Memoirs of Your Local Small-time Villainess

Scarlett examined the items on the altar. The largest of them was a head-sized dark metal casket with an interesting coiled design on its side. If she remembered it correctly, that was filled with old Zuverian gold coins. Worth a modest amount, but nothing unique. More of them were usually spread around in small amounts through the dungeon and she was planning on gathering them before they left.

Scarlett's attention was focused on the other two objects on the altar, however. At the center of the ancient stone that the altar was made of lay a small black wand. It had a glossy, rounded-off tip at its bottom and a garnished wood handle that covered half its length. Closer to the head of the wand it looked to be made of some dark metal that arced around itself, forming a kind of curved latticework. At the top of this frame sat a vaguely jade-colored crystal with a swirling pattern in it. It looked almost like a cat eye bead.

This was the [Wand of Fireball]. An item—or rather an 'artifact', as any old magical items were referred to in the game—that allowed one to cast a free [Fireball] spell a few times every day.

Artifacts in the game were separated into seven different categories: common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, divine, as well as unique. Divine artifacts were some of the best items in the game, while unique artifacts varied highly depending on what level they were for. The special thing about the unique artifacts was, firstly, that they were unique — as the name implied. Although this also applied to many of the Divine artifacts in the game, there were a few examples where you could get more than one instance of the same divine artifact. Secondly, most unique artifacts had some kind of special property to them that was either rare or non-existent in other items in the game. And thirdly, unlike divine artifacts which was a late-game thing, unique artifacts could be found throughout the whole game. Scarlett's main goal with clearing this dungeon was getting hold of the [Wand of Fireball], which—despite not being a unique artifact but rather a rare one—would give her at least some way of defending herself in this world.

But the wand wasn't the only artifact on the altar. Resting on both sides of the wand was a pair of tiny earrings. Made out of silver, they were shaped like a half-circle with an oval amber gem affixed to the center that gave off a light glow. These were the [Charms of Apperception]. A unique artifact from the game that gave the player a 15% critical chance against all enemies under level 50 — which covered almost all low-to-mid-level enemies. Although they didn't give any stat increase, because they had such a good effect that scaled with your level and had been in the relatively hard-to-find earring-slot, Scarlett had originally used the artifact all the way up till late mid-game in her first playthrough. So even though the wand had been the main reason she chose to start with this dungeon, she was curious about how the unique artifact worked now that this wasn't just a game anymore. It didn't feel like a game concept like critical chance had a clear translation in real life.

Scarlett first picked up the wand. A window suddenly appeared above it.

[Wand of Fireball (Rare)]
{Casts [Fireball]. 4/4}

She raised an eyebrow. That was a convenient feature. Putting the wand into a hole in the belt she'd worn specifically for this outing, she picked up the earrings.

[Charms of Apperception (Unique)]
{Perceives the strands of mana around a being, recognizing points of instability}

Was that the flavor text from the game? She couldn't remember if it was. The wand didn't have the same kind of ambigious description, but perhaps that was because it had a more defined function. As Scarlett read through the text in the window once more she felt some kind of reaction from the earrings in her palm. They felt warm for a moment and then suddenly she felt a connection to them, without really understanding how.

"You alright?" she heard Kat's voice to her side. Turning towards the woman, Scarlett's attention shifted from the artifact in her hand to the Shielder's body. It was vague, barely noticeable to the point where she almost thought she was imagining it, but when she focused she saw a slight shimmer surrounding Kat's whole body. It seemed to flow around her in complicated ever-shifting patterns, forming a kind of barrier that was hard to follow with just the eyes. But there were points where the shimmer was weaker. Points where the patterns momentarily met to form small whirlwinds of movement, or points where the currents were just slightly too erratic. All these points stood out to her eyes more clearly than even the barrier itself.

"So that is how it works..." Scarlett mused to herself.

"What?" Kat looked puzzled.

"Do you know Mana Barrier?" Scarlett asked.

"Of course I do," Kat said. "I doubt there's a mage who doesn't."

