"Why do you look so sulky?"
Apparently, my expression as I looked at the Temujin Hippogriff had been rather strange.
Dante, who had been quietly studying my face, sidled over and asked.
"I was trying to think of a name for this little guy."
"A name? Didn’t Ris just say it was a hippogriff..."
Haede glanced at the Holy Maiden before continuing.
It was Iris’s body, and Iris’s consciousness had neither vanished nor fallen asleep.
But perhaps because the Holy Maiden currently held control over the body, Haede’s manner of speaking to her came out oddly awkward.
"Hippogriff is closer to a species name than an actual name."
As though she did not particularly mind, the Holy Maiden calmly nodded at Haede.
"So I was going to name it, but nothing comes to mind..."
I handed the hippogriff to Dolnesia, who had been silently staring at it.
"I-Ian?"
"What? Didn’t you want to hold it?"
"...That’s not..."
Holding the creature in her arms, Dolnesia quietly watched as it squirmed and squeaked in her embrace.
"How fascinating. I can sense the power of a spirit from it, and it looks like a baby griffin, but its lower body isn’t that of a lion, either..."
She gently stroked its head and smiled.
"Squeak!"
Apparently enjoying her touch immensely, it rubbed its tiny head against Dolnesia’s palm and docilely accepted her petting.
"It seems very fond of Dolnesia."
Watching the hippogriff obediently accept Dolnesia’s touch, Haede spoke with curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
Isabella was pretending not to care as well, but she could not take her red eyes off the creature wriggling in Dolnesia’s arms.
It was hardly surprising that the hippogriff was so attached to Dolnesia.
After all, it had been born after absorbing the power of a spirit, so it would not be strange for it to possess the characteristics and power of spirits.
And Dolnesia possessed Spirit Affinity, a unique stat that spirits loved above all else.
"S-so, then. What are you going to name this child?"
After lovingly petting the creature for quite some time, Dolnesia finally raised her head and looked at me.
"I did have something in mind."
"What is it?"
"Since it squeaks, Squeaky."
The instant my idea left my mouth, the faces of Dolnesia, Haede, and Isabella, all looking at me, went cold as if on cue.
Angelica remained expressionless, but her eyes alone were reproaching me, asking, “Is that truly your best idea?”
"H-ha ha..."
The Holy Maiden, Dante, and Kafka had lost all words and could only let out awkward, forced laughter.
The only one whose expression did not change was—
"Squeak?"
—the hippogriff, which simply kept crying in Dolnesia’s arms without understanding the situation.
With an utterly incredulous look on his face, Dante cautiously opened his mouth.
"...Um, Ian? Was Kafka’s name perhaps not one you came up with?"
"It was."
"Then how did you name her like th— no, like that?"
Why?
What was wrong with Squeaky?
Squeaky liked it too.
It squeaked, so Squeaky.
How was that not intuitive and nice?
Then Kafka slowly approached, tilted her head, and asked.
"Then... aside from Kafka, what other candidates did you have for my name?"
"Wolfie."
At my answer, her narrow, half-lidded eyes furrowed.
"No. Absolutely not! Squeaky is absolutely unacceptable!"
Dolnesia vehemently objected as she pulled the hippogriff closer into her arms.
Come on, just call it Squeaky.
"Then I’ll think of something else..."
"Can’t I just name it?"
Dolnesia interrupted me.
She looked at me as though she had absolutely no faith in my naming sense.
Well, I did not particularly care who named it.
It was not as if naming it would put food on the table.
Still, a corner of my heart remained disappointed.
Couldn’t we just settle on Squeaky?
#
Centered around the hippogriff in Dolnesia’s arms, they put their heads together and began a serious naming conference.
Without me.
I tried to offer my opinion too, but everyone adamantly stopped me.
Kafka, in particular, was absolutely against it.
It seemed discovering that Wolfie had been among the candidates for her name had been that much of a shock to her.
Anyway, while they were preoccupied with naming the creature, I opened my inventory to check my rewards.
There were four golden, shining images in the inventory.
A golden spear, armor, a ring, and boots.
I clicked the golden spear first.
[Galifron’s Golden Spear]
The legendary weapon upon which Arghalia relied.
Wielding this golden spear, he brought down countless knights, but his excessive dependence upon it ultimately brought down its master as well.
It was originally a lance, but someone had cut off its long spearhead, leaving it transformed into a short spear.
◈ Rank: Legendary
◈ Attack Power: 60
◈ Ignores 40% of the target’s defense.
◈ Can forcibly cancel the mounted state.
◈ Can be retrieved.
