I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods

Side Story: Weapon Collecting – 3

“……”

“……”

Two frowning faces. And those expressions were directed at each other. After staring at one another for a while, their pitch-black pupils suddenly turned towards me, as if they had made a promise.

Since I was still within their line of sight, it was clear they had overlapped their timing. It seemed to annoy them quite a bit, as both Linne and Nix frowned.

“Hey, what’s this?”

Nix, speaking informally, pointed to Linne and asked.

Using the word ‘this’ instead of saying Linne’s name, the alchemist, or even referring to this woman at all, showed just how much Nix disliked her.

“She’s the alchemist I told you about. The one I said resembles you, Nix.”

At those words, both Nix and Linne grimaced in distaste.

One was someone special to me, and the other was a woman who, despite lacking common sense, had caused quite a commotion since our first meeting, claiming she would kill Fetch and take me for herself.

For both of them to openly grimace meant my earlier comment had truly hit a nerve.

“Kihihit, that’s a bit much even for you.”

“Hihi, that’s a bit excessive even for you.”

“……”

Another set of similar remarks flowed between them. Linne and Nix fell silent. Instead, their pitch-black eyes glared at each other.

Once again, my instincts proved correct. For some reason, those two looked strangely alike. When I first saw Nix, I thought she might resemble Linne if she were aged a bit, and this just confirmed it further.

From their ominous aura to the unusual laughter in their speech, even their messy hair and the considerable area their chests occupied compared to their height matched perfectly.

Nix, despite being significantly shorter than Lize, had a chest that matched Lize’s, and while Linne was tall enough for her height to be about the same as mine, her chest was more than double the size of her head.

It was a combination that screamed resemblance.

‘What if Nix had a hidden sister?’

For a moment, I entertained this pointless thought and stifled a laugh inwardly. Nix had been a soul guardian before transitioning to this world, while Linne had been a denizen from the start. There’s a limit to misunderstandings.

“Why did you call this girl?”

“We had a deal, remember? I agreed to let you observe the trap up close in exchange for bringing one more person.”

“……Got it. Let’s move out.”

Having said that, Linne seemed to take it to heart and started walking off with a slightly huffy expression.

Given that darkness had already settled, Linne, dressed in black hair and clothing, blended quite well into the shadows. The fact that she wore a drab, featureless dress only amplified that.

However, no matter what, that massive chest could not be hidden.

No matter what angle she stood at, that violently oversized chest was the first thing to catch your eye, making even the dress, which was infinitely more modest than Nix’s, seem indecent.

‘It’s more modest than Nix’s outfit, though.’

“Kihihit, why?”

“Nothing. Let’s hurry up and follow.”

I mumbled and trailed behind Linne. As her back moved towards the alley, Nix leaned in and whispered quietly so no one could hear.

“So, what are we doing today?”

Having accepted to follow without explaining what we were up to, Nix didn’t have a clue what we were doing today.

“Setting traps.”

“……Traps?”

A frown appeared on her face.

I stopped in the middle of the alley, ominously grinning as I gestured towards Linne, who was cautiously wiggling her fingers. If someone were watching, they might think she looked like a ghost.

Her fingers moved a hazy thread leading to a spot under a window on the third floor of a building. Something complicated was gradually being set up at the end of the thread.

“A trap? What kind of trap?”

“It’s specifically attached over there. I don’t know the details. It’s all up to Linne over there.”

“It doesn’t seem like she’s just doing this to torment people; maybe she’s aiming for something? Kihihit.”

Nix muttered darkly.

That was right. The spot where Linne was setting up a trap was somewhere a regular person could never reach. What ordinary person would venture into a deserted alley at midnight and touch the wall beneath the window on the third floor?

And this building happens to be a jewelry store? Her intentions were blatantly obvious.

From what I heard, this odd method came about after their trap festival for visitors to the workshop was banned. I still had no idea why she was so obsessed with traps.

“Alright, hihi.”

Before long, Linne returned to our side.

“Now, it’s time to move to the next installation location—”

Creeeak.

Just as she was about to say that, a window opened. A look of “Is it happening already?” flashed across Linne’s face before it quickly morphed into delight.