Scarlett nodded her head at the information. It fit with what she knew from Chronicle of Realms. There, [Mana Barrier] was a spell without a particular school of magic that was a must-have unless one was running a challenge of some kind. While there were stats such as HP and Armor, they weren't as important in this game as they often were in other RPGs. Instead, spells like [Mana Barrier] and its equivalents provided the players with their main layer of protection. And that seemed to stay true in this world too.

Kat met her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. She jumped down from the platform and started moving around it to the burned remains of the skeleton that had been guarding this room. "How much are we bringing back with us?" she asked, picking up the golden crown the skeleton had worn. She dusted it off with her hand before looking it over. "Technically, everything here belongs to you, doesn't it? At least for now."

Scarlett brought her attention from the faint magical barrier surrounding Kat to the woman herself. She wasn't aware there was such a practice, but perhaps that was how Zuverian ruins were handled in this world. Nobody had complained when the player raided dungeon after dungeon in the games at least.

She didn't know how much wealth the original Scarlett actually had, but more money never hurt. She cautiously climbed down from the platform and put her hand out when she reached Kat. The Shielder placed the crown in her hand and Scarlett began to examine it.

[Golden Crown (Uncommon)]
{Increases majesty}

It didn't look particularly good, though judging from this the descriptive text for these items wasn't the flavor text from the games. At least not always. This particular description was almost as vague as the earrings, but the crown seemed to bear some kind of enchantment at least. Perhaps one that increased charisma. Not something she needed.

"You may keep it." Scarlett said and handed it back to Kat.

The woman gave her an odd look. "You don't want it?"

"It has no use for me." Scarlett answered. "It is a weak enchantment. But it is still gold, so it should have some worth. You are owed a commission, so I feel it is only right that you have it. However, if you prefer for your reward to be in another shape we can give it in zuver coins instead." Giving out money directly would have to wait until she actually had some.

Kat stared at her with wide eyes. "The guild request was only to protect you for the day. What I've done could technically count under that so you don't actually have to pay an extra reward."

"That may be so, but it wouldn't leave a good taste if I were to abuse the contract with the Shields Guild in such a manner," Scarlett responded calmly. "I am planning on continuing doing business with you in the future, so it is only right that I do this much." With that, she turned around and started leaving the room. "Now come. There is still much left to gather in these ruins. And make sure to bring that metal casket with you."

Scarlett couldn't see Kat's expression so she didn't know how the woman reacted, but it didn't take long for Kat to catch up to her with the small casket wedged under one arm and the crown hanging from the side of her belt. After that, they spent a couple of hours combing through and clearing the rest of the dungeon's pathways and rooms for all the remaining loot. Most of it was in the form of zuver coins. Neither of them had brought any backpacks with them but Scarlett had made sure to bring a small Pouch of Holding to store it all in.

Bags of Holding had been present in the game too, but even the smaller ones had been relatively rare and expensive so it wasn't until the mid-game that the player could get a hold of one. Before that one usually had to make do with a very limited amount of inventory slots or a cumbersome backpack. Fortunately for Scarlett, she was now a noble. Which came with some perks. She'd asked Garside to get her a Bag of Holding in the morning and he'd retrieved this from somewhere in the mansion. It wasn't a bag per se, but it was still large enough to hold a decent amount of gold coins.

When they finally left the ruin after spending over three hours in it Scarlett was met by a new window.

[Quest completed: Cleared Zuver Ruins]
{Skill points awarded: 1}

She paused on the stairs leading up to the surface as she read through the window. This hadn't been in the game. She had wondered if the quests from the game existed in this world too, but this one certainly wasn't related to any of them. This was a completely new quest that she hadn't seen before. Though it didn't give her any experience like the quests from the game did. Just a skill point.

Did this mean there were other quests she didn't know about in this world? Hidden, just waiting to be completed?

"What's up?" Kat asked, stretching in the sunlight at the top of the stairs. "You realize something?"

Scarlett put the matters of the quests behind her for now. Looking at Kat, the woman who had just cleared a Zuverian ruin for her without even seeming to consider betraying her, a thought appeared in her mind. While the Shielder's uncouth behavior irked the Scarlett part of her, the woman was very capable. Truthfully, a B-ranked Shielder was far too powerful for this low-level dungeon.

"Miss Breedan," she asked. "Would you be interested in accepting another request?"