Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 66

Episode 66

[Lv.999 Beliser's Eye]

Seeing the text floating above the necklace, I gaped like a goldfish for a moment.

The relic of the ancient elf king, passed down as a legend among the elves.

But this was an item that was supposed to be obtained later anyway, after wiping out the Dark Society.

In this situation, where I already had a million things to do, there was no need to take a risk to get it.

"You... You crazy bastard!"

I looked back and forth between Elaine's palm and his ridiculously proud-looking face, then screamed.

"You got caught trying to steal this?! I explicitly told you, only steal the laurel crown!"

"Ah, no... Oh right, it was because I was saving her."

As if he'd just remembered, he made an 'oops' face and suddenly showed me what he was holding.

"Hewwo."

She looked to be about four or five years old.

A scruffy-looking, blonde-haired girl, who must have regained consciousness at some point, greeted me cheerfully.

"Who... is this."

"She's my niece."

"Hah..."

I let out a deep sigh as my head throbbed.

Saying he did it to save his niece... I was speechless again.

I quickly scanned the small child nestled in Elaine's arms, but fortunately, she didn't seem badly hurt despite the chaos.

It was a relief that demi-humans were sturdier than humans.

"Here, drink this."

Just in case, I took the High-Grade Potion I had packed from my garter belt and offered it to the child.

I only had one due to inventory space, but my HP was full, so I didn't mind at all.

"Hank you."

The child took it obediently without even asking what it was, and soon swallowed it with gurgle, gurgle sounds.

Elaine looked at me with a hurt expression.

"What about me, Teacher Apothecary-noona? I'm hurt too."

"You, just shut up."

"Hng."

Elaine Griselda feels slightly hurt by your words.

I was lightly ignoring the bastard's creepy whining and the system window.

Hwoooong!

Suddenly, with a strong wind, a large object zipped past over our heads.

"Kkuweeeek!"

The stupid bird, having finally realized there was no escape route in the ceiling, began to fly low.

"Uwaaaaak!"

Watching the humans who had gone into the wrong passage scream as they were flushed out by the re-emerging Thunder Bird, I started rattling off instructions like a machine gun.

"That thing over there isn't the real Ballakk, it's a puppet made with black magic. We can't kill it anyway, so we have to find the main body."

"Main body? Oh right, there was a small Ballakk."

"Right. And it looks like that main body has the laurel crown, too. He's going to heal the puppet soon."

At my words, Elaine nodded, his face dark.

"I'll hold that bastard off somehow, so you go evacuate the slaves, come back, find the main body, and take the laurel crown."

"You, noona...?"

"Right now, that's the only way."

I wanted to smack him for giving me that look of doubt, but I barely held back.

"The farther he is from the puppet, the harder it is to control, so that bastard Ballakk must be hiding somewhere around here."

"..."

"The problem is, his subordinates will be all over the place, too..."

I was the one who should be doubtful.

I looked him up and down and asked in a flat voice.

"Can you... really... take care of all of them?"

"If I have a weapon, I'll never lose."

Indignant at my words, Elaine clenched his fists and shouted.

But not even one second later, he added dejectedly.

"Maybe I could lose..."

"I oughta just..."

"Still! Since I have this, won't it work out somehow?"

He flashed the treasure he'd stolen in front of my eyes.

"Ugh! Don't shove it so close!"

I jerked back, avoiding the necklace glistening with saliva.

Just as he said, with no more invisibility potions, Beliser's relic was the best solution right now.

In fact, it was much better than an invisibility potion.

Unlike the potion, which simply makes the form transparent, 'Beliser's Eye' hides all of the wearer's five senses.

Meaning, even if someone reached out, their hand would pass right through, so the chance of being caught converged on 0%.

However.

"Can you cry?"

"What? Cry about what?"

"I'm asking if you can shed tears. If I beat you up, will you cry?"

"A man never cries... Ack!"

Peok!

I smacked him hard on the head without warning.

"Ah, noona! Why'd you hit me!"

Elaine rubbed the spot he was hit with the hand holding the necklace, shouting indignantly.

But his wheat-colored eyes were still dry.

Psycho bastard.

"Did it not hurt?"

"Of course it hurt!"

"Then why aren't you crying? Try to squeeze some out. Think of something sad."

"What do you want me to do if the tears just won't come."

He grumbled with a pouting mouth.

Just looking at him, the chances of Elaine crying seemed remote.

It occurred to me that perhaps his emotions had already been worn down after escaping the black market and thieving for so long.

To the point where he wouldn't even shed a single tear after being suddenly hit.

