Chapter 129
Chapter 129
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Sweeping Up Hidden Pieces
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After my duel with Professor Jairen ended, a single thought kept circling in my mind.
‘7th circle, 7th circle, 7th circle….’
The fact that I had reached the 7th circle.
The fact that I had become an archmage.
Starting from the 7th circle, the realm shifted so dramatically that it truly earned the title of true mage, so my emotions were inevitably fresh and new.
“……Am I really at the 7th circle?”
Doubts crept in as well.
I needed to confirm it for myself, not just rely on evaluations from Professor Jairen or Asion Gail.
I immediately took off my gloves and got to testing.
Whoooosh!
I stared at the small orb of light floating above my palm, lost in thought.
‘It’s definitely on a whole other level.’
It was the same light magic I’d always used, but even to my eyes, the difference was clear.
The mana circulating endlessly within the orb had become noticeably more stable.
Thanks to that, the light magic itself felt a bit sharper, more vivid.
To put it simply, it was like outlining a blurry sketch.
And before, I hadn’t even realized my magic resembled a blurry sketch.
I’d just assumed it was a trait of light magic.
‘……Light can be this vivid, huh.’
Shooooosh!
Space magic was the same.
Perhaps because the light orb had been there moments ago, an even deeper rift in space formed above my palm.
Staring into it felt like I could get sucked in at any moment.
A space magic that felt just as threatening as my newly enhanced light magic.
It wasn’t for nothing that the chairman and Professor Jairen had praised it so highly.
‘……Yeah, this has to be the 7th circle realm.’
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Feeling it firsthand made my heart race even more.
I wanted to show this light magic—no, show Person right now.
I was dying to know how he’d react.
He’d probably be happier than me, the one who actually reached the 7th circle.
But unfortunately, now wasn’t the time.
There was something more important than seeing someone’s reaction.
‘Hidden pieces.’
Acquiring the hidden pieces scattered across all of Asteron.
With no other schedules pinning me down, now was the perfect time to snag them.
Especially since the war had ended, leaving me with no reason to stick around Asteron any longer.
It was time to grab everything worth taking and move on.
“Number one!”
“Yoo Han.”
“Hey!”
“You’re here?”
Right on cue, Thompson, Kayla, and Barundel arrived at the meeting spot.
I’d given them a heads-up during drinks.
Today, I planned to hunt hidden pieces with these three.
There were plenty among them that were useless to me but perfect for them.
So.
“Like I said yesterday, today’s gonna be busy. We’ll be hopping around districts everywhere.”
“No problem, no problem.”
We had to move even faster.
Just off the top of my head, there were more than a couple spots to hit.
“But I heard we’re hunting elixirs hidden in Asteron. That right?”
“Something like that. Lots of varieties. Elixirs, artifacts, spellbooks, you name it.”
“Huh, how the hell do you even know about that stuff? Come to think of it, last time you dodged the question too…….”
“Oh, I get info from a regular source of mine.”
“……I see.”
Barundel eyed me suspiciously.
I’d brushed it off vaguely before, so I dodged his gaze and changed the subject.
“Huh? Uncle, you’re wearing that today. First time I’ve seen it on you.”
Perfect topic.
There was the ochre robe I’d gifted him draped over Thompson’s back.
It was actually one of the things I’d been curious about.
I’d hoped he’d put it to good use in the war.
Well, if not, he probably had his reasons.
“This thing wouldn’t shut up, so I had to break its spirit or it was useless.”
Ah, that explained it.
Totally understandable.
It had been ridiculously noisy even when I bought it on the black market.
“Still yapping now?”
“You bet. These days, I’d think something was wrong if it went quiet.”
“Hmm, hold on.”
Curious just how bad it was, I approached Thompson and touched the robe.
Then.
[Neoooooom! You iron-blooded enemy who put me in this state! Finally, we meet agaaaain—!]
It wasn’t sound reaching my ears, but a muffled noise booming in my head.
“Whoa.”
I yanked my hand back and nodded.
No room for argument—it was that loud.
“Definitely noisy.”
“Right? This bastard’s got a temper like no other. Doesn’t flinch from fire or water.”
“Yeah?”
From the way he talked, taming the robe was tougher than expected.
As I pondered how to help.
“Any artifacts we snag today that might be useful for this?”
“Nothing specific…… Huh?”
Thompson’s words gave me the hint.
