Night Ranger

From what Marvin remembered, one thing that he really needed to find was an Artifact called the Alchemy Box.

In the game, the Alchemy Box had been obtained by a large guild, which had used it to create the first player-made Artifact.

And that Alchemy Box was said to be hidden in the Snake Witch’s laboratory.

Marvin cautiously followed the path around the laboratory, making his way around some obviously dangerous items before reaching a small room.

This room was clearly different from the other rooms.

Most rooms in the cabin had windows and had Wizard Fire inside to light them.

After all, the Snake Witch was a Human that had been born on the surface, and it was very difficult to change the living habits of the surface.

There was no doubt about that.

But this small room was windowless on all sides without anything lighting it.

With the door closed, if not for Marvin having Darksight, he might not have been able to see the surroundings.

’Eh? This is mercury?’

’Smearing mercury in all the corners of the room? Why?’

Marvin felt that this was a bit promising as he realized that he might have found the key location.

He didn’t know what the Alchemy Box looked like, but it would make sense for the Artifact to be in a special location.

Could it be that the box would be harmed when exposed to light?

Marvin walked around the small room, gradually taking on an odd expression.

This was definitely a strange room.

The walls had been painted with a strange mix of medicine and mercury, and the room was sealed so that no wind or light could enter.

Aside from the small door he had entered through, there was no exit.

In the entire room, besides a small table in the middle, there was nothing else.

"This place feels like a cage..." Marvin muttered.

He slowly walked over to the wooden table and noticed some queer decorative designs on its surface.

He was a bit curious, and thus got closer so that he could inspect them.

But as he drew near, those decorative designs started hovering into the air, turning into an exaggerated smiling face!

Marvin immediately prepared himself for any possible issues!

The bright radiance suddenly spiked in intensity and pricked his eyes, making him lose his sight!

[Blind]!

’Fuck! This is bad!’

A whistling sound passed by his ear, which he felt like was caused by something rushing for the door.

Marvin sneered.

Even if he lost his sight and the other side was very fast, he could rely on the obvious sound to guess where it was!

Marvin burst over in an instant!

That thing was fast, but Marvin was even faster!

Post-Godly Dexterity!

That shadow was appalled when Marvin managed to reach the front of the door and grab it with his right hand!

"What!"

A somewhat familiar-sounding sharp voice came out from the darkness. "You are courting death! Release me right this instant!"

"I finally got an opportunity to flee from that perverted old hag’s confinement, and now a filthy thief like you actually dares to offend the great me!"

"Unhand me now, foul knave!"

Marvin was startled.

He clearly could feel that he had grabbed something like a box, but that box apparently could actually talk!

What Marvin found even stranger was that the box’s voice sounded a bit familiar.

Although he was still blinded right now, he could already feel it.

This talking box was most likely the rumored Alchemy Box!

A treasure that could make Artifact was quite unusual, as expected!

Marvin grabbed the box in his hands and was now groping its surface.

The box had a very ordinary shape... just like a box, but it seemed to have a pair of soft wings.

No wonder that thing could fly!

However, Marvin’s actions completely infuriated the lively Magic Box. It yelled resentfully, "Where do you think you are touching?!"

"Disgusting thief! Let me go, those aren’t places that you can touch!"

"Ah... It tickles! Aaarrrghhh, I knew it! All the Humans in this godforsaken place are perverts! That old crone was like that, and now this damn thief is also like that!"

"Wuwuwu... Poor Wilson, how could I have such a bad luck!"

Marvin remained silent and stony-faced despite the complaints and sobs of the Magic Box.

He was inwardly searching his memory for where he had heard the voice before when he suddenly shivered.

After a bit of hesitation, he asked, "I wonder if you know a man that like dresses like a peacock?"

The box answered disdainfully, "I’ve lived for over a millennium, so what kind of man I haven’t seen? But... I guess I’ve never seen a man that dresses like a peacock... Who could possibly have such bad taste, anyways..."

"Hold on!" the box shouted.

Marvin clearly noticed a bit of wavering in the Alchemy Box’s voice as it inquired, "The peacock man you’re asking about, does he have this pocket with him that he can pull a lot of strange things out of?"

Marvin thought back to his time in his territory.

During the attack on Sword Harbor, the self-declared "World’s Greatest Alchemist" had reportedly taken out some strange Alchemy items from his pocket.

He was even able to freeze the surface of the sea.

That strange, nameless Alchemist.

His voice seemed to be identical to that of the Magic Box, so Marvin had decided to ask if there was a connection. It wasn’t that Marvin paid special attention to that guy, but his voice was rather distinctive, like that of a really pretentious guy.

Marvin had always felt that there was something really odd about that guy, but he was sure that the memory loss wasn’t fake, and in the end, he’d decided to let him remain in White River Valley.

He’d never expected to hear that voice again in a place like this!

It felt way too miraculous.

Marvin’s sight slowly recovered and he looked at the Magic Box’s outline.

"More or less," Marvin hesitantly said, "he claimed that he was an Alchemist, but he seems a bit unreliable."

"You saw him?!" The Magic Box’s voice took on a tone of pleasant surprise.

"He is in my territory. He could be considered..." Marvin frowned, not knowing quite how to describe that peacock guy, before deciding to tell the straightforward truth. "He’s basically an unreliable freeloader that doesn’t do any useful work."

The Magic Box remained silent.

"What’s the relationship between you two?" Marvin curiously asked.

By now, his sight had fully recovered.

He could clearly see the Magic Box’s delicate outline. It was a simple cube with wings spreading from opposite sides and a silvery-white mirror on the surface.

There was a fleshy face in the mirror, just like a person’s.

The face in the mirror suddenly was choked with sobs again, and it lasted for a while.

After it calmed, it said in a rough voice, "He is my dad... Hell... I thought he already died..."

Marvin was stunned.

...

In a corner of the laboratory, Marvin was sitting next to the Magic Box as he listened to the latter’s tale of hardships and suffering. He even felt some sympathy for the little guy.

"That lunatic, do you know how crazy that old hag was? She asked me to transform Artifacts every day... Dammit! Although Wilson is a superior Alchemy Box, it’s not like I can lay golden eggs like a hen when fed!"

"She kept giving me poisons and weird things to "help" me, hoping that I would give her something good..."

"Hmpf... I just gave her a bunch of trash."

"But she didn’t give up, she persevered and kept giving me nauseating things every day... What Bugbear liver? What Wyvern pancreas? Bat claws and eyeballs... I was going freaking crazy! Losing my damn mind!"

"The worst part was that she kept asking me one thing every day, whether she was the most beautiful woman of all... Naturally, I could only compromise..."