Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

Chapter 354 Clock, Key, And The Paper In The Box

Well, we moved inside after finishing our small snack.

It was good. Definitely a semi-top-tier thing.

Anyway, we were now on the ground floor's great dance hall and were standing before the largest hall clock.

It was a clock situated on the upper balcony's back side.

It was a good place and the clock was almost twice as big as both of us.

It was an antique Mana key clock, something of old times that only operated when one put Mana inside it with the help of a special key.

One had to give this clock key every month and sacrifice almost fifty MP worth of Mana for this clock to work properly.

And it didn't support a Mana stone or crystal. One had to personally reel this key while willingly letting their Mana flow out of them.

I know in this house, his grandma and his second uncle Theo were the only two people who loved this clock dearly. Maybe master Zhen too but he liked it more because the two of them cherished it so much.

There was an unknown story about this clock but we didn't know about it.

Well, that wasn't important right now.

We were finding the gift and there was nothing around here.

"Where's the gift?"

The question marks on my head were white meaning I was utterly confused right now.

He had confidently walked in and directly stood before this clock so the gift should have been here, right?

There was no way he was just bluffing previously and is now embarrassed for being wrong.

There was still a confident look in those blazing eyes as he looked at the clock.

I could tell from this look that he was confident but was thinking about something else.

Maybe the reason why this clock was so special to those people?

We can just know the reason if we ask but there was definitely a reason they hadn't told us that thing just yet.

Just why no one but those two had such great affection towards this clock? Anyway...

He shook off his deep thoughts after a moment and took a deep breath.

Then, he looked at me with a calm smile and nodded, as if telling me to just wait for a bit and watch him.

And I just nodded in response, not that I could do much else anyway.

He nodded back and took out a peculiar white ket from his storage space. A pure white normal-looking key.

A normal key that was definitely not the key for the lock of this clock.

There was a cupboard-like place inside this clock so there was a special key to open this wooden clock and there was a separate key for this place.

The key in his hand was definitely not the key for this thing and we can say it just from the fact that the keyhole to this shelf was triangular, a special shape.

On the other hand, this normal key was just like a normal key to any normal lock.

There was nothing special to this key aside from its pure white body but, well, when he inserted this key in the triangular lock, the rectangle key easily went in like it was a perfect match and he just twisted the key to open the lock.

It was strange how the key went in…

A solid-looking key that had a normal key-like shape just went inside a weird triangular lock!

And even though I doubted that this old lock would open with some different key, when I heard a familiar sound, my eyes widened and I looked at him and the white key with surprised eyes.

-Click.

"The keys to things like this one are mostly with grandpa Zhen but he is busy playing with Anna and Zoe back there so I shouldn't disturb him for something like this."

He just smiled and opened the door while the strange white key stayed inside that lock.

There was a normal wooden box and a clue letter inside the empty area but that wasn't important right now.

'Is this white key... some kind of master key artifact?'

I was genuinely interested in this key rather than the normal box so I looked at the key and used my eyes… which I definitely should not have done without asking him first…

'Eyes of truth.'

============

[Error!] [Error!]

[Information about the targeted object is too complex to decipher.]

[The answer to the asked questions are only vaguely understood.]

[*Master key*]

~~~> A special artifact that can open any lock wished by the user.

~~~> The specific functions are only usable by the chosen being.

~~~> The item contains a high Ego so the requirements to be the chosen one are unrealistic from the general point of view.

~~~> Sorry master! I'm too weak!

============

'You.. aren't the only weak one, dummy.'

As soon as I read that information on this strange red screen, a stinging pain covered my head as if a volcano had erupted.

"You dum dum... it's amazing you are standing even after seeing the information of a divine artifact with a high Ego.

I literally fainted and woke up half a day after that incident.

Come here..."

I grabbed my spinning head and was almost on the verge of falling down when he grabbed me by the waist.

"A d-divine arti... fact?"

My head was spinning as if the world was spinning to torture me.

It felt like I could feel the speed at which the planet spins.

It was... bad and definitely absurd.

Having a side effect this absurd just by looking at the information of a divine artifact?

I know it's my first time and all but what the hell was this?!

First, my skill acted weirdly, that red screen, and now this shitty headache is worse than being under the effect of a high-grade mental skill.

In the first place... the white key? A divine artifact? This thing...?

And what's a high Ego? Something even more fucked up than the narcissistic Egos?

But don't the things with a will of their own come after the Ego and are the only thing better than an Ego?

What the hell is a high Ego then?!

"Ummm..."

"Don't think deeply about useless things and try focusing on your breathing.

Control your breathing. You are doing fine with your energy circulation so just take a deep breath, open your mouth and drink this."

My vision was the only properly working thing right now so I could see the golden liquid in a small glass bottle.

It... looked beautiful?

And he just held me by my waist, my head on his shoulder, and dropped a small drop of that golden liquid in my mouth.

"It's a divine artifact that can unlock any door or lock. It's a special gift from my master.

It has a special kind of Ego despite it being a simple key so I know you know it can do more than just unlock some doors.

It's not something normal and maybe some of the craziest things so don't think too much about it."

I don't know what that golden liquid was but as soon as I drank it, which was just a single drop, the unbearable pain in my mind disappeared in an instant.

It was so sudden I felt like the pain from just a moment ago was an illusion.

"Mmm…"

I was fine now and... I was still in his arms?

"Y-you can relieve me now, you know."

It was strange every time something like this happens.

The headache aside, now I'm all hot and my heart is... well, you know. Those weird symptoms.

