Volume 3 Chapter 5 The Golden Eye and the Silver Sword
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”What’s this?”
I muttered without thinking when I got up in the morning and checked the outside image.
The landscape outside was a snowy scene, no, a white feather scene.
The white feathers of the Hitchcocks covered the ground, turning it white.
It’s not surprising since it was already starting to look like that yesterday.
More concerning are the droplets scattered on the feather-covered ground.
Countless glistening, jelly-like transparent blobs are scattered across the white plain.
”Is that, Acid Gel?”
The acidic slime, which usually collects in hollows and mimics a lake, has come onto land.
Maybe it overflowed because of the sheer number of Hitchcock carcasses.
If you look closely, you can see birds being digested inside the transparent slime.
A bit gross.
And as Gaedaf said, it digests the flesh but leaves behind the hard parts like bones, beaks, and feathers.
”Wow, so many Hitchcock feathers!”
Tifi, who had been peeping from behind, spoke up.
”One of those feathers is worth about 10,000 Aurum.”
No way.
How many tens of thousands are there in total?
Could it be worth billions of Aurum?
”Each beak and talon is worth 500,000 and 250,000 Aurum respectively. Of course, if this many hit the market, prices would plummet for sure.”
…Yeah, I guess so.
Can’t be helped.
Besides, it’s not realistic to collect all those.
Just thinking about the hassle of gathering the feathers gives me a headache.
Not to mention, the Love Hotel is buried under bird feathers.
Might as well pick up a small amount of the good stuff.
There’s something else we need to confirm.
”Hasa seems to be missing.”
The screen only shows the Hitchcock carcasses and the slime dissolving them.
The figure of the grey-haired madman is nowhere to be seen.
”Alright, Lifia, let’s set out early today.”
”Yes!”
Lifia replied energetically.
If Hasa is still alive, we definitely need to deal with him.
With that decision, I started preparing.
* * *
Lifia and I quickly finished breakfast and got ready to leave.
”You didn’t spill any Viper drink, did you?”
Tifi calls out to me worriedly.
After yesterday’s mess, the Viper drink is now strictly a hazardous substance.
”It’s fine. I took a bath and my clothes are clean. I even brushed my teeth properly.”
I answer with confidence.
The smell of Viper extract should be completely gone.
There’s no way I’ll cause that ruckus again.
Besides, I’ve been drinking it for ages without any problems, so I should be okay.
”Alright, let’s begin.”
Lifia opens the door a crack and starts her spirit magic scan.
Lifia’s detection magic mainly comes in 2 types.
One is for finding living beings.
The other is for sending wind to probe the terrain and the shape of objects.
However, neither is all-powerful.
The living detection can only sense things that are alive, and the shape detection lacks precision, making it hard to find things like people lying on the ground.
Moreover, against someone like Hasa who can bypass detection magic, there’s no guarantee of capturing them for sure.
That’s why it’s essential for Lifia to be even more careful with her scans.
By combining living and shape detection, using short-range high precision and long-range low precision, we gather as much information as possible.
”Mooluum, explore…eavesdrop…Ex Vent…”
Lifia sweats on her forehead, concentrating on chanting the spell.
After a while, a slight look of relief washes over her face.
”Master, Hasa is not near us. I’m quite sure.”
”I see. Anything else?”
”Instead, there were 5 members of the ‘Star of the Dawn’.”
The Star of the Dawn, those adventurers we met yesterday.
They must be here to investigate that commotion.
That chaos with the crazy birds yesterday was quite noticeable.
”Also, at their feet… I sensed something humanoid, like a body.”
”I see.”
If that humanoid is Hasa, maybe the Star of the Dawn defeated Hasa.
Or did they just find Hasa lying there?
Either way, we need to confirm.
”Let’s go check it out first. Let’s see the situation.”
”Yes!”
”Please… be careful, really.”
Tifi still looks uneasy, but I nod lightly to reassure her.
”Yeah, I know.”
We left Tifi behind and moved past the Love Hotel.
Our destination was the Star of the Dawn, and a place where Hasa might be.
We began to carefully step forward, onto a plain covered with white feathers.
The deeper we went, the thicker the sea of feathers became, making it hard to see our feet.
But if I looked closely, I could see something glowing among the slimes.
”Is that… a sword?”
I stopped and moved closer to the shiny silver object.
Picking it up, I found it was a sword.
”This must be something Hasa used.”
Lifia whispered softly.
The sword was surprisingly beautiful.
It was the sword Hasa should have used to slash at the crazy birds yesterday.
I thought it would be stained with blood and full of scratches, but its blade shone like new.
The slimes must have cleaned off the blood and dirt.
What’s unbelievable is that, even after such a fierce battle, there’s not a single nick on the blade.
Its luster is as refined as a piece of art.
The decorated hilt shines silver, almost like it’s reflecting the moonlight.
It gives off a mysterious aura.
”Could it be a really high-quality blade?”
Intrigued, I gave the sword a light swing.
In that moment, a comfortable sensation spread through my hand.
It was as if the sword was a part of me, moving naturally.
The balance of its weight was perfect.
Compared to what I’ve used before, this is a superior sword.
”This might be a good find.”
No joke, it’s a top-notch item.
I can’t even imagine how much it would sell for on the market.
I decided to gratefully accept it.
It’s undoubtedly a first-rate piece.
It might come in handy later on.
With that sword in hand, we continued deeper.
* * *
Before long, we spotted the adventurers of the “Star of the Dawn” party.
They must have noticed our approach.
They were looking this way.
”Oh, it’s you. I wouldn’t have expected to run into you at this timing.”
I shifted my gaze to their feet and saw Hasa lying there, all beat up.
His body was covered with countless wounds, and he looked finished.
”…Did you do this?”
I asked.
”Ah. But I just finished him off. It’s a wonder he was even alive at that point.”
Gaedaf’s answer was unclear.
There was a hint of confusion in his gaze.
”It seems he was already at his limit fighting the Hitchcock. You all saw that commotion, right?”
”Yeah.”
I stared intently at Hasa’s gruesome form.
I needed to know what his last words were.
”Did Hasa say anything at the end?”
”He just babbled about something white, about birds… he was just scared of the Hitchcock. There were no meaningful words. Even the knight who was called the strongest ended up so pitiful.”
”I see.”
I nodded slightly.
That was a relief.
If my information hasn’t leaked, there’s no problem.
Still, Hasa was a knight?
How did he fall to become a wanted criminal?
No, it’s more surprising that this madman was a knight.
Gaedaf’s gaze seemed to probe me.
”Perhaps that ruckus was caused by you all?”
There was doubt in Gaedaf’s words.
”…Why do you think that?”
I tried to act calm as I replied.
”After we parted, a storm of Hitchcocks erupted from that direction. It was like a tornado. And this morning, Hasa came staggering out from that way.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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