Galifron’s Golden Spear.
It appeared to be the very golden spear Arghalia had carried around.
I could not take it out of my inventory, so I could not examine it closely, but judging by its name and description, it was clearly much shorter than when Arghalia had wielded it.
Was that why...?
For a weapon carried by a level seventy monster of Legendary rank, there were some aspects that felt a little underwhelming.
Ignoring 40% of defense and unconditionally dismounting an opponent on horseback like before were certainly good effects.
But its attack power was disappointing.
Sixty.
That was fifteen lower than the sword my brother had given me.
Of course, this ignored 40% of defense, so it would deal more damage.
Still, it was Legendary, yet weaker than a Rare-rank sword from the early game.
I could not hide my disappointment.
The second was...
An image of silver-colored armor.
[Arghalia’s Magic Eye]
One of the two Magic Eyes that had protected Arghalia’s body.
The result of the formless armor that had slumbered deep within that Magic Eye finally regaining its true color and materializing.
After obtaining this Magic Eye, he would never lose anything again.
But by then, he had already lost everything.
◈ Rank: Legendary
◈ Defense: 0
◈ Reduces physical damage by 50%.
◈ Once per day, can nullify all physical damage for five seconds.
This was nice.
Like the golden spear before it, this was Legendary-rank armor.
Its defense was zero, but it reduced physical damage by 50%, and it even had an effect that made the wearer invincible to physical damage for five seconds once a day.
I should either use this myself or give it to Dolnesia.
So she could use it with that spirit body of hers.
The third was a ring.
[Arghalia’s Ring]
One of the two Magic Eyes that had protected Arghalia’s body.
Apparently, it had once been a ring before he forcibly engraved it into his empty eye socket.
Because he had forcibly engraved what had been a ring into his eye, then turned what was engraved in his eye back into a ring, its performance had degraded from the original.
◈ Rank: Legendary
◈ Reduces magical damage by 50%.
◈ Once per day, can nullify all magic that comes into contact with you.
◈ Holding the ring in your mouth activates [Stealth].
Nice.
I should use this one.
It reduced magical damage by a whole 50%, and although it was only once a day, it had the absurd effect of nullifying any magic.
A ring fully worthy of its Legendary rank.
Of course, its Stealth function was practically sealed away.
The moment I used Stealth, those peeping bastards up above would definitely throw an absolute fit.
The last one was boots, then.
Since the other three were items related to Arghalia, these boots were surely the true reward from the Oath of Chivalry.
[Bayard]
Boots crafted for you by the Magic Knight.
In the past, he succeeded in partially reproducing the abilities of the famous steed he had given to the Knight of Poverty.
◈ Rank: ■■
◈ Defense: 200
◈ Movement Speed increased by 35%.
◈ Takes no environmental damage.
◈ When kicking, converts Defense into Attack Power.
◈ Stamina does not decrease while your feet are on the ground.
Was it because this was a reward for defeating a Sword Master?
I liked this one far more than the previous three.
For starters, these were boots with two hundred defense.
That was comparable to most shields, and they even had an effect that increased movement speed by 35%.
Considering that the maximum bonus on magical boots from the early game was 20%, this was an incredible number.
It also prevented environmental damage over time, and when I threw a kick, that 200 defense would be converted directly into 200 attack power.
In other words, a single kick was now stronger than all the sword swings I had been making until now.
The stats were so absurd that I almost wondered if I should switch classes to a martial artist.
And the effect that prevented stamina consumption as long as my feet were on the ground was equally broken.
It meant that as long as I stood on solid ground, I would not tire in a fight.
It would not be an exaggeration to call this the most broken piece of armor I had obtained so far.
I can’t stop smiling.
But then I noticed something.
Something that should not have been there, since I had already cleared it.
Barely holding down the corners of my mouth as they tried to rise, I took out the unglowing item still left in my inventory.
A Dreamland ticket.
Then—
The ticket turned to ash the instant I touched it, as though it had exhausted all its power.
[The protagonist, Iris, has avoided her bad ending.]
[You have fulfilled the hidden condition necessary to clear Dreamland.]
[You have successfully cleared Dreamland.]
[Through your efforts, the fate of the protagonist, Iris, is rewritten.]
[The current world has deviated somewhat from the route leading to the DLC, the world fated for destruction.]
When I touched that Dreamland ticket, the notification windows I had glimpsed earlier began appearing again.
It meant that Iris’s fate had been rewritten and she was avoiding her bad ending.
But there was something different in the notification.
It did not say the world had deviated slightly from the route to the DLC.
It said it had deviated somewhat.
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