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nThe Old Man and the Bell

n「Damn that kid. He won’t get away with it.」

n「He really got you there, Boss.」

n「Shut your trap!」The cat Beastwoman clenched her fist.

n「Whoa! Scary!」The dog Beastman leaped back nimbly.

nA party of eight, all of them were Beastmen, except for one guy. Even in the Quinbland Empire, there were only a few places that had as high a percentage of Beastmen as Gordon.

nIt was a town with relatively little discrimination between races.

n「He’s really taking his time. Someone, go check on him.」

n「Yes, ma’am.」

nOne of her friends entered the guild. A few moments ago, this feline beastwoman picked a fight with a young boy and got her ass handed to her instead. He was too strong. It was a mystery how such a small figure could hold such power. She was too surprised to react immediately.

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n「You outsiders have been acting awfully cocky lately. We can’t back down here.」

nPeople drawn by rumors of gold came to Gordon in droves. But no adventurer had found gold yet; so far the only people in town were those who failed to find it. Some were attacked by monsters, while others were caught in rockslides.

nAs more and more adventurers lost their friends and funds, crimes rapidly increased. Those who looked down on beastmen even attacked beastmen living in peace. Beastmen adventurers had to show that they were strong.

n「Ma’am!」Her friend came back out of the building.「H-He’s not inside! It’s like they just disappeared!」

n「They went out the back door! Let’s go!」

nThe party quickly moved out.

n「Moron. Don’t underestimate our sense of smell. We will find you.」

nGrinning, the feline beastwoman dashed towards the back of the guild.

n「Now that I think about it, something similar happened before.」Hikaru said.

nThe feline beastwoman’s party rushed to the back of the building, unaware that Hikaru and the girls were right under their noses. His Stealth was as effective as ever. Blending in with the other adventurers, they walked out in broad daylight unnoticed.

n「Before?」Lavia asked, holding Hikaru’s right hand.

n「Yeah. It was right after I came to this world. A couple of guys were messing with me at Pond’s guild.」

nHikaru used Stealth to get away that time too. But something was different this time.

n「These guys looked desperate. Well, whatever.」

nAll Hikaru needed was information to find the Pozi settlement. Once they found it, they would never set foot in Gordon ever again.

n「All right. Let’s go see them.」

n「See who?」Paula asked. She was holding Hikaru’s left hand.

n「The person who makes the bells that keep the wyverns away.」

nHikaru grinned. Only a very small amount of wyvern bells were sold, as only those who ventured deep into the Potterat Mountains bought them. Not all adventurers bought the bells either. Many people thought it was nonsense.

nThey entered a store that sold daily necessities.

n「Excuse me, I’m looking for a bell to ward off wyverns.」Hikaru said.

n「Ah, we don’t sell those anymore.」the shopkeeper—an old woman—said.「Miners used to buy them, but not anymore.」

n「Where can we get some?」

n「From the old man who makes them. I think he’s still around.」

nBingo! Hikaru thought. It was the creator that he wanted to meet.

n「Are you an adventurer? You should stop looking for the Pozi settlement. It doesn’t exist.」

n「Really?」

n「I’ve never heard the name Pozi in my entire life, but lately it’s all Pozi this, Pozi that. Anyway, if the bells sell well, I might restock again.」

nHikaru gave a wry laugh. After thanking the lady, they left the store and headed for the maker’s house, located far from Gordon’s main streets, in a corner where miners lived.

nThe small houses were built differently, and the roofs were not uniform in color, but there was a sense of unity in the way they huddled together.

nChildren were running around. Laundry fluttered above on ropes that were tied to the second floors of houses facing each other. One of the houses on the far end of a blind alley was made of old stone, as if it had existed before the town was built.

nHikaru knocked on the blackened wooden door.「Hello? Is anyone home?」

nThere was no reply, only silence. He knocked on the door several times, but still nothing.

n「Maybe no one’s home.」Lavia said.

n「No, he’s in there.」

nHikaru’s Mana Detection told him there was definitely someone inside, and they were ignoring the visitors.

nThat’s a lot of magic items.

