The New Gate (LN)

After returning to the inn, Shin went to the venue with Filma, Milt, and Shibaid.

From the start, Shin used 【Hiding】 to make himself invisible.

The town was just as lively as yesterday, as if Elamella’s incident had never happened.

The commotion was mostly limited to the arena, so most people probably didn’t know about it.

“I’ll keep an eye on things in town. It’s likely that more violence will occur. If I see them, I’ll take them down.”

There were soldiers on guard, but there were so many people that they couldn’t cover every corner. Shibaid’s involvement didn’t lead to a significant improvement in efficiency, but having more people on board was always beneficial.

Shibaid left, saying he was heading to an area with a lot of weapon stores.

“(It looks like you’ll have some free time, Milt. I’ll be there soon, so let’s get started.)”

“(Yeah, I’ll follow you, Filma. Milt, don’t let your guard down, okay?)” 

Shin had disappeared, and the conversation was being conducted through 【Mind Chat】, so, from the outside, it looked like Filma and Milt had waved goodbye to each other after Shibaid had left.

“(But still, I wonder why they didn’t put a curse on me.)”

Following behind Filma, Shin replied through 【Mind Chat】.

“(I’m not sure if there’s only a limited number of people who can get the curse. Perhaps they need a special item? After all, you and Milt stood out from the crowd. I think it’s only natural that they would try to put a curse on both of you if they could.)”

Milt’s weapon had a curse on it, but Filma’s didn’t.

There might be some standard for the person who put the curse on, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t be put on this time either.

Walking behind Filma, it wasn’t long before they reached the weapons inspection room.

There were three tables lined up for the weapons, each with two inspectors on each, one looking young and the other a veteran. Perhaps the veteran was showing the younger ones how to do the job.

Soon it was Filma’s turn. The two people in charge were at the center table. Both were male blacksmiths in the level 100s. Judging by their appearance, they were likely human or dwarf.

Filma placed the greatsword that Shin had produced to improve his skills on the table, one that focused on durability.

The sword was wrapped in slash-resistant cloth. Once it was wrapped and secured, it was basically powerless as a sword. With Filma’s strength, it would have more than enough power to be used as a blunt weapon, even if it had no sharpness. But this was just to comply with the tournament regulations, so she had no choice but to adapt accordingly.

It looked like the veteran was in charge of the inspection. He was checking to see if there were any issues with the part that secured the cloth. He was carefully checking to make sure the cloth wouldn’t come off and expose the blade.

Once the veteran had finished his inspection, the younger one took over. It seemed he wasn’t just watching. Maybe he just looked young, but he was actually more skilled.

“(…He did it.)”

The young man lowered the greatsword. At that time, the greatsword had been cursed.

It was the young man who was responsible. Shin noticed that the young man was hiding a small, round black stone between his fingers. He could see that when the young man touched the greatsword, the stone melted and was absorbed into it.

The young man’s expression was serious, but he also looked nervous, as if he was afraid that his misdeeds would be discovered.

“(Is it okay to touch this?)”

Although it didn’t show on her face, Filma’s tone of voice made it clear that she didn’t want to touch it.

“(You’re still wearing the ring I gave you this morning, right?If you combine it with your ‘Age of Gods Earring’, it would be a perfect countermeasure against the curse. Yuzuha and Tiera were happy with the result too. So, please bear with me this time. I’ll remove the curse if necessary.)”

Nobody wanted to put their hands on a cursed item on purpose.

Although Shin had asked Filma to pretend not to notice beforehand, she asked again. She knew the curse wouldn’t work on Shin, so if there was something wrong with Filma, he was planning to stop her.

“(I know. What are you going to do next, Shin?)”

“(All the young guys here seem to be the set-up people, so if anyone moves, I’ll follow them. This might not be the only setup, so Filma, be careful, okay?)”

“(You too, Shin.)”

Shin gave a nod in response to Filma’s wink and stayed put.

Apparently there was some kind of standard in place, where some people were cursed and some weren’t. Most of the ones who were cursed were strong participants who were likely to win.

After a while, when the participants who were waiting for the test had left, the inspectors left too, leaving only a few behind.

When Shin followed them, it looked like they were heading to an exhibition hall attached to the arena.

The exhibition hall displayed some of the weapons made at the Wrought Iron Festival.

It was a popular tourist spot in Kurikara, where people came to see the best works from the ‘Mass Production’ and ‘Master’ divisions.

(Restricted areas of the exhibition hall?)

There were a few areas in the exhibition hall that weren’t open to the public, like the areas where the next exhibition was being prepared and the areas that were only open at certain times. The area the inspectors went to was one with really tight security. It was well away from the public areas, so it was unlikely that anyone would wander in. Even so, there were soldiers on guard. The inspectors showed some kind of document and went into the exhibition room.

The weapons on display in the exhibition hall were in a different league to those in the areas open to the public. While the upper limit for the public areas was rare and unique grade, about half of the weapons here were legendary and some were mythology grade. If it were to be stolen, it would be a major incident.

(I see, security is necessary here.)

The quality and number of security personnel was on a completely different level from the areas open to the public.

Even so, it would not be hard for Shin to steal some of the weapons on display without anyone noticing. Even if he wasn’t Shin, a participant or Chosen One who specialized in thief-related jobs or skills would be able to get past the numerous traps set up in front of him, which were so obsessively set up.

