Chapter 449 – The Old Man and the Mirror

000

A shabby mountain mansion.

No one knows how long this mansion has existed since it is located in a place where no one can easily find it and even a mountain road does not exist.

Unless it’s to the extent of being in distress in the mountains from time to time, when there’s a loud laugh in this place where people rarely step.

Birds resting in the trees around them were started and soared into the sky.

“Haha!Haha!!”

An elderly man who seemed to be in his late 40s opened the door and jumped out.

With a bright smile on their lips, and a happy expression, they were spinning around and moving as if they were dancing.

An elderly woman with a hunched back, probably in her late 70s, who was quietly knitting in the room he jumped out of, frowns as she watches him.

“How many times have I told you not to come out of nowhere, Laplace.”

Haha! I’m sorry Mr. Darwin! I’m so mad I can’t stand not dancing like this!”

Looking at Laplace, who spits out something different from his expression, behavior, and voice his, Darwin sighs as if he sees what he cannot see.

“You really don’t change over the years, Laplace.”

Darwin sighs as if to reproach him, but does not stop knitting.

Somewhere, it looks like a hard-working old mother rebuking her son her, who has been unemployed for a long time and has reached the same age as when she gave birth to him.

They are the four leaders of the regressors who are causing problems with various artifacts on this continent – no, they are two of the three remaining now that one has gone to the underworld.

“So? What made you mad, Laplace?”

“Listen to me, Darwin! I met the clan of the dark horse who killed Maxwell and asked if he would join us, but he failed!”

At his words his, Darwin sighed once more.

“I told you, Laplace. That black horse’s clan must be killed. That child will never be with us. His fate his has been decided since he was first ‘created’.”

“Ah, but Darwin. His desire is as difficult as picking stars in the night sky. And such a difficult goal is worth the challenge. The seekers of knowledge to know everything about the past, present, and future. We. And, with that knowledge, once again, we are the returning ones, right?”

Darwin glanced down at Laplace, who was raging about the beliefs of regressors and the significance of their existence.

Clearly, he was insane and repeated more dangerous experiments than Maxwell, but his thoughts were the most pure among the regressors.

“Phew… If Maxwell had been there at this time, he would have said something refreshing after seeing your stupidity.”

“I can’t help it even if I cling to the dead, Darwin. I have to leave right now.”

Staggering as if he was barely listening to her, he picked up a cookie from his table and put it into his mouth her.

“Going? Where?”

“Eratus! They’ll be digging in earnest. I’ll have to put a spoon on them too!”

“Huh. Looking at that, it seems that the hired bandits have suffered.”

Darwin snorted at Laplace as if he was in good shape, and Laplace shrugged his shoulders at Darwin’s behavior.

“Ah. Ball Foss was a good guy to use in many ways. He worked faithfully without even knowing his mother his was dead.”

“A ruthless fellow.”

To Darwin, who was talking while clicking his tongue, Laplace muttered while rolling his eyes.

“Say it right. After using all three of his children in an ‘evolution’ experiment.”

“If the experiment had been successful, the world would have ‘returned’ by now.”

Darwin just shook his head as if he was sorry that the experiment had failed, as if he didn’t feel guilty or remorse for what Laplace said.

“So? If you go out, what are you doing without going out?”

“Ah. Speaking of that! I have to take my improved Bhopal Rabbit, so I need a wagon! Wasn’t it you who told me not to drag it out on its own?”

Darwin sighs and snorts at his words his again.

“If you break it again, I won’t let you in this time!”

“Don’t worry! And, along with that black horse’s clan… I’ll bring the ‘girl protected by the Holy Spirit’ too!”

Laplace smiled as he held her hands in anticipation.

He looked like a middle-aged man, but his eyes were like that of a boy sparkling with intellectual curiosity.

However- child-like innocence also harbored cruel malice.

001

Cleon, Sasha, and Amelia, who came up by elevator and returned to the pier, stretched themselves out without realizing it when they returned to the ground where they could see the blue sky.

“Under the sea, there was definitely a mysterious atmosphere…But I like the ground, too. It’s not stuffy.”

When Sasha says that, Cleon nods her head.

“So. Do I have to go find equipment to hatch griffon eggs now?”

When Amelia asks a question, Cleon nods her head.

“I was introduced to a good shop by Artis, so I guess I can go there.”

“Won’t they be born while we’re not there…?”

When Sasha speaks as if she is a little worried, Cleon smiles bitterly.

“That’s not going to happen. Lila says she can make a tool to adjust the temperature herself, so what we need to prepare is a cage that she can stay in when she’s born…”

“Ooh, do I have to put them in cages?”

To Sasha’s words, Cleon nodded.

“The newly born Griffon may have a low risk… But even so, it is a high-risk monster. If you raise it without putting it in a cage, other employees might get scared.”

“Uh, that’s right…”

Looking at Sasha, who looks slightly apologetic somewhere, Cleon also becomes bitter.

“Once Sasha is well educated, she’ll be able to stop attacking people. Maybe she can be turned into a fence instead of a cage.”

“I-really?”

“Yes. Griffins are clever animals…”

Amelia also nodded at Cleon’s words her.

