I spent my whole youth exploring ruins, and the legendary equipment I got was the skin of a beautiful girl? Ⅵ (Part 1)

_Chapter 6 Part 1:_

"Good afternoon, uncle."

"Oh?! Good afternoon, girl, it's this time again."

The owner of the voice, the girl with a reddish-brown low ponytail, staggered to a stop and freed up her hands to quickly sort out her book. A decent collar can show others the most polite attitude.

Looking at it, the impression of the girl is undoubtedly soft. She is wearing a simple warm white coat with strong lines, paired with a carefully trimmed flat skirt, and a white close-fitting shirt with a bow tie on it, revealing her pink and round shoulders. His face echoes a sweet and pleasant smile.

After whispering softly, the girl lifted the bamboo basket that had been leaning against her legs with a little force, and placed it smoothly and silently on the counter of the only fish shop in the deserted open-air market.

The size of the woven bamboo basket seemed a bit large even for a tall girl. Most of it was filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables, which showed that the fish store was most likely the end of her purchasing process.

"Same as the same, right?"

"Well, please."

The middle-aged man with a long white beard and a military look asked, but it was just a formality. Even before the girl uttered her first word, he had skillfully scooped out several different fish from the pile of frozen seafood and placed them on the packaging counter.

For a month, this girl with an unforgettable appearance would only come to him every one or two days to buy certain kinds of aquatic products. There was never an exception. Therefore, subtly, this has become a kind of tacit understanding between the store and the customer.

"Although it's not my place to say this, when it comes to eating food from the sea, it's best to take advantage of it when it's fished out early in the morning when it's freshest. Girl, you know that, right?" The fish shop owner said with his teeth leaking out as usual. He glanced at the girl with a simple smile, lowered his head and began to wrap the fish in oil paper. This time he finally followed the momentum and threw out the words he had always cared about.

"...Due to some inconvenient reasons, I can't adapt to crowded situations. I always visit at this time, causing you trouble." The girl felt a little apologetic. She turned her head slightly, with an evasive tone in her voice. A little melancholy.

"What are you talking about? How can I find it troublesome to see a beauty like you in my free time? It's too late to be surprised!"

"You're very flattering..."

After listening to the somewhat flattering words of the uncle in front of her, she lowered her head slightly. , chuckled twice in response, and acted like a well-educated lady.

"Your products are as fresh as freshly caught at any time. I have always thought so."

The girl looked at the dazzling array of fish behind the boss and acted very sincerely. These very distorted compliments are not entirely flattering. The excellence of this store was determined by her years of screening, even though in the boss's eyes, she was just a new customer who visited more than half a month ago.

"Hahaha, this girl, I didn't expect her mouth to be as sweet as a human's!"

The boss laughed happily, and shoveled out of the ice pile again, and fished out several identical fish from the bottom and tossed them "clang-dang" to the desktop.

"Old man, I just can't stand the compliments. Come on, I'll give you these too!"

"Please wait a moment! I appreciate your kindness, please don't do this!"

Seeing the sudden turn of events, the girl's smile disappeared immediately. Then he became cash-strapped, and the hands that were facing each other in front of his abdomen were raised to his chest, and his palms were turned forward to show rejection.

"Just keep it as a gift for the regulars. It's not worth much."

"...It's not a matter of funds. If there are more, it will be very troublesome to explain to the people who live together, and what I am worst at is... Please!"

She clasped her hands together, her bangs falling on her face, and her voice became very low as if she had thought of something terrible.

Seeing that the girl was so troubled, the boss sighed softly, quickly put back the fish he had scooped up one by one, and then continued to pack them.

"Then let's give you a small discount, 30 copper coins."

"...Thank you very much."

It seems that it is impossible to continue to refuse. With this thought in mind, the girl raised her head, accurately counted thirty copper coins from the small bag hanging on her belt with one hand, and placed them in front of the boss.

"That's right, girl!"

"Huh?"

When the last fish was processed, the boss suddenly stopped what he was doing, leaned forward, and focused hard on her face. His eyes were slightly closed, so anyone with a sight could see it. out of his confusion.