I gestured to Nix. Although she seemed slightly put off that she had to cover for Linne as well, my words took priority, and she swiftly cast dark magic.

Darkness enveloped the three of us.

“Hihihit, hihit, hihihihihih…..”

Linne let out an eerie chuckle as she watched someone cautiously poke their head through the open window.

The man cautiously examined his surroundings for quite some time, but couldn’t perceive the concealment magic Nix activated, and once he felt assured that no one was around, he slowly pushed his body out.

SHHHHHCLUNK!

“……!”

Before long, he triggered the trap.

Noticing something was off, the man attempted to pull his arms free in a panic, using magic in the process. Blue light flickered in his hands.

But it was a trap set up by Linne herself. It didn’t shatter; instead, a strange white liquid burst forth, covering his body.

The man, now drenched in the white liquid from his neck down to his knees, was completely stuck against the wall, unable to move an inch. His exposed limbs twitched pitifully.

Soon after, the creeping white liquid enveloped his face, leaving only his nose visible. He could no longer even muster a scream.

“Hihit, you. We’re thinking the exact same thing, right?”

“……Probably.”

That strange white liquid surrounding the man looked suspicious, to say the least. There was only one object it reminded me of.

I tried to dismiss it, thinking there’s no way that’s actually it, but before I could finish my thought, Linne interjected.

“That’s right. It perfectly replicates the feel and smell. Hihi, I can’t say whether it tastes the same since I’ve never tasted the original.”

It was a truth I hadn’t particularly wanted to learn. Nix made a gagging sound and buried her face in my chest.

“……How?”

“One of my mentors used to catch wandering men for research. It was quite a while ago. About three or four hundred years back?”

Linne laughed ominously.

“Don’t worry; the guards will take care of him later. Let’s move. I’ve already scouted the next location. He’ll have plenty of evidence on him from the stolen goods, so it’ll be enough, hihi.”

With her success right from the start, an excited Linne, humming an odd tune, headed towards the next site.

We set traps at a total of eight locations before dawn, capturing three more people. Among them, two managed to scream before being caught at the scene by patrolling guards.

The guards were curious about who set the traps but prioritized escorting the criminals right in front of them.

“Hihihihih. Thanks for following me today.”

Having set traps in eight places and captured four people, Linne was thoroughly delighted, claiming her success rate was unusually high today. Usually, she would set twenty traps and barely catch one.

I felt like she was mistakenly thinking it was somehow thanks to me, but since it was just chance, I brushed it off. The ecstatic Linne barely acknowledged my dismissal.

“So, about that promise we made—”

“Ah, so you were hiding here. Seeing the color of the veil, you must be a dark mage?”

Cutting off Linne’s speech, a knight clad in silver armor appeared. Linne fell silent.

And it wasn’t just one. Silver-armored knights were approaching from all four directions.

‘They didn’t perceive the magic being triggered…….’

I wondered how they had caught on, but it became clear when Linne stood up, causing the nearby space to distort slightly. The ripple in the veil would catch the eye of anyone skilled enough, like the Silver Dawn Knights.

“I won’t say it twice. Were you the ones who set the traps?”

It was a voice I had heard often when visiting the Silver Dawn Knights. I couldn’t recall the name, but it was reminiscent of a previous encounter.

However, this time, every word dripped with a palpable hostility that made them sound like entirely different people. They, of course, couldn’t show a smiling face to a criminal.

“The Silver Dawn Knights? What are you doing here…….”

Linne’s voice trembled lightly. A hint of fear flickered in her pitch-black eyes.

Given my position, I had no reason to show fear, but the Silver Dawn Knights were the Emperor’s direct knights, tasked with guarding the Imperial Palace. They were a group of the very best among the elite.

Even someone as oblivious as Linne couldn’t help but know their prowess.

“Ugh…… staying up all night is tiring……”

In contrast, Nix seemed indifferent. I gently patted the rumbling Nix in my arms.

“That’s true, but are you really not thinking of letting this slide? I mean, once the sun rises, they’ll be retrieved, and the only ones who got hurt are the bad guys, right? Isn’t that so?”

I raised my voice before they could rush in. The reason I didn’t pull back the veil was to imply we both wanted to avoid any awkward face-to-face interaction. Both sides would feel uncomfortable if we made eye contact while talking.

