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I was still at the Crystal rank at the time, and my eyes couldn’t follow him. A huge part of why I was able to beat him, was that I relied on intuition. Even now, I was not confident I would be able to beat him if we could face off again…

No, that’s not good. Thinking about it is making me feel depressed. I should just try pouring magic into them for now.

 

“Hmm…ah…huh…!?”

 

The moment the magic began to flow, I felt the sensation of something flowing back into me.

And it didn’t stop. The leather shoes sucked my magic and in turn, leaked out a pitch black miasma. It was a…grudge?

All I felt was the continuous emotion of hate towards the one called Asagi Kamiyashiro.

 

“Shi-shit…!”

 

Frantically, my hands reached down to remove the shoes, and my hands came in contact with the dark miasma. It tangles and wraps around my fingers, clasping my hand. It envelopes it and takes shape like a glove. The nails are abnormally long, like claws.

 

“You, damn it!”

 

It was the assault kobold’s hand. Even in this state, he was trying to get me.

 

I tear the stuff off of my hands and grab the shoe. The magic continues to be drawn from me, but I ignore it as I tear the shoes off of my foot.

 

“Damn…what the…!”

 

Was there anything more ridiculous than I guy fighting with his shoes in the park on an afternoon? Shit. The shoes on the ground were still unleashing the dark miasma. They looked like they might just start moving on their own at any moment.

 

I thought it would never disappear, but it started to thin after five minutes and was completely gone after ten. However, I no longer felt like touching them, much less wear them.

I took off the cloth wrappings from around my feet, which were substitutes for socks. To my shock, both of my feet had markings as if they had been gripped by something. It was chilling, but the reason for it was obvious. These extreme mutated monsters were a threat even after death… I was now glad that my dragon armor was from younger dragons. Thanks, Matsumoto. You truly are a Hero.

 

“Still, these feet and shoes…what am I going to do…”

 

I was hated by these shoes that were in front of me. And now there were markings on my feet as if I had been cursed. …Was I cursed? Was I going to be alright?

 

“Shit! This is from the assault kobold too!”

 

I frantically tear off the necklace I had been wearing in a misguided attempt at being fashionable. This was also a product of the kobold. And this sword that hung at my belt as well. This was terrible…I couldn’t keep anything besides my clothes and light armor. I would be unarmed.

 

“Ahhh…shoe store…and a weapon store…”

 

I never would have thought that a weapon made by a blacksmith who was associated with the guild would end up cursing me… This was dreadful. It was cursed, right? Definitely. Ahh, there was no point in thinking about it now. I just need something to wear, so I would have to return to the inn for now. I’ll discuss it with Daniela, then buy some new shoes.

I really could not have predicted this…if I had done this during combat, I would have died.

My ignorance saved me.

 

I encased the sword, shoes, and necklace in ice and carried them with me. At first, I wondered if it wouldn’t suck the magic from the ice, but it seemed to be fine, as long as I didn’t touch it directly. I took the now somewhat safe cargo with me and used Presence Detection to navigate my way back to the main street. Many eyes gave me suspicious stares as I quickly made my way back to the Leaves in Sunlight Inn.

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