Antagonist Protection Service

Opening my eyes, I found myself back in the Library.

"Welcome back~!"

"I'm home..."

It was time for the same routine as usual.

Walking over to the Librarian's desk, I took a seat on the front side as always and opened the Assistance Menu.

'Let's see... 4,900 Units.'

It was a pretty good amount, way more than either of the other 2-star Contracts I'd cleared; probably because I spent quite a bit longer than originally expected.

Speaking of which...

[01:41 | 10/03/2X]

Time continued to flow as fast as always.

Of course, just like the last time I went to Drakon-Rasa, time there flowed slower than on Earth, so I was actually beginning to catch up to the many months I had lost here on Earth.

I had spent almost three months there this time, a little bit less than last time, but longer than I thought... Although, it still wasn't quite enough to close the tremendous gap created by the Apocalypse Contract...

'Anyway, it doesn't look like there's been much progress...?'

Looking at the various news articles about Cassia and Ryokokyoro, they were still very much a topic of widespread discussion, but it didn't seem like they were making any progress in their goal of hunting me down.

I mean, that made sense, considering I wasn't even in the same world as they were.

Regardless, somehow, it seemed like the nuisance media were doing a good job at holding them back by pestering them nonstop with all sorts of interviews and questions that they had no idea how to deal with―an expected result of coming from another world without all that nonsense, I suppose.

And then, not just the state but the foreign governments were all also naturally wanting to speak to the otherworld travellers.

'Keep it up, guys. Keep 'em away from me for as long as possible, thanks.'

Either way, I didn't expect there to be too much trouble so long as I kept my time on Earth to a minimum.

"I should probably just focus on myself, right...?"

"Certainly! If you fret too much about what everyone else is doing, you'll subconsciously be holding yourself back! So, don't fret, Enki!"

"Mmm..."

Nodding absentmindedly at the Librarian's encouragement, I opened the Storage.

Item - [Divine Sword of the Winter Moon]

A Holy Sword possessed by the Champion of the Winter Mother, Her Chosen Warrior.

Travelling from beyond the veil of the world itself, he arrived like a hero to fulfil the much-desired wish of the Winter Mother and her precious daughter.

With the divine energy of the Winter Mother infused into the blade, the Holy Sword once of another world had become truly dedicated, and with it will the Champion remain true.

So long as this sword retains its purity, the Winter Moon shall invariably prevail.

Should all who meet its blade welcome Her cold embrace.

*Possesses Holy properties

*Possesses Anti-Evil properties

*Possesses Anti-Demon properties

*Possesses Pinnacle Magic Resistance

*Indestructible

*Soulbound

*Moonlight Thule

Ego Item - (Ancient Hero Eligos)

Grade : Legendary

First of all, admiring the new form of the Holy Sword.

Something new that I hadn't noticed until a while after was that it actually acquired the Soulbound property, I guess meaning I never had to worry about losing it or the Villainous Blade.

Since they both had that and Indestructible, I didn't think they were on quite the same level thanks to the Moonlight Thule active ability, but they sure were good for different opponents.

And, speaking of the Villainous Blade.

Item - [Villainous Blade]

Unleash the power of a true villain with this malevolent blade.

*Possesses Evil properties

*Possesses Anti-Protagonist properties

(This weapon grows with each Protagonist Dispatched)

Protagonists Dispatched Since Acquisition : 8

*Form Change

*Self-Cleansing

*Soulbound

*Indestructible

*Vampirism

Grade : Unique

"Oh, wow."

Instantaneously, I was impressed. Vampirism. Lifesteal? So, whenever I struck and dealt damage with the Villainous Blade, I would heal my own injuries?

"Crazy overpowered..."

I guess, maybe it didn't lose out to the Holy Sword after all. Even if it didn't have a cool ability like Moonlight Thule, at this point, I wasn't even sure that it needed it.

I would need to test it out briefly to confirm exactly to what extent it would heal me, but I was looking forward to using it already.

At the very least, it would save the amount of healing potions I would need to use.

"...Hm. Although, if I'm making use of that, doesn't it mean I'd be taking damage in the first place...? I don't want to ruin my armour..."

