I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods

Side Story: Golden Key – 2

Without even thinking about taking the key home, I picked it up for the shivering Fetch, who was sitting there with a blank expression. It looked just like the key from Brightest Darkness 4.

Once Fetch confirmed the key was in my hand, she realized what had happened and started hiccuping, trembling like a leaf.

Since I had no particular thoughts to share, I grabbed her shoulder to lift her up, gestured for her to sit on the sofa, and then sat down on the opposite one. Fetch cautiously eased herself onto the cushion.

‘How tense can one be?’

Her skin peeking through the underboob and tights was drenched in sweat, beads trickling down toward her deep navel. She looked like she had just come out of a sauna.

Even with her sweat-drenched body, Fetch seemed completely uninterested in anything other than gauging my mood. Her hot pink eyes spun around anxiously.

“First, let’s relax. Take a moment to breathe comfortably and let me know when you’re ready to talk. I’ll rest in the meantime.”

“Y-yes… Thank you. Hic!”

Leaning back against the sofa, I picked up the snack platter on the table. In just a few minutes, Fetch seemed to relax a bit, beginning to fidget in her seat. Now that she was at ease, her sweat-soaked body seemed to bother her.

When Fetch took a handkerchief from her coat pocket to wipe herself, she froze as she noticed me. I pretended to look around to give her some privacy. Just then, the sound of the handkerchief rubbing against her skin began to fill the air.

It was amusing how she was conscious of that while her outfit revealed nothing much different when lifted.

“I-I’m done. Thank you!”

I turned my head. Fetch, looking much more human than before, was glancing at me shyly as she adjusted her sweat-drenched coat and tidied her messy bangs and side hair. Her initially stiff expression had also significantly relaxed.

“Is the tension calming down?”

“Y-yes. But… about earlier…”

“Earlier? What about it?”

“T-the kiss… um…”

She couldn’t bring herself to admit that the kiss had sent her over the edge more than ten times, fumbling for a substitute word. But there was no fancy vocabulary that could replace it.

Even if there were, she wouldn’t recall it at this moment.

“I did that on purpose to help you relax. It was obvious you couldn’t even talk properly with Kaiquilia around. Should I call you back here again?”

“N-no, no, no, no! Thank you for your consideration! There’s no need to call me back!”

Fetch shook her head rapidly. Her hot pink twin-tails fluttered like crazy. After desperately rejecting my suggestion, she cautiously resumed her questioning.

“…Did you make a promise for the future with the Empress? You called her by her name, and you showed no hesitation with the kiss…”

‘The Empress, huh?’

For a moment, I questioned that but recalled that it had not been officially announced that the Empire’s ruler had changed. So it made sense that Fetch would be confused.

“You heard what Kaiquilia said when I got here, right? You can’t need confirmation to have a guess. It’s just as you thought.”

Of course, I had no intention of correcting her misconception. Eventually, it would be made public anyway. If she mistook things, it wouldn’t endanger her life or anything.

“So, what about when Your Holiness embraced me earlier?”

“That’s right. For the same reason as Kaiquilia. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, nothing. Just… curious, you know….”

After just a few questions, Fetch seemed to shrink again. I leaned back against the sofa once more.

“No need to be tense. Our relationship ends here, doesn’t it?”

“Haha… Y-yes, that’s right… it ends here…”

I waved the golden key in my hand, and Fetch’s smile faltered, her eyes remaining eerily serious while she chuckled. It seemed she recalled the trap she attempted to ensnare me with.

“I’ve said it before. The trap you set for me was all part of my plan. I was aware and still let myself be deceived. Why would I resent or dislike you for that?”

“…….”

“I mean, what if I fell into a trap that pretended to have a shortcut, but then the door closed on me? What if I was caught rolling rocks down the stairs? What if the bridge went down as I crossed, making me go around forever? Or…”

As I explained the backstabbing moments that ‘Fetch from Brightest Darkness 4’ had pulled off, her face grew increasingly pale. Surely, she couldn’t comprehend how I knew all the dirty tricks she had tried.

“So, Fetch.”

I locked eyes with her. Her hot pink pupils trembled.

“You don’t need to be so scared.”

“Haha… Y-yeah, I don’t need to be scared… right…?”

Her grip on the armrest tightened, and the knuckles turned white. Given Fetch’s personality, if I were too accommodating, she would likely try to sneak opportunities for herself, so this was the perfect balance.

“Let’s finish any tasks quickly. Where did you find this, Fetch?”

“T-that’s a trade secret…”

“Where did you find it?”

“…Hic.”

