Brave Peckle

「Kizuna-san, please!」

「Ooh! Lure Double Needle!」

The Lure stuck into the Dragon Zombie’s throat while Shouko charges her attack.

「Onii-chan, I’ll join too! It seems easier to defeat than before!」

Tsumugi also unleashes an attack in conjunction with Shouko.

「Round Dance Zero Stance – Snow Moon Flower!」

「Crimson Heavenly Great Wheel!」

Shouko and Tsumugi unleash their attack one after another.

Additionally, with some delay, Sheryl somehow approached and attacked.

「Bomber Lancer」

Until the Dragon Zombie’s paralysis wears off, we continue our onslaught, further weakening it.

After that, it was almost routine, wasn’t it?

Despite the Dragon Zombie becoming more ferocious due to its depleted HP, thanks to Shouko and Tsumugi, we were able to handle it.

As for me, thanks to the Ancient Dress, I was able to reduce the damage.

It almost came off at one point, and that was dangerous… If I don’t correct this, wouldn’t I be a pervert?

It was just that the energy was depleted, and it almost came off.

It’s not like it tears open with each hit, giving a service scene.

Even if it does come off, I’ll shout out, ‘Too bad, I am a man inside!’

「GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO——」

Eventually… after letting out a powerful roar, the Dragon Zombie fell to the ground, kicking up dust…

「Phew… we defeated it faster than before. You were quite useful too, Onii-chan.」

「You didn’t need to add that last part.」

「It was a good victory with minimal losses, I think.」

「…Bui.」

Well, as long as we won, it’s fine.

Then, the Dragon Zombie dropped an item.

Let’s see… a Corrupted Dragon’s Core?

And the Evil Sword Wrath Blade?

The required Level, or rather the energy level, is quite high.

The performance doesn’t seem to be that great though…

「It dropped this the first time we defeated it too… does it have a high drop rate?」

「Romina-san reforged it into a scythe for us, right?」

「Yeah. We could use it as material, but it’s better as is.」

「None of us really use swords seriously, after all.」

「Maybe Onee-chan?」

「Ah… that’s true.」

Kanade-neesan doesn’t really go for specialized weapons.

Or rather, she efficiently uses various weapons.

In the end, she settles on a plain sword without any quirks.

Well, we can leave that decision for later.

「Alright, let’s disassemble it now.」

「Onii-chan, please!」

「Okay, okay.」

With that, I begin disassembling the Dragon Zombie.

Come to think of it, how do you disassemble a creature like a dragon that doesn’t exist in reality? Regardless, I slice open its belly with the Cerberus Slaughter and separate the flesh from the bones.

Perhaps because it was originally a corpse, the body seems quite soft after being defeated.

But being a dragon, the quality of the materials should be high.

Corrupted Dragon’s Bone, Corrupted Dragon’s Rotten Flesh, Corrupted Dragon’s Reverse Scales, Corrupted Dragon’s Core, Corrupted Dragon’s Wing Membrane, Corrupted Dragon’s Horn, Corrupted Dragon’s Fang, Corrupted Dragon’s Skull, Corrupted Dragon’s Bone Marrow…

It’s like the materials from some hunting game.

「Alright, disassembly complete. I’ll ask Romina later about what can be made from these.」

Looking around the field after the fight, I noticed a door.

I think the Peckle Whistle was supposed to be beyond here?

That’s where we’ll complete the quest, I suppose.

「There seems to be a path ahead, so we should at least check it out. There might be another treasure chest or something.」

「Got it.」

Sheathing our weapons, we proceed forward.

Opening the door beyond where we defeated the Dragon Zombie, there’s another room.

In the middle of the room, there was a pattern of some sort.

The goal?

「Is this the final layer?」

「I’m not sure about that… please look over there.」

「Hm?」

Following Shouko pointing.

I noticed there were two doors.

One door has a conspicuous keyhole, while the other is simply closed with no apparent lock.

