Chapter 222
Chapter 222
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: Soul, and Souls (22)
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‘……!’
To think he’d spot the intruder right away.
I held my breath and quietly observed the situation. Daoud, who had been looking around the desk, soon approached the bull’s head hanging on the wall and reached out his hand. Then, from the tips of his fingers, what looked like red threads of magic extended out and pressed down on the bull’s horn with a click.
‘It’s the fragment’s power.’
The old Daoud, who only had a shard of the fragment, had never displayed his power like that. But now, seeing him wield it freely……
‘He’s obtained the rest of it.’
While I was lost in the void, the shard in Daoud’s heart must have merged with the remaining part of the fragment. Thanks to that, he now possessed the complete fragment and could control its power.
‘This is getting tricky.’
I had planned to retrieve the fragment immediately and escape the void with Daoud, but while I was wandering inside, he had already used the fragment’s power to build the future he desired. Because I was late, things were about to get complicated. Still, I found Daoud before the Crows did, so that was a relief, at least.
-Clunk.
Daoud opened the door to the secret compartment and examined the inside for a long while before reaching out his hand again. Five strands of red light extended from his fingertips, probing every corner of the secret space. As the red light illuminated the interior, traces inside began to reveal themselves, just like a scene from a detective movie. Handprints, footprints……
“It’s certain.”
Daoud muttered after confirming the various traces. Then, he gathered red light at the tip of his index finger. The red light that had spread in all directions converged into a round orb at his fingertip and soon floated up into the air.
“Find it.”
As soon as Daoud finished speaking, the red light spun around the office at bullet-like speed……
-Whoosh!!!
‘……!’
It flew straight toward the mouse hole—straight toward ‘me.’
-Zzt!
-Tat tat tat!
The other mice in the hole fled like lightning, and I hurriedly dove deeper inside. Ppippi, Legion, me, and the mice all ran to escape the red light, running and running. And the red light didn’t stop, relentlessly chasing us, chasing and chasing.
‘This won’t do!’
The red light was too fast. And its momentum was growing even more ferocious. If we collided with it like this, not only would I be in danger, but Legion, Ppippi, and the other mice would be too.
-Clunk, clunk.
-Tap tap tap!
-Bubble bubble.
-Splash!
Just then, familiar noises rang out. Sounds of washing, trimming, boiling, and frying something.
‘The kitchen!’
It was time to make a decision. The red light probably tracked its target using something like heat detection. So, if I switched the stage to the kitchen right now……
‘……It’ll definitely get confused!’
There was no time to think more. The moment I saw a gap where light seeped through……
-Kwang!
-Crash!
-Clatter!
I released [Beast Form]. My tiny mouse body, smaller than a fist, vanished, and as I returned to my original form, the narrow mouse hole collapsed entirely.
-Thud!
-Thud!
-Ta-at!
I snatched Ppippi and Legion and landed safely on the floor. Since I had been at the rear, the mice escaped unharmed through the hole. The red light hovered in the air, as if deciding whether to chase the mice or me on the floor below, then slowly began to turn.
“U, uwaaaak!”
“T-the lord’s curse! Run!”
The people screamed not at me suddenly dropping from the ceiling, but at the appearance of the red light, and fled. ‘The lord’s curse’? It seemed Daoud had committed some horrific acts here using the fragment’s power. I smirked crookedly as I glared at the red light. It floated in the air, spinning around as if surveying the fleeing people. It was probably mapping out the kitchen’s layout and the movements of heat-emitting entities—the humans.
I crouched low and slowly moved along the kitchen wall, where hot stew and various pots bubbled. As expected, the red light, which seemed to detect and track via ‘heat,’ didn’t immediately pick up on my movement.
‘Slowly, slowly…….’
I’d move bit by bit and strike its tail to neutralize it. If I adapted [Forest Protection] to trap the red light, that should do it. I crept very slowly, inch by inch, toward its tail. And then.
-Kkiiik……
-Crash!
‘……!’
Could my luck be this bad? The pot, slightly tilted from the earlier ceiling collapse hitting it with debris, toppled over completely. I had no choice but to leap away to avoid becoming part of the well-cooked stew. Naturally, the red light caught my movement.
-Whoosh!!!!
Before I could react, the red light charged at me with the force to pierce right through. Thinking ‘too late,’ I hurriedly raised my hand to cast [Forest Protection].
‘……Huff!’
Or tried to.
-Piiing!
In that instant, Ppippi burst out from my arms. The little guy, who had been limp and lifeless like it was on the verge of death, suddenly rocketed forward with tremendous force. I reached out to grab it in a panic, but it was already too late. No, Ppippi! As I stretched my hand and tried to shout,
-Boom!!!!
