As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback

Chapter 287 – Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

“But that means we know what Vodara’s next move will be.” (Bouchi)
“…Eh? R-Really, Bouchi?!” (Oz)
“Yeah. He’ll use Duarte’s energy to control the Curseweaver. If that’s why they took Duarte away, at least.” (Bouchi)
“What do you mean?” (Oz)
“It’s true that Duarte is powerful, but I doubt that he alone will provide sufficient energy to control the Curseweaver. After all, the Curseweaver was able to defeat Duarte in an instant.” (Bouchi)
“That’s… I see.” (Oz)
It was clear that Vodara needed the Gear to control the Curseweaver. And that replica that he made was only able to control it temporarily.

That replica probably required a lot of power to fabricate.

“So it’s very likely now that Vodara will continue to target beings with powerful energy.” (Bouchi)
“I see. I think Master is correct as well.” (Izu)
Izu spoke up, supporting my opinion. Then, she continued where I left off.

“However, that means the next being with strong energy that Vodara goes after will be…” (Izu)
“Without a doubt—an S-rank monster.” (Bouchi)
Izu nodded in agreement.

The amount of energy that an S-Rank monster had was fitting for what was needed to create a replica of the Gear.

“T-Then does that mean that this Vodara guy is going to go to where all the S-Rank monsters are?” (Oz)
“Most likely. There are four S-Rank monsters that we are currently aware of. The Cloud Whale, Belzedor, Oremia, and Galafegorn. We know the locations of all of them except the Cloud Whale, but…” (Bouchi)
If he were to target one of them, which one would he go for?

Which one came to mind first in terms of powerful energy? In the end, I still thought it was too dangerous to go up against an opponent I didn’t know yet. I would have wanted at least a little bit of information.

But that whole line of thinking would break down, since I didn’t know which of the S-Rank monsters Vodara was aware of.

There might be other S-Rank monsters that I didn’t know about, and there was the possibility that special beings like Duarte would show up in this world.

…This won’t do. As soon as I start thinking about it, there are too many possibilities, and I can’t narrow it down.

“We might have no choice but to wait and see.” (Bouchi)
“Eeh?!!” (Oz)
Oz let out an exclamation of surprise, but after I explained to her all of the possibilities that were running through my head, she couldn’t say anything back.

“But my lord, if we adopt a wait-and-see approach, it will be meaningless if we don’t know of Vodara’s movements, no?” (Kaza)
“You’re right, Kaza. So for the time being, we will monitor the surroundings of the S-Rank monsters we’re aware of.” (Bouchi)
From the <Box>, I took out a crystal ball that looked like the ones that phony fortune tellers would use.

“Puuu? What is that orb, Master?” (Sol)
“This is [Satellite Vision], a camera that constantly wanders around the target.” (Bouchi)
The crystal ball then floated up and rose into the sky.

When I took the monitor out of the <Box>, I could see a bird’s eye view of Joysprout Island in the picture.

This product had recently shown up in the <Shop>. It seemed like a direct upgrade from the [Camera Marker], so I was planning to buy it sooner or later.

“Ah! The image is moving on its own!” (Sol)
“Yeah, the [Satellite Vision] is constantly moving like a satellite, just like its name suggests, so it can observe the situation going on in the target’s surroundings. And since the image is captured from a considerable distance, it’s difficult for the target to notice.” (Bouchi)
“Can you use that on the people who captured Captain?!” (Oz)
“No, unfortunately not, Oz.” (Bouchi)
“Ehh… W-Why not?” (Oz)
“You see, they’ll… teleport. [Satellite Vision] can keep up with them up to a certain speed, but if they teleport, it’ll lose them.” (Bouchi)
The [Satellite Vision] could move at high speeds like Sol, and if the target stayed in its range, it could keep up. But if the target suddenly teleported several hundred kilometers away, it definitely wouldn’t work.

“So I’m going to set this up on the island where Belzedor and Oremia are, as well as Galafegorn’s domain. That way, we’ll know immediately if something happens.” (Bouchi)
I was also thinking of setting one up on Nike’s island, just in case. I didn’t expect there to be any danger, but Totoki and the others were all there, and I felt that I should at least keep them safe since I was the one who had introduced them to their current job.

