Volume 4 Chapter 47 Curse of Bugs ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Morning sunlight poured down on the sea as they flew on the wyvern golem.
It was just past seven a.m., and the air warmed by the sun over the island’s coast turned into a gentle wind that pushed against Kian and Rou’s backs.
”Rou. Once again, good job.”
Kian smiled at the young man from the East who sat opposite, tearing bread and tossing it into his mouth.
”I never thought you’d find a buyer in such a short time.”
”No, no, this much is nothing. Ah, of course, the eight hundred is in Gold Coins, not Silver Coins. We’re talking about the sword and crown given as a war victory gift to General Asterios decades ago. Silver Coins would be too cheap.”
”The buyer paid in cash?”
”Of course. Didn’t the guild master specify that? That’s why it took me a little time to find a buyer.”
”A little time? You left only three days ago.”
Kian handed him a bottle of wine.
”How did you even find the buyer?”
”In an ancient cavern in a cove on Water Island, there’s a hidden spot where dark trades are done. On the surface it looks like a Chatillon-style casino and restaurant, run by an Eastern man like me. That man has connections to underground auctions in Chatillon. I was sure he’d bite if I mentioned Asterios’s relics. Chatillon has plenty of rich collectors. The Count of Chatillon himself is one.”
”So the man you’ll trade with tonight is that Eastern guy?”
”No. When I told him, he asked me to wait… apparently there are clients who want to deal directly, without going through auction. They go by nicknames, of course. One is ‘Sand Knight,’ the other ‘Illusion.’”
”‘Sand Knight,’ ‘Illusion….’ The second one’s kind of cool.”
”Yes, indeed.”
”I should get a nickname too. How about… Phantom Breaker, the shadow destroyer?”
Rou’s face stiffened for a moment, then he smiled again and spoke.
”As expected of the guild master. But if the name stands out too much, you’ll get famous in the underworld. To avoid trouble, it’d be better to pick something more harmless.”
”Then maybe… Dark Breaker Black Swordsman, the jet-black swordsman who smashes the darkness. I just want ‘black’ in there—it sounds cool.”
”…As expected. But that’s too long. Maybe something safer, like a food name. Coffee Black, for example.”
”Well, I guess the name doesn’t matter. Fine, I’ll be Coffee Black.”
Coffee Black was easy to call, had a cool and mature vibe, and the minimal feel gave it a sense of practicality.
The jet-black swordsman who smashes the darkness was cool too, but the name was a mouthful and signing it would take too long—practically a failing grade.
”So the crown and sword aren’t being bought by the same person, huh. Well, no surprise. With sixteen hundred Gold Coins, it’d take days for one person to withdraw it alone.”
”Exactly. At this pace I’ll keep spreading the buyers out and cashing in the other goods. The sword and crown were the hardest to move because of their historical value. The rest should go smoothly.”
”I just hope Crete’s banks have enough Gold Coins… The buyers should be merchants based in Chatillon, Phoenicia, Nile, Beirut—coastal cities along Azrael.”
When Kian said that, Rou curved his lips in a faint smile.
”Neither ‘Sand Knight’ nor ‘Illusion’ are Crete merchants. They had Gold Coins loaded on their ships, so Crete’s bank holdings won’t be much affected.”
Then Rou added,
”Crete is on the verge of war with the old Azrael factions. The royal hoard of Gold Coins will flow out to Crete’s wealthy. War’s approach will fatten some merchants’ purses and loosen their strings. We should aim for Crete’s merchants—especially magicians or alchemists dealing in weapons and magic tools.”
”I see. Seems you know more about selling than I do. I’ll leave future trades to you. Keep it up. If you ever need muscle, just say so. I’ll deploy like this time.”
”Thank you very much.”
Rou went on to explain the trade in detail.
According to him, the exchange would happen tonight at ten.
To enter the casino that was the venue, any country’s clothes were fine, but they had to be formal and high quality. Kian’s tidy sailor-like shirt and bottoms would get him turned away. But Rou had already arranged for a rental outfit that fit him. By evening, if he changed into Crete’s traditional formal wear, he’d be ready.