The red light collided head-on with Ppippi, filling the kitchen with a blinding flash. The light was so intense it blocked my vision. I reflexively raised my arms to shield my eyes, then lowered them as the light faded and searched for Ppippi.
“Ppippi! Ppippi!!!”
No, no way! I rushed desperately to where Ppippi had been. There……
-Ppi……
In the middle of the wrecked kitchen, like something had exploded, Ppippi lay collapsed. I dropped to my knees and gently scooped it up with both hands. Its tiny wings trembled faintly.
“Pp-Ppippi…….”
When I called out in a quivering voice, Ppippi opened its beady eyes slightly and looked at me. And then……
-Buuuuurp!
‘……?’
It let out an enormous burp.
‘What the hell…….’
I grabbed Ppippi and inspected it everywhere. Wait, come to think of it, its belly was ridiculously bloated? It looked twice its normal size! Was this a bird or a pig!?
“……You didn’t.”
-Ppii?
“You ate that?”
-Burp, pii……. Gulp.
Oh my god.
Whether I was shocked or not, Ppippi lay sprawled out, belly protruding like a middle-aged man who’d had a hearty dinner (like my dad!), its stubby wings and legs stretched out straight. Then, with a look of utter satisfaction, it closed its barely-open eyes. Like it was hit with food coma.
‘Wow, this is so absurd I’m speechless.’
Seriously. Even if that red light wasn’t the full extent of Daoud’s fragment power, it was still comparable to decent magic. And yet, it swallowed it whole without a care and belched……
‘…….’
But thinking calmly, it made sense.
All the ‘fragments’ I’d recovered so far had gone to Ppippi.
Only that bow—Ppippi—could suppress the ‘fragment’s’ power.
So to Ppippi, the ‘power’ of the ‘fragment’ wasn’t dangerous or lethal……
‘……It’s acting like it just got a power-up charge.’
Exactly.
Gone was the limp, shivering, near-death appearance. Now, with its belly full and round, it rolled around on my palm.
‘Guess I should call this a relief…….’
A hollow laugh escaped me. A hollow laugh. I patted Ppippi’s head lightly before placing it on my shoulder. Ppippi whined a bit, like it wanted to stay in my hand longer, but soon gripped my shoulder firmly with its tiny legs and stood up.
Alright then. Now that Ppippi was perky again, what remained was……
-Thud. Thud. Thud.
-Thud. Thud. Thud.
‘Daoud.’
Heavy footsteps approached from beyond the kitchen. They were disciplined like a well-trained army, but not ‘human.’
-Grrr……
-Huff, huff……
Even before the kitchen door opened, I already knew what was outside.
‘Orcs.’
-Kwaaang!!!!!
Of course.
They didn’t open the door.
They smashed it.
Trampling the shattered door fragments, what appeared was an orc with dark green skin and upward-curving yellowed fangs. It wore a necklace dangling with rotting ears and noses, scanning the kitchen with gleaming eyes.
-Grrr……
The pots that had been boiling, simmering, and frying everything were spilled everywhere, so steam filled the air, and it couldn’t spot me. The mix of food smells was overpowering too, so it couldn’t pinpoint my location by scent either.
“It’s definitely here…….”
It muttered. The ones behind it sniffed around similarly, scanning the surroundings. Ah, seeing those dumb faces really made me feel like I was back in this pseudo-medieval land.
“Find it!”
With a savage roar, the orcs flooded into the kitchen. Crash, crunch—kitchenware was getting wrecked under their feet. Seriously, if you trash the kitchen like this, what about dinner tonight? Well, whatever……
‘…….’
Before dinner, I’d finish everything anyway?
Hanging from vines growing on the ceiling, I looked down at the orcs wandering through the steam. Two, four, six, eight…… Ten, twelve. Twelve, huh. He sent a lot. A whole lot. I clicked my tongue and pulled out the ‘mushroom’ I’d picked up earlier.
One of the ingredients rolling on the wrecked dining floor. Well, not exactly an ingredient. It seemed they’d separated out the ‘poisonous mushrooms’ from the harvested ones.
‘Death’s Angel.’
This plain-looking white mushroom had no differences from ordinary ones, except for the root’s mottled spots. That’s why it often mixed into mushroom baskets, but it gets noticed and discarded during prep. Same here in this kitchen—these sorted poison mushrooms were meant to be thrown out. But……
-Paaaat……!
They ended up in my hand instead?
I tucked Ppippi and Legion deep into my bosom and gently shook the mushroom. Using [Breath of the Forest], far more spores than usual fluttered out into the steam.
-Kuung……!
And moments later, the sound of something heavy collapsing rang out.