Fetch hiccupped.

Though I did come off a bit forceful, it couldn’t be helped, given that information unknown even in the game was dangling right in front of me. It was a chance to release ten years of curiosity.

“…You can’t be angry, right?”

“I won’t get angry. Just tell me.”

“You really can’t be angry…?”

“I said I won’t be angry.”

I couldn’t help but wonder where she’d found it. As my curiosity deepened, Fetch, who was wiggling her index finger in front of her chest, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Actually, I discovered it a while ago and had some left over.”

“……?”

Did I just hear that correctly?

“I forgot where it is now, but I found it in an abandoned workshop. I thought it was a cave at first, but it turned out to be a workshop. It was just a chair, a skeleton, and some junk in there, and on the desk in front of the skeleton, there was a golden key and a note. The note said it would break after a thousand uses, but until then, it could unlock any locking device in this world instantly, so I took it and left.”

I wondered just how exceptional an alchemist had to be to make such a thing, but that wasn’t the important fact right now.

“A thousand times?”

“Y-yes! The note said so! It breaks after a thousand uses!”

An unexpected secret revealed itself from an unexpected place. My brows automatically furrowed.

Fetch, trembling as she thought I was upset over her using up the golden key, was not my concern at all; rather, my attention was directed elsewhere.

‘…So it wasn’t a one-time item from the get-go.’

I stared blankly at the culprit who turned the golden key, allegedly usable a thousand times, into a one-time item. Another hiccup sounded.

“Anything else to share?”

“W-well, I was trying to pursue some business profit with it, and I wanted to save the last use for something big… but then Delta asked me to bring the golden key…”

Fetch shrank back as she spoke, trembling.

“B-but you said you wouldn’t scold me!”

“I’m not scolding you. You can continue explaining.”

“I’ve already told you everything I know! I swear! I found it in an abandoned alchemy workshop and used it, and I saved the last use for something special, but then Delta asked me to bring it, so that’s all!”

“When I asked you to bring the golden key, didn’t you protest about how you wouldn’t know what it was?”

“…….”

Fetch averted her eyes slightly. It was obvious it was a lie.

Just like in the game, her personality was impressive. Even in such a situation, she managed to lie while judging what the other person knew or didn’t.

If Fetch had been a bit more relaxed mentally, she might’ve even looked for an opportunity to lie.

‘Might have to give Kaiquilia a reward later.’

It wasn’t something she intended to do, but she had made quite an impact.

“I see why you came to me now. You waited intentionally to not arouse suspicion about how quickly you found it if you returned too early, right?”

“Yes. You hit the nail on the head. But you really won’t be mad, right? Hehe.”

Fetch, now completely hunched over, gave me a cute smile. I had no interest in that smile whatsoever.

‘So that’s why she handed over that valuable item so readily… This damn scammer tried to act all generous after using it herself and only brought me the last usage?’

I was too busy cursing Fetch from Brightest Darkness 4 in my head.

‘Everything is falling into place now.’

The reason why the previous emperors of the Empire had invested so much time and resources into finding the golden key and ultimately failed was because it had already passed into someone else’s hands.

The golden key was a one-time item because the first person to acquire it, Fetch, had been merrily using it all along.

“Uh… you really won’t be mad, right…? Right?”

Fetch, noticing my expression had distorted, erased her smile and spoke nervously.

Of course, I had no intention of taking it out on the ‘real’ Fetch standing before me. Ever since I learned the whole truth from Eclipse, I had drawn a clear line between the NPCs in Brightest Darkness 4 and the humans in this world.

I realized that the NPCs and humans were distinctly different beings, despite having similar behavioral patterns. So, I wouldn’t take revenge on human Fetch for what NPC Fetch did to me.

The target of my anger was the NPC Fetch, who deceived the player and lied even when it came to giving out the final rewards, flaunting it as if it were a treasure.

‘I should tell Eclipse to update Brightest Darkness 4.’

Of course, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t take revenge.

“I told you, it wouldn’t be an issue. I was just a bit surprised since it wasn’t what I expected. It felt like something you would do.”

“Uh… thank you…?”

Fetch’s face expressed confusion over whether that was a compliment or insult.

“Instead, let’s just visit one place together.”

The tense hot pink twin-tails jerked in surprise at my words. Her expression shifted to one of half-pout.

“W-where are we going?”

“To the alchemy workshop.”

If this truly was an item created by an alchemist, there was something I needed to check.

“Wait a minute. How old are you, Fetch? The records of the golden key being sought after date back as far as 200 years!”

“……”

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