Chapter 437
Chapter 437
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 437
Chapter Title: Devil-like Bastards
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I slipped under the blanket and gripped the fairy's necklace tightly.
That fist held the wishes and earnest desires of children. As I poured such near-desperate longing into it and clenched my hand, it began to tremble.
—Tzzzt!
Soon, a bright light seeped out between my fingers.
It wasn't quite as bright as an LED bulb, but it was plenty luminous in its own right. In the pitch-black darkness of a forest without even moonlight, it felt like it could easily light the way.
—Ratras's Necklace.
In the end, after agonizing between Undine and Ratras, I chose the flashlight. I figured I'd need to move around at night more often than purifying polluted water.
Better to pick the one I'd use more. That's what tools are for. I'd always wanted a flashlight on hand, but I'd never really needed a portable purifier.
Once I made up my mind, Lisha enchanted the fairy necklace with a light attribute in just one day. I thanked her profusely, clinging tight and showering her with affection until she was a total mess as usual—but the fact that she woke up earlier than me and prepared breakfast doubled my joy.
The leftover spirit cores weren't much use, so Winia and I sold them all off. Five in total fetched 40 silver, which left me extremely satisfied.
They were pricier than expected.
A big part of it was how rare mid-grade spirits were around here.
"Heh heh heh."
Anyway, from now on, this necklace would serve as my trusty flashlight.
Being a fusion of a mid-grade spirit core and a fairy necklace, it could supposedly last semi-permanently as long as it didn't break.
In other words, rechargeable. And since Ratras—that damn bastard—was a light spirit, just exposing it to sunlight during the day let it shine for hours at night.
What else could you call it but a solar-powered flashlight?
Plus, being a necklace, it was smaller and easier to carry than any flashlight.
This thing was seriously convenient.
No need to hold it—just wear it like any necklace, and you barely felt the weight. The light was bright, and the battery life was long.
Artifacts infused with magic were truly as convenient as modern tech. Man, it'd be great to have a fridge at home. Apparently something similar existed, but only in noble kitchens.
"What're you doing alone under the blanket? Jerking off? Just ask your big sis to help if you are."
I was fiddling with the necklace, chuckling to myself, when Karin flipped the blanket open. It was our day off. The other wives had gone shopping, leaving just the two of us—Karin stayed home claiming she was tired.
"Why would I jerk off?"
I only did that every other day to fertilize the alraune. With four wives, no need to waste energy.
Talk about a harem life.
"Then what're you doing?"
"Testing this necklace. It's gonna be a game-changer for night jobs."
"The one Lisha made? Yeah, sounds handy. Anyway, grab your sword and head to the backyard. I heard you've been dying to manifest sword aura lately?"
"Claudy told you?"
"Yep. I wanted to help, but sword aura's all about personal talent. Still, as your wife, I gotta lend a hand for my husband's sake, right?"
I tossed the blanket aside and pulled on some shorts. No skipping training, even on days off. Having Karin coach me personally was perfect.
"How about we sweat it out first, then the two of us can fuck?"
"Heh heh heh, you know exactly what I want!"
"You adorable little shit. Come on."
I followed Karin straight to the backyard.
They'd be a while shopping anyway, so plenty of time to play with her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ My routine went something like this: handle one or two jobs a week, squeeze in training, take days off aligned with the swordsmen's guild holidays, then back to work.
We didn't really have "weekends" per se—the wives rarely left me alone. Aside from occasional outings for meals, shopping, or markets, I was in endless pussy paradise. My hips were about to break from all the stallion work.
Anyway, I steadily built my resume by clearing incidents near the city and taking commissions from other mages or alchemists.
Nothing special happened.
Hunting monster packs, gathering materials—D- to C-rank stuff. Sometimes solo with Winia, sometimes the three of us with Claudy and Winia, or even alone.
No matter the party, strong foes never showed up.
It was incredibly peaceful. Well, monster swarms weren't peaceful, but they were no issue for me.
And maybe that's why.
While my skills and experience piled up from endless swordplay, my mana made no progress. Increasing its capacity had stalled too.
I fought with sword aura manifestation in mind the whole time, but no dice.
I even checked the library on a whim, but of course nothing useful was there. Hero autobiographies just skipped the training scenes. Fuck.
They were all "killed everything and succeeded"—so damn entertaining I read one straight through.
Summer's end approached like that.
No clue when I'd hit C-rank. I'd only been D-rank for a year, and that was too short for major credibility.
"Darky going out?"
"Yeah. Need anything? I'll grab it on the way back."
