Chapter 62 - Orichalcum (1)

After encountering that chicken as huge as the saber-toothed tiger, I hadn’t run into any particular danger. Of course, I occasionally spotted snakes, enormous lizards, hawks rivaling pterosaurs, and all sorts of other animals, but fortunately I hadn’t come face-to-face with any of them.

It was thanks to the adaman-whatever shield, essentially an upgrade over the golden shield. It had worked its magic every time danger threatened.

‘At this rate, I’ll be seeing dinosaurs next.’

You have no idea how startled I was to see a hawk the size of a pterosaur. Fortunately, it had already finished hunting. Otherwise, I would have been in real danger. Even the prey it had snatched up was far from normal-sized.

‘Surely a bird hasn’t carried Roundfur off?’

Roundfur’s footprints and the speed-sloth’s claw marks still continued up ahead. But after seeing that pterosaur-like hawk, I couldn’t help worrying. If the trail suddenly stopped, it would mean they’d been whisked into the sky. The speed-sloth was strong on the ground, but once something carried it into the air, it would be helpless.

“Roundfur! Where are you? Answer me if you’re there!”

I followed the trail, calling Roundfur’s name. Eventually, I found what appeared to be the remains of a snake Roundfur had eaten. Its head was completely smashed, and its entire body had been torn to shreds. It still twitched occasionally, so it couldn’t have been killed long ago.

‘They’re close.’

I’d nearly caught up with Roundfur and the speed-sloth. The problem was that the trail was hard to see. There were still claw marks from the speed-sloth, at least, but not a single footprint. The trees were densely packed here, and the ground was covered in far too much grass.

‘Just wait until I find you.’

I was going to give that little bottom a good spanking. And I’d demand to know why the speed-sloth hadn’t stopped Roundfur. I’d only let it off if it had a valid excuse.

‘... Would not letting it off even mean anything?’

It was stronger than me. The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I pushed it aside.

After painstakingly following the trail, I gradually emerged from the dense forest. That made things even worse. Leaving the forest meant heading into another area. I could only hope they hadn’t gone somewhere with warped space.

SQUEEEEE!

A cry reached my ears. A very familiar one. Only Roundfur made a sound that cute.

“Roundfur?!”

I whipped my head toward the sound. That cry sounded awfully urgent. Was something chasing the cub? If Roundfur sounded this frantic with the speed-sloth there, they had to be in danger.

“Roundfur! Over here! Here!”

“Squeeee!”

Roundfur must have heard me, because the cries grew louder. The bushes in front of me began shaking violently.

RUSTLE!

“Squeeee!”

Roundfur burst out of the bushes with the speed-sloth clinging to the cub’s back. My relief at finally finding them was short-lived. I could only stare in dismay at what followed.

RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

“Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!”

“Cheeep! Cheep-cheep!”

Chicks with those striking black bodies, just like the one I’d seen earlier. Not just one, but several burst from the bushes. They looked quite cute, flapping their wings energetically, but their size was the problem. The sight of a whole flock of human-sized chicks charging toward me was incredibly intimidating.

“Cheep? Cheep?”

“Cheep?”

The chicks chasing Roundfur hesitated as soon as they saw me. My unexpected appearance seemed to have made them pause to assess the situation.

“Squee... Squee...”

Roundfur clutched my leg tightly, trembling all over. Apparently, the chicks were scary.

‘To be fair, I’d run too.’

To someone as comparatively small as Roundfur, it probably felt like being chased by elephants. Meanwhile, the speed-sloth clinging to the cub’s back couldn’t have looked more relaxed.

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!!!

We’d been at a standoff for a while when a ringing crow came from the distance. Hearing it, the chicks looked at one another.

“Cheep. Cheep.”

“Cheep.”

They exchanged some sort of message, then turned around and disappeared into the bushes. That thunderous crow seemed to have been a signal to return.

“Whew.”

“Squeee.”

With the situation resolved, I let out a sigh of relief. Roundfur must have felt safe too, because the cub slowly climbed down from my leg.

“... Roundfur.”

“Squee?”

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

Roundfur tilted that little head at my reprimand, clearly clueless. Right. Talking now would be like talking to a brick wall. I couldn’t scold the speed-sloth either, since it seemed to have climbed aboard when it saw Roundfur leaving.

“Sigh. Let’s hurry back. It’s dangerous here.”