"Do you... know a blond boy who usually wears a robe?"

Although she was prepared for such a situation, the girl still trembled after hearing this. After a few seconds, she began to ask hesitantly. detail.

"Blonde hair...uh...ah?...Ah! He's about half a head taller than me, with fluffy hair, and blue-purple eyes..." "Yes! I didn't expect you to actually know me, girl!

" That kid's eyes turned out to be blue..."

After the surprise, the boss focused on recalling the young man's face and whispered to himself in a vague understanding.

"He seems to have some things to deal with recently, and he can't go out for the time being..."

"The cohabitation I just talked about is with him?"

"No, no, no, we... I'm just temporarily staying there."

The boss said in confusion. He trimmed his beard, but immediately, his eyes squeezed together, as if he had seen through the girl's clumsy ambiguity, and he grinned even more exaggeratedly.

"He is still living with the lady from the guild next door. He is so lucky to be able to date two beauties at the same time!" "

You misunderstood! That's not the kind of relationship we have." At this point, the girl's tone became urgent, and then she quickly took it back.

"It must not be that simple, right? It seems like you can hardly speak clearly..."

The boss had some intentions, he leaned forward boldly and put his elbow on the counter, and his words were full of gossip.

"Why are you asking me such a question all of a sudden! Do we look similar in any way!?" The girl's cheeks were slightly red, and even though she choked angrily, she looked non-threatening and endearing.

"Speaking of this, the only people who always come to buy fish at this time are you and that boy. It's hard not to think of them together..." The boss withdrew and stroked his beard carelessly, thinking.

"Boss, please leave the things with you for a few minutes. Suddenly there is something urgent that needs to be dealt with."

"...Oh...?"

The humorous conversation was interrupted by the girl's abrupt and indifferent words. The fish shop owner stared in panic and kept laughing. Squinting his eyes, he brought his gaze back to the girl's face.

The look of the girl in front of him was completely different from the gentle, kind and shy look a few seconds ago. Her eyes were piercing, and her face was full of displeasure. An extremely oppressive aura hit her face, making the boss tremble.

"...I'm sorry, girl. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you. Don't worry about it."

The boss, who mistakenly thought that he kept asking the girl personal questions and made her unhappy, quickly raised his hands and apologized instead.

"It has nothing to do with this, please go ahead."

Before the words could be finished, the girl's figure disappeared without a trace along with the request and a trace of dust, like a ghost.

Not getting even a little explanation, the boss looked at the deserted street in the distance, calmed down his nerves, reluctantly put away the copper coins, shrugged, lazily sat back on the wicker chair warmed by the afternoon sun, and turned his gaze away. After taking a look at the bamboo basket, he picked up the newspaper lying nearby and started reading at an angle that could block the sun.

"As an old man, I still can't understand the young people today..."

In the small alley in the northwest corner of the open-air market, the rainwater from the past few days is still scattered in the dark places where the sun cannot reach, reflecting the pavilion above clearly like a mirror, and causing ripples from time to time.

"Bang!" There was a loud noise, and the man in black robe was hit hard against the metal wall. His feet were completely off the ground, and the muscles of his hands were stretched. He tried his best to protect himself from gravity. The pulling took his life.

"Identity, purpose."

The girl with long reddish-brown hair tilted her head and spoke cold and concise words in a very threatening tone. The scarlet eyes swaying in the darkness were fixed on the blurry face under the shadow of the man's hood.

"I...oh..."

The helpless man was out of breath and tried weakly to refute, but the girl didn't seem to get the response she wanted. The arm strengthened by magic pushed forward harder, causing the man to be Forced to retch.

"Identity, purpose, there is no third chance."

It was still a mechanical and ruthless command. The man in black robe shuddered visibly, his throat was stuck, and he tried his best to slightly open the girl's arm, leaving some words for himself. room for relaxation.

"... I... ahem... am from... the main street... the armor shop..."

"Who?"

The sudden location made the girl shake briefly, and she glanced at the people in front of her again. She called the man once, and sure enough, his figure seemed familiar to her, and then she consciously thought of the voice...

