The Ability of This
The Ability of This
Several more similar incidents followed after that.
"Hang in there."
Plop.
Otherworlders who had somehow slipped past the goblins' perimeter were handing me items, practically like charity.
"I got curious... would you mind showing me your sigil just once? Ah... you won't?"
Plop. Plop.
Even more, the items were mostly things you could only get in the middle of a city.
Starting from something as small as bread, all the way to utensils like knives and forks.
"You really lived in this forest the whole time? Then, um, your romantic situation... no, never mind."
Click.
Some even gave me presents and outright took photos.
As for photos, I'd had plenty of experience with people trying to take candid shots of me, so they no longer bothered me much.
But this time, the feeling was a bit more ambiguous.
It felt like they were focusing not on me, but on capturing the very situation of handing me the item. As if to use it as proof to post somewhere...
I couldn't see the world those guys lived in, but I could roughly guess.
They were probably posting it in some internet community. As if bringing me modern goods had become a sort of trend.
At times like this, I felt a slight regret about the abilities of the 'Player's Eye.'
Since it had now been revealed that I was a Manifestor, there must have been all sorts of talk going around in their communities.
But I couldn't see any of it.
"Ah, um... yeah."
Still, since they were giving it to me, I accepted everything.
I had no reason to refuse anyway, and the more assets I accumulated, the better.
Though it seemed like the amount of stuff I'd have to move was only getting worse...
Of course, even as I took them, my mood remained peculiar.
What the hell was this? It genuinely felt like they were looking at me like I was some pitiful puppy.
The gaze felt warm but somehow also unpleasant.
Especially now that I was in a somewhat livable state.
Though things had admittedly gotten a little taxing lately.
Anyway, time trickled by like that.
During that period, I was on the move almost nonstop every single day.
Sure, right then there was a steady procession of charity from the Otherworlders.
But now that my identity was exposed, I had no idea when a subjugation squad might come charging in.
There was no way the Otherworlders would all keep their mouths shut about me, was there?
One of them was bound to talk, and that news would naturally reach the Empire's ears.
For all I knew, they were already assembling a subjugation squad.
So I had no time to waste.
That's why I'd been incredibly busy lately.
Not only was I sorting out the belongings in my storage, but I also had to find a new place to settle.
Was that all? I was even secretly digging an escape tunnel deep into the cave's recesses to avoid a potential encirclement situation.
'Seriously, what's with all this hardship in the dead of winter...'
At least this winter, I'd stockpiled provisions in advance, which was a relief.
Otherwise, even three bodies wouldn't have been enough.
Though I was still overworking myself just the same.
After spending a busy day like this, I had to sleep with my guard up.
It was unlikely anyone could make it into the forest at night, but that was no reason to let my guard down.
Not getting proper sleep was only natural. My fatigue had been steadily accumulating.
And so, six days had passed since Dantalion fled.
Only then was I able to meet a somewhat welcome face.
"Yor!"
It was Yoo Chae-rin.
A familiar face had finally appeared, six days after the incident broke.
Considering it was a fairly major event, she was actually a bit late.
"Huff, huff... I'm sorry I'm only coming now. I was away on a mission in a remote place..."
As if reading my mind, she quickly offered an explanation.
I gave a small nod.
"Nah, well. Nobody could've predicted it. Let's go to the cave for now."
From my perspective, I was just glad she came to find me.
I had more than one or two things to ask her anyway.
So I took her and headed to the cave for the time being.
*
"The cave's... gotten a little bare, hasn't it?"
That was the first thing Chae-rin said when she entered the cave.
She was right; the cave had gotten a bit bare. That was because Yor was in the middle of clearing out the random odds and ends he'd left scattered around everywhere.
That wasn't all. Yor answered her offhandedly.
"Yeah, I'm getting ready to leave at any moment."
"Wait, leave? Where to?"
At that, she visibly panicked. A faint unease shimmered in Chae-rin's violet eyes.
It was shocking news for her. To think that a male NPC she'd finally gotten close with might leave.
A faint anxiety lingered that if he moved his dwelling elsewhere, she might never see him again.
Seeing that, Yor chuckled inwardly and spoke to reassure her.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere right this moment. Anyway, that's exactly why I have a lot to ask you."
It wasn't that he didn't understand how Chae-rin felt. He, too, had no desire to leave a home he was attached to.
There were bad memories, but for him, this house still held all kinds of other memories.
Hearing that, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, that's a relief then. Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I first heard the news?"
Chae-rin briefly recalled the moment she first heard.
The news that a demon had entered where Yor lived, and the sudden reveal that he was a Manifestor on top of that.
Chae-rin, who had been carrying out a guild quest in a far-off region for the first time in a while, couldn't help but be horrified.