It was just like Linca’s brother to notice such details.
Travel by ferry to Water Island took hours, but with the wyvern golem, they reached it in just one.
Arriving at high altitude, Kian made the wyvern dive straight down and land on the plateau.
Since they came down near the inner edge, people in the settlement on the plateau might have seen them—but that was fine. If someone said something, he’d deal with it then.
The shack of old Gaius, the corpse handler, was as shabby as ever. The old man puffed on his pipe, looking idle.
What was different was a new black, square building beside the shack—bigger than the shack itself.
The surrounding rock had caved in, showing it was conjured by magic. From the shack came its creator, Leanan Sidhe.
Kian bowed to her, then walked first to Gaius with his pipe to greet him.
”Long time no see, Mr. Gaius.”
”Ohh, the bull has returned! Zeus! O serpent of the sea that brings divine punishment! He is safe!”
”Do you have time now?”
”…Work’s dried up. The government told me not to dump bodies in the sea. Fools. The great currents demand offerings, and the people of Crete must return to the sea when they die. That law must not be ignored.”
”You’re keeping the bodies?”
”Yeah, in the ancient cavern below. But it doesn’t connect to the underworld. Souls still wander here. Magicians froze the bodies, but that just binds the spirits tighter. Left alone, disaster will come.”
”Sir, thank you for lending land to the Kian merchant guild. We’ll need it a little longer. Is that all right?”
”No problem. I hear the Salamander corpse is frozen too—no smell. But remove it eventually. Animal spirits are more savage and dangerous than human ones.”
”Of course.”
Kian nodded. Gaius laid the pipe on his knee and breathed out a long, white cloud.
”To be honest, I’ve been troubled about money since corpse work suddenly stopped. Work will start again eventually, but until then, if you pay rent, I’m grateful. No noise, and that girl brings me food. It actually helps. Use it all you want.”
”Sorry, thank you. —Rou, three Gold Coins for Mr. Gaius.”
”Yes, sir. Elder, please accept these.”
”Ohh! Three Gold Coins! Real ones! Is this okay!?”
Kian nodded with a smile.
”Consider it not just rent but a trouble fee. I hope the order against you is lifted soon.”
”Thanks… thanks…”
The old man went inside with the Gold Coins.
Kian watched him go, then turned to Leanan Sidhe.
”Long time no see, Ms. Leanan Sidhe. I’ve already read the reports and heard from Rou. Seems you’ve had a hard time.”
”Mostly thanks to the general.”
Leanan Sidhe shrugged and pointed to the square building.
”The Salamander’s body is stored there. Out of those the general broke, this one is less damaged. Check it.”
”Understood.”
”Rou, thanks for relaying the message.”
”No, it was just work. I look forward to working with you again, Lady Leanan Sidhe.”
”When this is done, I’ll go back to my mansion. While you’re alive, we’ll never meet again. So there’s no need.”
”But there’s always a chance. Wouldn’t it be awkward if you said never and we met again?”
”As comedy, it’d be amusing. My master might enjoy a script like that.”
”Even awkward reunions become art in your hands, Lady Leanan Sidhe. You truly are an artist.”
While the two talked, they stepped into the simple building.
Inside were only stone-formed desks and chairs.
In the wide space, the only ‘interior’ was the corpse of a dragon-type.
With mouse-gray carapace like a shield, short degenerated wings, a stocky body, and hind legs as thick as Kian’s torso,
its tail was short and head small.
It was without a doubt a Salamander.
But alive, its carapace glowed red hot from lava dives or its own heat—Adventurer Guild pictures showed that state. So seeing the cold, gray body gave a different impression. Kian’s eyes shone at the sight of his first real Salamander corpse, and he crouched before it.
”The general already hunted twenty, but the numbers don’t seem to drop. As the report said, it’s because of their diet.”
Leanan Sidhe entered the building.
”Mineral diet. They eat lava that cooled and hardened, flowing endlessly from the volcano. What they eat is broken down by small symbiotic creatures in their stomachs, and from that they gain power. See how their muscles are so developed? That’s because they digest those tiny stomach creatures that feed on minerals, and from them they get nutrients for muscle.”
