“While that is a giantling shield, it was received more than 500 years ago, upon the founding of the Olbaum Electorate Kingdom,” Lebia said. “I remember seeing it back when we actually got along with Duke Heartner.”
Another dud, then. Talosheim was a kingdom of giantlings, but giantlings had long existed in human society as well. They were the descendants of those who hadn’t been able to escape with Vida into the Boundary Mountains 100 thousand years ago. The user of this “great and powerful wall” had likely been one of them.
“I see. Just because it’s intended for giantlings doesn’t mean it definitely came from Talosheim. I might be better at this if I had been responsible for things here in Olbaum rather than Amidd when I still worked for Vilkain,” Eleonora sighed.
“A mistake anyone could have made. Don’t worry, just keep searching. Princess Lebia, what about this pot? The scene painted onto it looks like something from across the Boundary Mountains.”
“Ah, yes! That’s a pot we used to carry salt! Ah, to see it again now . . . but what is it doing here? It’s just a pot.”
“Who knows?” Zulan said. “With the fall of Talosheim, maybe they thought no more of this kind of item would be made, so it would appreciate in value.”
“Hmm. We actually found something, and it still doesn’t feel like a home run,” Vandal said. It had been a simple household object, back in the day. While it could be considered an antique, for Princess Lebia and Zulan, it was just a pot for salt.
“What shall we do?”
“Let’s take it, I guess,” Zulan replied. He didn’t seem all that bothered about it, but it was something that had been stolen. That was what they were here to do: reclaim objects, regardless of their value.
“This is more difficult than I was expecting,” Eleonora said. “Are there other works of art in here? Vases or paintings?”
“No, I don’t think so. Just the crown jewels and other pieces like that. We used the pot to carry things, but we didn’t bring any works of art.”
“Okay. Let’s search everything besides the paintings, then. We could also find someone responsible for this place and use my Alluring Doom Gaze or Lord Vandal’s Spiritual Corrosion to control them,” Eleonora suggested.
“I think finding the person we want, brainwashing them, and bringing them back here is as much as work as just searching the place ourselves, now that we’re here,” Vandal said.
And so, they continued the search. They did find a lot of the stolen treasures, but few of the items resulted in easy decisions about how to handle them.
“There’s a gemstone here with the Talosheim crest etched into it!”
“I’m sorry, Zulan. That’s something we sent to the house of Heartner as a sign of our friendship when we first started trading with them,” Lebia explained. “It isn’t something that was stolen.”
“What about this sword, then?” Vandal called. “It looks like Datara’s work.”
“Indeed, it is, but he sold it to the duke. Again, it wasn’t stolen.”
“Does that go for this ring and necklace set as well?” Eleonora said. “It’s made from polished dinosaur bone and gemstones found in the Talosheim dungeons.”
“Borkz gave that to his daughter! A keepsake from his wife, her mother!”
“Jackpot, Eleonora.”
At first, everything seemed like such a hassle that Vandal had considered simply emptying the place out. However, as the treasure hunt continued, Vandal found that he was starting to enjoy himself. In the end, they picked up and looked over almost every treasure in the place.
“For the pieces that have been split up and used for other things, removing just the part we’re here for would take too long,” Vandal directed. “Let’s take the whole thing, for now. If they ask for it back, we can throw back whatever is left—as hard as we can.”
At Vandal’s comment, Princess Lebia and the others imagined for a moment the members of the house of Heartner getting their heads ripped to shreds by flying shrapnel made from unwanted gemstones and pieces of swords and armor.
Of course, Vandal would never do that. If he was going to hit them anywhere on the body, it would be on the legs. That way they didn’t die right away.
“Lord Vandal. I’ve seen armor with this design before somewhere.”
Eleonora was pointing at some armor that clearly looked like a magic item. The adamantine-coated mithril exterior offered high defense while keeping down the weight. The parts in contact with the skin used high-rank monster materials, keeping them soft and comfortable. The robust gauntlets, shoulders, boots, and knee protectors all featured detailed work. The details provided the magic for armor while also increasing its value as a work of art.
The main sections of the armor were bikini-style, however. A bikini for a very well-endowed woman.
“I didn’t expect to find more bikini armor here,” Vandal said. “I guess there’s more of it than the stuff we used for Saria and Rita. As you say, Eleonora, the details of the design and coloring is quite similar to theirs. But the quality and size of this is dramatically better. Maybe it’s for giantlings?”
“Hmm, oh, I’ve seen it before,” Lebia said. “Borkz and his party found it in a dungeon, and Healing Saint Geena wore it for a while. When we fled, we took as much of the weapons and armor from our own vault as we could, so as not to give them to the Milg Shield Kingdom. This must have been included with that load.”
“Do the dungeons in this world have a thing for risqué armor?” Vandal mused.
“You’re lucky you became ghosts before Lord Vandal found this,” Eleonora chuckled. “Otherwise, you might have become Living Armor with this as your body.”
“That sounds like fun, actually,” Lebia said. “Although I only have a passing familiarity with the martial arts.”
“I was not expecting you to just accept that idea,” Eleonora said.
“I’m definitely not letting Mom see this anytime soon,” Vandal added. It would be a nightmare if Dalshia saw this and started getting ideas about becoming Living Armor again. Still, Vandal added the new bikini armor to the pile of objects they were bringing back.
In this manner, numerous treasures were stolen (back) from the house of Heartner.
Special Chapter: Into the Heartner Castle Treasure Vault! The End