“Squee. Squee.”

When I said we should return, Roundfur tugged my pants with that little beak. It felt like the cub was trying to lead me somewhere, so I watched closely. Maybe Roundfur had found something. After a moment’s thought, I opened the forum.

‘There’s plenty of time.’

Finding Roundfur had taken roughly two hours, so there was still time before lunch. But I couldn’t spend too long exploring. I had to account for the return trip too. Above all, I couldn’t forget the crab for Passing Dwarf.

‘First, let’s post that I found Roundfur.’

I held Roundfur between my legs in case the cub ran away while I was writing the post. As I secured Roundfur firmly there, the speed-sloth climbed onto my back.

Found the troublemaker

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Roundfur looking up from between my legs)

Found this little troublemaker. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

Good thing the speed-sloth went along. Otherwise, it probably would’ve taken ages.

└Heavenly Demon: I am glad you found them. Were you hurt?

└Wild Grylls: I ran into a huge chicken along the way, but I’m not hurt.

└Heavenly Demon: A chicken? How big was it?

└Wild Grylls: Just going by height, it was way taller than me. Its chick was about eye level with me.

└Heavenly Demon: Hmm. I cannot tell whether it was a spiritual creature or simply an unusually large chicken.

└Wild Grylls: Chickens can be spiritual creatures too?

└Heavenly Demon: Any plant or animal can evolve into a spiritual treasure under the right conditions.

└Sword Masta: Why not catch that chicken and eat it to build up your strength?

└Wild Grylls: Pretty sure it’d smash my skull first... It was fucking terrifying.

└Sword Masta: You killed a tiger but got scared of a chicken?

└Wild Grylls: Yes.

└Sword Masta: Fair enough.

└Lmaooo

└Look how fast they accepted that lmao

└Passing Dwarf: Hey, you. When am I getting my drinking snack? My friend’s complaining it’s taking too long.

└Wild Grylls: Really sorry. I’ll get it to you today or tomorrow.

└Passing Dwarf: I trust you’ll throw in something extra for the delay?

└Wild Grylls: Will two crabs do?

└Passing Dwarf: Give me some fish instead. I want to try it.

└Wild Grylls: I can, but you’ll have to clean it yourself.

└Passing Dwarf: No problem.

Now that I’d checked the forum’s reactions, all that remained was to head back.

“Squee. Squee.”

But Roundfur kept pestering me to go somewhere. Perhaps because it had been so long since the cub had been outside, heading straight home seemed disappointing. We had plenty of time, so there was no reason I couldn’t oblige. If things looked dangerous, though, we’d run immediately.

“All right. But if it’s dangerous, we’re running right away. Got it?”

“Squee!”

Roundfur answered with a bright smile at my permission. I chuckled at that impossibly adorable face and stroked the cub’s head.

‘First thing I’m doing is installing a metal gate at the cave entrance.’

Pet owners put gates in their doorways for a reason. Installing one at the entrance was essential, if only to prevent any more escapes. Once Roundfur stopped taking naps, I’d have no choice but to bring the cub along.

“Right. Let’s go.”

“Squee!”

I let Roundfur lead and followed behind. Perhaps the cub had realized this place was dangerous, because Roundfur stayed close, even looking back now and then to check that I was following. Just as I was thinking that this must be why people kept pets, Roundfur turned back and cried out.

“Squee!”

The cub pointed ahead with a forepaw, as if to say we were here. I turned to look in that direction.

“A cave?”

It was a cave, one with an extremely wide entrance. Unlike the place where I’d found the golden mushroom, there was nothing at the entrance. Only the pitch-dark mouth of the cave greeted us. Its eerie atmosphere made me reluctant to enter.

“Roundfur, do you really have to go in here?”

“Squee!”

Somehow, the cub seemed more adventurous than me. Was it that natural curiosity of the young? Putting the question aside, I told Roundfur to wait and looked around. It was too dark inside to go without a torch. Luckily, I’d brought cloth and oil.

FWOOSH!

With the torch lit, we seemed ready to enter. Roundfur led the way, but only as far as the torchlight reached.

‘It slopes down from here.’

We hadn’t gone far before the ground began to descend. I told Roundfur to step back and held the torch out ahead. The slope wasn’t too steep, and there were footholds here and there. Getting back up shouldn’t be a problem. Still, it paid to be careful.

“Roundfur, wait a moment.”

