Goddess’s Manuscript (II)

Goddess's Manuscript (II)
Goddess's Manuscript (II)NameGoddess's Manuscript (II)
Type (Ingame)Quest Item
Familyloc_fam_book_family_6969327, Non-Codex Series
RarityRaritystr
DescriptionA handwritten manuscript penned by a fairytale writer. For some reason, there is a hole in the paper that resembles...

Item Story

...
Wise Antonio, in the basement\nof the crumbling house,
began reading the ancient book\nhe had found. His oil
lamp shook from time to time\nas the swaying structure above-ground
collapsed.
The village was to be symbolically razed\nby the dragon, and he
had been chosen by the dragon,\nfor he had not returned home. But
Antonio did not care.\nHe only wished to study
the book the old lady had given him\non the bridge he passed today.
This book was titled the\n"Radiant█C█arter," and within
was re█or██d all the rules that\nevery bei███in Simulanka
must follow. It was written in the language\nof world's creation at the very start,
and if Antonio was not possessed of\nextraordinary wisdom, and deciphered this
primordial text, there would have been\nno study to be had.
This book recorded no solutions\nas to resolving the difficulty
that Constellation Satellite\npresently faced, nor did it contain\nany hexes that could aid
Antonio in repairing his own home.\nBut he knew
that wisdom was the mightiest thing\nin the world.
The morning light shone through\nthe ruins of his home, and the neighboring
blacksmith and chubby chief took\ngreat pains to get rid of the house's
wreckage, which blocked the basement hatch.
With dark circles about his eyes,\nAntonio said to the chubby chief:
"I shall defeat the dragon.\nI will return soon."
"Are you sure you're alright?\nYou don't look like you got any sleep."
"Just smoke from the oil lamp.\nDon't worry about it."
...
The dragon sat atop a mountain\nof treasures, gazing down
at insignificant little Antonio walking\ncloser. Flames gathered
in its throat, preparing to burn\nthe area one centimeter before him,
all the better to scare this puny,\nfoolish creature away.
"Halt! I'm a qualified 2nd-class Meister!
The 'Radiant Charter' states that\nshould I refuse a duel, you cannot
use force."
This restriction did indeed exist,\nand so the wicked dragon
swallowed its flames whole — ah, how it\ndreaded going to the toilet tomorrow.
Antonio, for his part, had not expected\nthat the 2nd-class
rust-clearing Meister qualification exam he\nhad taken on a lark would come in useful.
"And since I am a 2nd-class\nMeister, I propose
a duel of riddles. You cannot refuse!"
Now, Simulanka had just such a law, mainly
for the benefit of sphinxes, old sages, and
princesses who wished to make life hard for\nothers. The evil dragon had not expected
this rule to catch up with it.
"I shall ask the first question:\nMy house sold for 8,000 Mora yesterday
But I thought there was room\nto raise the price, so I
bought it back for 9,000,\nplanning to sell it for 10,000.
How much Mora did I lose in the end?"
The dragon laughed in contempt.\n"What's so hard about that?
You could have waited until\nit hit 10,000 to make your move,
But you sold for 8,\nand bought for 9, so you
lost 1,000 Mora, that you\ncould have earned instead!"
"Wrong. You burned my house\ndown yesterday, and I couldn't
sell it in time, so I've lost far more."
"S—Sorry. I mean,\nI do have to burn a house, and you
happened not to be home,\nso I might as well hit one that doesn't
result in any loss of life."
"Now that you've lost this\ncontest, I have the right
to loot of the same value\nas your life, minus 1 Mora.
And considering that\nyou've burned my house, I can
seek damages. Let's assume that\nmy house is worth just 1 Mora...
Well, then, wicked dragon,\nyou know what to do with yourself."
"P—Please spare me. I'll give you
anything!"
"Your words, not mine," Antonio said
as he pulled out a contract\nhe had written long ago.
...
Thus did Antonio use his\nwisdom to take all the evil
dragon's treasures.\nThe dragon, devastated, would never
again return to attack\nConstellation Satellite,\nwhere Antonio lived.
Many years later, a child asked Antonio:
"You sold your place for 8,000\nand spent 9,000 buying it back,
so it looks like you actually\ndid lose 1,000 Mora?"

A.A.

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