kscans

Chapter 187 - Mostly Correct Information

While waiting for the call from Rosalie, Hayato made several donuts for Noat.

Her appearance as she ate them one after another was indeed like that of a small animal. Although he didn't usually think about it when serving food, he somehow felt like he was conditioning her with food.

Besides, Noat probably liked donuts. The sight of her eating with her nostrils flared made her seem younger than her age, despite being of a similar age.

(She's just like Ren-chan. But I wonder if she doesn't get full, even though she gets hungry...?)

He had never asked what it was like for NPCs, but Esha could eat what seemed like an infinite amount in virtual reality, and Ren was no slouch when it came to pudding. They weren't actually taking in nutrients, just enjoying the taste, so it probably didn't affect their real bodies, but it was still something to worry about.

"Aren't you eating too much?"

"It's fine. It's not bad to imitate Esha-chan and binge eat sometimes."

"I think you should refrain from that."

"Ah, Relic-san, good morning."

Relic entered the dining hall from the door leading outside.

He used to knock before entering, but Hayato had told him to make himself at home. At first, Relic had made a somewhat reluctant face, but recently he had started to come in normally.

Noat noticed Relic too, but she just greeted him with her eyes while holding a donut in her mouth.

Relic looked at her with an amused smile and then bowed his head.

"Good morning, Hayato-sama, and Noat. It is rare to see you eating in the dining hall today."

"It's not bad to have a change of pace sometimes."

Noat usually ate while lazing around in her room. It was indeed rare, one could say.

(She must have been so hungry that she came to the dining hall herself...)

"Relic-san, what will you have for breakfast?"

"No, I have already eaten, so I am fine. If you would be so kind, may I have some coffee?"

"Of course. I'll prepare it right away."

As Hayato was making coffee with his cooking skill, Noat surrounded the donuts on the table with both hands as if to protect them.

"Let me tell you, I won't give you any donuts, not even you, Relic."

"I am not Esha. I will not take them, so please rest assured."

(In Relic-san's mind, Esha is someone who would take them...)

As he was thinking this, he received a voice chat from Rosalie.

"Hayato, is this a good time?"

Hayato gestured to Relic and Noat that he was on a voice chat and then answered.

"It's fine. Did you find anything out?"

"To give you the results first, there is no item called a Gravity Stone in the treasury."

"Eh? Is that so? I heard there was an item like that in the Demon Lord's Castle's treasury."

"I do not know who your source is, but the only people who know the information about the treasury are the person in charge from Black Rose or the Demonfolk-sama, you know? Do you have such an acquaintance?"

(That's true. I wonder who Noat-chan heard it from... but what are the Demonfolk-sama? Well, that aside, there's no item. In that case, I'll have to wait for information from Ney and the others. I'll go check the auction.)

"Rosalie-san, thanks. It's a disappointing result, but it helps just to know that. I'll make you some sweets later."

"You are so dutiful. However, it is not good to be too hasty. There is a continuation to the information."

"A continuation?"

"A monster called a Gravity Golem wanders around the treasury. It may have some connection. Or rather, could that information have been mistakenly conveyed?"

"Gravity Golem...?"

"It is a rare golem that manipulates gravity. It might drop the item you are looking for. It is extremely hard, so it is a pain to defeat though."

A golem could be said to be like a robot in a fantasy world. It was a humanoid monster that moved with magic as its power source, but its material was basically stone. It could also be metal, and Iron Golems and Adamantite Golems also existed. One could say that the harder it was, the stronger it was.

(There's certainly a possibility that the golem drops a Gravity Stone. Golems are made of stone, after all.)

"Thanks, then I'll try to defeat that golem."

"Good luck. By the way, why do you need an item called a Gravity Stone? As the information provider, I would like an explanation for that as well."

"Ah, right. Actually, I need that item to build an airship. If I have that, I can build it right away."

"You should have said that first, you brat!"

"Whoa! What!?"

Suddenly hearing Rosalie's loud voice, Hayato's heart beat much faster.

