Read Novel Full Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Chapter 148 – Magic Gem
It’s amazing.
I don’t really understand it, but it’s amazing.
It’s not that different in size from the magic stones that cost about 3,000 Beeke each.
The color is a very clear golden color, but that’s probably not the most important thing.
What’s strange is the inside of the magic gem.
Unlike normal ones, the magic gems obtained from the King Ant had moving contents.
It’s hard to describe, but it’s as if there’s a liquid circulating inside or something foggy flowing in the enclosed space inside the magic gem.
Either way, something is moving inside.
To put it simply, it’s a really beautiful magic gem that you can’t get tired of looking at.
I don’t know who named it, but I think the name magic gem that the old man talked about is very fitting.
I held the magic gem in my fingers and looked at it, but then I looked at the background.
When I looked away for a moment, I saw an old man with a scary face and slicked-back black hair, and this old man―the man who called himself Orlando―was rubbing his chin and watching me.
I guess you could say that I’m currently in the Malta branch of the Hunters’ Guild.
This is the Guild Master’s room.
The old man, who was probably in charge of the dismantling site where the magic stone was taken, ordered the new guy, who was just as confused as I was, to report to the guild master, and I was brought here against my will.
Thud…
I placed the beautiful magic gem on the table and took a sip of the tea that had been served.
“(What should I do now…?)”
He was the complete opposite of Yagov-san.
The first thing Guild Master Orlando, who had a strong face and a muscular build that clearly showed he had been a hunter in the past, said was, “Who killed it?”
I’m a kid, so people wouldn’t normally think it was me, and it’s actually a fair question, so I was at a loss for an answer.
Since there was no other choice, I had no choice but to say, “I did it.”
I had to insist on that, even while explaining the circumstances to some extent.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been looked at with suspicion ever since.
In that situation, a woman walked past me and handed a wooden board to Orlando-san.
Then he looked at the wooden board silently for a while.
“Hmm. You are Loki, right? It seems that you’ve been active as a hunter for the past few days. Are you in charge of converting materials into cash for the party? You don’t seem to be registered as a party member, but it seems like you get more results per day than the average hunter.”
“Ha.”
“So, who actually killed it?”
“No, I said it was me.”
“Don’t joke around. If you say that it was a hunter who frequently sells B-rank materials or an A-rank hunter who comes at the same time that the Queen Ant appears, then I can still accept it. But even if I look at the material sales history here, you’re a D-rank hunter who mostly hunts in E-rank hunting grounds, right? And for some reason, you also visit F-rank hunting grounds, so who’s going to believe you if you say you killed it there?”
“(It’s true, that’s how it is…)”
From this conversation, I understood that the wooden board was a record of the materials I had exchanged for money in Malta.
I think they probably gathered as much information about me as they could.
Looking at that information, it’s doubtful that I even brought back the materials for the Soldier Ants and Killer Ants from the B-rank hunting ground, and the idea that I defeated an unidentified boss class monster that was even further in is completely unbelievable.
Even if I were in the opposite position, I would make the same judgment, so Orlando-san’s doubts are quite reasonable.
But that would cause me a lot of trouble.
So, I had no choice but to forcefully change the subject.
“Um, you’ve been focusing on who defeated it, but is that really that important?”
“Of course it is! It’s a monster that possesses an unconfirmed magic gem that is said to be one of only nine in the world. If we officially report the defeat to the country, the person who defeated the monster will immediately be given a peerage.”
Brrrr…
My body shook involuntarily.
“(Seriously? There are only nine of them in the world? The magic stone in front of me is a super rare item!)”
…But why are we talking about the peerage?
The Hunters’ Guild in Malta is a big city, and I thought it might have close ties with the country, so my guard went up immediately.
“Isn’t the Hunters’ Guild an independent organization that has nothing to do with the country?”
“That’s right. But from the hunters’ point of view, it’s a rare opportunity to become a noble. I can’t just destroy that chance for them.”
“But I don’t want to become a noble, you know?”
“Hmm?”
“Like I said, I don’t want to become a noble at all. I don’t want to be tied to any country.”
“I understand your thinking. But what if the person who actually defeated it wasn’t you? What if you stole those remnants from somewhere else?”
“Huh? Is that possible?”
“It’s just a possibility. There’s no way a D-rank hunter could defeat a monster that possesses a magic gem. Even if the party was exhausted, it’s not realistic to kill and loot a hunter party that actually defeated it. A D-rank hunter wouldn’t even be able to enter the Great Hole of Devour. So, the most likely scenario is that the defeated hunter returned to Malta and had their materials stolen while in the city. Again, I’m just talking about possibilities, so I’m not saying that Loki is a criminal, you know?” [T/n: Deboa changed to Devour from now on.]
“Hah…”
I couldn’t help but let out a sigh that even Orlando-san could hear.
No wonder he doesn’t believe me, and I didn’t actually kill the hunter, so I won’t complain about that… but…
If they even bring up the suspicion of theft, that’ll change things.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to get the money here.
“That is enough. I thought it would be fine if I could just exchange it for money, but it looks like that won’t be possible, so let’s just forget about it. I’ll take it to another Hunters’ Guild.”
“Do you really think you can do that? That kind of information will be spread to every guild branch in no time.”
“If it’s too difficult to exchange it for money, I’ll find a way to use it myself. I’m not in any particular financial trouble.”
“W-wait a minute! Even if that’s the case, the suspicion that you got this material from somewhere else hasn’t been cleared up at all!”
