Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 75

Camping Out

“So basically, I need to bring a Spirit Fragment if I want to proceed with the process I’m aiming for, right?”

[That’s correct for now. You’ll need to hear the details in person later, but it sounds like you want more than just one or two functions for your equipment…]

“Got it. I’ll try to get my hands on one somehow.”

After saying that to Ganesha on the other end of the communication, I let out a sigh and stood up.

I was far outside the capital now, deep in a mountainous region. The kind of remote area only the bravest adventurers, who enjoyed exploring all corners of the Empire, would ever bother visiting.

I had explored the Forest of Ghosts with Noel not too long ago, but—

‘If it’s a spirit, then...’

They were energy-based lifeforms that lived in the wild. They weren’t exactly affiliated with any gods or used divine abilities in the traditional sense, but it was more accurate to say that they were born from the remnants—leftovers—of such powers.

And while they didn’t serve any god, their ‘cores’ were prized materials for finishing weapons, capable of becoming extremely flexible and adaptive when properly refined.

The problem was, it wasn’t easy to find where they gathered. And even if you did, many of them turned out to be stronger than expected, making subjugating them quite the challenge.

Normally, I’d need to hire an expert to spend days combing the area just to locate a single cluster, but I had a cheat code: the original story knowledge that let me find where these things were hidden like reading from a manual.

If I couldn’t get results overnight, I should be ashamed of myself.

‘…Found it.’

I thought to myself as I put the telescope away.

In the distance, I saw a gathering of spirits that looked almost like wild animals. That meant I had already cleared the first obstacle.

As for the second obstacle—“they’re harder to capture than expected”—

‘…This really might be harder than I thought.’

The fact that their spiritual energy was visible from this distance meant that their spirit bodies were far stronger than I had anticipated.

This might end up being tougher than the combat difficulty I’d planned for.

‘Still, I can’t back down now.’

This wasn’t just any task—this could be a crucial piece in pushing forward with Chapter 3.

I had carved out time more precious than gold and dragged along those two busy people just to take this place down. I had to make it worth it.

The issue was, the level of difficulty I needed to overcome looked way higher than I’d imagined.

‘First, the entrance—’

Whether it was due to the influence of the spirit bodies or not, the density of spiritual energy covering the area was far from ordinary.

From regular spirits to specialized ones that would trouble even the knights, my telescope caught all sorts of monstrous figures crowding the area, enough to give anyone a headache.

There was no way I could break through this alone. Still, if I used Noel and Katya well, we might just barely manage to push through the dense concentration of spirits.

Though even that wasn’t the main issue.

‘Two of them…’

Among all the entities I observed through the binoculars, two stood out with particularly powerful energy.

They were likely the leaders of the spirits. If we could take those down, getting the Spirit Fragments Ganesha asked for wouldn’t be too difficult.

‘Normally, just taking one back would be more than enough—’

But the equipment I was making now was so complex that even Ganesha had balked at the idea, saying she’d never seen a project like this before. No one really knew how many materials would be required.

I’d carved out precious time to come all the way out here. Leaving with only one would feel like a waste. If possible, it was best to bring back both.

Still, how could I take down two powerful spirits like that and haul them back with us…

“……”

As I sat quietly, deep in thought, an idea flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning.

It might just work.

A method to make this too easy.

The downside?

‘Noel’s going to think I’m crazy again.’

…That, unfortunately, seemed inevitable once more.

▣

“……”

“……”

With a crackling campfire between them, Noel and Katya sat silently, eyes fixed on the ground.

‘Everything really does happen in a flash… like roasting beans on a lightning bolt.’

That thought passed through Noel’s mind as she let out a long sigh.

It hadn’t even been long since they returned from the Otherworld with a batch of ectoplasm.

And then, earlier that very morning, I’d dragged them out again, claiming we needed to gather something else.

Something else—yet again—had led us all the way out here.

“Tents, sleeping bags, preserved combat rations… Wow, this really brings back memories.”

“Did you have much opportunity to use things like this, Aiden?”

“If stuff like this turned up as junk in the slums, I used it all the time. It was the best.”

“……”

It was always hard to know how to respond when he suddenly dropped something so somber from his past like that.

‘What kind of life did he even live before this?’

He was suspiciously full of hidden skills.

Weren’t things like this usually taught in the military?

‘…Come to think of it.’

Now that she thought about it, the first reason she ever approached him was because she was curious about what kind of person he was.

At some point, though, it stopped being about that. The more time she spent around him, the more she realized he was genuinely a good person. That’s why she ended up sticking close.

While Noel quietly reflected on that—

‘I wonder what’s going on between those two.’

Katya, for her part, had been watching Noel poke the campfire with a stick, and a thought crossed her mind.

