Chapter 56: Released

Duoya didn’t say anything, nor did she get up from the bed, because she knew she wasn’t in good shape.

After Su You finished speaking, the two of them fell silent. Seeing this, Su You decided not to stay any longer—not only would it be a waste of time, but it might also disturb Duoya’s rest and recovery.

“Get some good rest. If you need anything, you can ask Doli for help.” As she finished, Su You seemed to remember something and added, “Oh, right, this is the white ermine you brought back. I’ll just leave it here.”

Su You was worried that Duoya might get out of bed for the ermine and worsen her injuries, so she specifically picked up the white ermine from the other bed, showed it to her, and then put it back.

The reason she didn’t leave it right next to Duoya was mainly because she was afraid the ermine would get restless, run and jump around, and end up hurting Duoya.

The white ermine, being picked up and put down for no apparent reason, looked utterly resigned to its fate. But it was clearly used to being handled this way, so even though Su You’s grip was uncomfortable, it didn’t make a sound.

It might not know that Su You was the master here, but it certainly understood that she was not someone it could afford to mess with.

When Duoya saw the ermine, she was momentarily stunned, and what she said next caught Su You off guard as well.

“If Lord Su finds it troublesome to keep, then just let it go.”

Let it go?

Wasn’t this her ermine?

Su You felt like something was off, but seeing how exhausted Duoya looked—and since she was about to head out herself—she didn’t have time to clarify.

Before leaving the room, Su You took the ermine with her. She had kept it because she thought it belonged to Duoya, but since that wasn’t the case, she figured she’d do as Duoya said and set it free.

It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford to feed the little thing, but Su You always felt that keeping such a pet was just a hassle.

But the usually docile ermine seemed to sense something. As Su You carried it toward the edge of the territory…

“Ch-ch-ch!!!”

The previously quiet ermine suddenly started struggling desperately, letting out pitiful cries.

Su You frowned, now even more convinced she should get rid of it.

Something that was nothing but cute, served no other purpose, and was this noisy—Su You definitely wasn’t going to keep a second one.

Just as it hadn’t been able to resist Su You’s rough handling before, the ermine couldn’t resist her intention to “let it go” now.

She set it down on the ground. Although its feet finally touched solid earth, its heart felt emptier than ever.

The ermine looked up at the human who had abandoned it here and was now walking away without a backward glance. It wanted to follow, but knowing it would just be left behind again, it ultimately stayed where it was.

……

……

“This is a wooden spear. Try it out and see if it works for you.” Su You handed the wooden spear to Lyle, and while he was testing it, she took out the gauntlets Doli had made earlier and gave them to Lake.

Lake looked at the gauntlets in surprise.

“For me?” he asked, pointing at himself in disbelief.

Su You raised an eyebrow and tossed the gauntlets into his arms. “Who else? You think I’d use them?”

With her small frame, if she tried to punch a ghost skeleton, she’d probably just tickle it—or break her own hand.

Lake couldn’t see the equipment’s stats, but he had a good eye and could tell at a glance that the gauntlets were quality gear.

He put them on and gave a few test swings, his eyes shining with delight.

Not only were the gauntlets well-made, but most importantly, they fit his hands perfectly!

A weapon’s power is useless if it doesn’t suit you. To find one that’s both powerful and a perfect fit—that’s true luck!

“Don’t worry, Lord Su! With these gauntlets, I can take down two—no, three ghost skeletons at once!”

Lyle, who had just finished testing the wooden spear and was about to speak to Su You, gripped the spear tighter when he heard this, struggling to suppress the urge to smack his brother.

Idiot…

Lyle knew Lord Su probably wouldn’t take Lake’s words seriously, but that didn’t stop him from cursing his foolish brother in his heart.

It’s bad enough that he’s dumb, but what’s worse is that he can’t keep his mouth shut—he always spills everything in just a few sentences.

“How’s the spear?” Su You asked, seeing that Lyle was silent after trying it out and thinking there might be a problem.

If there’s an issue, it’s best to fix it now. Once they’re out, having to run back and forth for equipment would just be a waste of time.

There’s a joke among players: “The first thing you do when you go out is go back home.” But it’s best if that doesn’t happen too often.

“It’s good, just not as sharp as I’d like, but it’ll do,” Lyle replied seriously.

It wasn’t as sharp as a metal weapon, but since it was made of wood, that was to be expected. For a wooden weapon, it was already quite good.

As long as it’s usable, that’s enough.

Su You nodded, then took out the prepared leather armor from her backpack.

She actually had a full set of leather armor and an extra leather tunic. The full set had been reinforced by Doli, while the single tunic was pieced together from leftover materials.

Because of limited materials, the single tunic was of average quality, but it was still better than nothing.

“There’s not much, just these. You two can divide them as you see fit.” Originally, Su You had planned to keep the leather tunic for herself, thinking she’d be acting alone.

But now that she had muscle, it made sense to equip them—after all, the better protected they were, the more likely she’d achieve her goals.

Of course, Su You wasn’t going to go completely unprepared herself—she still had a trump card for self-defense.

She only had one of these, and it was reserved for herself. But if possible, Su You hoped she’d never have to use it.

……

After some “friendly” negotiation between the brothers, Lyle ended up with the reinforced leather tunic (8+5), giving him a defense of 13, while Lake got the regular leather tunic (8) and the reinforced leather pants (5+2), for a total defense of 15.

Lake’s gauntlets also had 5 defense, but weapon defense is calculated differently from armor defense—so you can’t just add them together. So, Lake’s real effective defense was 15, not 20.

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