Because to her, the information that he was a 'Manifestor' was something he had to hide until the moment he died.
She'd even heard that some man barged into his broadcast in the middle and forcibly ended it.
She had been terribly worried that something serious might have happened.
It was fortunate she could at least catch bits of news through the internet.
In any case, being able to confirm firsthand like this that he was unharmed put her mind at ease somewhat.
As she was thinking that, Yor spoke up again.
"Anyway, I have a question. What exactly has been going around among the Otherworlders? They're suddenly giving me presents."
"Ah, about that..."
Chae-rin briefly explained the community's public opinion regarding Yor.
Very fortunately, the vast majority of users were showing a favorable reaction toward Yor.
Part of it was the familiarity built up from his appearances in her broadcasts.
More than that, public sentiment was dominated by sympathy because he'd been holed up in the forest due to that blood.
The recent procession of charity had also sprung up because of that.
"Phew..."
Having heard up to that point, Yor let out a relieved sigh. So far, so good.
Being pitied felt a little weird, but at least they were favorable.
But he still couldn't relax. Chae-rin's words had definitely included the term 'vast majority.'
And the meaning of 'vast majority' was that opposing opinions existed, too.
"Of course, there are some people who are unhappy about it."
Chae-rin continued.
"Some say that Manifestors are criminals too, so shouldn't we capture him? Some worry that their favorite NPCs might die if a demon resurrects... And some users are outright looking up whether there's a bounty on his head."
Chae-rin clicked her tongue, then added, "RMT scum, seriously..."
Yor nodded calmly here as well.
It was the reaction he had expected to some degree.
After all, considering how many Otherworlders there were, it would be strange if there were no dissenting voices.
Rather, the situation was far better than he had expected. Most users were still favorable, after all.
But even up to this point, it didn't matter much to Yor.
Honestly, if Otherworlders came at him, he could still handle them for now.
The problem was the people of Gaia who would hear the news about him.
Yor asked cautiously.
"What about the movements of the Knight Order...?"
"Hmm, I'm not really sure about that yet..."
Chae-rin's voice trailed off.
While she could check the users' talk through the community, other matters were a bit hard to get wind of.
Moreover, she had headed straight for Yor after finishing her quest. She naturally had no leeway to gather information.
But she had heard a few things here and there.
"But I think it might be okay for the time being. There's the Dantalion incident and the Lemegeton matter, so the knights have seemed incredibly busy lately."
So they probably didn't have the bandwidth to worry about this place as well... or so Chae-rin guessed.
Hearing that, Yor thought to himself.
'So for now, I've got a grace period...'
It was a silver lining. He'd more or less been resigned even if they came storming in right away.
Though it was only speculation, the news lifted a bit of weight off his chest.
In any case, with this, he'd heard pretty much everything he was curious about.
Yor eased his mind a little and moved to resume organizing the storage.
'Ah.'
It was then. Something suddenly popped into his head.
Come to think of it, he still had one more thing to ask.
Yor slipped into the storage for a moment, then plopped something down in front of Chae-rin.
Seeing it, Chae-rin grimaced briefly.
"Eugh, what is that?"
It was Dantalion's severed ear.
The object Harold had failed to grab in his rush to flee.
Squirm. Squirm.
The bastard's ear continued to deform eagerly even after being separated from the body.
Though it never changed from the form of an ear.
The sight of flesh recombining and finding a new shape was both grotesque and fascinating.
So Yor had packed it up for now.
Since it was a body part shed by a demon, and staring at it had its own entertainment value.
That wasn't all. Reflecting on past experiences, there was a chance this was an item too.
"Can you appraise this for a moment?"
With that, Yor handed the object to Chae-rin.
Though grimacing, Chae-rin did as he said and checked it.
The window that Chae-rin viewed with 'Player's Eye' was projected before Yor as well.
[Severed Ear of the Demon of the Reverse Side]
As he had expected, it was indeed an item.
The Demon of the Reverse Side... It seemed that was Dantalion's epithet.
"It is. Here."
Having finished the check, Chae-rin immediately returned the object to Yor.
As if she couldn't bear touching it even a second longer. She apparently had zero tolerance for squirmy things.
Yor held it and sank into thought for a moment.
'It's an item after all...'
Then what was its effect?
The moment he used Seere's arm suddenly came to mind.
A severed body part from a demon had partially projected that demon's abilities.
This would likely be no different. Though he wasn't sure if it projected magic or something else.
It was while he mulled it over alone.
Ssssssst...
A part of the severed ear began to fade away.
And a certain voice abruptly streamed into his ears.
No, it didn't feel like hearing so much as it was directly hammered into his brain.
—Wow... doesn't that human find that gross?
It was Chae-rin's voice.
'Aha.'
Yor felt like he had a rough idea of this item's ability.