nWhat was more surprising was the large amount of magical energy near the person. The little amount of mana in each indicated that they were magic items.

n「You leave me no choice.」

nIf you’re gonna ignore us, then we’ll invite ourselves in.

nThe unlocked door opened easily. There was a table, two chairs, and a kitchen. There seemed to be more rooms at the back of the long and narrow house. The person they were looking for was in the next room; it had no door, so they could easily see inside.

n「Hello.」

n「Who are you? I did not invite you in.」

nIn the middle of the small room was a mat, where an old man sat working, his back hunched over. His shaggy, gray hair hid his eyes.

nHe’s not human… Looks like one, but he’s of a different race. I don’t know what, though.

nThe walls were lined with fist-sized cowbells. They were a dull vermilion color, with circuits etched into the metal surface.

nSo there are all magic items.

n「We wanted to buy wyvern-warding bells.」Hikaru said.

n「Are you an adventurer too?」

n「Yes.」

n「There’s plenty of what you want over there. Just get some.」

n「How much?」

n「No need to pay.」

n「I can’t do that.」

nDoes he hate people? Or maybe he’s just not interested in doing business. If he was business-minded, he wouldn’t be living in a place like this, and if an outsider showed up, he would try to sell more.

nHikaru took out a few silver coins and placed them on the old man’s tool desk.

n「Too much.」the old man said with a cranky tone.

n「Better than too little.」

n「If you’re done, you may leave.」

n「Okay.」

nHikaru grabbed a bell that was right next to him and exited the house together with Lavia and Paula.

n「I wonder if he hates people.」Lavia said.

nHikaru’s mind was somewhere else. The old man was making bells, but he had no intention of selling them. Weird.

nThe magic items, as far as he could tell with Mana Detection, were the kind that actually worked as intended, not just for some superstition or for peace of mind. He had no idea if they actually worked against wyverns, though.

nWhy’s he making a lot of them?

nHikaru tried to shake the bell, but no sound came out. There was, however, a faint ripple of mana. It dissolved into the air, but it felt like it had an effect on the atmosphere somehow.

nI can detect mana with Mana Detection, but I can’t tell what kind of phenomena it creates.

nHikaru wondered if he should use his Soul Board to heighten his senses.

n「I-It’s you!」

nHikaru noticed a figure walking towards them from up ahead. He was too focused on the bell to notice her approach. It was none other than the feline beastwoman from the guild.

n「Oh, hello there.」Hikaru said.「Haven’t seen you since the guild.」

n「Hello—wait, no! Where’d you go?! You didn’t do anything to gramps, did you?!」

n「Gramps?」

n「The bellmaker’s my gramps!」

n「Doesn’t look like you’re the same race.」

n「Of course not. I was an orphan and gramps took me in. Wait, you so did see him!」She was alone, but she was staring daggers at Hikaru.「You better not have done anything to him.」

nWhat if I told her I did? Hikaru wondered. Nah, no point.

n「I did nothing. Just bought a bell.」When Hikaru showed her the bell, she appeared relieved.

n「Leave it.」she said.

n「Why?」

n「We can’t have a kid like you wandering around.」

nHikaru looked at the bell and then the woman.「Fine.」He left it on the ground.「Bye, now.」

n「Uh, what?」

nThe feline beastwoman was caught off-guard.

nThe next morning, a hung-over feline beastwoman stumbled out of her room.

n「Ow… My head hurts…」she said.

n「Hangover? Want some water?」

n「Oh, thanks. Wait, what are you doing here?!」

nThe boy from yesterday—Hikaru—was at her home.

n「You told me to give the bell back, so I came here to get a new one.」

n「You think this is some kind of a joke?! Ow…」

n「Do you need a healing spell?」Paula asked, running over to her.

n「Ah, yes, please. Wait, no!」She clutched her head in pain once more.

n「I’ll cast a spell, okay, Miss Beastwoman?」Paula began chanting.

nThe woman wore an awkward look.「It’s Farna. My name’s Farna.」

n「Okay, Farna. All done.」

n「Thanks—Wow! My headache’s gone!」

n「Paula is incredible.」Lavia said, wearing a smug grin.