"Hey..."

The girl reached forward and used her other hand to pull open the man's hood, revealing it from the shadows. What's more, he has short dark hair that flows freely, and a face that's leaning toward neutrality and suffering from pain.

"Why are you spying on me secretly!? Don't think I'll let you go!"

Even though she continued to threaten fiercely, she still relaxed her restraint a lot, and her tone revealed more emotions. After all, in her cognition , this young man who has met several times does not look like a sinister person no matter how worst you think about it.

"Ahem, there's absolutely nothing about surveillance... I'm looking for someone else..." "Looking for someone!"

"This also requires... Wow!" After saying this, the panic on the young man's face was obviously mixed. He felt even more embarrassed, but after receiving a vicious look from the girl, his desire to survive still took over.

"Then...over there...Mr. Ian in the mansion to the south! Since I haven't seen Mr. Ian recently, I went to the place where he often comes at this time to inquire about news. I really didn't spy on you, Miss!" Really! So... can... please..."

After squeezing his eyes tightly and saying a lot of words, the young man took a long breath and turned Qingli's red face slightly to one side...

Seeing his reaction like this, the girl I couldn't help feeling a chill in my heart, and moved my stretched calves back a little. After much hesitation, she threw the young man away and let him fall to the ground naturally.

After coughing a few times, the young man stood up shakily, holding on to the wall, and turned around with one hand to brush away the mud and water stuck to his body.

"Are you familiar with that guy?" The girl adjusted her collar, raised her head and cleared her throat, her tone adjusted to a normal and natural tone.

The young man looked up slightly, his face gradually distorting into a bright smile that went against the tense atmosphere.

"...It turns out that Miss Hegra also knows Yi...wu lulu..."

In the blink of an eye, the young man's mouth was completely covered, and his body directly bent back, lying on one knee where the girl was kneeling. Only a few millimeters away from the lifeline of his neck, a sharp ice pick exuding cold air reflected a penetrating cold light in the girl's hand.

"How did you know my last name?"

the girl roared and asked.

"Wow!...Yes...asked...at the Adventurer's Guild..."

"Why do you want to inquire about me?"

"Because Miss Heigla, last time... Huh!"

The young man was forced to recall what he most likely had done. She pursed her lips in embarrassment and lowered her voice to avoid getting into more trouble.

"...So...you want to go to the Adventurer's Guild to inquire about me?"

"No! I just wanted to inquire about adventurers-related matters recently...I accidentally saw Miss Hegra's name when I was getting information...so I asked by the way... I'm just asking, no intention of anything else! It's... really!"

The young man lowered his voice in response, speaking with surprise, while his hands were circling around his chest crazily.

"Tsk... I'll forgive you for following me today, but please don't do it again in the future."

The girl smacked her lips, turned her face to look at him with a very contemptuous look, and reprimanded in a low voice.

"I will never do that kind of thing! Stalking or anything like that!"

"...Chasing someone behind your back who doesn't know you at all and constantly asking for information is not stalking? How many more negative impressions do you want to give me? Ah."

"...Ah...it turned out to be like this...I'm sorry..."

The young man dug at Sosou with his hands, his head becoming more and more weak in confusion as he apologized.

"Alas..."

Seeing that the young man was so at a loss, the girl let out a long sigh. After lifting him up with one arm, she retreated to a respectful distance.

"Linta Hegra. I just went too far and made a harmful and offensive behavior. Please forgive me!"

She bowed her waist at an almost vertical angle, crossed her arms downward and left and right, and kept her hair hanging on the edge of the collar. The temples fall naturally. In the young man's perception, this is a high-level etiquette that is only used when receiving wealthy people, elders, or nobles. For a moment, he didn't know what to do.

"It was my fault first, Hai... Miss Haigra, please don't do this..."

After a brief moment of confusion, the black-haired young man cautiously took a few steps forward, almost wanting to help him, his expression full of guilt and embarrassment.

"If you have any questions about adventurers, you can ask me directly, but first, please don't mention that incident in the alley at noon." "That's really wrong..."

