically laid-out small room, a dazzling corridor awaited.
A red carpet was laid down, with magnificent landscape paintings and stone statues at regular intervals, and doors lined up along both sides.
Temple-like columns stood there as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"These are all teleportation rooms. The shop area is this way."
At the end of the corridor was a courtyard with an impressive fountain. Quite spacious.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing..."
I thought I caught a glimpse of Ruma and Samarnya in the courtyard. Probably just my imagination.
Hoss still hadn't come back since then. I wondered where he was and what he was up to. A little worried, honestly.
Leaving the courtyard behind, I headed up to the second floor.
The second floor was a spacious hall.
From the hall, doors similar to the teleportation rooms were lined up in neat rows down the corridors to the left and right.
"This is the shop area?"
Mineha furrowed her brow.
"That's right."
"There are no tents, huh."
"Nope. The rooms on floors two through five of the palace are all shops."
"What about the sixth floor?"
"That's the Throne Room. The House of Cards Champion Match is held there, if I remember right."
"The card thing?"
"A one-on-one against Heizen's champion."
Huh. Cards. Not really my thing.
Mineha reacted about the same way.
"Still, this is kind of underwhelming, isn't it?"
Mineha was openly disappointed.
It wasn't what she'd expected. I could relate.
She'd probably imagined rows of fancy tents or something.
But I guessed the VIP area was the kind of place that deliberately didn't stand out.
"The witch's shop is this way."
At the far right end, the door was numbered "216."
Giza knocked on the door.
"Coming, coming. Come right on in."
The witch's voice drifted out, and Giza opened the door. A little bell chimed.
We were ushered in, so I stepped into the room — or rather, the shop.
A single long, broad table sat in the middle, with chairs lined up along the walls from one end to the other.
On the table sat the yellow-glowing items we'd brought from the Junkyard that morning.
A single window was hung with a thin, dark curtain.
"This is the shop?"
Mineha looked around and grumbled.
Deciding it was safe, she pulled off her hood with an irritated air.
"Well, well, I'm planning to spruce up the interior a bit more, you know."
"...It does have a certain feel to it, like a jewelry store."
"Oh, oh, as expected of young Wof. You understand. The interior is modeled after a by-appointment-only, invitation-only jewelry store in the royal capital. All the gems they sell there come with Appraisals and are legendary. They even had cursed items in the basement, you know."
What kind of store is that.
Mineha furrowed her brow.
"Are curses actually real?"
"They are."
"Yes, they exist."
"Yes, yes, they certainly do, you know."
Without a beat of hesitation, all three of us confirmed it.
After all, I'd been cursed by a sword goddess and couldn't hold a sword.
"So then, what exactly is a curse? Well, it's simply a Relic effect, you know."
The witch said this, leaning against the table.
"A Relic?"
"No, no, strictly speaking, a Relic effect. That's right. For example, there's a Relic that takes away a person's freedom of movement. Anyone afflicted with this Relic naturally loses control of their body, you know."
She picked up a ring that had been lying nearby — a double ring. She turned it over in her fingertips.
"Well, obviously. That's what the effect does. What are you even saying?"
"Right, right. But Mineha, you're not thinking this lasts permanently, are you?"
"Permanently? You mean it's not just temporary?"
"No, no. You lose freedom of movement forever. That's what's called a curse."
Mineha's eyes widened in surprise, and she voiced her question.
"So what about the cooldown?"
"Oh, good. Noticing that first — very good question. Curses are a Relic effect, but they have no cooldown."
The witch set the double ring down.
Mineha looked baffled.
"That's…"
"Well, well. There's certainly a reason why there's no cooldown. A curse continues to activate because a price is being paid. That price is the power of an ancient Relic… a life."
At the witch's words, Mineha and I both held our breath.
Giiza let out a sigh.
"A life? What does that mean?"
She clearly already knew what it meant when she asked.
But I suppose she couldn't accept it without hearing it spoken aloud.
"Mhm, mhm. Simply put, the Relic bearer is constantly sacrificing their own life to sustain the Relic effect. Or they use someone else's life instead. In other words, a sacrifice."
"…Despicable."
Mineha clicked her tongue, feeling sick to her stomach.
The sword goddess was probably the former case. And I had a feeling her life would never run out.
At that moment, a bell chimed and the door opened.
"So, how are preparations coming along?"
The one who strolled in while saying that was a woman with tanuki ears.
Her long blonde hair was loosely curled and flowing, with round animal ears—tanuki ears—sticking out.
Clear blue eyes. Her features were every bit as well-defined as the Witch's or Mineha's.