“If you train a griffon well, it is said that they can fully communicate with humans, and there are individuals that can understand human speech.

“That’s great…”

Probably, this is also the story when Amelia tried to create the Griffon Knights in the Kingdom Army that she had read before.

Sasha’s eyes light up as she listens to Amelia’s story her.

“Well then, let’s go get the equipment quickly!”

“Calm down, Sasha. Even if you don’t hurry, the store won’t run away.”

The three of them smiled and moved their feet like that, leaving the dockside and returning to the street lined with shops once again.

002

[The manager ran away at night. Don’t go inside on your own. -Building owner]

Upon arriving at the building where the shop recommended by Artis is located, a sign welcoming the party.

In front of a rather spacious general store with a suspicious-looking signboard that reads ‘All General Store’, both Cleon and Sasha look at the sign with a blank look.

“The store ran away…?”

And if Amelia said that, the door was closed and the light was off, with things left unattended inside.

“Hey, Mr. Cleon~”

When Sasha, who has become a crying voice, grabs Cleon’s arm, Cleon also clears his throat and looks back as if trying to calm Sasha.

“All right, let’s find another shop. Even Artis wouldn’t have known that the shop was closed.”

“M-That’s right, Sasha-san! If it’s a cage for large animals, I’m sure other stores carry it too!”

“Ugh.”

Cleon was silent for a moment at Amelia’s words her.

The reason Artis recommended this place was probably because it dealt with ‘cages for beasts’.

Of course, it is natural that it is for a general animal and for a beast, but its value is different in terms of durability and being able to prepare for unexpected situations.

The number of people who can make them is small, and of course, the number of shops that sell them is also limited.

Moreover, in an oriental country where being with nature is considered a virtue, how many stores deal with cages that can trap demons like that?

All day today, I wondered if I would be able to find it even if I circumnavigated this Eratus.

“…Mr. Cleon?”

“Huh? Ah. It’s okay…”

When Cleon seems to be in such trouble, he calls Sasha by his name her.

When Cleon suddenly comes to his senses and stars at the store in front of him for a while, then tries to turn around.

“What? Someone was there so I thought the manager of the store had returned, but it wasn’t.”

An old man with a cane approached the party and clicked his tongue.

Hearing that sound, Cleon turned and looked in that direction. At first glance, a man with a frown on his face, who looked eccentric, was looking up at the group.

“What is it? If you look closely, it’s the Dark Horse Clan, isn’t it? The world is about to end! The Dark Horse Clan proudly wears two girls!”

At his attitude of spitting out racist words, of course Sasha- and when Rube in it gets angry at once and tries to step forward, Cleon stops Sasha and asks him a question in a polite manner.

“…Is the old man the owner of this building?”

“Yes!

Why did Artis recommend this shop…

Although he was able to cover his head inside, Cleon had a few things on his mind his, so he continued his conversation with the old man who looked at him with a disgruntled face.

“It’s been a disaster. So, is this store… And the stuff inside going to be sorted out?”

“Ah!? What are you guys going to do with that!”

“Actually, there was something I wanted to buy at this store… I came here on a recommendation from someone I know.”

If Cleon’s demeanor remains respectful, the old man brushes his beard, thinks of something, then asks Cleon a question.

“You bastard, are you an adventurer?”

“…For now, yes.”

“Yes, yes… Actually, there is a problem with the items in the store. My request- No, if you accept the request, I will sell the items in the store. This store is no different from mine.”

Also. There’s something wrong with this store, and they can’t get rid of everything in the store.

It was a feeling of incongruity that a person would leave an empty building alone for a month, but it was the correct answer.

“Is it a problem?”

When Amelia, who was listening beside her, asked that question, the village chief turned his gaze to Amelia and narrowed her eyes for a moment.

“Hmm…? You…”

I think I saw it somewhere…? A man who says the same thing.

Only then did Cleon, realizing that he was from the ‘Kingdom’ and not from the ‘Eastern Country’, hastily blocked her way.

“…She’s a noble who came all the way from the academy. I’m the adventurer in charge of escorting her.”

“Hmph. I don’t know which stupid nobleman entrusted the escort of his daughter to the black horse clan and the beast boy… Well. It doesn’t matter. Yes, there is a problem. That’s right, the monster. “

Since they are old people, they must have experienced war.

Accepting that the prejudice and discrimination against the dark horse clan was unavoidable, Cleon quietly listened to the story.

I couldn’t help but show a surprised reaction to the word monster.

“Why is the monster… In the store?”

“The owner of this shop isn’t an ordinary fool… He was a shop where he played with rare items he liked and then sold them when he got tired of them. After that, it became a shop where only visitors came… They said, ‘I have a network with a famous merchant in the kingdom, so it doesn’t matter if the store doesn’t work~’. Lost.”

“…”

A famous merchant in the kingdom… An inn overnight… A rare item…

Cleon frowns at something, the puzzle pieces coming together in her head.

“Hey, are you listening, you boy?”

“Ah… Yes. I’m listening. So, monsters… Are they mixed with that rare item?”

“Yeah! Thanks to that, I almost died too… For you, I want you to exterminate that monster. How can you do it?”