”The report also said they eat the corpses of their own kind, and large insect monsters.”
”Exactly. Touch the carapace.”
He did as told and pressed his hand against it.
It didn’t feel like the hide of a dragon-type. It felt like touching mineral.
No, it really was mineral.
On the mouse-gray shell, here and there, red crystalline grains of ore were visible.
”They push the minerals they eat out into their carapace and scales. That’s how they get such sturdy armor. When they glow red-hot, even if the scales are broken, new minerals ooze out from within to regenerate them. It varies by individual, but I saw one replace almost all its abdominal shell within thirty seconds. So the life force of dragon-types is still alive and well.”
”Lady Leanan Sidhe, how was this one killed?”
”The general used the warrior monk technique ‘pierce,’ ignoring the armor and striking the innards directly. Blows and cuts barely work. Kian, hit that weak spot in the carapace.”
”――. This sound…”
”It’s hollow?”
Rou knelt by Kian’s side and leaned in with interest.
As he said, the thinned, brittle spot made a lighter sound under Kian’s iron-hard fist than the rest.
It was clearly the sound of emptiness inside—an inner hollow.
”Salamanders have double-layer defense. Two shells with a layer of air in between. That lets them insulate, endure impacts, hold hot gases for a time, and even though the outer shell is hard, it still lets them move flexibly and swiftly.”
”So normal attacks really don’t work.”
”It’s like punching a cushion made of a cow’s stomach. And when attacked, they heat up, so getting close means burns and death. Fire can’t be blocked even with Physical Ability Enhancement. The dumb brutes in East End who only know how to punch can’t do a thing.”
”They also breathe Scorching Rays and release gas, right?”
Leanan Sidhe nodded.
”Yes. Compared to the general, they’re far slower. But their wide-range burning attacks are deadly. Charging into a group of them is hell.”
”With such powerful combat ability, and with a mineral diet so they don’t lack food, they’re well off. If too many, they thin themselves by cannibalism. If they need meat fast, they eat the countless insect monsters. Not just strong—truly excellent as living beings.”
”Their flaw is these degenerated wings. They can’t fly long distances. Unless Fire Island’s volcanos connect it by land to other islands, they’re basically trapped there forever.”
”Guild master, we should consider countermeasures. First idea—get equipment to deal with the heat of their shots.”
Rou stood up to say it.
”The problem is, powerful gear is tightly controlled by nations and elites. What can we do with what’s on the market, or with equipment that’s legal to request?”
”There’s the option of ordering from Sir Guy in Chatillon. But since becoming the new Count, he’s been too busy. He hasn’t even started the gear we asked for before…”
”What if you ask Princess Guria Selda? She could introduce craftsmen or grant permission to make strong equipment.”
”If there’s a chance, I’ll try. Next time I go to the Order of the Lightning Knights’ training, I’ll ask Ms. Medea.”
”Why not ask my master?”
Leanan Sidhe cut in.
”If you bring the material, she’ll make something.”
”You’re right. I’ll write her a letter. Another option is asking Her Excellency Maribel.”
”A fine idea. A princess’s treasury on the Frontier could be expected to hold good things.”
Kian looked at Rou and Leanan Sidhe.
”When I fought Sir Oswald, I borrowed a ring. Thanks to it, I could clash with him without complex magic. If it could block the heat of the Knights of the Sun, it could weaken Salamander fire.”
”So, letters to the Count of Chatillon, Lady Camilla, and your sister. As for Princess Guria Selda, you’ll ask Medea during training, Guildmaster?”
”Yes, that’s the plan. Thanks, Rou. We need supplies sent before Isthbaran gets impatient and rushes in…. Really, getting mad just because his sunglasses got eaten?”
”Humans blow up when something precious is ruined. You’re human, you should know.”
”Well, yeah… Sir Guy raged when Mrs. Fhana sold off his super-expensive cards. That I get. Though Mrs. Fhana didn’t.”
