For me, it was a once-familiar sight—one that now felt terribly nostalgic.
The dungeon's Junkyard.
"............"
I couldn't help but do a double take. I blinked. I took deep breaths, over and over.
There was no mistaking it. That air. That sight. This was the dungeon's Junkyard.
"............"
I was at a loss for words. Unbelievable. This was beyond belief.
What kind of thing had he been hiding. Uncle!
What had that man gone and done.
"Huh? The Junkyard!?"
"Oh my, oh my, oh my—well now, well now... that's something else entirely..."
"What is it!? What's going on!?"
"...No way. Something like this... Heizen's secret... that's just unreal."
Everyone was stunned. Even that witch was standing there slack-jawed. Of course.
The only person who could lay eyes on this for the first time without flinching was probably Alverde.
"Well now, well now. When you die on the Heizen Plains or in the Heizen Great Forest, your body and your equipment both vanish. Just like a dungeon. No—it IS a dungeon. There were plenty of people who bet their lives searching for where the Junkyard had to be. To think Kon's sitting right there, alive and well."
"I've searched for it too. Never would've guessed it'd be right inside the city of Heizen."
"Mm, mm. A blind spot. The more of a veteran you are, the more it falls outside what you'd consider."
"S-Sorry. Uncle just never said a word."
I apologized on my uncle's behalf.
"No, no, hiding it was the right call."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I think so too."
"I think keeping it hidden was the right call as well."
Everyone siding with my uncle.
"This secret is way too big. This is without a doubt Heizen's greatest secret. If this ever got out, the whole city would collapse!"
"It's that serious...?"
"Is that so?"
"Wof. Chardina. Think about it. Do you think the Three Great Families would just sit there and do nothing?"
"Well..."
Yeah. They'd definitely make a move.
"The delicate balance the Three Great Families maintain would shatter in an instant. And that's not all — outside forces might get involved too. Either way, a lot of people would die."
"That's right."
"That's right."
"..."
"Uncle..."
So that's what he'd been mulling over — that's why he kept quiet.
"Na!" Dagaa climbed onto a stone pedestal near the Junkyard and slapped it.
That guy really does whatever he wants.
A stone pedestal held a book. It was tattered, its pages splayed open.
Was it a diary? The open page described finding the Junkyard.
'Ah, damn it. I knew something was here, but this is more than expected. As expected of me, or what the hell did I even find? This is bad. Ah, what a pain. A total pain. Right. Let's do this. Let's pretend we never saw it. Something like this. I won't tell Lady Seiran or anyone else. So, sealed. Locked down. The rest is up to fate. I don't care. Up to whoever finds it. See ya'
"Uncle..."
That was awful. Just a terrible, half-hearted abandonment. But that was the kind of person he was.
He was always so careless when it really mattered.
Everyone read the diary page and either sighed or laughed.
In conclusion, about this Junkyard...
"We should probably keep quiet about it, shouldn't we?"
"Agreed."
"Right. Let's just leave it be."
"Mm-hmm. We'll keep quiet and put it to use ourselves."
"It's a mountain of treasure!"
"..."
The witch was right.
The idea of doing absolutely nothing with it was out of the question.
Chardina was right. It was a mountain of treasure.
"That's right, that's right. This is perfect timing, Young Wof. Drink this and give it a try."
The witch produced a small vial of medicine.
From it, she held out a single pink pill to me.
Mineha noticed right away.
"That thing from before?"
"What's that?"
"This is a Relic adjustment medicine. It adjusts my Wheel of Fortune to narrow the overall rarity display down to a single type."
"So, like, you could show the rarity for just swords?"
"Yes. That's exactly right."
"You can really do that with medicine?"
"Well, there are a few different ways, but this is the only method I can use. Anyway, young Wof. Drink it up. That's right — like Hoss said. Let's try checking the rarity of just the sword."
"Okay."
I drank the medicine and activated my Wheel of Fortune.
The instant I did, a blinding cascade of green light washed over me.
I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
"Wof. Are you okay?"
"Wof?"
"Dead?"
"......!"
"Hmm. Hmm. What happened, young Wof?"
"What happened?"
"I-I'm fine. There was just... so much green."
It was like a sea of light.
I slowly opened my eyes, and gradually began to adjust.
Phew. Still, though… incredible. This is the untouched Junkyard.
There were plenty of yellow lights too. The sight before me — seeing it for the first time — left me shaken.
"Wof. Are you all right? Can you do it?"
"Y-yes. I'm fine now."