Cleon was silent for a moment.

And he looked back at the two men behind him-

“…Elderly Chief, do you have any more information about monsters?”

“Huh- Are you trying to take on the job after hearing the monster’s true identity? It seems that even the dark demon clan is fearful.”

“That old man keeps…”

“Ruben-sama, be patient…!”

Sasha uses her other arm to stop her trying to pull out the bow with one arm.

But when Cleon calmly makes eye contact with the old man, the old man sighs and replies.

“I don’t know. But it’s not a monster in the living world. It’s probably a guy with the ability to mimic things. It makes a rattling sound and a horrifying moan even though nothing moves.”

“…A troublesome fellow.”

Cleon nods his head, but then Sasha’s powers will help.

With the power of her hunter’s imprint, it would n’t be a chore to find her hiding monster in her.

“Okay. Then, if we defeat the monster, you can buy the items inside, right?”

“Okay!”

When the old man nodded loudly at Cleon’s words, Cleon also nodded as if he understood.

Then she turns around and looks down at Amelia who was hiding behind her.

“Ah—Lady. Me and Sasha will go inside and deal with the monsters. Lady-“

“I’ll go with you too.”

Cleon, who had been mistakenly called Amelia, was somehow indifferent.

Amelia wonders if she thought that Cleon was going to leave him behind, but she said so, but Cleon surprisingly easily nodded her head.

“…All right.”

“Ho! You must be a brave lady. If you are a noble, you must have that level of spirit.”

In the spirit of inspiration that only showed favor to Amelia, a member of the same kingdom, Sasha stuck her tongue out in Cleon, but first of all, it was better to listen to him in order to get what she wanted.

Besides, even knowing that there are monsters in the city, I couldn’t just stay there.”

When the old man opens the store door with the key while hearing the sound of clicking.

I felt like no one had gone inside for a while.

“Come on. Go in quickly and take care of it. Then I’ll sell you what you want.”

When Cleon and his party go inside at the words of the old man urging them, Cleon closes the door they entered in case the monster escapes outside.

The inside of the store was dark and dusty.

Since it disappeared a month ago, it was last cleaned a month ago – or even longer.

It was cluttered with clutter, and what caught Cleon’s attention the most was-

“…There is. Cage for the Demon Beast.”

It was a large cage in one corner of the store, with various items piled on it, seemingly without an owner to visit.

There were also various junk items stored in it, so it may have been something he had no intention of selling.

“Everything, I’m glad.”

Sasha said the same and sighed.

Cleon also nodded his head and cautiously looked around and followed the signs of the monster-

‘Huh…Uhhh…’

The same, a rattling, rattling sound echoes throughout the store as the voice really flows out.

“Eww…”

As if the sound gave her goosebumps, Sasha shrank her body her, and Amelia swallowed her saliva nervously.

“…As expected, I can’t feel the presence of living things. It must be a monster that integrates with things, or a monster that mimics. Sasha, can you follow the traces with an engraving?”

“Ah, yes…! I’ll try!”

When Sasha, somehow relaxed by Cleon’s words, took a deep breath and focused her eyes on her.

As the engraving glows, she sees things like streams and traces that are invisible to others.

“Something… There are vague traces…”

“Are you the type that doesn’t move?”

“I think so. Ah, but I think I can figure out where the rattle is coming from…!”

As Sasha said so, she carefully walked down the aisle made among her junk-

If you move to find the source of the sound.

Rattle!

“Kyaaak!”

The tower of objects next to her Amelia shakes wildly, startling her.

Cleon stretched out his arms around her as if to protect her her, Amelia.

“Thank you, Cleon.”

Amelia also confirmed that something of hers had been laid under the objects next to her.

It was unsuitable for a place like this, with a golden rim that glittered.

“Sasha, Cleon. I think it’s making a noise.”

And, as the rim moved up and down, it was as if he was trying to remove the object above it.

Hearing him make a whooshing sound, Cleon nods his head.

“…If it’s a monster, is it good to destroy it like this?”

“Wait a minute… Umm… After all, it’s not the energy of a monster. Rather, it’s the touch of magical power that I’ve felt somewhere…”

“Isn’t it a monster…?”

Cleon questions Sasha’s words once again, and Sasha nods her head.

So, Amelia was talking to Cleon like this.

“First, let’s get rid of the stuff above and see what it is.”

With her words her, Cleon agrees and moves the items above one by one to the side-

There, there stood a mirror huge enough to reflect a person’s entire body.

“…—A mirror?”

When Cleon, Sasha, and Amelia look down in wonder at the mirror that stopped just as they started to clean things up.

Their faces are reflected on the surface…

When Sasha opens her eyes and examines the mirror-

“Ah!? Hey, Mr. Cleon, this!”

The moment Sasha noticed something in her, the surface of the mirror shook, and in an instant, her arm her stretched out and pulled Cleon’s body her.

Let Cleon almost get sucked into it without reacting to something so out of his imagination his.

Sasha and Amelia also grab onto Cleon’s body her, but-

All three of them were eventually sucked into the mirror.

Eventually, the rattling mirror calmed down.

The shop was enveloped in silence as no sound was made.