Incidentally, I had secretly attached a [Camera Marker] on Oremia when he wasn’t paying attention, so I could check on him at any time.

With this, we were able to set up a system that allowed me to monitor every S-Rank monster I knew of, except for the Cloud Whale. All that remained was whether Vodara would look for them or not, but… that depended on him.

“All that’s left is to wait.” (Bouchi)
“Yeah… I’ll put my trust in you and wait, Bouchi.” (Oz)
“Yeah. Anyway… is the boat okay?” (Bouchi)
I had brought Oz here at a moment’s notice, but what about the boat that had been left behind?

“Bueh? …Ah, don’t worry about that. Because I am the Oz Freedom, and the Oz Freedom is me! The ship is floating on the coast of this island!” (Oz)
I checked the monitor and looked through the conveniently placed [Satellite Vision], and sure enough the ship was floating there on the shore.

“If you are the ship itself, why even bother to keep it manifested…?” (Bouchi)
“That’s true, but a boat just has to float on the sea, you know!” (Oz)
Well, I suppose so. But Oz went on to say that apparently she had to be assimilated with the ship in order for it to actually move.

When she was in the graveyard of ships, she had just been drifting about, being swept along by the waves without sailing of her own volition.

“But Master, this really turned out to be quite the treasure hunt.” (Yofel)
Yofel was right. I didn’t think that I would get wrapped up in such a big deal. In the end, I never figured out where the treasure was after all.

But if I helped Duarte, Oz would tell me where the treasure was, so I could only hope that it had been transported to our world.

“Now that things have become like this, I guess I’ll have to search for the Mirage Diamond Ruins next.” (Bouchi)
This legend also seemed like a myth with very little credibility, but…

“Huh? You want money, Bouchi?” (Oz)
“Hm? Yeah. I need money and valuables to use my ability to the fullest.” (Bouchi)
“Hoooh~ that’s quite the unusual superpower.” (Oz)
“Well, skill, but yeah.” (Bouchi)
“But… I see now, Bouchi! If you had a lot of money, would you have better chances of saving Captain?” (Oz)
“I suppose so. Useful items require a lot of money after all. But I guess that at least ensures their effectiveness.” (Bouchi)
“I see… Hey, Bouchi! Those Diamond Ruins you were talking about, I think I might know a bit about it!” (Oz)
“Seriously?!” (Bouchi)
“Probably… I’ve been there before with some companions.” (Oz)
By companions, of course she meant Duarte and the others.

“So did Duarte and his crew already scavenge that place? If so, then I guess it would be empty even if we went.” (Bouchi)
She had gone out of her way to confirm that the legend really existed, but now I just felt like I had been let down once again. I’ve been having such a bad string of luck lately. Did I do something wrong…?

“Ah, no! Duarte didn’t touch any of the diamonds there!” (Oz)
“…What? Pirates would leave treasure untouched?” (Bouchi)
“Yeah. After all, there was a guardian protecting the place, and he made a promise to that guardian.” (Oz)
“Promise? What kind of promise?” (Bouchi)
“I don’t really know. I only heard the crew talking about it. Only Captain and that guardian know about it.” (Oz)
A promise, huh…?

Because of this promise, Duarte didn’t take the treasure right before his eyes. Even though he and his companions were pirates. What on earth did he promise that guardian…?

“But I also don’t know if those ruins have been sent to this world.” (Bouchi)
“Then we can just send out another one of those papers! I’ll write down what I know about it again!” (Oz)
“Oh yeah, we could just do that, huh? Well, there’s no harm in trying. Let’s do it.” (Bouchi)
“Yeah! You need to help Captain, Bouchi! For Captain’s sake, I’ll do whatever I can!” (Oz)
And so, I gave Oz another [Search Paper] and had her write down whatever information she knew about the Diamond Ruins.

After sending off this [Search Paper] and the one for Duarte’s base island, all we could do now was wait.