"Just answer 'understood' Okay."

After raising her hand to interrupt the young man's introspection regardless of the situation, the girl with long reddish-brown hair stood up and shook her head, stretched out her wrinkled skirt, and looked at him quickly with her eyes, but she had no choice but to grow again. One breath.

Sooner or later, she would have to face up to this bad fate. With a mentality of breaking things, she quickly organized her words so that her situation would not be too embarrassing.

"Well, now that I'm free, if it's not too much trouble, just wait there for a few minutes while I pick up the things I just bought... and then tell you what I learned recently... about Ian."

" ...Really...Really?! How could you not want to!"

The excitement and joy instantly wiped away the melancholy on the young man's face, and he even stood on tiptoe slightly, his light gray eyes sparkling.

"I'm so mean to lie to people about this kind of thing..."

The girl who had already walked a long distance with a straight face while talking and laughing suddenly stopped, crossed her legs, and the long ponytail behind her followed her upper body. The rotation draws a graceful arc in the air, and there is a lovely doubt on the sideways face.

"I haven't asked yet...how to call it?"

"Ah! I am Quahid, the master called me... no, just call me Quil!"

"So...Mr. Ian is in seclusion for research and has not gone out for nearly a month?"

"That's basically it. He entrusted me to buy these in the basket."

The girl took out a pearl of color and quality from the bamboo basket at hand. After wiping the red apple with his own shirt, he stretched out his arm and handed it to the young man sitting beside him.

"Would you like to try one?"

The young man was stunned for a moment, then tentatively stretched out his hand, quickly retracted it into his cuff, and grasped the palm of his hand. Then he carefully avoided the girl's fingers, took the apple, turned his head and took a bite.

"Thank you... thank you..."

"This variety has a stronger fragrance, right? The sweetness is not greasy, so it should be suitable to be added to light dishes..." The girl slowly leaned back, muttering something unclear in her mouth, and bent Standing with his arms folded on the huge rock platform beneath him, he looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery reflected in the orange setting sun.

"Thank you for finding such a pleasant place. It's obviously not many steps away from the market, but I haven't been able to find it."

Looking at the looming towers on the edge of the ruins in the distance, the slight smoke rising from the town's central business district, and the lush surroundings A variety of flowers and plants, the corners of her mouth curled into a slight arc from the heart.

"Um...how long has Miss Hegra been here..."

"I...have been here for a few months, but this has long been my hometown...Why do you insist that I am not a local?"

The girl instantly darkened her face, frowning with extreme vigilance, staring at the young man sitting on the same stone.

"Hai...Ms. Hegra's accent is very special. There is no one else I have ever met who has a similar accent."

Quil hurriedly explained with a chill on his neck.

"Oh? You know something about this." The girl secretly rejoiced and straightened her back while holding on to the stone. "Quixi...de...your accent sounds more like someone from the north."

"...No...that's right! I'm here to study. This is my second year." The young man scratched his face, but his gaze remained the same. Pretending to be wandering among the scenery, there was an extra layer of respect in his confused tone.

"This town is actually quite remote. What can we learn?"

She lowered her waist and adjusted her sitting posture, put her arms on her thighs, tilted her head and raised her cheeks, as if she were listening.

"This place is close to the ruins, so it is easy to find common materials with high magic affinity for practice. If there are any new discoveries in the ruins, you can also know the news as soon as possible..." "That's right! I forgot that you are a name. Blacksmith."

There was a hanging curtain as conspicuous as a metallurgical practitioner's badge hanging from Quill's ear, and the strap slung across his body was still full of various tools even when he was following him out. It's shameful to say that she only realized this just now.

"The stones and minerals here are indeed not very good, but the new things...the ruins have been explored for a long time, and they were announced by the National Investigation Agency several years ago." "Even so...but it is history after all. The ruins of the Magic City, which has a long history and is also the birthplace of many legends! Even if the hope is slim, I still believe that there will be secrets that even the elite investigation team cannot discover... probably!" Quill clenched his fists slightly, and he also knew the specific details.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but my eyes were inexplicably sharp.

