Free Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2 by Fujino Omori Page A

slice. And it has no special attributes to it at all. And…I don’t know how to put it, but…this blade feels…dead.”
    Placing the weapon back on the counter, the old gnome scratched his white beard for a moment before saying, “This is trash, nothing more. This is unusual for you, my friend. Bringin’ somethin’ like this to me.”
    “W-wait a minute! That can’t be right…!”
    “Even so, I can’t show this to my regulars…If you still want to sell it, it’d make a fine decoration. How’s thirty vals sound?”
    “I…I’ll be back!”
    “O-ho! I’m lookin’ forward to it…But these markin’s look like earthworm trails, this geezer thinks he’s seen them somewhere before…”
    With shaking shoulders, the thief took the blade downstairs. The door slammed closed in the thief’s wake.
    Thump, thump, th-thump.
The thief’s footsteps reentered the back alleyway, a bit more roughly than when they had come in.
    Thirty vals? The same price as a potato snack from that street stand?
    That idiot! This is a weapon that easily sliced through the carapace of monsters like it was tissue paper! It should be worth enough to build three palaces and still have change left over!
    Had the old gnome gone mad? Then again, just yesterday he gave a very satisfying appraisal. Did his head go bad overnight?
    His appraising eyes never failed. The fools at the Guild didn’t even come close.
    There was no one better than him in this city.
    So why…?
    The thief looked down at the knife.
    Not a single glint of light came from the weapon. The blade had a series of complicated characters carved into it. Pitch black from tipto tip; it was hard to tell how long the blade was in the dark alley. It was the same color as shade.
    For this blade to be such a rotten shade of black—something didn’t feel right.
    Earlier it had carved arcs in the air and glowed a darkly purple glow…
    If only it had the “Ἥφαιστος” signature…The sheath, I need the sheath…
    If there was undeniable proof of its value, then even if it were trash, the blade could be sold at a very high price.
    The sheath. This blade was worthless without it. All these thoughts came together in the thief’s mind while looking at the black piece of junk.
    The only option now was to change the plan: take a major risk and make contact once more…
    “I apologize, Syr. I never meant for you to carry the groceries.”
    “I really don’t mind, but…Lyu, do you always come through here?”
    “Indeed. I have found that I can reduce time in transit by learning the layout of these backstreets. They are not as inconvenient as you are thinking, Syr.”
    “That’s not exactly what I was worried about…”
    The two of them were coming from the front, an elf and a human. Both of them were holding large paper bags. The bags were so full that apples and a variety of other fruits and vegetables were in danger of falling out.
    The thief looked away and hid the knife in a sleeve.
    Can’t believe anyone would cut through an alley this deep. Just act natural and walk past them…
    “—Stop right there, prum!”
    A voice with overwhelming presence lashed out from behind.
    The thief came to a sudden stop. Cold sweat ran all the way down the thief’s back.
    Why did she call out?
Something unbelievable occurred to the thief.
    “That knife hidden in your sleeve—I would like to take a closer look at it.”
    Inwardly, the thief made a great tongue-cluck of irritation.
    “Lyu…? Um, Lyu?”
    “…Why do you ask?”
    “Because it bears a strong resemblance to a possession of someone I know. I would like to confirm that it is a different weapon.”
    Just how damn good is your eyesight, anyway?
The thief wanted to curse at the elf.
    The elf could see a pitch-black blade in this darkness? Even prums with their tremendous eyesight would have difficulty doing that.
    “I’m sorry to inform you that this is mine. You are mistaken.”
    Flight without leaving any time to