“As I said at the beginning, it’s the deepest part of the Great Hole of Devour, a large room with countless eggs. That monster was in the middle of it. I was the one who ripped open the belly of that ant, which even three people couldn’t do at the dismantling site earlier. You can ask those three people about it. And if you have such a suspicion of theft, why not send an expedition to the Great Hole of Devour? I defeated a mountain of Soldier Ants and Killer Ants there but didn’t touch any of the materials. That monster forced the contents of the eggs to awaken, so there should be almost no ants left in the nest. I think this is information that only someone who actually went inside and moved around there would know, right?”
Of course, if I were falsely accused of theft, I would be upset.
As I stared at Orlando-san with eyes that reflected some of that emotion, I wondered if he was imagining the possibility that I might actually be a person who could defeat such a monster.
I heard him swallow.
“…D-did you really do it, or rather Loki did it?”
“That’s what I’m saying, right? Well, to be exact, it was with another person. My companion isn’t interested in being a noble either, so there’s no need to say who it is. Besides, I was expecting to talk about the monster’s appearance and what kind of attacks it has, but it’s a shame that it ended up just being a case of suspicion all the time.”
As I was about to leave the room, the stern-looking old man, who looked about 50 years old, wrapped his arms around my legs as if to hold me.
Even though I am a pervert who has gone down the path of various perversions, I haven’t woken up to this kind of hobby.
“W-wait! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I apologize for doubting you like that, so please forgive me!”
“Eh…”
I don’t understand why he’s clinging to my leg so desperately.
Is he afraid that it would be bad if he stood up to me, or is he thinking about self-preservation and safety?
“It’s okay. Even I wouldn’t believe a story about a D-rank hunter defeating an unidentified monster in the depths of a B-rank hunting ground if I were in the opposite position. That’s why I don’t want to speak ill of you, Orlando-san?”
“I-I appreciate that, but that’s not what I meant, you know?”
“Hmm?”
“Ah, I mean, I’d be in trouble if you took the materials somewhere else… or something like that.”
“…Could it be that if I exchange these materials for money here, or if I give you information about the monsters, it would greatly improve your reputation?
“That’s exactly what I want! I especially want that monster information so badly that I could die for it… so, please! I apologize for what happened earlier, and I’ll do everything I can to help you! Can you give me any information about this monster?!”
“Uh… anything…?”
So he’s interested in information.
If that’s the case, then only those who have defeated or confronted the monster can get the information, so it’s understandable that he was so fixated on who had defeated it.
And the word ‘anything.’
Hmm, what a sweet sound that is…
Still, I can’t think of anything I want from the old man, but if it’s a ‘deal’ rather than a one-sided offer from me, then I’m inclined to agree.
“If you say so much, I understand. If you accept some of my conditions, I won’t mind telling you what I know.”
“Conditions?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to make unreasonable demands. I don’t want to be manipulated by power, so I don’t want the existence of this monster or my existence to be reported to the country. Also, I want to discuss this with my friend, so I don’t want to sell the magic gem. And I want to be paid for the information. In that case, I’d appreciate it if Orlando-san could suggest what you can do as compensation.”
“I see… It’s not an unreasonable request. If the subjugator doesn’t want to, we won’t report it to the country, and the ownership of the materials belongs to the hunter who obtained them, so it’s up to that hunter to do what he wants with them. It’s only natural to pay a fair price for the information―yes, there’s no problem. The price we pay will depend on the level of information, but we will make sure that Loki doesn’t end up on the losing side of the deal.”
“So we have a deal. Now, I’d like to tell you about the circumstances of its appearance and its possibilities, but first, I have to check something.”
“What is it?”
“Do you know if there are any duplicates among the nine magic gems you mentioned earlier? I mean, whether the second or third one was taken from the same monster or not.”
“I don’t know. The nine magic gems I mentioned are things that every country has declared as national treasures in the past. However, the way they were obtained is unknown, and I have heard that the number of people who have seen them in person is quite limited since they were apparently obtained from some kind of incredible monster.”
“I see… So it’s only the properties of the magic gems that are widely known?”
“Not exactly widely known. The magic gems are also known as ‘living magic stones.’ Apparently, even if you use the magic power of the magic stones, it will naturally recover. Because of this, they have the potential to become infinite fuel once they are set up, so they attract a lot of attention from research institutions and people like us who have a lot of contact with magic stones.”
Infinite fuel… This is getting really interesting.
Even though something like this doesn’t exist on Earth, could it surpass Earth in terms of energy?
But if only nine of these precious magic gems have been made public…
“Thank you very much. If that’s the case, I don’t mind telling you the information I know, but I also feel that there are many things to worry about. There is a possibility that this monster is a special individual and will not reappear like the Queen Ant. Even if it does appear, there is a possibility that its cycle will be so long that it will be beyond human understanding. And even if it does appear, there is a possibility that the next time, it will be an ordinary magic stone and not a ‘magic gem’… Even if I tell you this information, there is also the possibility that you won’t be able to use it, but is that okay?”
“Hmm? Well, you’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want the information. Not all of the magic gems that each country has announced are necessarily all of them, and if Loki were to keep it to himself, it would probably remain undisclosed, right? It’s possible that someone is monopolizing the information and trading behind the scenes.”
“That’s right, it seems like that could happen…”
When I consider the possibility that some reincarnated person is secretly doing loop extinction, I can’t help but think that if I could do it, I would.
If it’s understood that there’s a risk that it can’t be used, then there’s no need to worry.
“Then let’s talk. The circumstances up to the appearance and the situation.”
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