The answer was surprisingly similar to her former self, and the red-haired girl smiled knowingly.

"Why do you think so?"

"Because Mr. Ian still insisted on exploring the ruins alone before. If it is Mr. Ian, he must have discovered something, right?" "As for that guy... maybe."

The girl. She raised her head slightly, and her affectionate smile revealed that she seemed to know a lot about the Ian the young man said.

"That...so...Hai...Ms. Hegla, what is your...relationship with Mr. Ian..." The young man tried to ask hesitantly with intermittent breathing.

"As a courtesy, just call me Linta. I and Ian... let me think about... our relationship... well... to a certain extent, he can barely be regarded as my mentor... or something like that?" "Mentor?"

" !"

He shouted with his mouth wide open, and the palms on his sides were shaking.

"No need to make such a fuss, you still have a problem with me..."

Linta, who was also dubious about her own words, hurriedly pretended to be annoyed and threw the words away.

"Miss Linta, yes, it's the Magic Swordsman...and it's Mr. Ian's...haha!"

Before he could finish speaking, Quil laughed happily, tapping his toes on the ground, and his arms were nowhere to be found. Place. You can be sure that he didn't hear you at all.

"Has anyone else warned you? It's really scary for you to be like this."

"...I'm sorry..."

Realizing his gaffe, he lowered his head and was so ashamed that he couldn't move for a moment.

"I was taught by him. What do you think is so exciting about this?"

Perhaps with some inexplicable dissatisfaction at being compared, Linta held the side of her hair with one hand and asked with narrowed eyes.

"...Because...the magic swordsman itself...is very..."

"Aren't they just swordsmen who can attach magic to their weapons? It's no big deal, right?"

She subconsciously touched her waist where the sword usually was, and then realized The convergence comes back.

"Being able to master both magic and swordsmanship at the same time is enough to put many adventurers out of reach, not to mention the exquisite coordination... So Miss Linta, you are most likely already one of the many magicians and swordsmen in the guild. I am an idol, really awesome!"

The black-haired young man shook his fists and cast envious eyes.

"Sure enough, you shouldn't put magic power on the weapon during the entry test..."

Linta put a hand on her forehead and whispered to herself in a completely different tone.

"What?"

"Nothing, please continue!"

She raised her head and smiled, pretending that nothing happened.

"...continue...that...Ms. Linta, please...can you tell me, Mr. Ian...taught...what...?"

"Ask this?...Most of it, basically from him. I learned it there."

"Magic and swordsmanship...both?"

"You should understand it that way."

"Then...Mr. Ian, he really...hahaha!"

"Quoyle?" " Sorry."

After calling him out in time, Quill took the initiative to adjust his posture and sit more steadily.

"It seems that you who care so much about that guy are not familiar with him at all."

"Yes! It's just that Mr. Ian may not know me."

"I really don't know you."

Only with these words, Lin Ta's reply was extremely quick and confident.

"...Mr. Ian...really don't know him...have you ever mentioned me even once?"

The black-haired young man's confidence in his existence was suddenly shattered, and he tried with a guilty conscience.

"You should have only met in the library, right? Besides, you never took the initiative to talk to him even once..." "Why would Miss Linta know this?"

Quill's eyes widened, observing his exaggerated trembling. With the corners of his mouth and fingers clasped together, one can easily conclude that he was nervous.

"Hmm...a girl's intuition...what?"

After answering with difficulty, Linta forced out an awkward yet sweet smile.

"That's right..."

The symptoms subsided significantly. He took a long breath, scratched his face, and looked back with admiration, as if he really believed it.

"I also want to get to know Mr. Ian, but with my status... I am really embarrassed to communicate with Mr. Ian..."

"That guy is not a big shot, so there is no need to deliberately avoid it. In my opinion, he is quite Empathetic."

Quill did not reply, but tilted his head again as before, but the difference was that this time it was obviously mixed with more unstable emotions besides nervousness. His hands kept rubbing each other, and his cheeks were visibly turning red.

This series of strange actions finally