Chapter 26: An Item That Can Rewrite Talents?

This beautiful girl with long brown hair… was actually a puppet doll.

And the emblem on her forehead was the very brand engraved by her creator. If Erin wasn’t mistaken, that inverted cross-shaped mark was the legendary signature of the top puppet master from centuries ago—Caroline!

She had once served as the Grand Marshal of the demon army in that era. With her mighty puppet army, she nearly swept through the human world.

Under her command were three puppets of the highest grade, each having defeated countless powerful human warriors.

And now, the crest on this girl’s forehead—it was the very same symbol from one of those three fearsome puppets!

A top-tier warrior-type puppet!

The craftsmanship was so exquisite that even Erin was in awe. If not for the “brand mark” on her forehead, even Erin herself—let alone the surrounding adventurers—wouldn’t have been able to tell her apart from a real human!

“…Um, excuse me, is there something unusual about me?”

The girl’s shy voice finally pulled Erin back to her senses.

Oh no—without realizing it, she’d leaned in too close, trying to get a better look! In those mismatched eyes—one red, one green—there was a faint hint of panic.

At such a close distance, Erin could even feel her breath… even the rise and fall of her chest was indistinguishable from a real person!

Oh no, and that soft blush on her face—it struck Erin right in her weakness.

Incredible. No wonder that former demon marshal was once called the one closest to a god! This was practically the same as creating life!

And puppets didn’t even age! Hundreds of years had passed, and she still looked exactly as she did in the ancient records.

Erin wanted her. Desperately. She had once offered a huge sum of money trying to purchase one of the marshal’s legendary creations, but most had been destroyed in the war. Human-shaped weapons of this quality were practically priceless.

They simply couldn’t be bought.

And now that she could move on her own—it meant someone was supplying her with magic power.

Realizing that, Erin lowered her head like a deflated rooster and let out a heavy sigh.

Clearly, this puppet already had an owner.

No, I still want to look a bit closer… just a little more…

Just as that thought popped into her head, Clariette cleared her throat and grabbed Erin by the shoulders, pulling her back.

“I apologize. My lady tends to lose herself whenever she sees a beautiful girl!”

After saying that, she gave the puppet girl a sincere bow. The latter waved it off, indicating she didn’t mind.

“I thought this lady had been to the city of Endymion…” the puppet girl murmured, a gloomy expression crossing her face. She let out a sigh.

“It seems no adventurers here have experience with that place either.”

“No, actually… I have been to Endymion City.”

Eileen’s voice rang out, causing the puppet girl—who had been preparing to leave—to stop in her tracks. She turned around, her hair swaying in a radiant arc, and in Eileen’s eyes, she still looked flawless.

‘I really want her!!’

Eileen nearly wept inside. Was there anything more heartbreaking than seeing the item you desperately desired right before your eyes, only to realize it had already been bought by someone else?

She knew it—no matter how high a price she offered, the owner of this puppet girl would never sell.

Anyone who could casually offer thousands of gold coins as payment obviously wasn’t short on money.

The puppet girl stepped forward immediately, grabbing Eileen’s shoulders and looking at her with flushed cheeks. Her gaze was so intense that even Eileen started to feel a little shy.

“…We’ve searched all the way from the royal capital to here. Even among the adventurers who survived Endymion City, not a single one is willing to go back there with us.”

She stared earnestly at Eileen, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Miss, could you… could you be our guide? As for compensation, that’s all negotiable. My master said she’ll agree to anything!”

“Really—anything?”

“My master said that as long as it’s within her capabilities, anything is possible!”

The puppet girl nodded firmly. Then she noticed that the look in this noble lady’s eyes had completely changed!

Her gaze was piercing, scanning her up and down like she was a beloved toy.

The puppet girl couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine. She even began to doubt whether inviting this person into their party as a guide had been the right decision…

Eileen was tempted—but she still had some rationality left. She calmed her pounding heart slightly and asked:

“I can go with you to Endymion City, but forgive me for being blunt—”

“Why exactly does your master insist on going to that place?”

Eileen recalled the past. Even fully armed S-rank teams found the place perilous. As for that eerie and anomalous city… to be honest, Eileen really didn’t want to go.

She continued, “After the fall of the Holy Magus King, the city still retained residual magic. It’s a zone where time and space are warped by chaotic magical currents. One wrong step, and there’s no coming back…”

“There’s no need to keep it a secret. My master intends to offer the final goal of the mission as a reward to the guide!”

Meeting Eileen’s inquisitive gaze, the puppet girl responded seriously, “What my master seeks is the ‘Codex of Endymion.’”

Eileen and Clarette exchanged glances, both seeing the confusion in each other’s eyes. They couldn’t help but ask, “What’s that?”

“The Codex is the root cause of the divine punishment that befell Endymion City and destroyed it!”

The puppet girl lowered her gaze and explained, “My master wants it because the Codex possesses the power to change a person’s ‘innate talent.’ Moreover, the Codex can be used three times!”

“One of those uses, my master plans to give as a reward to the guide—”

At this point, the puppet girl noticed that the noble lady before her had frozen, her eyes completely locked in place. She tilted her head in confusion.

Just a moment ago, this woman had been rational, trying to talk them out of venturing into the collapsing city of magic…

So why had her expression changed so drastically now?

If she had to describe it: it was like someone who had been trapped in darkness for a very long time, finally seeing a ray of light.

“Excuse me… did I say something wrong just now?”

“N-no, not at all…” Eileen tried to calm her rapidly pounding heart—this time, she was truly moved!

A magic tome that could rewrite a person’s innate talent?

Innate talent—the very thing determined at birth, known as the gods’ blessing. To alter one’s talent… wasn’t that equivalent to challenging the authority of the gods themselves?

It was no wonder the entire city had been destroyed by divine punishment.

Something like that actually existed in this world—something she had never even heard of before? There wasn’t a single record of it, not even in the royal library of the kingdom!

How did this puppet girl’s master know about it?

But Eileen largely believed it to be true. After all, who would risk their life going to Endymion City for something uncertain?

If she could rewrite her talent… wouldn’t that mean saying goodbye to being a failure?
This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Eileen wanted to change her fate!

And who knows, maybe she’d even get a buy one, get one free deal. What was there to hesitate about?

Danger? No—if you were afraid of danger, what business did you have being an adventurer in the first place?

Besides, she’d only be acting as a guide. Surely, the team had their own combat personnel! “…I-I’ll go with you!”

Eileen gasped, her face flushed pink, and her expression was bordering on yandere. This left the puppet girl feeling a little overwhelmed.

What was going on? Why had her attitude changed so drastically all of a sudden?

Was it really all because of this talent-rewriting thing?

*****

At the same time, in the royal capital, Serena stepped out of the Adventurer’s Guild, holding in her hand a freshly issued mission contract.

Trailing behind her was the team’s newest member—a cheerful, white-haired thief girl with sun-kissed skin who always seemed to be grinning, making it impossible for Serena to get a read on her.

Their destination: the crumbling city of Endymion.