"—And for those reasons, Takeo Samejima, make sure you do not increase the Skill Level of Lust Murder."
"Yes! Understood!!"
Following Hinata-san into the Headshot Yakuza’s living room, I found him and Mito-san already waiting on the sofa.
I pushed my questions for Hinata-san to the back of my mind and sat down next to her as prompted.
What followed was Mito-san’s "strict warning"—or rather, what was supposed to be an "admonishment." In truth, it was exactly what she said: a simple caution.
The gist was: "The effects of Equanimity seem to be working properly, but just to be safe, do not raise the Skill Level of Lust Murder."
According to Mito-san, strengthening a Title Skill also strengthened the passive effects of the Title itself.
In other words, if I raised the level of Lust Murder, the murderous impulse—the core effect of the Pleasure Killer title—would also intensify.
Wait a second. If that was the case, wasn't I already in a bit of a spot? Feeling a bit concerned, I decided to ask Mito-san for clarification.
"Um, Mito-san... I’ve already raised the Skill Levels for Blood Vengeance and Goblin Genocider. Is that going to be a problem?"
"It should be fine," Mito-san replied with a nonchalant nod.
"Battle Junkie and Goblin Genocider are Mid-rank Titles, so they would normally have a significant impact on one's psyche... but perhaps because you were originally crazy, the influence seems to have remained negligible. Your personality doesn't seem to have changed much compared to how you were before."
"............"
Was it just my imagination? I was pretty sure she just called me "originally crazy." No, I must have misheard. Mito-san surely said "because you were originally smart." Yeah, that had to be it.
"Besides, setting aside Battle Junkie and Goblin Genocider, even High-rank Titles like Hero or Saint have very little negative impact on one's personality. It's no problem to raise those Title Skill levels."
Then, she casually dropped a hint that she knew I had acquired the Hero title.
Well, Mito-san had Appraisal skills, so she must have checked. Come to think of it, though, I hadn't actually told Hinata-san yet.
I turned to Hinata-san.
"Hinata-san, I haven't mentioned it yet, but I—"
"Oh, yeah. You got the Hero title, right? Mito-san told me while you were asleep, Takeo-kun."
"I see," I nodded.
That saved me the trouble of explaining.
However... I couldn't help but notice that Hinata-san looked somewhat pleased.
"Hehe. Hero and Saint... it's almost like the protagonist and the heroine of a story, isn't it?"
I see. So that was what she was happy about? Even though Hinata-san was definitely the combat-focused type, she still had a bit of a girlish side. It was actually kind of impressive.
"I guess so. Though, there are several other people who have the Hero and Saint titles."
"…………I see."
Wait! I felt the temperature in the room drop as Hinata-san's mood suddenly plummeted!
"Takeo Samejima, you are remarkably insensitive," Mito-san sighed.
Why?! What was insensitive about that?!
"Well, your lack of tact aside... as long as you have Equanimity, I doubt you'll lose control, but you must be careful not to let Pleasure Killer run wild. Especially in your case, since you also have the Battle Junkie and Swordmaster titles. If those ever synchronize with Pleasure Killer, it would be a disaster."
So not just Battle Junkie, but Swordmaster was dangerous too?
Well, I guess swordmasters in stories usually do seem like they'd enjoy a good bloodbath.
"Yes, I understand!" I gave a firm nod.
But if we were talking about titles, I felt it was a bit unfair to only warn me. Since Mito-san didn't seem interested in bringing it up, I decided to mention it to Hinata-san myself.
"Hinata-san."
"What is it?"
"Hinata-san, please be careful with Beguiling Beauty, too. It’s probably best if you don't raise the Skill Level of Charm."
"…………Of course."
Hinata-san?! What was with that pause just now?!
I felt a flash of unease and tried to press her, but before I could say a word, she turned to Mito-san.
"Mito-san, is that all you had for us?"
"No, there is one more thing. Takeo Samejima."
Guh! She skillfully changed the subject. And I definitely wasn't brave enough to cut Mito-san off.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I heard you fought a Special Variant Goblin on Floor 8 of the Shinjuku Dungeon."
"Uh, yeah, more or less."
How did she know? I hadn't told her.
Well, I was streaming at the time, so it wasn't impossible for her to have found out, but I really couldn't imagine Mito-san sitting around watching a dungeon stream...
"It dropped a longsword, didn't it?"
"Yes, it did."
"You weren't able to appraise it properly, were you? Show it to me. I will appraise it for you."
How did she know that Urara-san couldn't get a perfect read on it...?
Was it possible I was being monitored? No, probably not. Mito-san was too busy for that, and she had no reason to keep tabs on someone like me anyway.
"Understood. Um... Hinata-san, where are my things?"
"Oh, I put them in the Expansion Bag in the other room. Should I go get them?"
"No, it's fine. I'll go."
