The two stood upright like meerkats, staring at the fine sword embedded in the pedestal. As if he had made up his mind, Kazar spoke firmly.
“How about I pull that out, and you handle the rest?”
“What an excellent idea.”
“Then shall I pull it out?”
Ernolf had been sarcastic, but Kazar really was about to go pull the sword. Ernolf hurriedly grabbed him.
“You told me to pull it out.”
“Since when did you listen to what I said so obediently?”
“Heh-heh…….”
Kazar giggled when he saw the startled Ernolf grab him. He had never intended to pull the sword out. He was only teasing him.
“You little bastard!”
Ernolf leaped up and clouted Kazar on the head.
“No, when exactly have I not listened to you? When you told me to catch a deer, I caught one. When you told me to pick salt flowers, I picked them. I did everything you told me to do.”
“Let’s not waste our energy on useless things. That is not what matters right now.”
“What matters, then? Didn’t we come here to loot the place?”
Kazar had a point. The problem was that when they came to loot the place, they had not expected unwelcome visitors.
“There is no escape route. We have to leave through the place we entered.”
Kazar let out a short breath.
“Hah.”
“So if we loot this place and leave, we will have to see that muscle pig again.”
As he spoke, Kazar remembered Beligan deflecting his dagger.
‘Even a sword coated in Aura could not pierce his skin.’
It was even more absurd because that monstrous bastard was not an Aura User.
‘At least it is fortunate that he is a fallen Healer with weak offensive power.’
If that bastard had been a mage, he would have been even more difficult to defeat.
“We will meet him even if we do not leave here. He came looking for this, so he will not give up.”
Ernolf spread open his left hand and looked at the Artifact that had turned black.
“If he is trying to take it back, then it does not seem to have become unusable.”
“Yes. There seems to be a special way to charge its power.”
“Judging by how bloodshot he was as he chased us, it must be an extremely important item, whatever it is. Surely it is not something like the Order’s Sacred Relic?”
“Now that you mention it, I have a feeling it might be…….”
It had accidentally stuck to his palm, which made Ernolf feel as though things had become terribly tangled for no reason.
However, when he carefully considered what that bastard had said, it did not seem to be entirely unfortunate.
‘He laughed and asked whether I still could not open God’s Library. Is the Beast King’s Heart also called a library?’
There was a legend that whoever possessed the Beast King’s Heart would inherit the wisdom of the Beast King, who had ruled over all beasts.
‘Could there be a clue to undoing the possession there?’
Ernolf tried casting Clairvoyance to examine the Magic Circuits. However, all he learned was that the Artifact had been created with higher-level magic far beyond his own ability.
“Enough. Let’s loot the place as we originally intended. As you said, we can think about the other problems when they arise.”
“All right. Let’s scrape up every last thing that might be worth money.”
Nodding along with each other, the two simultaneously looked at the fine sword as if someone had told them to. Their words and actions still did not match.
“Hey, Tiri. You thought of something, didn’t you?”
“Well…… It is nothing much…….”
“So it is not nothing.”
Kazar stared intently at Ernolf.
‘It is dangerous when this bastard’s eyes start gleaming like wet pebbles.’
Kazar thought Ernolf did have a plan, but it did not seem likely to be very safe.
“First, for a pleasant clean sweep.”
Ernolf gracefully raised both hands like the conductor of a concert.
“Unlock.”
When Ernolf lightly flicked his wrists, blue globes of light gathered at his ten fingertips and flew in every direction.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG…….
The sound of released locks hitting the floor echoed grandly, and the lids of the supply crates opened like clamshells.
The many supply crates lined up in rows were packed with weapons, armor, and all manner of other equipment.
Kazar let out a long whistle of admiration.
“They died without even getting to use such good weapons.”
“I know.”
The smithing techniques of the Sarapi Empire were the finest on the Teres Continent. Although the equipment in the supply crates had to be at least a hundred years old, it was still of good quality. It would fetch money if they sold it, but carrying it was the problem. They would be better off taking only the most practical pieces and giving up the rest.
“It seems the crates closer to the pedestal hold higher-grade equipment. Let’s search for the ones up front first.”
Ernolf said this as he placed several bandages in his bag. As he had said, the area near the pedestal holding the fine sword contained better equipment.
Several crates did not open with Ernolf’s magic, so Kazar smashed them apart with his Aura Blade.
“This is fairly useful, isn’t it?”
Kazar found a suit of scale armor enchanted to lessen physical impacts. It was a little too large for the two of them, but they were in no position to worry about the size.
The two quickly put on the scale armor and secured it with belts.
“Look at this. There are bags enchanted with weight-reduction magic, too.”
“Take them. Take every one.”
Ernolf slung two long-strapped bags across his body and tossed the rest to Kazar. The other crates held items that made him even happier.
“Wound treatment medicine! This is disinfectant. Oh, there are antidotes, too.”
“They are old. Are they safe to use?”
“They were sealed with magic, so they should be fine. Come here.”
Ernolf called Kazar over as he opened a bottle of antidote.
“Give me your arm.”
“Treat your own arm first.”
When Ernolf tried to treat Kazar’s arm first, Kazar refused. Ernolf then refused in return, and Kazar refused again. Then the two clamped their mouths shut and glared at each other.
“I know you are trying to test it on my arm.”
“Why are you only quick on the uptake at times like this? Roll up your sleeve, anyway.”
“I said to do your arm first!”
