Cast Off

Roko woke up the next morning with his head feeling heavy. He wasn't sure if it was just normal fatigue or this blasted crown influencing his mind but he dragged himself out of bed all the same. After a brief breakfast, he walked out of the castle and began to make his way to Treesa's inn. Like Brook said, he had planned on checking if the cursed items had any effects on his party but its been four days since the raid now so he wondered if he'd still observe any effects this late. Walking into the lodge, Roko found Roland and Momo sitting apart from each other, each acting strangely. Worries assuaged, Roko decided to start with Momo who was sitting in the back and still eating her breakfast.

 "Hey Momo."

 "Hey Roko! You eat yet? Want some fries?"

 "I'm good." Roko said as he sat down, "How have you been feeling?"

 "We doing the cursed item check up now?" Momo smiled as she munched on a chicken leg, "Well, I've been feeling fine for the most part. Haven't really noticed much difference."

 "It is kind of late for breakfast though." Roko noted, "Did you wake up late?"

 "No, I was awake at around 7 as usual."

 "So you went on to do your morning training as usual then?"

 "Oh...I haven't done that yet..."

 Roko blinked as Momo munched guiltily on her hamburger.

 "Have you been here eating since 7 A.M?"

 "I mean..." Momo gulped, "W-What time is it now?"

 "Do you not find this weird?"

 "Wellllll...when you put it that way..."

 "Have you talked to Corissa about this yet?"

 "I'll uh...I'll see if she's free..."

 "Good." Roko sighed, "Any other peculiarities?"

 "N-N-No?"

 "Alright. Then what do you have to say about your experience with armament magic?"

 "Right." Momo nodded as she put down her crab soup, "So I think I've noticed a few things."

 "Go on."

 "Armament magic is extremely powerful and having all three active at once was like being a superhuman. But I was right in that it can't be cast on other people. Or at least this necklace wouldn't let me cast it on others. Aside from that, I've noticed that there doesn't seem to be an armament equivalent of your intelligence reinforcement spell."

 "There isn't an armament equivalent of amp?"

 "I don't think armament magic can even replicate a reflect similar to it."

 "That makes sense." Roko nodded, "Armament is basically like creating an armor that supports you with magic right? There isn't really a way to 'arm' your mind."

 "One more thing. Your training doesn't work with armament."

 "My training?" Roko blinked, "You mean attacking with low effort to maximize your reinforcement magic effect?"

 "Yep. Tried it with armament magic and it didn't work."

 "Really?"

 "Yeah, look." Momo picked up a chicken bone she had finished eating, "Armament."

 Momo touched the bone. Nothing happened.

 "Reinforcement. Rally."

 Momo touched the bone again and it cracked and split in two, dropping to the table with a soft thud.

 "Hmmm…" Roko thought over this new revelation.

 "Do you have any idea why?" Momo asked as she resumed eating her riceball.

 "...Energy vs mass?"

 "Say what?"

 "Energy and mass are equivalent factors in the expression of energy. There are several types of energy that composes a human such as kinetic and potential energy. Could reinforcement magic be increasing a certain type of energy in the human body? Whereas armament magic is an increase in mass...no, it's the utilization of magic to create armor around the body. Invisible weightless mass that...no it can't just be mass, it has to be mechanical. Functional constructs that improves the body's natural function. That means using minimal forces wouldn't improve the output of armament magic as the improved mass does nothing if sufficient forces were not applied. In comparison, reinforcement magic, if I'm right, adds potential energy that is expelled through expression. Energy that is expelled regardless of the effort put in. If magic can manipulate energy to such an extent, what else can it-"

 "Interesting." Momo chuckled as she ate a piece of meat with a bone through it, paying only a casual amount of attention.

 "Sorry. My thoughts tend to start running off on their own when I find something interesting."

 "No, it's fine. Makes for fun entertainment while I'm eating anyway." Momo chuckled, "But don't you have others to check up on?"

 "Right, right." Roko sighed, "Where's everyone else?"

 "I mean, Roland's right there."

 "And everyone else?"

 "Haha, gotcha." Momo grinned, "Well, Kaguya and Mikado are up in Kaguya's room."