Apparently, they'd been left in the guest room where I woke up. I waved Hinata-san back down and hurried off.
I didn't want to keep the Headshot Yakuza waiting, so I grabbed my gear and ran back.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here... this is it. Please, Mito-san."
Back in the living room, I pulled the Fool’s Sword—which I'd been keeping as a spare—out of my bag and handed it to her.
"I see. This one... hmm."
Mito-san studied the Fool’s Sword for a moment, then gave a short nod and pulled a pen and a notepad from her pocket.
Did she always carry those? Both the pen and the notepad were covered in cute little chick designs. It was such a total mismatch for Mito-san’s cool, professional image that I found myself staring.
"That should be everything."
Mito-san scribbled something on the notepad and nodded with satisfaction.
She tore off the page and handed it to me. I took it and glanced at the paper.
...The chicks were really cute.
Wait, focus. Let’s see...
"…………Wh-wha?!"
I couldn't help the shout that escaped my lips.
The information written there was absolutely outrageous. Compared to the content, the fact that Mito-san’s handwriting was incredibly bubbly and cute was almost irrelevant... No, wait, the handwriting was still pretty distracting!
I did my best to ignore the cute letters and focused on the data.
This was what it said:
[True Inscription] Fool’s Sword
A perfectly ordinary steel longsword.
[Level] 2 Experience Points to next level: 9,877,329,620 Current Stored Experience: 122,670,380
[Held Skills] Fool’s Sword, Indestructibility
[Skill Details] Fool’s Sword — When an enemy is defeated with this sword, the user's acquired Experience Points are halved. The missing portion of experience is absorbed by the Fool’s Sword and used for its growth and enhancement.
Indestructibility — Grants durability beyond that of its base material. It can still be damaged if subjected to excessive force, but any damage is instantly repaired using the Experience Points contained within the sword (Stored Experience) as a resource.
(Note: When Stored Experience is consumed, the experience required for the next level increases by the same amount. If the sword lacks sufficient Stored Experience for repairs, it can consume the user's experience resources instead. However, please be aware that in this case, the user's level may decrease.)
I assumed this was the result of Mito-san's high-tier Appraisal skill... but why did a weapon have a level?!
Did all Inscribed items have levels? No, that couldn't be right. I'd never heard of anything like that before.
In that case, was it a unique trait of the Fool’s Sword?
The most relevant thing seemed to be the "Fool’s Sword" skill itself. Halving the user's acquired experience?
If that was all there was to it, it would be a total trash-tier item. But according to the details, the sword having a level was a direct result of that skill. And "growth and enhancement" meant that maybe...
"Um, Mito-san... does this mean the sword gains more skills as its level goes up?"
"Yes, exactly. The Indestructibility skill appears to be something it acquired through a previous level-up."
"I knew it...!"
A weapon having skills... well, that happened a lot in games, so it wasn't a total shock. But even though I'd never used the sword, it had already reached level two. Had the previous owner—the Goblin—or someone before it been using it?
No, that wasn't the point.
The important part was that it could gain new skills! And even more importantly, the sword had a leveling system!!
In other words!
"C-Content... I've gained more content...!"
I practically trembled with joy.
Right now, my Holy Sword had better stats, but a weapon that could actually grow was the ultimate dream!
In a game, this was like some secret end-game content you unlock after defeating a super-boss.
I couldn't wait to see how strong it would get if I kept working on it!
I'm sorry for leaving you tucked away in the Expansion Bag just because I thought the name "Fool’s Sword" was lame! Honestly, now that I think about it, "Fool’s Sword" sounds pretty badass!
"Mito-san, thank you so much!"
I thanked her profusely and carefully tucked the sword back into my Expansion Bag.
I was already looking forward to grinding its level. Even if the required experience was 9.8 billion. Seriously, though—9.8 billion?
"Well, that's everything I had to say," Mito-san announced.
Hearing that, I sat up straight.
If Mito-san was done, then—I turned my gaze toward the Headshot Yakuza.
He gave a small nod and spoke in his deep, quiet voice.
"Takeo. Hinata."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
"It seems both of you have finally met the conditions to use your skills on the surface."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
That was it. Thanks to our run through the slime dungeon, both Hinata-san and I had met the requirements he’d told us about before.
For Combat Arts Skills, you needed Strength and Dexterity at 200 or higher. For Magic Skills, it was Intelligence and Dexterity at 200. And to manifest the power of your status itself, you needed HP or MP at 400 plus 200 Dexterity.
It felt like it had been a long road... though in reality, it had only been a little over a month since he'd first given us the goals.
As I sat there, feeling a deep sense of accomplishment—
"You've both done well."
"「!?」"
The Headshot Yakuza actually let out a faint smile.
It was like a veteran boss praising a green subordinate for finally completing a major assignment.
The... the... the Headshot Yakuza just praised me!!!
I'm so incredibly happy!