CH380

“…So anyway, helping with the rest of the setup wasn’t too bad, but then we were left trying to get back to a gate all by ourselves!” Sachel complained. “Couldn’t you have arranged anything like the trip out there?”

“Your trip out there and mine back meant making an ultra-rare item,” He shot back. “Besides, Myriad found a different space mage to help you eventually, didn’t he?”

“I mean, yes and I appreciate it, but getting back still ended up taking almost a month altogether. Are you sure we shouldn’t have moved their community closer?”

“Do you want to be the one that makes sure nobody makes any rash moves against them with the invasion kicking off in a few weeks?”

“Er, no, I get what you’re saying,” She sighed. Even if the demidemons were just people in the end and only their limbs and eyes shared the hallmark traits of an invader, that still left it far too possible that someone might see them and attack. By staying where they were already set up they were in an area they were used to, and it meant that neither they nor the rest of the world’s people needed to get used to each other during an already delicate time.

“Well, I do appreciate you taking over for me, hence all of this,” Ben told her as he worked at a rapid pace to create a light chainmail for her, using a blend of materials and enchantments to give it all the strength it could have as he handed it over. “Here, try it on and let me know how it feels.”

“Surprisingly good,” She was quick to say, not having expected it just from comparing it against some other armour she’d tried in the past. “But it’s pretty light, are you sure it will give enough defense?”

“It’s light because I did a fantastic job making it,” He told her, almost offended she even had to ask. “And you’re wearing a lower ultra-rare item, of course it will have enough defense.”

Hearing that, she couldn’t help but jump as she looked down at herself and what she was wearing. If he was telling the truth then that had just become the most expensive thing she owned by a large margin, not to mention the highest-ranked thing she could be certain she’d ever handled. Hell, she doubted she’d ever used anything that was even rare before, the idea of bypassing that ranking entirely left her stomach in knots.

“I, uh, I don’t actually think I can take this,” She told him weakly, the idea of using something so valuable filling her with a deep level of fear. “I’m pretty sure I could sell this for a house.”

“Not quite at the current rank, and also just take it. It would be more inconvenient for me personally if you died not having it than the bit I’m losing out on the material cost and time. Also, if you haven’t noticed the shop, my stuff isn’t exactly being sold at market rates either but don’t go spreading that fact around, I don’t want to have to deal with scalpers.”

“Um, sure then, got it,” She told him, giving a deep bow. “In that case, thank you very much, I’ll put it to good use.”

With that she started to leave, her head swirling with the absolute scale of the cost of what she had on, only stopping as Ben grabbed her sleeve.

“Don’t be in such a rush, I have two more things to give.”

“This is already way too much!”

She appreciated what she had been given, but it was already the equivalent of being gifted a small fortune. To accept any more would be too much when what she’d been given was already so far beyond the realm of what any normal person might gift another.

Ben, seeing just how conflicted the idea left her, did his best to make the point clear.

“Sachel, you’re the oracle of Myriad,” He told her firmly. “The one I get to dump my work on, the one responsible for helping to grow the faith and spread his good name. This is not too much.”

“What was that about dumping work on me?”

“It’s important to both me and our god that you be safe,” He continued, completely ignoring the question. “So in the spirit of that, don’t try and push away the help we give you just because you feel like you’re not worthy of it. It’s no more than we think you deserve.”

Despite how casually he let it slip that he was leaving most of the actual work to her, she couldn’t help but be touched to hear how valued she was to both her god and the apostle who brought her to her faith, so doing her best, she pushed aside the feelings that came with gaining more than she thought she should get and gave a nod, ready to accept whatever it was.

“Alright, if you’re so sure then I won’t decline.”

“Good. So first take this,” He told her, handing over a necklace. “It’s for you, but your entire party can take advantage of it, just no spreading this around either, okay?”

“Sure, so what is it?” She asked, looking at the pendant. It had a beautiful tiny jewel being held in place at the center of a small metallic square, obviously made to represent their god, with whatever purpose it held being far from clear.

“Personal job crystal,” He told her, watching as the shock almost made it drop from her hands as she fumbled to keep it from hitting the ground. “It’s important to be able to change your jobs quickly so you don’t miss out on any experience for them so having something like this is a must. If there’s ever a time that you have to reveal you have it to anyone outside of your party, just tell them that it’s a benefit of being the oracle of Myriad since that’s technically the truth.”

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“I, um, I didn’t realize they could be so small,” She muttered as she stared at it, all but transfixed. The ones she’d used in the past had all been around the size of her head, having one more similar to a finger joint was unbelievable. Even as she let herself touch it, briefly feeling as different options flooded her mind, it was still hard to accept as real.

“Ah, well, as good as I am I could only scale it down that low because I used a bit of rainbow mana crystal for it instead of something like quartz,” He said with a shrug, watching as she fumbled with it all over again.

“…Just how much would something like this even be worth?”

To her knowledge, nobody in the world got personal job crystals, the very idea of such a thing was ridiculous, but again Ben could only shrug.

“Technically nothing. You can’t legally sell job crystals so it’s actually worth more without the enchantment. A shame too, if I could sell these I’d become even more outrageously rich.”

She heard basically none of what he’d said, too focused on the extreme degree to which her gear had just changed with two simple items, and having the knowledge that there was still one more to go.

“Um, whatever you have left isn’t going to be quite so over the top, is it? I feel like I’m going to be robbed on the street with all of this already.”