Yup, this was kind of out of the ordinary, I’d say.
You could do all sorts of stuff with this skill, depending on how you used it.
I had definitely wanted power. I mean, everyone had made fun of me for so long. But now, I was seriously hesitating. This power that I’d gotten my hands on...
What could I do with it? What should I do with it?
I had no idea. But still, I wanted to find out.
If I used this power, would I end up famous? It was definitely possible.
Would I be able to show up my old “friends” who had made fun of me? Yeah, maybe.
Would I beat another bergbear?
I could probably earn a lot of money... But that would be all.
I had no idea what would come afterwards.
Things would just end with that... And I’d hate that.
Man, I was thinking some foolish things.
Was there some way to live my life that only I could pull off?
I didn’t care anymore if people made fun of me and called me a “gear girl.” If I worked hard, I should be able to earn some money. And it’s not like I want to become some adventurer who does nothing but fight monsters.
How could I live so that the people who’ve supported me would be proud?
That was why I left town, to find that out. It was my goal.
But I still hadn’t accomplished anything...
[—We have arrived.]
“Huh?!”
Ah...
I think I may have just been spacing out as I walked...
So what? We’re there?
“This is the place...?”
[—To be precise, the vector now points downwards.]
“Downwards?”
It was a clearing in the trees, where fallen leaves seemed to like to gather up.
What does “downwards” mean here...? Is there something buried?
“What am I supposed to do...?”
[—Suggesting action causing impact.]
“You mean fire off one of those ‘Involute’ attacks?! That’d be dangerous, wouldn’t it...? Plus there’s a chance I wouldn’t be able to move afterwards, isn’t there?”
[—Affirmative. Unable to deny possibility.]
“Geez... Alright, let’s ask the source! Crown, bring out the mask!”
[—Ready.]
A gear appeared in front of me and dropped out the mask.
It was night when I first saw it, and that incident with it going all scratch, scratch on top of my desk seriously freaked me out, but somehow... I actually felt kind of numb to all that now.
I picked it up using both hands and said, “See, I took you where you wanted. Is this good?”
Can I just go ahead and leave you here?
[—Request for synchronization received from item: “Cursed Mask.”]
“What?”
[—Status after synchronization: Unpredictable.]
“W-What’s that mean...?”
[—Permission to synchronize?]
Hearing “synchronize” was making me think of how the dimension stone and analyze card got stuck in Crown... I probably wouldn’t be able to take it back, but...
“Hmm... Alright, permission granted. I don’t want to leave things unsettled...”
[—Ready.]
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Gah! Wait, I’m synchronizing it with a cursed item! What was I thinking?!
“H-Hold on a—”
[—Synchronization complete.]
“Man, you work fast...”
U-Ugh... Please tell me that didn’t strengthen the curse...
Sigh...
“Wah! Crown, hold on! Don’t come any closer! The mask! It’s coming right for me!”
[—Confirmed.]
Wait, aren’t you going to stop it?! That thing’s the source of the curse, isn’t it?!
Fwip!
Ah... Now I’m wearing it...
“Am I going to live to see my golden years...? Hmm...? Oh, hey!”
I was looking through the mask at that pile of leaves from before. Only now, I could see something that I couldn’t then.
“A-A magic circle?”
There was a shining pattern floating above the fallen leaves.
“This is amazing...! It’s so pretty, isn’t it? Wait, Crown, can you see it?”
[—Affirmative. Observation is possible as a result of skill synchronization.]
“But still, what is this magic circle even for?”
There was clearly some kind of meaning behind the shape of the thing. And it was big. Like, it must have been a perfect circle with a diameter of about 10 mels.
The pattern was shining... a sort of yellow-green, I guess? From the location it wouldn’t be a Wind one... Earth, then?
I’d done my homework in magic school. And I prepared for all the lectures. So if nothing else, I knew my stuff.
This was an Earth magic circle for sure.
Man, what’s with this thing? It’s way too complex.
But still, I could more or less tell the meaning of the pattern and how to start it up by looking at the shape of the thing.
“That’s ‘seal’ and ‘center’...”
This curved pattern wasn’t meant for sealing away monsters. It was probably to hide the place.
There should be a way to activate it right in the center.
“This is it...”
I accidentally brushed my hand up against it. As I did, it felt like the mask heated up a bit.
Then, it happened all of a sudden. Like, seriously, out of nowhere.
Fwoom...
“Wha?”
A whole 10 mels in diameter had opened up beneath me.
Gravity sure is amazing, isn’t it? It means you’ll always—
Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...!
I was falling. This wasn’t a test or something. I was up against physics, and not just as a school subject.
I was literally, physically falling.
Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!
“C-C-C-C-CROOOOOOOWN!!!”
[—Anti-gravity mechanism deployed.]
★Alright, everyone! The anti-gravity mechanism is real simple!
①Have a small gear act as an axle for a large gear to rotate around!
②Make the large gear bigger when it’s rotating up, and smaller when it’s rotating down!
③Slap a whole lot of them on your body!
Got it? Great! Now let’s give it a try!
Twinkle!
Uuuuuugh...
...I stopped in midair.
I must’ve fallen about 30 mels, but it was still a long way down.
“Ha! Haha... hahaha... haha...!”
Tears started to stream down my face.
[—Gravity value ± 0. Position stabilized. Currently 38 mels, 56 celchis from upper entrance.]
If this hole had been 20 mels deep, I would be dead...
“U-U-Ugh...”
[—No external injuries detected. Awaiting input.]
“I-I wanna go hooooooome!!!”
I didn’t wet myself. Not at all. Not even a little, uh-uh...
“S-Sniffle...”
[—Crown Gear requests encouragement.]
“Uuuuuuuuugh...!”
Sorry... Just give me a minit here to get my emotions out...
Haaah...
“... Let’s go. Crown, I want to do something about the darkness. Got any ideas?”
[—Recommendation: Employ “Cardiff Fire.”]
“T-The forest fire?! You can do that...?”
[—Using a limited deployment.]
About 10 itty bitty gears appeared in the air around me, then fire shot out of them with a fwoosh!
O-Ooh! That’s amazing... So I can split the flame up like that, huh?
It was like I had my own floating candles.
Huh...? Wait... Can you usually store fire in an item bag? Oh, well, I put an entire forest fire in mine, so I guess so...
“Well, whatever... Thanks, Crown. Let’s get going.”
[—Beginning low velocity descent.]
Vrr, vrr, vrrrrrr!
My body slowly and steadily lowered towards the bottom of the hole, accompanied by the floating candles.