Chapter 21

"Chea!"

With Lucie's attack, the Patchwork Bear fell apart.

[You have gained 43 experience points.]

The experience points came in smoothly.

I immobilized the enemy with my <Shadow Step> and deflected the attacks, while Lucie dealt precise damage with her <Iron Piercer> knife, taking advantage of the openings.

We've gotten used to this routine.

"We did it! I've gone from [Lv: 16] to [Lv: 19]!"

Lucie's level is steadily increasing.

Once she reaches [Lv: 21], we can start the main event: hunting the Rich Lanner.

"Alright, let's find one more random monster..."

"Ah, look! This! This!"

Lucie happily rummaged through the remains of the Patchwork Bear and held up a cute shield with a bear's face on it.

"It dropped! It dropped! An item drop!"

Lucie held up the bear shield and squealed with delight.

"Ah, ah... I see."

"Right? Right? Bringing me along was a good idea, right? Right?"

Lucie said, her eyes shining.

The main goal is to level up, not to get items, but I can't deny that this shield has some value.

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<Bear Shield> [Recommended Level: 10]

[Defense: +12]

[Market Value: 200,000 gold]

A cute round shield with a bear's face.

The recommended level is lower than its performance.

――――――――――――――――――――

Since it's a low-level weapon, the drop rate is low, but the market value is quite high.

The current 200,000 gold is a good deal.

It's a good deal, but I'd rather have the drop luck for something more important later.

"Will you use it, Elma?"

"…No, no, I appreciate it, but my current shield is better in terms of performance."

"It's a small shield, so it might be a good differentiator! You said your current shield is bulky and has a high recommended level, making it a bit hard to use. How about it? Just keeping it as a spare…!"

She's pushing it really hard...

Well, she has a point.

It might be a good differentiator because it's more maneuverable.

The biggest issue is that I don't want to use it in front of others.

I might end up being known as the Bear Knight.

In terms of drop rate, it's a rare item, no doubt.

...Well, if you want it, you can just keep grinding Patchwork Bears since they have a high spawn rate.

"…Thanks. I might not use it, but I'll keep it."

"Yay! Yay! That's a good idea! Hehe... I was useful!"

If this boosts her motivation, that's great.

In <Magic World>, there's a superstition that getting less desirable item drops can prevent you from getting the items you want, but mentioning that now would just dampen her enthusiasm.

We continued exploring and hunted our third Patchwork Bear.

[You have gained 43 experience points.]

[Your level has increased from 23 to 24.]

[You have gained 1 skill point.]

My level also increased.

With this, Lucie should have reached her goal of [Lv: 21].

"Amazing... I couldn't level up no matter what I did before, but it happened so easily this time..."

Lucie checked her <Status> and gaped in amazement.

"Alright, the preparations are complete. Let's move on to the main event here…"

"Aaaaah!!"

Lucie screamed and rummaged through the remains of the Patchwork Bear.

When I looked at her, she held up the round bear shield.

"It dropped! The second <Bear Shield>!"

I couldn't help but stare silently at the deformed bear on the shield.

This is strange.

There's no way it should drop so easily in a row...

"Did I remember the drop rate wrong? But..."

At this point, it's not about superstitions or disadvantages.

Lucie's initial luck stat must have been naturally high.

Clowns, in particular, tend to have higher luck stats to compensate for lower other stats.

If she rolled a high value, the 500% luck boost from <Inviting Nyanron> would have a significant impact, making such a skewed drop rate possible.

Still, it's strange.

Why didn't Klein and the others notice Lucie's drop rate enhancement?

It's true that the information is limited, and without it, it's hard to use <Inviting Nyanron> efficiently for gold farming.

But the drop rate should have been noticeably different.

"…Ah, maybe they didn't notice the difference or appreciate it because they were in the initial party."

When information is scarce, you tend to see only the good things about other successful parties.

They might have thought their party was growing more efficiently because of some other reason, like having a burden.

In <Magic World>, this isn't that rare.

The <Great Luck> skill tree allows you to get the <Four-Leaf Clover> passive skill with the initial [5] skill points.

When <Great Luck> reaches [15], <Four-Leaf Clover> evolves into <Inviting Nyanron>.

<Four-Leaf Clover> increases the owner's luck by 200%.

In other words, Klein and the others were already used to a high item drop rate from the start.

Especially at this level, without prior knowledge, they were still experimenting with different things.

They might not have noticed the change in drop rate.

They didn't even know what items dropped from which monsters and at what rate.

"Hey, hey, Elma! Can we keep this <Bear Shield> as a spare instead of selling it? Hey?"

"…Lucie, really, thank you for teaming up with me."

"You wanted this <Bear Shield> that much? At this rate, we can collect ten by the end of today!"

...I didn't really want the <Bear Shield>.

Plus, Lucie's level has caught up to the Patchwork Bear.

The level-up efficiency will drop from here.

Hunting Patchwork Bears isn't as rewarding anymore.

"From here on, it's the main event, Lucie. Let's go deeper into <Angel's Toy Box> and hunt the main target: the Rich Lanner."