He released me instantly... I wasn't the only one with these symptoms after all.

He was hiding it but he was also somewhat red after doing something unexpected like that out of the blue.

'That was really close too.'

Not only my head was on his shoulder, my face too close to his, and we were alone in this place for some reason.

There should be some minds or butlers or even some servants around here at this time but there was no one in this entire area?

Were everyone around the kitchen, waiting for him and his cooking?

'Well, damn, fuck, whatever…'

If not for him, I wouldn't mind doing things that aren't allowed but… he had those absurd restrictions... I don't even wanna talk about those things.

We both were almost the same height even though there was almost a one hundred and eleven-year difference in the technical age.

But... well, let's not think about this shit.

He was already over this disaster at the time I was in this weird train of thought and put back the key in his storage space.

He had found the gift, which was this wooden box or the thing inside it, and a letter with the next clue was with it so maybe we can find this one before going back too.

So for now...

"Ahem. Let's see what this is..."

I took the initiative to refresh the atmosphere this time and also sighed deeply.

It was small but he was definitely blushing. His rare cute blushing... adorable~.

"Yes. Let's see..."

He was calm now and nodded at me. I nodded back and he put the wooden box on an empty table beside the clock.

It was good that the so-called 'red' atmosphere vanished quickly this time and we can get back to the main thing.

It was a normal wooden box. A gift from one of the top lawyers in the greatest empire.

Someone who specialized in all manner of legal things and someone who had won countless high-profile cases without any expanded court sessions.

People called him (God's second attorney).

A strange but grand title that compared him, a mere human, to the gods, some of the highest being's attorneys.

He was a viscount but the title itself was of no value before his name and achievements in this empire as well as the whole of a continent.

'And in a time, place, and society like this one, legal practitioners like him are more honored than just the normal noble titles.'

He turned the whole structure of the nobility when he got his legal license back in time and even I know just how much turmoil the whole empire was in at that time.

The title he inherited was from his late father, lord of the Bell family, one of the three vessel families of the house of Heliox, and was of no grand value back then.

His father died an honorable death on the battlefield and his mother... well, she had passed away when he was born so no one talks about her much.

She was a good lady from what I heard from my grandpa and grandma, and according to them, the unparalleled talent for magic that little Alf has, definitely came from her.

They didn't talk about her much for some reason and the sad look in the two of them as well as his grandparent's eyes when talking about her is something... I can feel it but couldn't exactly say what it is.

Anyway, this gift... what treasure could there be in this normal-looking box?

He opened the box and a strange orange or saffron-colored paper entered my eyes.

There was something written on the paper but even before I could have a proper look at the strange paper...

-Takk.

He slammed down the box cover as soon as it opened.

"Eon? What-"

"Shhh..."

He didn't even look at me and just made a sound to quiet me down.

His eyes were wide open at this moment and for the first time in the entire day we were together, I saw the drops of cold sweat on his neck, slowly sliding down his perfect neck.

I just knew at this moment…

'This is serious...'

I had hardly seen him with a cold sweat like this one in all the time we had been together.

And this reaction was just from seeing some weird piece of paper...

'What the hell is that thing?'

I was confused but didn't say anything.

The tension was visible on his face right now, and he wasn't even smiling so this was weirder than ever.

...

After a while of thinking, he once again opened the box and closed it even more quickly than before so I didn't even have the chance to have a glimpse of this thing.

He had a gifted mind so he could remember everything and his eyes were good enough to read things at that speed.

Whatever the paper inside the box was, it was something he had never dreamed of seeing as a 'gift'.

It was a new kind of reaction for me but he was having a serious mental conversation now.

It was strange but, there was nothing for me to worry about right now.

This was a gift from his uncle, there was no way it would be something dangerous.

Whatever it was, it must be just too good to have as a gift even from his perspective.

And he just shook his head after a while, took a deep breath, and stored away the box.

"It's something amazing, as well as something too absurd to have. And it's even more absurd to give it to your twelve-year-old nephew as a birthday present.

What's more... it's too good to refuse.

Something actually good to have."

"But what the hell is that thing?"

Now he was smiling with his warm smile that was glad to receive something so precious and invaluable.

What the hell even was that thing for him to be so shocked and excited about?

I thought he would tell me at least what it was but, this basted just shook his head while still continuing his sexy smile.

"You will know when the time comes. It's not something that important anyway.

It will come in handy only in a certain specific scenario.

And I will try my best we don't fall into that scenario."

He smiled and patted my head with his warm hands and... why did he pet my poor head out of nowhere like that?!

And the bastard just smiled without saying anything.

And after that, he just opened the letter which was as long as his first uncle's, and from the flowery scent, it was clear that it was from Haze. This bastard grabbed my hand and locked his fingers with mine out of the blue too.

'The hell?'

I looked at him with a shocked expression and saw his new smile that appeared as he started reading her letter.

I'm surprised every time I see this but... how is he so good at changing his mood, expression, and the whole air around him so quickly?

He was better at this thing than the form-changing chameleon I had defeated in the past.

He was quite amazing in some things but still mysterious in a few.

Anyway... his warm hand was one with mine and we had to quickly get this one.

It will soon be afternoon after our long thinking and chaotic atmosphere, but we can go to the kitchen after finding this one.

Or maybe Haze also just gave the location of the gift like master El. It would be good if she did.

Anyway... the letter was genuinely long, flowery, cheerful, and fresh. Just like her.

But the end of this letter, the only thing that caught my attention in the whole of the long letter, made this darling friend of mine... a little too excited.