 "Got it, I'll go there next." Roko said as he stood up.

 "Good luck with that report!" Momo waved.

 "Stop eating already."

 "I-I know!"

 "Kaguya? It's me."

 "Roko? Come in but let's be quiet for the moment."

 Kaguya looked up as Roko walked into her room, her precious knight sleeping soundly in her bed.

 "Mikado still hasn't woken up?" Roko asked in a subdued voice.

 "Well, he been feeling quite tired lately so I let him sleep in." Kaguya smiled.

 "Sleep in? So he's been sleeping here?"

 "Only since last night. He was already nodding off by the time night came around so I suggested he sleep here with me tonight."

 "I see. Then I assume the cursed object..."

 "Yes, those cursed gauntlets have been draining his energy." Kaguya sighed, "It's pretty clear that it has been since the raid if you paid good attention to him but Mikado is also very stubborn so I wouldn't blame you if you didn't."

 "I see. Have you talked to Corissa about removing it?"

 "I plan to. Just as soon as you complete your report." Kaguya replied, "I knew you'd need to observe the side effects for yourself."

 "True. I might have to wake him so he can answer a few questions first. Just to make sure."

 "You're welcome to do that but I don't think you'll get much. Mikado doesn't exactly like seeming vulnerable so I'd expect him to completely refuse to admit there has been any side effects on him."

 "Got it. I'll just write that these gauntlets drain the users of their vitality."

 "Thanks for all your efforts."

 "I'm not doing anything special." Roko sighed, "Mikado was exceptional at the raid. Being able to change the size of his sword was great at mowing down those monsters."

 "Thank you for noticing." Kaguya smiled, "I'm thanking you on Mikado's account since I know he'd probably just brush it off modestly."

 "He really doesn't like showing off does he?"

 "Well after all we've done it's probably best not to draw more attention. Or perhaps I should say, all that I've done."

 "There's still yet more that you've yet to do. If you're so worried about how you'll be remembered, focus on what you can still do."

 "Always ready with the wise words aren't you, Roko?" Kaguya laughed softly, "Don't worry. I'm not nearly old enough to wonder what my legacy will be quite yet. Now, I believe you have some others to interview for this report?"

 "I assume you're going to stay here and look after Mikado?"

 "Someone should greet him when he wakes up." Kaguya smiled, "Don't worry. I have plenty of research to keep me busy."

 Coming out of Kaguya's room and beginning to make his way back down to the lobby, Roko noticed an unfortunate scene unfolding from the balcony.

 "Aaaaahhhhh..." Roland moaned as he laid face down on the table twitching uncontrollably, "It just won't stop..."

 "Hello Roland."

 Roland bolted up as he heard the sound of Corissa approaching him, "Corissa! You're back from shopping already?!"

 "Yes." Corissa said as she handed Varis the rest of the bags she was holding, "Momo's still eating I see so Treesa's going to need to more ingredients."

 "A-Ahahaha...yeah..." Roland's eyes darted around, looking for any signs of interference in the form of Roko or Helena. And right now, he couldn't see either of them, Varis was walking to the kitchen to unload the groceries and Corissa was smiling pleasantly in front of him.

 "Are you okay?" Corissa asked with the most innocent hint of concern, "You seem to be twitching a bit."

 "I-I-I'm fine!" Roland said, trying to look as gallant as possible, "I'm just...a bit sore from that raid."

 "Hasn't it been like four days since then?"

 "I uh...I mean, it's just my muscles." Roland flexed his trembling muscles, "They haven't been the same after using that uh...cursed sword."

 "I see." Corissa frowned, "Should I remove it?"

 "OH! NO! I mean, I-I can handle it." Roland flashed an unconvincing charismatic smile.

 "I...see..." Corissa blinked, "Would you like a massage then?"

 "A...a massage?" Roland gulped.

 "Yes!" Corissa smiled, "I used to do some massages for my mom and dad and they always said I was really good at it! Would you like one?"

 "YES!" Roland cried, "YES PLEASE!"

 "Okay!" Corissa grinned, "Then please relax and lay face down on the table."

 Roland rested the top half of his body over the table, hiding his excitement. Roko sighed and began to make his way back down even faster.