"The blueprints are complete, aren't they!?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Ney just came by and proudly showed me the blueprints. We just don't have the material, the Gravity Stone, so everyone's looking for it right now..."

"Then leave the Gravity Golem to us!"

"Eh? Is that okay?"

"It is fine! However, when the airship is complete, you will fly it under our direction!"

"Well, that's fine. We'll need to do a test run and all..."

"I will wake up the members immediately and handle it, so please wait a moment!"

"Um, yes. Be careful."

The voice chat from Rosalie was cut.

Hayato had no idea why Rosalie was in such a hurry, but he arbitrarily imagined that she had a place she really wanted to go to by airship and was convinced.

Besides, not having to send Ney and the others to the Demon Lord's Castle was a great help. The Demon Lord's Castle was not a place one could easily go to. To go there, one needed a certain amount of preparation.

However, for Rosalie and the others who lived in the Demon Lord's Castle, it was a different story. The demon-type monsters would attack anyone, so Rosalie and the others were also attacked, but Hayato had heard that some monsters did not attack them.

Even if they couldn't move around the Demon Lord's Castle completely freely, being able to move around to some extent was a considerable merit.

(In the first place, Rosalie-san is treated like a rare monster in the Demon Lord's Castle. If you defeat her, she drops a gothic lolita dress... In reality, players are no different from muggers.)

Rosalie, who was strong enough to fight against multiple players, and the members of Black Rose would not lose, no matter how strong that Gravity Golem was.

However, it was unknown whether it would actually drop the item. It would take time to defeat it several times and check the situation.

So Hayato decided to check if there was a Gravity Stone at the auction as originally planned.

"Was there a Gravity Stone?"

Noat didn't seem very interested, but as the information provider, she was probably curious.

"There was no item, but there's a monster called a Gravity Golem near the treasury. It might drop the item, so Rosalie-san and the others are going to try to defeat it."

Upon hearing this, Noat started to swing her body from side to side like a metronome again. Then she stopped.

"I think the information was mostly correct. I demand additional donuts."

"...Well, it wasn't exactly correct, but it wasn't wrong either, I guess..."

Hayato gave her an additional donut and then looked at Relic.

"Relic-san, will you go to the auction house with me?"

"That is not a problem, but why are you going at this time?"

Hayato explained the situation so far.

"So, just in case, I thought I'd check if there's a Gravity Stone at the auction."

"I see. There is a possibility that Rosalie-sama and the others will not drop the item even if they defeat the monster. I understand. In that case, let us go at once."

Relic stood up, paused for a moment, and looked at Noat.

"Will you come with us, Noat?"

"My bed is calling me. It is almost time for my second nap. Today, I will challenge myself to a fourth nap."

"You are the same as ever. Then, I will go to the auction house with Hayato-sama."

"Okay. If you see any nice pillows for sale, buy one for me. I'll pay up to one million G. See you."

Noat said this, put the donuts in her item bag, and then walked unsteadily up the stairs like a zombie again.

"Noat-san is strange, isn't she?"

"You can't imagine it from her usual self, but when she sings, she is quite reliable. When we were in the clan war with Ivan and the others, we were helped by Noat's quick thinking, or rather, her strengthening and weakening by switching songs."

"She's probably specialized only in singing... Well then, shall we go?"

"Yes, I will accompany you."

Hayato and Relic left the base.

They checked at the auction house, but the Gravity Stone was not for sale, and there was no sales history.

(I guess we have no choice but to count on Rosalie-san...)

Hayato and Relic bought materials for items to sell in the Royal Capital and returned to the base.

At the same time, a voice chat came in from Rosalie.

"Hayato! I have obtained the Gravity Stone! I am heading over there, so prepare to build it immediately!"

"Eh, really? Then I'll get ready... Right, we can only build the airship at the shipyard dock, so can you bring it to the port in the Royal Capital?"

"The shipyard dock in the Royal Capital, is it!? I will head there immediately!"

Hayato made preparations while contacting Ney and Sonia. They also responded with joy. And so, Hayato headed to the shipyard dock in the Royal Capital with Relic.