No need to overthink it.
Finish today’s route safely, and it’d sort itself out.
“Heh, let’s get going.”
I glanced at the robe once more and started walking.
For some reason, it shuddered and averted its gaze.
[……Ne, ne-neeeoom!]
***
We headed to District 7 first.
Starting from 7 and working inward to 1, if possible.
The plan was to sweep them up methodically as we went deeper.
“Yoo Han-es, Kayla, Thompson, Barundel. Three mages and one dwarf warrior.”
“Th-thank you for the support……!”
No need to sneak in like before.
District 7 was in the midst of a reclamation op post-war.
A strong force like ours could enter smoothly under the pretext of demon extermination support.
How long had we traveled?
“Been a while since I was here.”
We finally reached the outermost edge of District 7.
The very spot where I’d first opened my eyes in this world.
If I had to pin it down, it’d been less than a year ago, but with everything I’d been through, it felt like ancient history.
Anyway.
There was a hidden piece to grab here too.
I’d skipped it back then because demon parts were needed and it was too risky.
But District 7 demons were no threat now.
“You three handle any demons that approach. I’ll grab the item solo.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, when I signal, do it like I said earlier.”
“Got it.”
I asked the group to guard and keep watch, then headed straight to the hidden piece location from my memory.
The district’s layout had changed a lot, but unless there’d been a tectonic shift, it should still be there.
“Around here…….”
After wandering about ten minutes.
“……Found it.”
I spotted a particularly sunken pit compared to the surroundings.
Even the dense weeds around the edge matched perfectly.
Just like in the game.
Pheeeew!
As soon as I found the pit, I fired a beam of light magic skyward.
It burst in the air like a flare, and soon enough, three [Demon Goblins] crept toward us.
The group had deliberately funneled them over.
Their heads were needed for this hidden piece.
Kieeeek!
Spotting me, they charged like possessed.
In return, I sent three [Lights of Swimming] their way.
Tadadadak!
Kiiiiiee……!
They burned up from the holy power on contact.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Without hesitation, I lopped off their heads and tossed them into the pit.
The blood pooling from the heads formed a puddle inside.
Crunch! Crunch!
Confirming that, I plucked weeds from around the pit and covered it.
Finally, a short incantation.
[Where blood and life meet, may another life be born—.]
The reaction was immediate.
Whoooosh!
Shwaaaaa!
Red light seeped through the weeds covering the pit, then faded.
Brushing them aside revealed.
“Jackpot.”
Exactly as expected, a single item lay there.
[Elixir of Mana Regeneration].
Not anything amazing, but……
It was my first hidden piece acquired since entering this world.
***
The District 7 hidden piece sweep went off without a hitch.
From ones I had to do solo, to those needing four or more people.
All sorts of patterns repeated, but since I’d memorized the conditions, nothing stumped us.
The result.
“……So all this stuff came from info your source gave you?”
“……Where’s this source? Share the good stuff.”
“Y-yeah, as expected of number one!”
In under three hours, we’d snagged over a dozen hidden pieces.
Varied rewards meant all sorts of goodies.
Three elixir-type ones, like the first.
Five pieces of equipment.
Four artifacts.
Three consumables.
And the most valuable: two spellbooks.
“This about covers everything worth grabbing.”
I picked through them and started distributing to the group.
“This for you, Barundel. This one’s Kayla’s. And this for you, Uncle.”
“Y-you’re giving us this much?”
“What, you’re not keeping any?”
They balked at me holding back not a single one.
“Nah, nothing I need.”
No exaggeration.
Elixirs, gear, artifacts……
All there for the taking if I wanted, but useless to me.
Better off selling them at any shop.
Even the spellbook from the rotten tree stump.
District 7 level meant they were worse than basic tomes.
Sure, spellbooks still fetched a pretty penny.
Anyway.
Handing every last one to the group had one big reason above all.
“But if I need something later, I’ll snag one then. The rest, use as you like.”
This way, no backlash when I claimed a real prize later.
If they eyed something I truly needed, it’d get awkward.
So I offloaded the lesser stuff, and as planned.
“Fine by me. Help yourself anytime.”
“……We lucked out with our party leader. Feels like we get way more than we give.”
“Uhaha! Doesn’t that mean number one’s got hero potential?”
They agreed readily.
No one privy to my real thoughts.
‘This is all for your benefit in the end.’
Everything was going according to plan.