n「What’s will all the ruckus? It’s too early in the morning.」The old man appeared.「You got your bell, so leave.」

nHikaru came early to procure a new bell. The old man apparently heard about what happened from Farna.

n「We brought some food. How about some breakfast?」

nHikaru took out the meal they had bought on the way here—some hotdog because Lavia insisted, and some fruit.

n「We don’t want any.」the old man said.「We will not indulge you—」

nFarna’s stomach grumbled.「Uh, gramps. I’m kinda starving.」She held her stomach, and the old man heaved a long sigh.

nThe old man took a hotdog and left a bell, perhaps as payment, and went back to his manufacturing room.

n「Pond’s hot dogs are the best in the continent. You can find them in every city!」Lavia looked smug again, eating a hotdog with ultra-spicy sauce.

nSelica had kept her word of including hot sauce on the menu. It had been a while since Hikaru had a Pond Hotdog. The sausage had a nice, chewy texture, and the sour sauce spread in his mouth along with the meat juice. It was a hot dog with onion sauce, not the standard ketchup and mayonnaise.

n「So, you guys still wanna climb up the mountains? Just don’t. If there was gold, it would’ve been found ages ago.」

nUpon talking to Farna, Hikaru learned that she was a nice adventurer. She just hated outsiders who caused chaos, so she picked on him to assert dominance. Hikaru was annoyed, but he could understand her anger for the strangers that had made the town less safe.

n「You’re pretty strong for someone so young.」Farna said.「What’s your rank?」

n「D.」

n「What?! Same as me?」Farna was shocked.

n「You’re not related to the old man, right?」

n「Nope. Anyway, D? Damn.」

n「Hikaru-sama is amazing.」Paula affirmed.

nFarna looked perturbed.「I mean, D? That’s like, one step from being top notch!」

n「Hikaru-sama is amazing.」

n「I think your friend’s got a problem.」Farna whispered to Hikaru.

nI know that, so please don’t ask me about it.

n「So you lived here your whole life?」Hikaru asked.

n「Yeah. I don’t know about gramps, though. He was already old when he picked me up.」She laughed.「Anyway, I’m full now, so I’m leaving for work.」

n「Work? Going adventuring?」

n「Yup. Gordon adventurers hunt down monsters in the forest. Don’t do anything to gramps while I’m gone!」

n「You think I’m some kind of a thug?」

nFarna no longer thought of Hikaru as a rich man’s son or an adventurer playing with his money. She flashed a grin, then left.

n「I’m gonna talk to the old man.」

nHikaru left Lavia and Paula behind and moved to the next room. As usual, the old man was creating anti-wyvern bells.

n「Mr. Hoya. I want to talk to you about something.」

nSilence. He was completely ignoring Hikaru. It wasn’t that he couldn’t hear him. He just didn’t want to talk. Do anything to the old man? Heck, he’s ignoring me. Hikaru didn’t really mind, though.

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n「I’ve been wondering what you’re gonna do with all these bells. The shop said they don’t sell them anymore, and you don’t want to sell them to adventurers who’re chasing rumors of gold. But you’re still making them, nevertheless.」

nNo reply.

n「You think the wyverns are gonna attack the town, aren’t you?」

nThe old man’s hands suddenly stopped moving. I knew it, Hikaru thought.

n「You’re preparing for their eventual attack. You want to give the bells to the people of the town. The magic items in here do look like they have some kind of an effect, though I don’t know how much. But you know that they’re effective.」

nThere were many different kinds of magic items, but the underlying sorcery was somewhat fixed. It was like a secret sauce or mathematical formula that had been passed down from generation to generation, the result of continuous research and optimization from the past to the present.

nHikaru also had knowledge of sorcery because of Roland, his body’s original owner.

n「This magic item does indeed work, but this inscription is not something I have ever seen. I can’t imagine what kind of effect it has either. Where did you learn of this?」

nSilence.

n「Let me change the question. You learned this from the mythical mountain tribe, the Pozi, didn’t you?」

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