Come to think of it, this room was nothing but stunning beauties.
They all smelled sweet and lovely, like cream.
She wore a black cape over a frilly dress.
Hm. The outfit looked understated, but her presence was on a completely different level—she radiated elegance.
That dress... despite appearances, I had a feeling it was actually high-end.
Two tanuki tails trailed behind her.
She was tanuki-folk. Oh right—Ponpoko was one of those.
"—Milady."
"—Oh, um... could it be that—"
"—Pleased to meet you. I'm Wof."
"—Mineha."
"—Hey there. So you're the Witch, huh."
We introduced ourselves.
Milady, huh—so this was young Seiran?
"Y-yes, nice to meet you. I am Seiran Zenxella, head of the Zenxella household—but the Witch already knows that, so there's no need for introductions!"
"Well, ha ha, ha ha — she's quite the little tanuki, isn't she."
"She-fox."
Seiran huffed and turned her face away.
Then she stole a glance at me.
Her eyes were full of curiosity, but she kept her distance.
"……Milady. What brings you here?"
"Just scoping things out. I came to see what kind of shop you put together. Hmm. Not bad. For a witch, that is."
"Um, sorry to interrupt."
"Wh-what is it?"
She flinched. I pulled a letter from my pouch.
"This is from your uncle."
"Huh...?"
"It says 'For little Seiran.'"
"Huh?"
She was dumbfounded, but slowly reached for the letter.
She snatched it in a flash. Both of her tails were bristling.
A wild tanuki after all?
"Milady. You look like some kind of animal."
"Ugh, shut up. Giiih!"
"My, my — so that's what she's got. A love letter, perhaps?"
"Don't smirk at me, you vixen!"
She shot a sharp glare at the witch, then carefully tucked the letter away.
"I'm glad I could deliver it."
"Th-thank you... um... ah, this!"
As if to cover her embarrassment, Seiran picked up the hair ornament lying on the table.
"My, my — something caught your eye, did it?"
"...How much?"
"Oh my, oh my. Let's see. Since I got to witness something entertaining, fifty thousand will do."
"Giiza. Pay for it."
"As you command."
"Witch. While we're at it — where did you get this?"
She asked, studying the hair ornament.
"Oh, who knows — the last bazaar, perhaps?"
"You weren't even there. Liar."
Seiran stared at the witch with deadpan eyes.
Giiza paid the fifty thousand oro to the witch.
"Well, do your best."
Seiran and Giiza bowed politely and left.
After a while, the witch murmured.
"Hmm, hmm. This might be a little problematic."
"What about it?"
"It's probably, probably that hair ornament. It was a memento of someone Seiran knew, dearie."
"Oh."
"You've been suspected, haven't you."
Mineha let out a sigh. The witch placed a hand on her cheek.
I asked.
"What will you do?"
"Well, well, there's a way to handle that, so there's no need to worry, dearie. Also, young Wof — I'd like you to help Shaldina and Anna Kreutzen with the shop-watching."
"Understood. I'll let them know later. By the way, Witch — I have something I'd like to ask, if that's alright?"
"Oh my, oh my, what could it be?"
I asked about the sword goddess's daughter.
The witch had, as expected, forgotten. But she denied having been the one to take her down.
"Then who did it?"
"My, my, my — it seems she has quite a few enemies, dearie."
The witch laughed. She looked like she was enjoying herself.
Mineha looked exasperated.
"Seems that way. I'm one of them too, though."
"Fufu, fufu — either way, Kon will be claiming the credit in full, dearie."
I figured as much.
After that, I helped the witch for a while and then left the room.
I went downstairs and looked at the courtyard. The fountain was magnificent.
"Hey, look at that."
Mineha, her hood pulled low, grabbed my sleeve and tugged.
A group of about six people clad in armor was heading this way from ahead.
The man at the very front was peculiar — he had some kind of oval-shaped mirror plate fitted over his face.
My reflection showed in the mirror, and they passed right by without a word.
As I watched their retreating figures, Mineha quietly lowered her voice.
"I recognize them."
"The mirror-faced man?"
"I don't know anything about that creep. I meant the others he was with. Those guys. They're delvers from Kuun Hunt. No mistake. I've seen them in Hydrangea's dungeon a few times."
"Kuun Hunt..."
Along with the surprise came a deeply unpleasant feeling.
So Kuun Hunt was getting involved too. Great. Just great.
If they tried anything, I'd crush them flat.
To me, Kuun Hunt was pretty much on the level of cockroaches.
On the way back, I stopped by Berk's place.
The image of those two people I'd seen last time flickered through my mind.
But they were closed.
Must be their day off.