My 【Repair】Skill Became an Almighty Cheat Skill, So I Thought I’d Open Up a Weapon Shop

We got to the room where Noire was resting in. Felix helped Noire sit up on the bed, then grabbed a chair and sat down across from her.

I came here because I was a related party, but to avoid scaring Noire who was mentally unstable at the moment, I sat in the corner of the room and watched from there instead.

Sakura joined in, since Felix thought it’d be better if another woman was present during the talk.

「My name is Felix, I’m from the Silver Wing chivalric order. We have been tasked by His Majesty the king to investigate the reason for hero Falcon’s disappearance. Will you please tell me what happened?」

「……」

Noire looked down and refused to say anything.

「Please be reassured that if what you tell us leads to the truth, no punishment will be served to you no matter what happened. His Majesty feels the same way.」

It seems like Felix thought Noire wasn’t saying anything because something happened that she couldn’t tell others about.

However, Noire continued to look down. She has stayed like that since we came here.

I wonder if she was thinking,『That’s not true,』to what Felix was imagining.

If that’s the case, why wouldn’t she talk about it?

Noire, as if she sensed my irritation and Felix’s confusion, muttered something with a voice that sounded like it would vanish any moment now.

「…I want you… to look at my back…」

「Your back? Based on what we’ve observed when we carried you here, there seemed to be nothing unusual about it.」

「I understand, whatever it is must be directly on your skin. Sakura, I’m sorry, but can you take off Noire’s clothes and check her back for us?」

I had an idea as to what might’ve happened.

When I found Noire under the cliff, it sounded like she tried to tell me something important, but before she could finish, she was overcome by sudden convulsions and lost consciousness.

The reason that happened might be because of whatever was on her back.

「Understood. Please excuse me.」

Felix closed his eyes tightly while I locked my focus on a corner in the room. Sakura did as she was asked, taking off Noire’s outfit and checked her back.

「This…! Luke-dono, Felix-dono, please look at this!」

We could tell from Sakura’s flustered tone that something was wrong.

Felix and I both looked back at Noire, and we were both at a loss for words.

There was a strange pattern sprawled on Noire’s back.

It looked like a crest of some sort was branded onto her.

「Could this be… the demon race’s curse seal?」

Felix muttered as he looked with disbelief.

「This is the first time seeing one, but I’ve read about them in books. This is a magic seal that demons use to make others their slave.」

「…I see. I’ve heard rumors about that before.」

「Based on the pattern, it likely… prohibits her from releasing specific information. In other words, it silences her.」

That was most likely the answer.

Somewhere deep in the dungeon, in the process of subjugating the demon king, Noire got a curse seal etched into her by demons, and as a result she could not talk about the things she discovered down there.

It’s possible that the seal prevented her from writing it down as well. Otherwise, she would’ve tried doing so already.

「…Luke-dono, I have a rather impolite request. Would you please try using your 【Repair】skill to remove the curse?」

Felix asked me while observing my reaction.

「I understand that you might not be able to forgive her for what she did to you. However, we must get the information she holds as soon as possible. Of course, I’ll be happy to compensate you.」

「How about we call a professional curse remover?」

I kept a straight face, trying to hide how I really felt, and asked him back calmly.

「It’ll take some time before we can get a curse remover here. In the worst case scenario, if there turns out the hero’s status is linked to a complicated problem, then it’s possible the situation will only get worse in the days we wait for a remover to come.」

It’s likely that Noire fell from the giant hole that the dragons probably came out from.

There’s one thing we learned as to why a member of the hero’s party, who went to slay the demon king in its dungeon, would return to the surface from that giant hole.

Not only does 『Sundial Forest』contain the hidden staircase route that leads to 『Hade’s Millenium Corridor』, but now the giant hole was potentially another shortcut to it.

「…Noire, I still haven’t told you this, but my【Repair】skill evolved while I was stuck in the labyrinth. I can disassemble things and repair living creatures too.」

I stood up from my chair and walked over to the bed slowly.