 "S-So..." Roland sighed contently as Corissa began to massage his shoulders, "Why are you doing this for me anyway?"

 "Do I need a reason to help a friend?" Corissa replied with a smile, "Besides, I wanted to thank you for trying to save me back in the raid."

 "Trying to save- oh, you mean that time?" Roland hummed, "That was nothing. I didn't even do anything."

 "I know but I appreciate that you tried so I wanted to do something for you."

 "A-Ahhh..."

 Corissa's pure intentions were creating a modicum of guilt in Roland but it wasn't enough for him to stop what was happening next.

 "Does it feel good?" Corissa asked as she continued to move her hands along Roland's back.

 "Y-y-yeah..." Roland said, his body relaxing from the massage and tightening up in anticipation at the same time, "Can you go a bit deeper?"

 "Sure!" Corissa said as she leaned forward to apply more pressure, pressing her breasts against his back. Feeling Corissa's assets pressing against his body, Roland could no longer control his degeneracy as he grinned uncontrollably and began breathing heavily, hiding his face with his arms as he laid on the desk, "Go a little bit deeper, please?"

 "O-Okay!"

 Corissa leaned in forward even more, pushing her breasts firmly against Roland's back as he was now almost hyperventilating in elation.

 "Harder! Harder! I want to feel it even more!"

 "Umm...umm!" Corissa continued to struggle to put in what she believed was insufficient force until someone tapped her on the shoulder and she stepped back.

 "What's wrong?!" Roland called, "Tired already?! I need you to push even deeper!"

 "Ei!"

 Roland let out an almost cartoonishly loud and painful scream as Momo pushed one finger deep into his body, pushing apart his muscles with a sickening crack.

 "That deep enough for you, Roland?" Momo grinned.

 "I'm sorry..." Roland moaned weakly, "I got carried away."

 "That's right. I don't even know what you were even trying to do." Momo said as she pulled her finger out of Roland's body.

 "Wait, then why-"

 "Corissa, go remove Mikado's gauntlets." Roko said as he tossed his notebook onto the table and plopped himself into the chair across from Roland with a stern look on his face, "I have to talk with this one."

 "Oh! Okay!" Corissa nodded, "I assume you've already talked to Mikado then?"

 "More or less."

 "Alright! Let me know if anyone else wants their cursed objects removed!" Corissa said as she ran off.

 "I mean, I might need you to remove this necklace on me." Momo chuckled as she returned to eating her drumstick, "But maybe after I finish this salad."

 Roland untwisted his body as he pushed himself back up on his chair and pulled a cup of tea closer to him, "Alright then, what do you want?"

 "Well, I was going to ask about your symptoms but..."

 "Yeah, I'm totally fine." Roland said as he picked up his tea and took a sip, his hand shuddering quite noticeably as as held the cup in midair.

 "Oh really?"

 "HELL NO!" Roland cried as he slammed his teacup back onto the platter, spilling a few drops of tea over the table, "These goddamn shakes just never goes away! It made sense when I was using the sword, the damn thing just vibrates with power, but I haven't even touched the sword in days and I'm still shaking like crazy!"

 "Sounds rough. Can't imagine what that's like."

 "You don't even sound a little bit sympathetic!" Roland cried, "Are we even sure Waur used this?! This seems like a pretty big side effect!"

 "Well, I didn't see Waur trembling but he did have the sword on him." Roko noted, "I assume he just never used it or needed to use it."

 "So this should subside eventually right?!"

 "Maybe. Any other effects to note?" Roko asked as he began writing in his book.

 "Yeah, my muscles are just so swollen." Roland flexed his muscles proudly.

 "Oh that's a shame. If I recall correctly, Helena doesn't like overly muscular men."

 Roland's face fell drastically as he recalled Helena saying that, "D-Does Corissa...like muscles?"

 "You want me to ask?"

 "...Maybe?"

 "...Yeah sure, I can ask."

 "Really?!"

 "Could be useful information to know. For all the attention she gets, we never did actually ask what kind of men Corissa's actually into. We all just figured it's Varis."

 "Wait, Varis?" Roland frowned.