"Well, well, don't push yourself too hard. Now then, young Wof. Picture a sword and focus your consciousness on it."
"Yes! Sword… sword… sword…"
I pictured a sword and focused my consciousness on it.
A sword. A sword. A sword — something longer than a knife that can cut.
A weapon I can't equip… and with that, the sea of green light wavered and vanished.
The yellow lights too… only two remained, displayed.
"How is it?"
"Two super rare yellow dots… are left."
"Did it work, maybe?"
"Let's go get it!"
"That sword — I'll go fetch it. Where is it?"
"Sharudina's coming too! I'll show the way!"
"Hold it, you two!"
I used Danger Discernment. The Junkyard was full of dangers.
Near each yellow dot, there was one red dot. The black ones were further in.
All eyes turned to me.
"Um... there are dangers nearby, so please be careful."
"A Relic that can tell danger, huh? Got it."
"I'll be careful, desu."
I told them where, and off they went, full of pep.
Anna Kreuzen followed after them, probably out of worry.
The witch studied a small vial of medicine with a thoughtful expression, gave it a light shake, then put it away.
Then she pulled a sheathed sword from a nearby junk pile and brought it over.
It was a sword with an intricate dragon carving on the hilt. The leather scabbard had some minor scratches but was sturdy.
The witch drew it in one smooth motion, revealing an unbroken, silver-colored blade.
"That's a fine one, desu."
"That gleam isn't copper. Could it be silver? A silver sword?"
"Hey, hey, young Wof. What's the rarity of this sword?"
"............It's not glowing at all."
"Hmm hmm. Why don't you deactivate the Relic and try using it again?"
"O-Okay."
I deactivated it and used [Wheel of Fortune]. The sword glowed green.
"Well then, how about it?"
"It's green. But when I focused on just the sword earlier, there was no reaction at all..."
"Hmm hmm. In other words. It seems you still need more practice."
"Seems that way."
The witch and I exchanged wry smiles.
Mineha tilted her head, studying the sword.
"So green is the lowest rarity, even for a sword this nice?"
"It's a silver sword."
"Right. It's low."
I found the low ranking questionable too. The blade wasn't just silver. The craftsmanship on the scabbard and hilt was exquisite.
Personally, I felt it could have at least been blue, or even yellow.
"Hmm hmm. I wonder why."
The witch spun the sword around in her hands, examining it.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my — well now, I see."
"Did you figure something out?"
"Well now, this sword. It's neither pure silver nor mithril. It's likely an iron sword with a silver coating. If you look closely at the tip, it's rusting. The coating is peeling off."
"So the inside is all corroded?"
"Ah, a coating. Does that make a difference?"
"Hmm hmm. It's hardly suited for combat. I thought this showy sword belonged to a noble, or... I expected to find a family crest engraved somewhere, but... hmm hmm. Strange. There isn't one anywhere. Hmm hmm. Well then. As a sword, it's really only good for display."
With that, the witch tossed it onto the junk pile with no interest.
Bid looked at the discarded sword and spoke.
"So this one can't be sold, then?"
"Witch, what about it?"
Was she actually considering selling it? The Witch gave a faint, wry smile.
"Hmm, hmm. Hard to say. The thing inside the silver coating is rusted solid, you see. Try to cut with it and it'll snap right off. The craftsman who did the coating did beautiful work, but the tip's peeling off, so it'd be obvious."
"Can't we at least sell the peeled-off silver?"
"Hmm. Hmm. The amount of silver you'd get from peeling it off really isn't that much."
"Is that so."
"Besides, besides, peeling it off is difficult too. And the amount will definitely come out less than before coating. The labor isn't worth it at all. It's truly junk."
The Witch gave a gentle, wry smile.
It was like trying to peel off silver leaf that had been glued on. Of course it'd be nothing but hassle.
That's when Mineha made a suggestion.
"What if you just recoated the tip?"
"No, no, recoating isn't that simple. If you're going to redo it, you'd have to strip everything off first and coat the whole thing, otherwise you'd get unevenness and inconsistencies. But even going that far, this thing isn't worth that much. The coating cost would actually be higher than the sword itself."
"So it can't be sold, huh."
"Looks that way..."
Mineha and Bid looked disappointed. So they were actually planning to sell it.
And wouldn't Mineha's plan of just coating the tip and selling it basically fraud?
That's when it happened. A deafening crash echoed through the air as the mountain of junk collapsed.
"Hoss! Chardina!"
I rushed over as if propelled by something.