"Nah, nothing specific. Heading to the guild? Have a good one."
I left Winia reading her spellbook and stepped outside.
Should've grabbed a job yesterday, but nothing good popped up, so today was another rest day. Still morning—better check the guild. Claudy was sleeping in.
After that harpy kidnapping fiasco, Winia got overprotective, but working together eased it. Lately, she let me solo sometimes.
Mostly when her magic research was in full swing.
—Step step.
I headed straight for the Adventurer's Guild.
About 30 minutes' walk. Pedestrians bustled, carriages clattered by. Hadn't seen Kobson lately—wonder if he was okay.
Wonder if he'd be there today?
With steady jobs lately, I'd made decent coin—repaired gear, bought new stuff. Quilted armor with a breastplate now, plus greaves, gauntlets, and pauldrons. Fully kitted.
A bit more cash, and plate armor might be next.
No need to swap weapons—the black iron greatsword from Karin was perfect, so focus on defense.
Anyway, arrived at the guild.
And spotted a welcome face.
"Well, if it isn't the barbarian shithead!"
"You fucking Kobson!"
Fuck, it felt good seeing Kobson after so long. Wondering what he'd been up to, I noticed his gear had upgraded nicely.
"What's with the armor?"
"Curious? Man, I've been dying to brag, but you were MIA!"
Kobson grinned and jutted his chin. No clue what the gesture meant, but he clearly wanted to show off.
"Heh heh heh, just been living well. Nah, you wouldn't save up honestly—hit the jackpot gambling?"
"Fuck, I was gonna tell you! How'd you guess?!"
Spot on—he freaked out yelling.
This loser had finally struck gold at the casino after constant Ls.
"Goddamn it. Look, barbarian—when someone's itching to brag, you let 'em. Common courtesy. Nice seeing you after ages, but what the hell?"
His gear was solid now.
Decent sword at his hip, iron breastplate, gauntlets—even a thug wouldn't mess with him.
"Fair point, asshole. But that's for girls. Bros don't need that shit."
"Persuasive. Anyway, let's grab breakfast."
"Already ate. Lisha made it before heading out."
"Fuck, just eat."
"Fine."
Not turning down free food.
We hit a nearby tavern, ordered grub and beer. Beer came quick; Kobson chugged and grinned.
"Keh keh keh, pure luck. Best streak ever. All-in with my savings—one shot, boom, five times payout."
"Damn, you cleaned up."
No wonder his skin looked better, hair shinier. Fivefold would do that.
"Thought about rolling it over, but bad vibes. Bought gear first. Having cash makes you wanna blow half—nearly lost it. Spent quick to kill the itch."
Calling gambling "investment" sealed his doom. No way he'd quit.
"Kinda retarded reason, but good call. Power comes from gear."
We swapped updates over chit-chat. Kobson was grinding as an E-rank too. D-rank seemed distant for him—takes years, plus occasional quest fails.
"So, how's the barbarian been?"
"D-rank grind, non-stop jobs. But seeing you reminds me—I got questions."
"What? Wondering if anything big's up? Buy lunch, I'll spill."
"Fuck, order whatever."
"Ooh!"
So I ended up buying Kobson lunch.
He'd blown his winnings already—barely scraping by.
But intel on the world's pulse over a meal? Pure profit.
"Hmm, dungeon talk maybe? Word is, an old mansion popped up in the deep forest, three days out. Sketchy as hell, right? Some guys checked it."
"Mansion?"
An old mansion in the deep forest?
This area's woods were brutal—could be an abandoned villa from old times.
But that far out, no cities or villages—building there would've sucked. Maybe a settlement nearby back then?
Could be loot if I poked around.
"Anything else?"
"You probably know, but imps have been popping up a lot lately."
"What the fuck? Imps? First I've heard."
No bullshit—news to me.
"Gloomy rumors. Imps swarming the area. Priests and nuns calling it an ill omen, raising alarms."
Imps were fiends said to cross from hell or the demon realm—kinda like evil spirits, ambiguous classification. Lumped with demons sometimes, who knows.
All I knew: even scrub Kim Katt hunted a few. Weak, small fry. Common in deep woods.
Ran into hellhounds in a dungeon with Elise, Kobson, and Meria once.
Imps were ugly as sin, but nothing special—adventurers slaughtered them routinely.
Seemed they gnawed corpses to survive. That demonic look earned 'em the nickname 'harbingers of doom' among adventurers.
"Plenty of drunks babbling about the end times. Probably wanna blame their wasted lives on apocalypse equality. Nothing else special."
Kobson downed his beer in one go.
Imps, huh.