CH 124

Chapter 124 – Glasses boy temporarily puts it on hold

‘To wear my glasses.’

That was the basic thing I thought about, and I took it for granted that this was what I needed to do to use my Gift.

That’s why I didn’t think of any other possibilities.

‘To make somebody else wear my glasses.’

I never considered that making someone other than myself wear the glasses would lead to an effect.

The glasses I create are connected to one another.

Or perhaps, they’re all connected to me.

However, further experimenting with this new ability creates a troublesome necessity.

It requires the presence of a third party.

It requires someone who will accompany me in my experiments with the Glasses.

But I do not have any intention of telling other people about my Glasses. This feeling has not changed.

Or rather, this new development has only strengthened my determination to keep my Gift a secret.

However, the limits of this new ability cannot be fully explored by only a single person. No matter how much I try, there is a limit to how much information I can obtain via trial and error alone.

But telling someone about this is absolutely unthinkable.

Because I understand that my Glasses are special enough as is, even without this ability… And when considering that there is someone aiming for me, then I definitely cannot speak up about this, for my own safety.

To obtain a collaborator or not…

This is not something I can decide right now.

There are people like Roda, Zant and Sorichika who understand the situation to some extent.

However, I don’t know what they’ll do if they end up learning too much. The will of the country may also change their behavior.

Or rather, I feel like my Glasses are no longer at a level that the country will leave alone if they end up fully understanding its capabilities.

The more I learn about my Glasses, the more I feel like I cannot share any information about them with anyone… And I don’t think I’m overworrying about this.

Mmmmm…

Yeah, let’s put this on hold.

For now, I’ll forbid myself from using Forced Information Disclosure on humans.

This ability could maybe help me figure out the second Gifts of Florentine and Zant, but I have no guarantees that I’ll be safe after doing that, so there is no reason to take that risk.

Therefore, let’s seal this ability for a while.

But when there are no eyes around me, I may try using it on Demon Beasts.

For the time being, I’ll try experimenting as much as I can with this ability by myself.

I’ve never heard of anything related to the Gifts of Demon Beasts.

I might be able to register many useful Gifts if I try exploring this more.

It was on the night of the second day of our running trip, that I came to this conclusion.

******

This time, unlike the hellish carriage journey, we’re travelling on foot.

It’s tiring, but the experience wasn’t that bad.

It feels particularly nice to be able to sleep comfortably after renting a room at an inn.

The reason why we’re moving on foot is because we’re ignoring the highway and are instead passing through forests, rivers, mountains and other difficulty terrain.

Although we haven’t been told where we’re going to yet, we seem to be moving straight ahead, through the shortest possible route.

On the first night, we rented some beds at a small village.

On the second night, we rented some rooms in an inn of a medium-sized town and we spent the night there.

Even though we have been running the whole day at a fairly high speed, being able to sleep at proper bed at night has helped me properly recover my strength.

Moreover, Cherry has also been using recovery magic on us, so the trip didn’t feel that bad, overall.

And on the morning of the third day…

“We’ll depart at noon today. Feel free to do whatever you want this morning.

“You may rest, or go sightseeing, it’s up to you.

“However, we’ll leave anyone who doesn’t return by noon behind.” Horse told us while we were eating breakfast in the inn’s dining room.

Our reactions were mixed. Some of us were full of energy and wanted to go sightseeing, while others were tired and wanted to sleep, but nobody objected to his words.

“Eil, let’s go see the weapons store.” Chace invited me.

A weapons store?

I guess I’m kinda curious to see what they’re like in this town, and I do need to replenish my arrows anyways.

Even during this journey, I still hunted prey and contributed to our food reserves, after all. And I ended up losing two arrows in this process.

“Oh? You’re gonna graduate from the training spear?” Lisse asked Chace.

Chace nodded, “Yes.

“At the last minute, master gave me permission to carry a real spear, but I didn’t have the chance to buy one before we left.”

Coming to think of it, the spear that Chace brought with him on this trip is just a training spear that has no blade in it, the thing he has been using on practice since the start.

Or rather, it’s just a spear-shaped iron rod.