“Think about it. Even if there are side effects, is it not better for you to suffer from them than sickly me? You are an Aura User.”
Ernolf gently coaxed Kazar, promising that he would immediately use Healing Magic if there were side effects, and opened the cap. The purple smoke slowly leaking out looked deeply suspicious.
“If you go first, I will make you something delicious after we are done.”
“What delicious thing? Grilled fish?”
“Yes, I will make that, and other things too. Have you ever tried something called ‘sparkling water’?”
“What is that?”
“Ah, you have never tried it? What a wasted life, wasted life.”
“Have you?”
Both of them had been mine slaves, so there was no way either of them had tasted such a thing. Feeling a guilty prick, Ernolf covered for himself again by saying he had read about it in a book.
“Anyway, I need an empty bottle to make it, so hurry up.”
“Tch.”
Kazar snatched the bottle from Ernolf’s hand and poured its contents over his blackened forearm.
Purple bubbles burbled up, and all the liquid evaporated.
“Oh, it is clean now. Then, apply the treatment medicine…….”
“Hey! We only agreed to test the antidote……. Aah, you crazy bastard!”
Before Kazar could resist, Ernolf quickly poured on disinfectant, then emptied wound treatment medicine over it as well. Every time Ernolf poured a liquid over him, Kazar screamed and made an exaggerated fuss, making Ernolf’s eardrums throb.
A little later, the two stuffed as much medicine as they could into the leather bags they had acquired from the supply crates.
“Now that we have treated your wounds, I will keep my promise.”
Ernolf filled a bottle with water using Water-Attribute Magic. He lowered the water’s temperature and increased its pressure with Wind-Attribute Magic and Ice-Attribute Magic, then blew air into it.
“Drink.”
With a suspicious expression, Kazar took a small sip of what Ernolf offered him.
Something popped sharply on the tip of his tongue, startling him so badly that he almost dropped the bottle.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Sparkling water.”
Ernolf fluttered his hand as if telling him to drink more.
Taking a chance, Kazar swallowed a mouthful.
As the bubbles popped, popped, popped, the cold water refreshed his mouth and slid down his throat.
“How is it?”
“Burp.”
Kazar let out a hearty burp and took another sip.
Now that he had gotten the hang of drinking it, he could savor the taste more leisurely.
“It is strange. It just tastes like water, but it is incredibly refreshing.”
Fermented fruit juice also had a popping sensation when drunk, but this was lighter and left a cleaner aftertaste.
Now that he had tasted it, he understood why it was called sparkling water.
“I could make it even tastier with sweetener and fruit concentrate, but it is unfortunate that we do not have the ingredients.”
“You can make it taste even better than this?”
“Yes.”
“Books really are amazing. They even say how to make things like this.”
Kazar spoke as he looked at the empty bottle that had contained the sparkling water.
“You used to snap at me, asking why I only ever read that kind of thing.”
“Shut up.”
From then on, Kazar decided that whenever Ernolf wanted to read a book or said he would make something to eat, he would agree without question.
“Drinking this makes me feel as though my insides have opened right up.”
The moment Kazar said that, mana surged from a nearby wall, and a hole burst open in it.
KABOOM!
It happened so suddenly that Ernolf could not cast a Shield in time. Kazar blocked Ernolf with his body and spread an Aura Shield.
Small fragments struck the Aura Shield and shattered, while the broken wall toppled over in its entirety and came down over the two of them.
“Ice!”
“Hah!”
Ernolf halted the wall’s movement for a moment, then Kazar pushed it so that it fell to the side.
The wall rolled and rolled to one side, scattering stone dust, and a gigantic fist struck Kazar’s forehead.
Kazar could have dodged, but his older brother was directly behind him, so he did not. If Ernolf took that punch, he would die instantly.
“Urgh……!”
Kazar caught Beligan’s fist with one hand and shoved Ernolf away with the other.
THWACK!
With a painful crash, Kazar’s body flew away like a cannonball.
His body knocked down the rows of weapon racks like dominoes before hitting a pillar and finally stopping.
“Kehk!”
Kazar fell to the floor and drooled uncontrollably.
If he had not been wearing the enchanted scale armor, he would have been spewing blood instead of drool.
“Aaaaargh!”
Beligan suddenly let out a monstrous roar as he tensed every muscle in his body.
His body, red with exposed muscle after its skin had peeled away, swelled horribly until it doubled in size.
“Is this another one of those chimera things?”
Kazar muttered as he took up a fighting stance. In his previous life, Kazar had never fought the Temple of the Wise Serpent directly.
The bastard in Talisa had been a straggler who had fled from the Temple of the Wise Serpent, and the three High Priests called the Great Serpents had been eliminated by warriors and mages from another country, not by him.
All Kazar knew was that they had turned to Dark Magic in pursuit of eternal life, and of the disasters that had resulted.
“No, this is not a chimera. He is a human whose body has been made into a golem through Body-Enhancement Sorcery.”
“Oh, you little brat know quite a lot.”
Beligan rolled his eyes toward Ernolf. The exposed eyeballs, laid bare after his skin had peeled away, were chilling.
‘Just who are they?’
Swallowing a dry gulp, Ernolf stared at the emblem embroidered on Beligan’s clothes. Three snakes coiled around a gigantic staff were embroidered across his chest. Since ancient times, staffs had represented knowledge, while snakes had been closely associated with medicine.
Though they used Dark Magic, Ernolf could infer that they were people who researched and practiced medicine.