“Squee?”

I bought two long ropes through the forum, then tied them securely to a sturdy-looking rock.

‘This should keep us safe even if we slip.’

I tied one rope around my waist and the other around Roundfur’s. I didn’t tie up the speed-sloth. It had those excellent claws. With our safety measures in place, I slowly made my way down. Young as Roundfur was, the cub was still an animal and descended more nimbly than I did.

‘These boots are great.’

The boots were really earning their keep today. Maybe it was their nonslip soles, but I hadn’t had any accidents. Even so, I made sure to stay careful, just in case. One wrong step and a broken bone would be a disaster.

“Whew.”

I exhaled after making it all the way down the somewhat steep slope. I held up the torch to check whether the ground dropped any farther, but it didn’t. There was only level ground ahead.

“Wow...”

I marveled at the sheer size of the cave’s interior. The torch was our only light, but that wasn’t a problem. My eyes could at least make out the terrain and objects even in the dark.

‘Dangerous animals... None that I can see.’

Bats, bugs, snakes, and so on. They were large, but none could really be called dangerous. Even the snakes, the closest thing to a threat, seemed timid and slithered away as soon as we arrived.

But perhaps Roundfur saw them all as prey.

“Hissss!”

“Squeeaak!”

A puny battle began between a snake and a baby owlbear. The snake was big, but it had no venomous fangs, so it posed no threat to Roundfur. Besides, the cub had remarkably quick reflexes. The snake never stood a chance.

‘An owlbear is still an owlbear, I guess.’

While Roundfur chewed, tore, savored, and enjoyed the snake, I explored the cave.

‘But...’

As I shone my torch around, I noticed something strange. Never mind how spacious it was inside; how should I put it? The place glittered. And not just in one spot. The entire cave sparkled like a jewel. Even the ground beneath my feet shimmered a faint violet.

‘What on earth is this?’

I picked up a loose stone from the ground. Even the stone had a soft violet hue. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary rock.

‘I should ask the forum. Maybe Dwarf will know, being a dwarf and all?’

I gathered a few stones to get a proper identification, then looked around for anything else unusual. Apart from the soft violet hue of the entire cave, there was nothing special.

‘This one looks like a person.’

During my search, I came across something shaped like a person—or, more precisely, a giant. I examined it from different angles and even touched it, but there was no reaction. Apparently, it was a formation that had taken that shape by chance.

Having finished surveying the area, I got ready to return.

“You’ll need a bath as soon as we get back, if only because of the ticks.”

“Squee?”

“Yes, you. You. When we get back, eat your food and go straight to sleep.”

It didn’t take long to return to the hideout. I’d diligently marked the route on the way out, and we didn’t take any detours. And so Roundfur’s adventure, which had taken about two and a half hours, came to an end.

But only the adventure was over. I still had a mountain of work to do.

‘I need to eat, find out what these rocks are, and give Roundfur a bath. Busy, busy.’

First, I put up a post asking what the rocks were. If they were valuable, I’d list them on the auction house. If they needed processing, I planned to give them to Dwarf.

‘I can just ask him to make crossbow bolts out of them, right?’

With that in mind, I posted on the forum and got to work. First on the list was giving Roundfur a bath. After all that rummaging through the bushes, the cub had to be covered in every tick imaginable.

“Squeee...”

“Does that feel nice?”

“Squee!”

“You really do have me waiting on you hand and foot.”

Roundfur floated in the warm bathwater with only that little face peeking out. Today had been a struggle, but I could chalk it up to finally doing the exploring I’d kept putting off. Afterward, I washed myself thoroughly too, then checked my post.

└Passing Dwarf: I’m telling you, that’s orichalcum. Fuck, I may be a drunk, but I can recognize that much.

└And what if it isn’t? Willing to bet the beer in your hand?

└Then we’ll believe you lol

└Passing Dwarf: Ah, fuck... That’s a bit much...

└This bastard’s chickening out lmao

└It’s mithril and you won’t bet your beer?

└To be fair, beer is sacred to dwarves lol

└All Hail the Sun: Looks like orichalcum to me. I’ll post a picture of mine.

└Who the hell are you to have orichalcum lying around too?

└All Hail the Sun: A rich guy in Setan.

└Fuck lmaooo

└Now that’s an answer that makes you want a revolution lol

“?”

Something strange had been going on while I was away.