 "Yeah." Roko said, "It's pretty obvious. Who else would it be?"

 "...Yeah." Roland replied blankly, "Yeah it's gotta be Varis."

 "Alright then, all that's left is Helena." Roko shut his notebook and tucked it away, "Any idea where she is?"

 "Last I checked, she went for a walk with Klaus. They should be in the main square."

 "Any hints on what she's suffering from?" Roko asked as he stood up.

 "Oh, it'll be obvious."

 In the main square, Roko spotted Helena standing next to a fountain tossing coins in mindlessly.

 "Feeling charitable today?" Roko asked as he walked up to her.

 "Oh! Roko!" Helena cried, "Wow, you're looking for me already? I figured I'd be back at the lodge before you finish up with everyone else."

 "Well, all their symptoms were pretty simple and straightforward." Roko sighed, "Speaking of, what are you wearing?"

 "Oh, this?" Helena smiled softly as she looked down at her heavy winter coat, scarf and gloves, "Just some stuff I borrowed from Kaguya, Was feeling a bit cold so I put them on."

 "It's getting pretty close to autumn but it's not nearly that cold right now." Roko frowned, "Shall I wager a guess?"

 "Hmm, do tell."

 "The ring's lowering your body temperature?"

 "Bingo." Helena laughed, "Pretty weird for a side effect right?"

 "Is it dangerous?"

 "Hmmmmm..." Helena pretended to think about it with a playful smile on her face, "Probably. If this keeps up and my body temperature drops low enough, I might die."

 "I see." Roko noted in his book.

 "But seriously, Waur had like five of these on? How'd he deal with all the side effects?"

 "Well, Waur is an orc." Roko mused, "His constitution must be different from us humans. Plus it might've been easy for him to accommodate the side effects with his lifestyle."

 "Wait, really?"

 "Well yeah. In your case, how do you think an orc would combat dropping body temperatures?"

 "Ummm...exercise maybe?"

 "Close. What kind of exercise do you think an orc would do often?"

 "...Oh." Helena said blankly as she realized where Roko was going.

 "Of course that's just speculation." Roko continued writing in his book, "Though I'll have to write this into the report as well."

 "Sounds like a fun read. Can I read it later?"

 "Sure, why not?"

 "Yippie!"

 "Where's Klaus by the way?"

 "Oh he's just wandering around on his own. People kept trying to pet him so he teleported away. Wanna see him?" Helena asked as she put her fingers to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle.

 Immediately, Klaus suddenly appeared right next to her, looking up at Roko with a wagging tail.

 "When did you teach him to do that?" Roko said as he knelt down to give Klaus his head pats.

 "Didn't need to teach him anything." Helena smiled, "Klaus is smart like that."

 "He is."

 "Give him some extra pets for me. I can't do it right now."

 "Why?"

 "Hands too cold." Helena chuckled, "And the gloves don't exactly feel good."

 "Right, well you'll be able to take that ring off soon now."

 "Hmmmm...should I though?"

 "You don't want to take it off?" Roko stood up with a concerned raised brow.

 "It's just...this more than doubles the number of spells I know. And my ice spells are even stronger too. You saw me ice that entire door. Can't do that with your training. I can just do so much more now and I could live with these side effects if I use it carefully."

 "You just admitted it could kill you."

 "Like I said, if I used it carefully."

 Roko sighed, "Helena...go talk to Corissa."

 "To get the ring removed?"

 "That. And Corissa's also been dealing with her own feelings of inadequacies. And she's done less than you by far. I've spoken to her about this and while I don't mind repeating them to you, Corissa would be delighted to help you out herself."

 "You really think she feels like that? After saving literally everybody in the raid?"

 "Do you know Corissa?"

 "Yeah, you're right." Helena snickered, "Alright, I'll take your advice and go talk to Corissa about a variety of things. Want me to take Klaus home?"

 "I have a report to write so I'll leave him to you."

 "Got it. Come on boy."

 Klaus whined sadly as he followed Helena back towards the lodge. Roko looked down at his book of notes and sighed, "First the report...and then..."