In fact, even after becoming a party member, Elaine never cries, so he often has trouble using 'Beliser's Eye'.

The time he does shed tears is today, the day he and the other elves are sold off as sex slaves or executed.

After the Dark Society is wiped out, he searches for his brethren who were sold, but by then, most of them are already dead.

It was the user's role to collect and store the tears he shed once a year, without him even knowing, in a bottle.

"...Beliser's Eye is a relic that only activates with the wearer's tears."

I confessed in a slightly deflated voice.

"Heueup!"

At those words, that bastard Elaine did the ridiculous-looking act of holding his breath and straining his eyes.

But no matter how long he held his breath, to the point his face turned bright red, not a single tear came from his eyes.

'...What do I do? I have to find the main body to do anything.'

I quickly scanned the stage and felt dismayed.

The puppet's torso, which had been wide open, was already almost completely filled in, leaving only a hole about the size of a fist.

This was why defeating Ballakk in the 'Black Market Slave Liberation' quest required multiple people taking on different roles.

'Can I take care of it all by myself?'

I started laying out a plan.

First, catch the Thunder Elephant Bird, then incapacitate the puppet as much as possible like before, then spray skills everywhere to find the main body that must be hiding somewhere...

"I! I can cwy!"

It was then. My sluggish, low-probability plan was cut short.

The young elf, who had been quiet in Elaine's arms, suddenly shot her hand up and started to whimper.

"Eu, eu... Euheong..."

Before long, the child's face was soaked with tears.

It was a very different picture from her uncle, Elaine.

I was startled and asked in a worried voice.

"Are you hurt somewhere?"

"Hehe, if I do this, the ajeossis twy to hit Wucy, but then they wet me go."

But the child, whose face had been tearful, quickly burst into laughter and spoke.

"See. I cwy weally well, wight?"

I was a little dumbfounded by the tears streaming down her plump cheeks.

"You're too young, it's dangerous to give you a job like that."

"Lucy might know the cave's geography better than I do, Teacher Apothecary-noona. It's been years since I escaped and came back."

"Dat's wight! Wucy knows it well!"

Despite my words of concern for his niece, the one who calls himself her uncle calmly egged her on.

"And since an elf wearing Beliser's Eye can't be caught, Lucy is the only right person for the job right now."

At those words, I looked back at the young elf named Lucy with heavy eyes.

It was true, with no restraint device on her and her ability to cry easily, there was no one more suitable than Lucy.

I had no choice but to explain quietly to Lucy.

"Your job is to find the hidden Ballakk. Find him, take off the laurel crown, and..."

I glanced at Elaine for a moment, then continued.

"...Just wear it yourself."

"Why does Lucy get to..."

Elaine Griselda feels a trace of indignation at your words.

A system window popped up immediately.

Elaine's expression was no different.

He seemed to be questioning why, after I'd warned him repeatedly not to touch it and just bring it, I was telling Lucy to wear it.

'It's a matter of trust.'

What if I entrusted it to him, and he tried to put a restraint device on me?

Of course, the chances of that were extremely low, but I was preventing any potential accidents.

"And then come back here, take off the necklace, and tell me where he is. Easy, right?"

"Wow! It's hide-and-seek!"

Lucy threw her arms up and shouted, all innocence and cheer.

I gave a bitter smile at the sight, then said with a grim face.

"Alright, everyone to their positions."

"Wait here, Lucy."

Elaine set his niece down from his arms and placed the 'Beliser's relic' he was holding around Lucy's neck.

"Ew, diwty!"

"What, your uncle's spit is dirty?"

A moment later, after some bickering.

Lucy, who had been standing in front of her uncle, vanished without a trace.

Leaving Elaine's bewildered face behind, I shot up from my crouch.

"Kkuweeeek."

Right on cue, the Thunder Bird, which had once again entered the monster prison it escaped from, was just passing the passage and flying toward the stage again.

'Stupid bird.'

A strip of cloth trailed behind it like a tail, as if it had gotten caught on its sharp talons.

I quickly kicked off my high-heeled shoes.

And before the bastard passed the stage, I hurriedly shot up from my spot, leaped, and quickly pulled out the Monster-Hunting Snare I had won at the auction and swung it.

"Kkuweeeek!"

Just as the Thunder Elephant Bird flew over the stage and was about to soar into the air.

I accurately looped the snare I'd thrown over its head.

Hwiiik!

'Got it!'

Before I could even celebrate the nice timing.

I, holding the end of the rope, was yanked up into the air after it.

"Aaaaah!"