(These guys…)

The inspectors took out the weapons that were kept in the transparent cases and rubbed them against the black spheres that were likely the source of the curse.

Most of them were nullified by the magic power of the weapons, but some of the weapons had already been corrupted by the curse. Even though the curse in the spheres was weak, it gradually changed the weapons over time and in numbers.

In the exhibition room, the sounds of the inspectors’ breathing, the rustling of their clothes, and the sounds of the spheres colliding and rubbing against the weapons echoed quietly.

There was no other sound. Even though there was nowhere to be found, Shin thought he heard a scream.

He realized he’d unconsciously reached for the hilt of his sword when he felt something hard in his hand. All of the items lined up in the exhibition room were pieces that could be said to have been created with the soul of a craftsman. Seeing them smeared with mud – no, like spilling filth – made Shin feel so angry that he almost forgot why he was there.

Maybe they sensed his anger because several of the inspectors looked around with scared expressions.

(Sorry. I’ll break the curse later, I promise.)

He apologized mentally and waited for the work to finish.

In the middle of this, he received a 【Mind Chat】 from Schnee. It looked like a guy carrying a bag had come out of the laboratory. He seemed to have been infected by a Hihiganula too. He was heading somewhere, but he wasn’t the mastermind. Shin asked Schnee to keep an eye on him.

Meanwhile, Shin would keep the inspectors’ actions known to the party members through 【Mind Chat】.

Some time after finishing the 【Mind Chat】 with Schnee, the inspectors started moving, even though there were still spheres left, as if there was a time limit.

“How long are we going to keep doing this…”

One of the inspectors, walking with a gloomy expression, muttered to himself. Another inspector gave him a stern warning.

“Don’t say that. We have no other choice.”

The person who scolded him also looked gloomy. They seemed scared during the inspection, but when they were working in the exhibition room, the inspectors themselves looked distressed.

There must be a reason why they were doing this, even though they weren’t being controlled.

“Damn, if only that old man wasn’t here.”

“Don’t say that. You don’t know where they can hear you.”

Perhaps inspired by the voices, another inspector also complained. The inspector walking next to him warned him, but he didn’t stop.

“We’re tarnishing the great achievements of our ancestors who reached the pinnacle of blacksmithing! Now I can already hear the screams of the weapons! I don’t even know how I forged a sword even when I held a hammer! It’s driving me crazy!”

The man continued to talk, as if venting his pent-up frustration. He bent over and sobbed, clawing at his head, and finally collapsed to his knees.

Originally, he was probably a serious blacksmith who worked sincerely with iron. That’s why he couldn’t bear what he was doing.

“It’s to protect what’s important. Who else would do something so dreadful? Come on, get up. You won’t make it in time for the next test.”

From what they were saying, Shin guessed that they might have been blackmailed.

Tekkosai was a man of such high status that he was given a research lab inside the castle. Since they were using parasitic monsters, it was possible that they had the management, and even the central government of the country, in their hands.

(It might be better to get rid of the cause before it even starts.)

Even if they found a likely mastermind or a suspicious place, they couldn’t come up with a concrete solution. If they could find and deal with Tekkosai, that might solve the problem. But that was only what Kluck and Jayf had judged, and Shin had no proof that it was really the case.

While the others looked after one of the inspectors, who seemed a little confused, the inspectors left the exhibition room.

Just a short distance from the exhibition room, a man approached them. From his appearance and what he was carrying, Shin could guess that he was the one from Schnee’s report.

The corpse of the parasitized Hihiganula that was guarding the research lab. It was the same one. The man silently held out a cloth bag the size of a handbag.

Inside was the same black sphere. It was likely an additional one. The inspectors accepted it in silence, their expressions distorted.

After parting ways with the inspectors, the corpse man walked off in a different direction than he had come.

Shin decided to follow him. The corpse man might just go back to the lab, but if he did something different, Shin might be led to the hostage or to Tekkosai.

Following the man, he walked down the corridor. Shin was disappointed to see that the man’s destination was the lab.

The man walked straight towards the entrance to the lab. There was nothing Shin could do against a natural alarm system that would give away any intrusion if touched. If he could levitate, he could avoid this as long as he didn’t touch it, but THE NEW GATE had no such skill.

For a very short period of time he could imitate the skill, but it was pointless in a situation where he needed to infiltrate for a long time.

(It would be much easier if I had flying magic or something. Is there anything? It doesn’t have to be flying. If it’s just to counter Hihiganula’s detection, I’ll just need to be floating off the ground. Maybe some applied skill or something…Ah!)

Thinking that far, Shin suddenly remembered. One of the skills had a changed effect.

Shin used that skill while remaining invisible. Due to the effect of the movement-type martial arts skill 【Flying Shadow】, a platform appeared in the air.

Normally he would step firmly on the ground to jump, but this time he only placed his foot lightly on it, without applying any force. Then, he was able to stand in the air. He then created another platform and jumped across it.

It was exactly the kind of aerial movement Shin had been wondering if he could do. Since it was activated so close to Shin, the semi-transparent platform that was normally only slightly visible due to the effect of 【Hiding】 was invisible to those around him.

(I think I can do this.)

It would be difficult to open doors or examine things, but it shouldn’t be a problem to find out what was going on inside the laboratory.

If the man he was following opened the door, Shin might be able to sneak in.

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