 In the days to come, Roko would complete his report and had it given to Rivera and Brook. Corissa had also freed her friends from their respective magical items and returned them to the elves as well. All except for one. Immediately after submitting his report, Roko would dive directly into a fervorous study. Something that everyone was used to at this point but no one expected as his magical studies seemed to have moved onto field practice. But from what little they could gleam from the things he was studying...it was utterly eclectic. From practical military tactics to magical theories to even scientific physics. Everyone understood that Roko was preparing for something but what it is or what it's for, no one could definitively guess. But the most concerning issue was that this study has gone on for nearly four days now...without Roko ever seeming to take a single moment for sleep.

 "He's going to die!" Corissa yelped.

 "Ah, he'll be fine." Helena smiled, "He knows what he's doing."

 "As much as I'd like to have confidence in Roko, he doesn't really know how to stop when it comes to his own health." Momo chuckled.

 "He really does tend to overwork himself." Kaguya sighed, "And for what reason? We don't even know this time."

 "Helena, you talked to Roko right?!" Corissa cried.

 "Yeah. I mean he was still reading while I was there and he wasn't quite keen on conversing but I talked to him."

 "What was he writing about?" Kaguya asked.

 "He said it was just a collection of tactics and ideas." Helena shrugged, "From what I could gleam it was for all sorts of situations and scenarios. He really seems to be trying to account for any problem we come across in the future."

 "Is he worried we might not survive our next encounter with the eldritch monsters again?" Momo asked.

 "That's what I'm assuming. We were in really dire straights last time and something like that would definitely stick to someone like Roko."

 "Did he say anything about whenever he slept any recently?" Corissa asked, worried.

 "He said 'no but it's fine' basically."

 "Well you told him off right?!"

 "Sure did."

 "Good." Corissa sighed, "He probably isn't listening though..."

 "Wait, what did you tell him?" Kaguya frowned.

 "I told him to give me a copy of his book once he's done!" Helena grinned.

 "THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD'VE SAID!" Corissa exploded, "You should've told him to go to sleep!"

 "Hey, he's old enough to make his own decisions." Helena chuckled.

 "Helena, I know you're worried about Roko as well so can we bring the joking down a notch?" Momo sighed.

 "Alright, alright." Helena said, "I know this is a little weird but what can we do about it?"

 "Why do you think he's doing it?" Kaguya asked.

 "Umm, cause he's a worrywart? Didn't we go over that?"

 "But what about that thing over his head?"

 "OH! Oh damn, I completely forgot about that."

 "How'd you forget that Roko has a cursed object on his head?!" Corissa yelled.

 "I mean it just suits him so much!" Helena shrugged, "But you really think the crown's influencing him?"

 "Seems likely." Kaguya nodded, "Rivera and Brook seem to think so too."

 "Well...alright. But how do you think we should go about removing it?"

 "I have an idea." Corissa said.

 Roko was walking back to his room late one evening. The library had closed for the day so he could no longer do any research but he had to sort through all this information anyway. He had gleamed a lot but putting them in order and placing them into practical use was an exercise that seemed to never end. The more he prepared the more scenarios he realized he hadn't prepared for and would need to return to the library to research the next day. Same went for all the new ideas and uses he thought of. He was on the verge of something big but even that was only one small part of his research. His body was running ragged on pure adrenaline at this point but he felt like he could keep going for another night or three. And this was important so he couldn't afford to stop no-

 "Peekaboo!" A voice called out from behind him as two hands wrapped around his eyes, "Guess who!"

 "...What do you want, Corissa?" Roko sighed.

 "Oh, just wanted to check in on you." Corissa said as she lifted her hands.

 "I was just going to go to sleep."

 "Don't you lie to me."

 "Shouldn't you be going to sleep too?" Roko scowled.

 "I will. Just as soon as I do one last thing. Holy!"

 As Corissa was lifting her hands, she suddenly grabbed onto the Intellect Coronet and lifted it from Roko's head. As if an overwhelmingly big burden was suddenly lifted from his body and spirit, Roko's tired body collapsed instantly onto the ground, knocked into what was a deep coma at this point.

 "We did it!" Corissa called as the rest of her friends popped out from around the corner, "Now to get Roko to a bed. And keep him there."