At the very least, it was clear the two of them were close. Anyone with half a brain could tell they instinctively relied on each other in emergencies.

In that case—

Why, then...

Why had he said those things to her—about being friends or whatever—like it was nothing?

While Katya brooded over that depressing thought, something at the edge of her vision caught her attention—Noel, gripping her sword tightly.

“...!”

Katya’s eyes sharpened in response. If Noel was reacting like that, there had to be a legitimate threat nearby—

“……”

And the moment Katya saw what Noel was aiming at, her expression turned blank.

“…Why are you aiming at a bug?”

Noel looked down at the ground, her face full of disbelief.

There was something writhing over there, about the size of a human forearm.

“…You’re calling that a bug?”

“This is a spirit-dense area. If they get influenced by that energy, they can grow that big. First time seeing one?”

“……”

To be fair, she had seen her fair share of bugs while camping on battlefields, but if it got this big, wasn’t it closer to a beast in the shape of a bug than an actual insect?

What even was this nightmare zone where spirits appeared? Not even in the warzones had she seen something so monstrously sized.

As that thought flashed through Noel’s mind, Katya casually walked over and picked it up.

A beetle. One of the really large ones.

“Oh wow, it’s been a while.”

“…A while?”

“There used to be a bunch of these near the Imperial Palace. I used to play with them like this.”

Katya smiled brightly as she expertly handled the insect.

The beetle wriggled its way up from her hand to her arm.

“……”

Noel stumbled backward in a daze at the sight.

The thing even crawled up toward Katya’s face, its legs twitching wildly, but Katya just giggled like it tickled.

After playing with it for a while, Katya finally released the bug and waved her hand at it in amusement.

“Live a long and healthy life—…Lionhearted? What’s with that posture?”

Katya turned to see Noel crouched down at a distance, looking like her entire world had just collapsed.

She was clutching her head and trembling, as if she’d just seen a ghost.

“Don’t come near me, you monster…!”

“……”

This was the same woman who could draw on divine power without flinching, who had once tried to kill Katya in earnest without blinking, who could slice down a person without so much as a twitch of her expression when the opportunity arose and this was what reduced her to a mess?

‘So this woman… is afraid of bugs?’

She mulled over that thought while plopping herself back down in front of the campfire.

Still, it was a rare sight.

The Lionhearted, looking like this?

She always gave off the vibe that even if a vengeful ghost suddenly appeared, she'd calmly slice its head off with her own hands—completely fearless.

“…Hmph.”

Katya snorted at the sight.

Truth be told, she had felt a bit of jealousy toward this woman for a while now.

Starting with how oddly soft Aiden was with her—as if he owed her something he could never repay.

And yet, Katya herself just came off like a bothersome little kid constantly causing trouble.

Didn’t that mean… she was entitled to a little payback?

“Hm.”

“…Your Highness?”

“……”

“Your Highness? What are you—”

Noel’s face darkened the moment she saw Katya grab two bugs crawling on the ground.

Now she had a massive pair of grasshoppers, each big enough to fill the palm of her hand and with them perched on either hand, she looked like some demon straight out of the underworld.

“Here, here! Up close, they’re kinda cute, right?”

“Y-Your Highness, p-please don’t come any closer.”

“Don’t be like that, hmm? Want to try holding one? I’ll show you how to handle them—”

“E-Eeeek—!”

Noel practically spasmed as her hand went for her sword hilt.

Thankfully, it didn’t escalate to the point where she actually drew divine power and started swinging her blade at the bugs.

Because just then, Aiden returned to the campsite and smacked Katya lightly on the head.

“…Why are you tormenting Dame Noel, Your Highness?”

“…There you go taking her side again.”

“Shall I just say you’re both on my side, then?”

Aiden sighed and pointed toward the distance with his finger.

The campsite was set up in a fairly elevated area, which meant they had a decent vantage point to observe the region he’d just scouted.

“Tomorrow, we’re taking down both spirit clusters. Starting with that one.”

He pointed to a lava zone glowing red, clearly visible even from here.

The leader of that area was a fire giant that looked incredibly dangerous, even from a glance.

“…That looks like a very powerful spirit. Shouldn’t we call for reinforcements?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

Aiden wiped a hand down his face and glanced over at Katya.

…From the look on his face, even he felt a deep sense of shame having to say what he was about to say.

“…So, uh, Your Highness Katya.”

“Hmm?”

“Would you be okay with… dying? Just a little?”

“……”

The question itself was insane.

Noel could only stare at Aiden, dumbfounded, as that thought passed through her mind.

“Of course I’m fine! I could die even more!”

…And the reply was somehow even more outrageous.