“That’s not an option.”

The response was far from expected as the encirclement tightened further.

“Dozens have been caught in traps without any known cause. While it’s true that no ordinary citizens were harmed, the mere fact that unauthorized traps were set up in the capital of the Empire is reason enough for us not to sit idly by. We will proceed according to protocol. You, along with your comrades, must all be taken in for investigation.”

As I pondered whether they couldn’t hear my voice, Nix informed me that in the veil, our voices sounded different from our original ones to outsiders to hide our identities.

If that was the case, there was no choice but to show my face quickly. I stepped out from the veil.

“……!!!!!!”

The hostility that had been aimed at us dispersed in an instant.

“Hello.”

“D-Delta!?”

“Sorry. I unintentionally hid my identity. Nix told me that voices change when you’re in this veil. I suppose that’s why you couldn’t recognize us.”

“O-Oh, thank you.”

“How did you end up here?”

The knights lowered their weapons in a hurry, removing their helmets before explaining.

It turned out Linne had been engaging in such antics since she set up the alchemy workshop in the capital. So, considering just the number of installations, she had done so several hundred times.

Regardless of targeting criminals, setting up unauthorized traps ensured something had to be done, yet ordinary guards or knights would be unable to apprehend Linne.

Eventually, the support request escalated up the chain, leading to the Silver Dawn Knights’ deployment. Unfortunately, it just so happened that today, Linne decided to take me around checking the traps.

“This, this is really a coincidence…….”

Linne vehemently denied targeting anyone. I believed her, as I figured she could never concoct such a meticulous plan.

“Does this mean I have to be arrested according to protocol?”

I grinned, extending my hands, causing the knights to look rather distraught.

“……I might seriously die if that happens. Then I’d revive and be killed again by Lize and Erica. Finally, I’d meet my end with Claudia.”

“Just kidding. Just go back and say you finished rehabilitating. This won’t happen again. I’ll be sure to warn them.”

“Okay. Understood. Thank you, Delta.”

Expressions of relief bloomed on the knights’ faces.

After sending all four back, I turned to Linne, who was left dumbfounded.

“I still need to finish what I was calculating.”

“Uh, right. Yes. I need to finish it.”

The dark pupils that had been hazy for a moment sparkled with energy again.

“So, do you know how to create a synthesized weapon?”

A synthesized weapon is created using items dropped from bosses. Just like the Abyss Sword I made last time.

However, Linne claimed she could create synthesized weapons even without the boss’s drop items, which had disappeared along with all monsters.

That was the reason I had come out with Linne today.

“Ceres! We have a guest!”

A voice calling from outside reached us, but Ceres didn’t straighten up until she finished her work.

Then she looked down and beamed a satisfied smile before grabbing her chest and smoothly dusting off the sweat that had pooled between them.

“Who is it?”

“No idea. They said they were looking for you. What do you want to do?”

“Doesn’t seem like a request?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Then why did you accept it? Send them away.”

Ignoring the interruption, Ceres reached for the next piece of metal, but after thinking for a moment, she sighed and wiped her sweat. Stepping outside, she found a bronze-skinned woman looking at her with a surprised expression.

“What’s this? A meeting?”

“Just wait here. I’ll go in for a moment.”

“Got it. Well, what’s up with you today?”

The woman walked in, clearly surprised, to fill in for Ceres. Ceres stood there for a moment, then splashed some water over herself before heading out to meet the guest.

Her body was drenched, but she didn’t care. The fact that someone came to visit during a busy working hour meant they didn’t mind her appearance either.

Sometimes there are those annoying guys who complain, but those types generally don’t last long against the woman who just entered.

‘The outfit is pretty ordinary.’

Upon arriving at the place where her guest was waiting, Ceres slowly scanned the woman in front of her.

Her hot pink hair was uniquely striking, but her underboob-exposing outfit and leggings that hardly covered anything were not anything special.

The hot pink woman greeted Ceres cheerfully.

“Hi! I’m Fetch!”

“Right, you called for me?”

“Yup!”

“Why’s that?”

The girl hesitant for a moment shook her hot pink twin tails from side to side and replied.

“I wanted to play a trick on someone!”

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