「Neither of them seems to open, though.」

「It’s possible that we need to trigger some kind of flag to open them?」

「Like building a castle?」

That’s probably it…

「The one with the keyhole might require a key we’ll find somewhere. Maybe we need to build a castle?」

「Open with machinery.」

「That’s possible. Using a jack or something to forcibly pry it open, or maybe it’s actually designed to slide open.」

Such devious puzzles are certainly possible in these situations.

The point of these things is to make us use our heads.

「Like an RPG, huh… now that you mention it, didn’t I get a key when I caught the nushi?」

「Onii-chan, you’re way too late saying that.」

「Tsumugi, you’re one to talk.」

You didn’t mention that there were doors here either.

For gamers, both of you siblings are way too careless.

「Now, now. Kizuna-san, why don’t you try inserting the key?」

「…Challenge accepted.」

「Of course, I’ll give it a shot. Besides… even without a lockpicking skill, I can still open locks.」

I take out the Ancient Legend Key and insert it into the door’s lock, turning it.

With a clicking sound, the lock released.

Then, the Ancient Legend Key dissipates into light and disappears.

Pushing the door, it slowly opens.

「I wonder what’s inside?」

The torches inside the room lit up, illuminating the interior.

The room opened with the key has a similar layout to the previous area.

This time, it’s a complete dead end… At the far end of the room, there are four emblems depicting weapons.

The weapons seem to be a sword, a spear, a bow, and a shield, perhaps?

Additionally, there are depictions of meat and fish.

The fish looks like a shield.

In the center, there’s a conspicuous treasure chest.

「A treasure room?」

「It seems so. I wonder if there’s an interesting tool inside, like the Peckle Whistle?」

「A superior piece of equipment would be nice too. Though it would be troublesome if it’s a weapon type that none of us use.」

That said… we obtained the key by catching the coelacanth, a material that even left Romina bewildered by its excellence.

It wouldn’t be surprising if we acquired an exceptionally powerful weapon.

「Well then… let’s open it.」

「Yeah.」

「Please.」

「…Treasure Hunt.」

Well, if we encounter a Mimic or something here, I absolutely won’t forgive the developers.

Cautiously, I reach for the chest’s lid and open it.

「Pen!」

…Hearing the voice, I instinctively squint as Peckle pops out of the chest.

Shouko, Tsumugi, and Sheryl also seem slightly disappointed.

It’s just Peckle inside, huh.

You had me excited for nothing.

Though, considering how grandiose this place was, there must be something special about this Peckle.

Let’s confirm what this Peckle, who popped out so ceremoniously, is all about.

「Well done in obtaining the Ancient Legend Key, defeating the Dragon Zombie, and lifting the seal-pen!」

Oh, it has a dedicated line.

Let’s see… what emerged from the treasure chest was a Peckle equipped with a shield embedded with some kind of round gem.

「My name is Brave Peckle-pen! Let’s get along-pen!」

「Brave Peckle?」

「Pen!」

After saying that, this Brave Peckle disappeared, just like the other Peckles.

No explanation, huh.

「What could it be?」

「It seems different from the other Peckles, doesn’t it?」

「…Brave, courage.」

「Hmm… Well, whatever, let’s check the other door, and if there’s nothing else, we’ll head back. We can discuss Brave Peckle after returning.」

「Got it.」

「That sounds good. Since it’s a Peckle, we can consult Alto about it as well.」

Alto is in charge of managing the Peckles, after all.

However… to go through such a grandiose place only to obtain a single Peckle…

With thoughts like that, we searched the room but found nothing else of interest, so we quickly returned.

†

「Brave Peckle is the hero Peckle that will save the world-pen. Unlike other Peckles, he’s a special Peckle-pen. The fact that his seal has been broken means he can greatly contribute to the development-pen.」

As soon as we returned, Santa Peckle approached me and began a mysterious praise.

Having a dedicated line means it’s undoubtedly exceptional.

In an NPC sense, at least.

But as for being a hero, let the players save the world.

Anyway, let’s go see Alto for now.