Case 43: Gearing up.

Case 43: Gearing up.

rustle—!

''...''

rustle—!

It is quiet.

The west section of the Zircon forest is now nearly empty of monsters. We genocided almost all of them, leaving only normal animals behind. And even then, I can only sense small animals, which were either stealthy and smart enough to survive this hellhole of a forest, or just simply aren't worth the time for the predators.

It's totally different from a few months ago when I was still a little baby owl. I was scared for my life whenever I went out hunting for food, but now as I'm walking inside the woods, only vaguely creepy ambiance noises are present.

It has been a few days since I've defeated Balnok. The atmosphere inside the academy is getting more and more suffocating. Everyone is scared of demons suddenly appearing, and rightfully so.

However, according to Chloe, the remaining two chapters of Arc 2 will not involve demons or the cult anymore, instead focusing on school activities for the main character. It's the part of every story where the player or the viewer gets to take a breather, basically.

As for me, I think I've taken enough breaks already, so I'm going for conquest.

The region that I'm aiming for this time is North Zircon, which is ruled by the Blizzard Orca - Orcinus Nova. Its level is allegedly somewhere between 50 to 55, which might sound a bit challenging.

Now, the thing that I want to focus on in this expedition is not just blindlykilling everything. In West Zircon, everything was either not intelligent enough to understand the concept of a master-subordinate relationship, or just outright hostile to us, so I didn't manage to find good candidates to be my followers.

This time, however, I'm hoping I can recruit some friendly animals, and if lucky, maybe even the Blizzard Orca itself as well.

As I'm lost in my thoughts, something white bumps into me.

HOOT~!

It's one of my siblings.

I stroke the giant owl in front of me gently, to which it heartily accepts the touch, even nuzzling against my palm.

''Let's go.''

Walking forward a bit more, I can see the area in which owl mom made her nest. She herself is apparently not home, but my siblings are.

HOOT~! HOOT~!

Why I'm here, you might ask?

Well, I'm just checking on these fluffy balls, that's all. I need something to relax myself after being pestered by not only Scarlett but now Luxia. The Saintess, to my worry, has read Nydia's mind and knows about her doubt, at least it appears so.

It's like dealing with a detective who is convinced that you are the murderer but doesn't have enough evidence to back it up, so she would just shower you with questions left and right every chance she gets, basically being more of a stalker than a real stalker.

Well, let's not think about it anymore.UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

After relaxing for about half an hour, it is now time to do some treasure hunting.

We didn't touch all the ruins, tombs, shrines, etc. When we went cleaning, so the artifacts and treasure should still be there. We didn't need to map those out because I can somewhat sense their locations through my [Monarch] skill, so that was nice.

''Now, give me the necklace.''

''...''

After the spirit turtle handed me the necklace, I left the place normally. It's quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to make him my subordinate though.

''Hm...''

I quietly inspect the golden necklace, which is extremely slim and overall seems fragile. I was worried that this would be bulky, but if it's this design, then it would suit Chloe a lot.

I have no intention of having this for myself, of course. Just as she cares about my well-being, I also care about hers. I think I'm strong enough to protect myself already.

Anyway, my friends by this point should've finished looting the other places as well, I hope we find something useful, though...

''Hah...''

I'm still quite sad that my [Horror Lord]'s entity cap is still (2/2). I thought it would increase as the original plot advances, but...

Okay, let's not be depressed anymore. I need to get myself together.

So I teleport myself back to Skely's cave, where I can immediately see a bunch of stuff laid out on the table. All the usual members are here. They're unusually quiet though, what happened?

''Anything good?''

'''' ... ''''

''...?''

Why do they look so grim?

''...It's all trash.'' Ariel facepalms. ''I can't believe it, six temples, six!''

''Well, well, calm down, sister.'' Skely lets out a sigh.

''I can't...!'' Ariel pouts, furrowing her eyebrows. ''Oh, the misery...''

...These are indeed useless stuff. Unlucky.

''Lady Aurora, did you find the item that you want?''

''Yes, it's here.''

As soon as I take out the necklace, Ariel and somehow Smiley swarm in.

''Where?! Let me see it!''

''Stop being so rude, sister.''

AUF—!

This is a mess.