It seems that he had to borrow a spear from the village’s blacksmith whenever he went to hunt, but he was never lent a good spear.

When Chace asked the blacksmith to give him the borrowed spear, the old man told him, ‘Go buy one yourself. This is just a makeshift spear anyways.’

A makeshift, huh…?

Coming to think of it, the dismantling knife I got wasn’t that great either.

I suppose getting our own weapons is part of our duty in the self-sufficient life of the village.

I still have the fang of the Obsidian Wolf with me though. I asked the village’s blacksmith if he could process it, but he refused it.

“Do you have any money?” Florentine asked a very sensible question.

Coming to think of it, we do need to worry about our money, don’t we? I had forgotten about it while I was in the village because I didn’t use money for anything while I was there.

“I have several magic cores with me. I don’t know how much they’re worth, but if I sell some, it should give me enough.” Chace stated.

Oh, right, there was that.

After returning to the village, I also ended up hunting four Sky Lizards, mainly due to Florentine requesting me to, so I have their magic cores with me.

So, basically, I may not have much money, but I have something of value with me.

“I think it’s about time I got some new swords too… What about you, Eil? Are you going?” Lisse asked me.

Lisse wants to go too? That’s convenient to me.

I had a feeling that, if I was alone with Chace, we could end up getting involved in a troublesome fight with some thugs in this town.

But if Lisse is with us, I feel safe.

If a fight happens, I can just leave it to those two and run away.

I was worried about what would happen if I ran away and left Chace by himself, but things should be fine if Lisse is with us.

“Then, I guess I’ll go too.” I decided.

I might find a good deal if I look around, after all.

Besides, if I was left alone, I would just shut myself in my room and relax, so this is a good opportunity.

And well, I do need to replenish my arrows, so… Let’s go.

“What about you two?” Chace asked Cherry and Florentine.

“I want to finish my daily routine.” Florentine stated.

Her daily routine…

Everyone paused as we heard those words.

Florentine’s daily routine was the creation of a series of cute, wooden, evil god statues. It’s her way of practicing the control of her Gift.

Yes, a series of those statues.

It was too late.

When I returned to the village, they had already multiplied.

When I glanced at her room as I passed by it, I almost screamed.

I will never forget that scene.

In a small room, dozens of evil god statues lined up together. Each one with a different wicked form that cannot be thought of as something that belonged to this world.

Even followers of an evil god’s cult would surely tremble when faced with that.

However, I can’t deny that Florentine puts a lot of care into making those statues, and that she makes sure that no statue has the same design as the other.

That said, I’m sure nine out of ten people would say, ‘The creator of those statues is mad’, with the last one being someone who would shout, ‘Someone call the priests! This is the work of an evil god!’

How many times have I wanted to burn the whole dormitory down just to get rid of those statues…?

It’s not even just us. Horse seemed to also shiver a bit at the mention of Florentine’s daily routine. That’s how much of a troublesome behavior it is.

… I don’t know who told her to do it, but please tell her to stop. I’d rather not be living under the same roof as someone who makes evil god statues regularly.

“Teacher… Are you starting your new work…?” Sorichika asked Florentine.

And Sorichika, who was usually quite sleepy and stared at people with blank, empty eyes, was now attentively listening to Florentine with shining eyes.

For some reason, she is quite fond of the evil god statues.

I want her to pay more attention to the difference between her mood and the mood of everyone else in here.

Don’t you get it, master? That our feelings are so contrasting, that it is as if there was an insurmountable wall separating us?

“A-aah! F-Flo! How about we go eat something sweet? I’m sure we’ll find something nice if we look for it!” Cherry intervened.

Nice one!

Cherry doesn’t stand out much, nor does she try to actively intervene in things often, but she is a rare existence that pays the most attention to those around her. She should be appreciated more.

“Something sweet… Alright.” Florentine nodded.

Yes! Florentine likes meat the most, but she can still be attracted by sugar, which is something she doesn’t eat often!

“I won’t take long to finish my daily routine. Please wait for me.” Florentine told Cherry.

… I don’t know which master told her to do this, but please tell her to stop.