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The party waits with bated breath as Ibara works at the lock of the chest with her picks. The chest itself is plain and unadorned, but the lock is a complex one that involved a magical component that Chika had to untangle before Ibara could even take a stab at the physical mechanism, and it lies at the bottom of one of the deepest and most dangerous dungeons they've gone through, so they expect to find either a lot of treasure, or something very rare. Or both. They certainly wouldn't say no to both.
At last the lock gives a soft click, and Ibara opens the chest to reveal the interior teeming with absolute nothingness, gapingly empty but for…
"A key?" she says in disbelief, handing the disproportionately tiny object up to Shin'ichirou.
Just like the chest that held it, the key is utterly unremarkable to the naked eye, the metal dull and scuffed with age, but Shin'ichirou can feel the faint thrum of magic pulsing deep within it.
"Oh, well done, team!" a muffled voice says. Startling, Shin'ichirou slaps the key into Misao's hand and swings his pack around to hastily dig out the crystal ball, its usually bluish surface reflecting the beatifically beaming face of the old wizard Audie. "You have found the enchanted key that, when wielded by one who is pure of heart, can lift any curse! It's an ancient artifact, and only one exists like it in the world. With this in hand, no curse shall give you trouble!"
"Any curse?" Shin'ichirou asks, flicking his eyes up to Misao, who raises an eyebrow in interest. "On the way to Somerfell Tower, we were besieged by a legion of magicked brooms that seemed very eager to sweep us off the side of the cliff, so we've just been exploring and doing side quests until we can either figure out how to neutralize them or find another way around."
The old wizard's expression falters. "Oh dear. Ah, are they perhaps chained? Is there a lock of any sort somewhere on them?"
"No, sir. It's a lot of free-flying aggressive broomsticks."
"Ahh… erm, well. Anyway, good luck, my brave hero!" Audie says, his smile attaining its previous wattage as he skirts the subject. "Remember—with your righteous heart, firm resolve, and this enchanted key, no evil can stand in your way! Cheerio!"
With that, his image winks out, and the crystal ball goes dark once more. Shin'ichirou lets it fall gracelessly back into his pack with a scowl.
"Ah, yes, it can break any curse," Misao says flatly, uncaring whether the wizened wizard can still hear them, "except for those not involving a lock. Which is most of them."
"He's the one who gave me this quest, you'd think he'd be less unhelpful," Shin'ichirou mutters uncharitably.
"You ever get the feeling he's a little…" Yuni starts, and then makes a little twirling motion with one finger by his temple.
"Every wizard I've run into was at least a little bit," Chika says sagely. Yuni gives them a wary look. "I'm a mage, not a wizard! There's a difference!"
As Yuni nods slowly, clearly disbelieving them, Shin'ichirou and Chika both sigh, but for different reasons. Accepting the enchanted key back from Misao, Shin'ichirou slips it into the pocket with other small magical trinkets and slings his pack back over his shoulder.
"Well, time to head back to town," he says, and starts the long, winding trek back up to the mouth of the dungeon, the rest of the party trailing after him in varying degrees of disgruntlement.