「Do you understand what I’m trying to say? I might be able to repair your back, but it’s also possible I’ll destroy your body too. The skill might destroy the skin on your back together with the curse seal.」

Noire’s naked back faced me, and I could see her bare shoulders shake.

She wasn’t shaking from the cold, but from the fear. When I listened more closely, I could hear her teeth chattering too.

She was aware that she had to accept whatever I decide to do for revenge, no matter how terrible it might be. She was afraid of what awaited her for what they had done.

Her fingers dug so deep into her arms that were holding her big chest, leaving marks on them.

Her breathing became more irregular, and I could see that she was having trouble keeping calm.

「Do you know how I feel as I look at you, being one of the perpetrators that left me behind in a labyrinth without any food? Do you know what I want to do to the four of you for what you did to me? Did you apologize to me like that earlier because you knew what was going to happen?」

「Luke-dono…!」

Sakura stood up, like she wanted to say something. I gestured her to stop.

「Anyway… you better prepare yourself.」

I placed my hands on Noire’s shivering back and focused my mana on it.

In that moment,

「Wha–?!」

「Aghhh!!!」

Noire screamed in anguish.

At the same time, a part of the seal came off of Noire’s back. It wrapped around my right arm like carnivorous ivy.

I felt a sharp pain in my right arm, and the power of【Repair】suddenly weakened.

「This thing… it’s alive! The seal wasn’t branded on! It pretended to be burn marks, but it’s actually attached onto her back!」

Mimic — Any adventurer would at least know of that name.

It’s a type of monster that camouflages itself in a treasure chest or on the inner walls of the labyrinth.

I’ve never seen a mimic with a shape like this, but its tentacle shape was similar to the ones that hide in treasure chests.

「It’s absorbing my mana…! I’m not letting you do that!」

I grabbed my right arm with my left hand, and activated【Repair】on it. I tried using【Disassemble】with both hands at the same time.

My right hand was on Noire’s back, while my left hand was on my right arm.

I used all that I have to activate【Repair】against two spots at the same time.

I could hear voices around us, but it was like the words weren’t going through my ears.

(If the mimic is camouflaging as a curse seal, then that means the effects of the curse and the mimic itself make up the seal… Whoever made this is a crafty person!)

The curse sealed Noire’s speech while the mimic sealed her mana.

Those two would effectively turn a magician like Noire completely powerless.

In hindsight, it was the correct choice not to call for a curse remover.

They wouldn’t be able to protect themselves from the mimic.

「Uohhh!!」

The curse mimic began losing its powers and the rest of it began falling off Noire’s back.

Then, I focused as much mana as I could into my right hand.

「Take… this!」

「Pegeeee!!!」

The scream of something dying sounded through the room, and the curse mimic fell apart and scattered.

The only things left were Noire’s pale back with not a single scratch on it, and my right arm that had a feeler-shaped inflammation on it caused by the mimic.

「…Alright. This is a perfect finish, if I don’t say so myself.」

I then used【Repair】on my right arm while Sakura and Felix watched with relief.

I knew how to prioritize things due to my experience in the adventurer business for so long.

I didn’t want to lose the things important to me by being blinded by greed.

Right now, I have to prioritize getting information about the dangers that this town may face, rather than getting revenge on Noire for what the hero’s party did to me.

Helping Greenhollow Town, who accepted and took care of me, a complete stranger, was far more important.

Also, I didn’t want to do anything that I would be too ashamed to tell them about.

The same can’t be said if the one in front of me was the hero himself, but with Noire, who I held less resentment towards even before everything happened, there was more benefit in healing her properly so she could tell us what happened.

…But still, I think it was okay for me to threaten her a little.

It’s important for me to give up the lowest thing on the priority list, but it’s equally as important for me to sort out my feelings regarding it.

「Wake up, Noire. We’ll have you tell us everything that happened.」