The talk was drifting off, but Rou cut in at the right time and brought it back.
”Defense alone won’t drive out those fire lizards. We need a strong weapon.”
”You’re right, but couldn’t we just rely on ‘pierce’?”
”With the general’s skill, it still takes a full minute to bring down one this size. Besides the double shell, their vital organs are deep inside.”
Leanan Sidhe struck the weak spot with her fist of chestnut hair.
The impact and gust of air blasted Rou’s strange bangs straight back.
”See. Beneath the shell is meat packed with fat. High-quality marbled meat—enough for the general to hold a barbecue every night.”
”That means ‘pierce’ can’t reach deep enough. And their magic resistance weakens the strike.”
”Blue Thunder Stone axes don’t work either. The lightning is too weak. Worse, you need to strike the shell in close combat to trigger the magic language, so the general’s hair and beard get singed, and the axe wears down. Not usable for extermination.”
”Guild master, let me ask around about special weapons. Please give me some time.”
Kian didn’t nod. Instead, he moved to the head of the Salamander.
He touched the grinding teeth, shaped like those of a herbivore.
”Rather, I want you to test something. Can’t we kill them with poison? If it ate Isthbaran’s sunglasses, then it might eat more than Fire Island’s igneous rock.”
Kian looked up at Rou and Leanan Sidhe.
”Let’s try feeding them Underworld Smoke Crystal from the Island of the Minotaurs. Ms. Aliona said it’s poisonous to all life. Looking at their mouths, I don’t see taste buds. Likely, since they blast Scorching Rays and eat molten rock, sensitive taste was lost in evolution. If so, they won’t notice the poison, and eat it like Isthbaran’s sunglasses.”
”Oh… a brilliant idea. We should try it.”
”Rou, no need to dig for special weapons. If they existed, Kingdom of Crete would have used them when General Asterios attacked Fire Island years ago. Focus on cashing in. You got contracts easily, but if word spreads, scum may come for your life. Be careful and finish reaching our target sum.”
”Yes, as you will it.”
Rou’s gaze seemed past respect—almost worship. Maybe dangerously so. But Kian decided not to mind.
”You’ll write letters? Use that desk. When you’re done, give them to me. I’ll pass them to the ferry captain while buying spices for the general.”
”Thank you.”
”Guild master. Writing tools. And in thirty minutes, the merchant guild head and the alchemy guildmaster will arrive. Sorry to rush you, but please keep it in mind.”
”Got it.”
Talia was a fine secretary, but Rou was too.
If you ignored combat, he was like a flawless, stronger version of Linca.
Very useful.
Different from Linca, but still hard to let go.
’So steady for his age. With someone like this, of course Linca can enjoy her life in peace.’
(Agreed. Rou would be valued even by Jibril. They’d get along.)
Thinking that, Kian started the letter to Guy.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, two guildmasters teleported onto the plateau.
Kian parted from Leanan Sidhe, took Rou as his aide, and descended the steep stairs behind Gaius’s shack with the two guildmasters.
”Death should be closer to us. But on this island, it’s treated as something evil that connects to the underworld, and hidden from the eyes of daily folk.”
As they went down, the black-skinned alchemist—Banana—spoke.
”Instead of leaving it to corpse handlers to dump in the sea, the dead should be cremated and their bones kept.”
”This is only rumor, but it seems some of the corpses Gaius dumped washed up in Western Church territory.”
Michelangelo’s thick brows furrowed.
”It wasn’t just one or two. With the recent pirate trouble, there were many dead, and all of them washed up on the Pope’s private beach. Some of the bodies… looked really awful. Seabirds pecked at them, the heat and damp made them rot, and those wretched corpses ended up in front of nobles’ eyes. It turned into pure chaos.”
”Heh, that sounds rough. How could something like that even happen?”
”No idea. In all of Crete’s long history, nothing like this has ever happened.”
”If the rumor’s true, then our sea-burial custom is finished. I’ve said all along cremation is better anyway. —Here, Master Kian. It’s a little narrow, mind your head.”
”Thank you, Mr. Banana.”