The Draconic Shadow was undeniably exceptional, but its worth was reflected in its Shop-stated value.

In other words, it was damn expensive.

I had been fortunate enough to not let anything damage it too badly so far aside from a few scratches here and there, but if it was destroyed completely, I didn't know what I'd do.

'...I can cross that bridge when I come to it.'

In fact, I was probably lucky some random bs hadn't occurred already to make that happen.

Anyway...

Service Charge | 4,900 U

1 | A.Skill - [Tyranny of the Demon Lord] - Demon Lord of Terror

2 | Trait - [He Who Shall Not Be Named] - The Nameless Dark Wizard

3 | P.Skill - [Mastery of the Duel] - Emperor of the Arena

4 | Trait - [Noble Soul] - Archduchess Lucretia de Christina-Rasa

5 | P.Skill - [Divine Blood] - Cecilia, God's Daughter

6 | P.Skill - [Mana Corruption] - Kijin, Demon King

7 | Trait - [Heart of a Witch] - Aradine, White Witch Queen

8 | A.Skill - [Event Horizon] - Horizon of the Apocalypse

9 | Trait - [Descendant of Winter] - Princess Lucretia de Christina-Drakon-Rasa

"Interesting. So you can get taxed multiple times..."

Internally, I felt a little bad for Lucretia, but at the end of the day it was just a copy, so it's not like she actually lost anything. Maybe it was just the idea.

Honestly, more than anything else I was pretty damn pissed that I was only a hundred Units away from being able to purchase something from the list, especially considering there were a few things I had my eye on, but well, there wasn't anything I could do about it.

'Now that I think about it, I wonder how Divine Blood would interact with my blood now that it has magic energy flowing inside it...'

"Hah, well, it's not like I can buy it and find out. Tsk."

Deciding not to think too much about it, for my own sake, I moved on.

Trait - [Descendant of Winter]

When the Holy Sun of old had been lost, and the Umbral Realm had swallowed all existing light, the Paladin rose up. To fight the darkness, to ward off those forbidden creatures of the Evermore Night.

Alas, it was not enough. A cruel sweetheart emerged to bear all burdens.

The witch rose into the heavens, and like a Sunlit Moon, introduced light into the world of endless darkness once more with the knight's borrowed radiance by her side.

Leaving behind the sole legacy of her twin moons, the Holy Sun had been birthed anew.

And thus, for the first time, her blood could be raised in a time of light.

(You are bestowed the lineage of Elieth Jubar, the Sunlit Moon)

Price : 5,000 U

"..."

However, even after reading through the description again and again, I could never quite make sense of it.

"Yeah, I've got no clue what this would even do either..."

I had to say, compared to Lucretia's other Trait, Noble Soul, the description of this was undeniably more rich with lore. Perhaps that was simply because of how deep-rooted and meaningful this Trait really was.

Of course, that didn't help to explain its effect, but I could only go along with the assumption that it would be related to a boost in power of my divine energy or something.

In any case, I couldn't purchase it, or any item from the Service Charge for that matter.

Even if I could, if I were to be honest, it probably wouldn't be the highest priority on the list.

That spot belonged to either Divine Blood, which I imagined would allow divine energy to flow through my blood like my magic energy does for a similar, near-permanent boost, or... Well, probably Event Horizon, Heart of a Witch, or even the Demon Lord Skill.

Out of everything in the Service Charge at least, those were the top contenders as of now.

Even though I wasn't fully confident in my knowledge of what half of them did, I could still make an educated guess based on the name and description and go from there.

For now, since I didn't have enough to purchase any of them, I'd put them on the backburner and see what else I should buy.

"Hm... Well, it's probably most efficient to just upgrade what I already have."

See, purchasing new Traits or Skills were incredibly expensive, particularly Traits like Weapon Master or Gifted Trainee, whereas upgrading a Skill I already possessed only costs 1,000 World Stability Units.

'Might as well do that, then. It also means I can upgrade Mana Corruption.'

Without thinking too deeply into it, I opened the description of the mentioned Skill and purchased an upgrade.

"Ngh-?!"

――Immediately, my head throbbed, and I fell to one knee.