The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 40: Relics

Chapter 40: Relics

The tour continued onwards.

And partway through, Nadia began to notice the strange looks she was getting. They weren’t looks of concern or judgment for the state she was in, like she had originally predicted.

Instead of a sense of humiliation or embarrassment, Nadia felt a sense of... uncomfort from these stares.

"Whoa... check her out..."

"I know right... she new?"

"Seems like Elias brought back another group..."

Nadia’s face contorted slightly.

She knew she was somewhat good-looking, having been complimented on her figure and appearance her entire life. Because of this, she learned to ignore these kinds of looks, almost unconsciously, until she was brought up.

She continued to look around, and while there were various other kinds of looks, like curiosity or concern, they were ultimately all the same in the end.

’Hilda was right...’ Nadia thought with reluctance. ’Only a few of them look worried for me, while the others...’

"Haaa..."

Nadia subconsciously clutched the side of her injured arm to check its condition, then winced once an immediate jolt of pain flashed through her mind upon contact.

’It still hurts...’

She sighed again. It’ll take a while for her arm to heal.

After inspecting her arm, Nadia’s ears twitched at a faint whisper to the side.

"Wait, isn’t that girl from her LRM?"

"Damn, she is! Hey, doesn’t she look way cuter up close?"

"Cuter? HOTTER is the word you’re looking for!"

"Shut up! What if she hears you?"

Nadia’s brows furrowed when she heard this. Looks like she wasn’t the only one subjected to this kind of treatment.

’I wonder what she does when given these looks...’

Glancing at Hilda, Nadia was left stunned when she found the woman waving around and winking at people like some celebrity walking down a red carpet!

"Meine Freunde, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!"

She seemed to revel in the attention she was getting, regardless of how shallow the looks she was getting were.

’She’s much better than me in this case.’ Nadia shrugged, giving up.

...

Eventually, the tour of the warehouse came to an end. And it was rather uneventful and unexciting to say the least. Fortunately, Ross made that up by giving some rather useful information along the tour.

For example, the number of members in Ross’ group was exactly 84, which fluctuated whenever Elias went out with his squad.

They were also told that there was another group similar to them located close to the port as well. And due to conflicting ideas on how to approach this exam, they didn’t join forces.

But those things didn’t interest Hilda all too much. Instead, what she wanted to know was:

"How did you resurrect that Predicament?"

Turning back, Ross stared at Hilda and scratched the back of his head, looking very hesitant to share. Though that changed the longer he endured under Hilda’s intense scrutiny.

With a loud sigh, he held out his right hand and summoned an object in the exact same manner Nadia does with her sword. The object was a mask that took on the form of the face of a human skull. It was haunting to look at, and unsettling to, but it — without a doubt — piqued everyone’s interest when they laid eyes on it.

"That would be the work of my Relic, Suvai Muerte. By offering up the Predicament’s eyes and corpse to my Relic, I can bring the monster under my control without its mind."

Nadia widened her eyes when she heard this.

’What a powerful Relic... to be able to revive Predicaments under you command, wouldn’t that mean he would be able to raise an army?’

Hilda whistled and rubbed her chin; her interest in Ross was piqued. The positive evaluation she had for the tall man had now bumped up another step at the revelation of his Relic.

’I’ve now come across two Vitalists with Gifts, und two with Relics...’ She thought, overjoyed inside.

"Suvai Muerte..." Hilda repeated the name of Ross’ Relic, "Sounds like a very handy Relic. What Purpose does it draw on?"

Ross narrowed his eyes slightly.

"... That would be something I would like to keep hidden, if possible, Miss Hertel..." Ross stated after a slight pause, "I’m sure someone like you has their own Relic that they want to keep hidden. So surely you can understand my sentiments."

"Indeed, I do." Hilda nodded.

Seraphine glanced between the two, who continued to converse, and recalled what she knew about Relic.

In the narrative, Relics were essentially items from the past that were taken over by an ethereal race called Spirits, allowing these items of the past to gain an ability corresponding to the Spirit that possessed them.

And if a Vitalist happened to stumble on one of them, they could bind themselves to it, allowing them to store the Relic inside their Heart and summon it when needed. This made it so that no one, besides the wielder, can wield the Relic.

Unfortunately, besides using Vitality to activate, Relics also required something else from their wielder to use their ability.

This something was Purpose.

Seraphine glanced subtly at Nadia.

’For Nadia to use her sword’s energy attacks, the Relic must sense her resolve towards a certain goal. And the stronger her resolve is, the stronger her energy attacks will become.’

It was also stated that her sword made her more prone to impulses to further boost her resolve.

Then she glanced at Ross.

’And for him to use his Relic, he’s required to offer up a portion of his focus, corresponding to the strength of the Predicament he has under his control. And I remember that if he has too many Predicaments under his control... he becomes rather sluggish.’

Overall, Relics were an extremely helpful tool, but they could be a double-edged sword...

She then glanced at Hilda with half-lidded eyes.

’As for her... she’s just a barbarian.’

While Seraphine was rummaging through her brain about Relics, there was a certain Heroine who was left agape at what she heard.

’Hilda has a Relic too!?’ The Heroine shouted internally, immediately using her Gift.

Hilda was telling the truth.

At this discovery, Nadia became even more demoralised, ’She has a Gift and a Relic just like me...’

Though Nadia now knew Hilda possessed these two things, she still had yet to figure out their identity.

How much of her strength had Hilda been keeping a secret? And had she even needed to resort to her Gift or Relic yet?

If not... was this exam such a walk in the park for her that she didn’t even need to feel the need to display them?

’The gap between us is widening the more I get to know her...’ Nadia thought, biting her bottom lip and clenching her hands into fists from frustration.

"..."

’No... this is for the better.’

The tension in her body dissipated the moment she unclenched her fists. So what if Hilda was far, far stronger than her? That only made her a bigger milestone in her journey.

She WILL get stronger, and nobody was going to stop her from doing that!

A look of resolution blazed deep inside Nadia’s shining blue eyes.

Hilda, who was unaware of the sort of thoughts Nadia was having about her, glanced around them. There was a question that had been plaguing her mind since coming here. Earlier, when they were touring through the warehouse, she had noticed a few things about the people here.

And one of those things was that...

They looked very clean for people who were in an area crawling with Predicaments.

Currently, the area they were in was rather devoid of people; now was the best time to ask.

"I have one more question: how many of your people contribute in scavenging or killing Predicments?"

This time, Elias stepped in to answer, much to Ross’ horror.

"Apart from my group and the Boss with his team, no one here really contribute much apart from lazing around."

"..."