Rou followed Kian inside. He pulled out an oil with the scent of mint and shared it with the three of them. Always prepared—truly a capable man.
Yaya Banana walked over to one of the frozen corpses and pulled it forward on its cart. Meanwhile, Michelangelo lit up the cart with a magic stone lamp.
The corpse was indeed the middle-aged magician Luchian, the one with the mustache.
Kian had only seen him once, but seeing him pale and motionless drove home the impermanence of life.
”The insect stings?”
”Here.”
Banana put on gloves and rolled the corpse over. On his bare back were many sting marks, with the skin all around them turned blue.
”Bees…?” Rou muttered.
(Talia?)
’Not bees. The wounds are from stingers, and the stingers are still in the skin. But this is strong neurotoxin, like some sea snakes have. And there’s a lot of it. Whoever did this injected far more venom than bees could.’
”Everyone, these aren’t bees. The stingers remain, but the poison is a neurotoxin, injected in huge amounts, far more than bees can manage.”
Kian pointed.
”The swelling on the back came from this poison. It’s the kind found in some sea snakes. Look at his mouth—neatly cleaned, but there are signs of vomiting.”
He activated his vampire Super Senses.
On the man’s jaw and neck were traces of saliva mixed with stomach acid.
And faintly, he smelled saliva that wasn’t the man’s.
It was a woman’s saliva—sweet, fragrant, like the fluids of Kian’s prey.
”――――”
Silently, he leaned close to the corpse’s back.
The smell of saliva wafted faintly from around each sting mark.
”You can tell that just by looking?”
”…Well, yes. I’ve got a sharp nose.”
Kian pointed to the wounds on the back.
”There’s a woman’s saliva here. Around these marks.”
”A woman’s saliva?”
Michelangelo looked confused.
”Are you saying some woman licked Luchian’s corpse?”
”What a pervert… though, sometimes I do get such customers at my shop.”
”Banana, you’re selling goods to dangerous people like that?”
”With respect, Guildmaster Kian, as long as they pay the fee, it shouldn’t matter.”
”No, but if trouble happens—”
Kian shook his head.
”No. This isn’t licking. Most likely, it came from whatever stung him. That’s how it stuck.”
He remembered when Sarah spat out insect-type golems with a convulsive gag.
She didn’t conjure them like magic—she vomited them up with saliva and stomach acid. She once told him she swallowed small parts and reassembled them when needed.
Sarah hadn’t modified her body yet, but Umar’s insect arts supposedly included full body modification.
The enemy might have used that.
Either way, it wasn’t random bee stings—magician Luchian had been poisoned by an Azrael insect user.
”Mr. Michelangelo, Mr. Banana. Could you show us the scene? Like you thought, this was almost certainly an insect user’s work.”
At Kian’s words, both men turned pale and nodded gravely.
”The scene is in the pleasure district of Water Island. A street a few hundred meters inland from the northwest pier. We’ve stationed people to keep passersby away, but who knows how well it’s preserved.”
”Then let’s move. Rou and I will fly by golem from the rocks to the pier. You two teleport ahead.”
Banana nodded and pushed the cart with Luchian’s body back inside.
Kian took Rou and quickly left the ancient cavern.
Notes:
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Camilla – A woman; the subject of the chapter; her body was used to seal Erynys’ soul.
• Isthbaran – The High Warlord of the ‘Storm Herd.’
• Michelangelo – Guildmaster of Crete’s Merchant Guild, flamboyant and charming in purple-red finery. Diplomatic yet shrewd, allied with magician Luchia and representing the Guild’s interests. Greets Kian warmly with gifts, opposes Scipio’s restrictions, and requests aid against the Fire Island lava mole-dragon. First appears v4c21. Reminder: Charismatic merchant chief, smooth talker with pragmatic courage.
• Luchian – Magician serving Guildmaster Michelangelo Rendano of Crete’s Merchant Guild. Calm, graceful, and reliable, he aids him with conjured items and discreet support. First appears v4c21. Reminder: Loyal guild mage, quiet strength behind his master.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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