Volume 6 - CH 2.3

Considering the risk, no one would try to attach same Skill twice, but as far as I am concerned, I am not afraid of attaching multiple Skills, so maybe we should give it a try?

If the equipment breaks, however, I will most definitely become a laughingstock, so maybe I should stop thinking like a high school girl and start looking at things more realistically? After all, there has to be a reason for why people say that this does not usually work.

Let us get back on track then. Should I fuse Goat Skill Crystal with my Rod? Yes, let me have that.

And for accessory, I am going to have a Sacrificial Misanga.

I have already told Luke to get it at lower price next time, so we can buy more Skill Crystals later without any problems. That way, I am going to be able to will be able to obtain multiple Goat Skill Crystals and attach 「2x INT Skill」 to other weapons, or attach it to accessories if I am going to have extra Green Caterpillar Skill Crystals. But in that case, should I not wait for another Kobold Skill Crystal before having it fused with the Rod?

「In any case, Kobold Skill Crystal will be available soon. Roxanne, you should be the one to put this Sacrificial Misanga on.」

「Umm… Do I really have to? Can we not sell it for profit?」

Roxanne hesitates in receiving the Sacrificial Misanga that Sherry just made from me.

「If we are going to have a surplus amount of it, then of course I am going to sell it, but we must also keep some of them around in order to have spares just in case if we ever ran out of them. And rather than keeping the spare one in the closet, I would feel much better knowing that you will be wearing it, Roxanne.」

That was my argument for Roxanne to take the Sacrificial Misanga, because just like I told her, I would much rather have hear wear it and make a good use of it than to simply have it sold for a momentary profit. That being said, why is she still so reluctant? Is it because she thinks that a Sacrificial Misanga is not an equipment that anyone, especially a slave like her, can put on? Is that it?

「But I may receive an attack and break it as a result.」

I thought it would be a simple matter but she is making it much more difficult than it really has to be. Hoo boi, why is it always that Roxanne has to worry about all of the things that she does not really need to be worrying herself about?

「Sherry, what is a typical market price for a Sacrificial Misanga? It does not cost hundreds of thousands of Nars per a single one, right?」

「Yes, its price ranges between thirty thousand and forty thousand Nars per a single Sacrificial Misanga.」

「Right, so as you can see, it is not  something nearly as valuable as you, Roxanne. Now, even if it were to break while you are wearing it, can you imagine, what would have happened to you if you were not wearing it at all? What would you have done if something seriously bad were to happen t you, and more importantly, do you realize how awful I would have felt if something were to happen to you?」

Roxanne is the one who is always the most exposed to enemy attacks whenever we are going into the Labyrinths. Therefore, I feel like Sacrificial Misanga is a must have item for her, because even if she is capable of dodging the enemy attacks right now, there is always a possibility that one day we are going to be facing against an enemy who is finally going to be able to land a hit on her despite her incredible prowess at evasion, and if she is not going to have any kind of defensive measures on her when that happens, then she would have no one else but herself to blame for it.

And at the moment when Roxanne becomes unable to fight and keep the attention of the toughest enemies exclusively on herself….. that is going to be the moment when our entire Party is going to get absolutely annihilated.

Green Caterpillar Skill Crystal costs only a little over four thousand Nars, and the price of the Sacrificial Misanga is only so high because under the normal circumstances of this world, the fusions that involve Monster Skill Crystals only tend to succeed in a ration of one to …. Let me guess…. ten attempts at best?

So while the Sacrificial Misanga might be more expensive than the entirety of Roxanne’s current equipment combined, it is definitely not more valuable than Roxanne herself.

「O-Okay. Thank you, master.」

I have finally convinced Roxanne to put on the Sacrificial Misanga. Honestly, she is always such a handful whenever it comes to the matters of getting her some new or expensive equipment.

Anyway, I approached Roxanne as she sat down and put one of her legs a little bit forward so that I could put the Sacrificial Misanga on her without any difficulties.

「I will tie it on for you. So, where do you want it? Ankle or wrist?」

I asked her again just to be sure.

「O-On my ankle should be fine. That way, it is going to attract less attention.」

Yeah, it is exactly like she says. If I am going to put the Sacrificial Misanga onto her wrist, it definitely will be visible to onlookers. Well, it is not like they could be able to tell whether it was a Sacrificial Misanga or an ordinary Misanga, but you know what they say, right? Better safe than sorry. You never know if somebody else in this world does not possess the 「Identify」Skill like I do, and I would like to not find out about that the painful way.

Then again, it is not like people who do happen o possess Sacrificial Misangas are doing anything in particular to hide that fact from the others. Case in point? The Duke of Hartz and his wife Cassia both possess Sacrificial Misangas, and they both are wearing them on their wrists as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world, so I think that we might as well take a page out of their books and do the same, but if it is Roxanne’s express wish to have her own Sacrificial Misanga tied around her ankle, then all that is left for me to do is to honor her wish and do exactly like she asks of me, so I got on one knee and proceeded to tie the Sacrificial Misanga around Roxanne’s slender ankle.

If she wears it on her ankle and put the pants on, it will certainly not be visible to other people, and as an added bonus, it is going to cause those who would like to attack us through sneaky means to act that much more careless around her.

However, that is not to say that wearing a Sacrificial Misanga on your wrist does not have any merits to it as well, and that is that you would have realized it immediately if the Sacrificial Misanga broke, whereas when you are wearing in on your ankle, it might just slip off of it without you even realizing when exactly did it happen.

Also, now that I think about it, the example with the Duke and Cassia wearing the Sacrificial Misangas on their wrists so openly might not exactly be a good one, because I forgot about one tiny, albeit crucial detail: that in their case there is really no point in hiding the Sacrificial Misangas, because pretty much everyone is going to know the influential people or the people that hold the positions of power such as the Duke and the Duchess of an entire Duchy will be wearing Sacrificial Misangas in order to protect themselves from a potential assassination attempts, so there is really not much need for them to be hiding them anywhere on their bodies.

On the other hand, if Roxanne wears it on her wrist, people may think that she is someone rich, which will potentially solicit even more attacks on us due to the Bandits thinking that she either has a lot of money on her person or that her equipment is worth a ton.

「Well then, can you please roll your pants up a bit for me, Roxanne?」

「Ah! Y-Yes, of course!」

Roxanne takes her shoes off and rolls her pants up for a bit. Her white, delicate, naked shin is right in front of my eyes. So smooth. So slick. I so want to rub my cheeks on it and kiss it!