Chapter 115 Treasure

I thanked the old man for educating me about all of this with a slight bow. He also thanked me for helping with his investigation, but I denied his thanks saying he was the true champion in the room.

And so we were done speaking.

Now was time for me to go on and… get things done.

I sat for a long time, and at long last, from deep within my chair, I worked my way up, where I placed both my hands flat onto the flat black surface of the desk. Peering into the old man's face, I went and stole his lunch money. Gently, my victim agreed to give me a handful of both silver and copper coins before I thanked him again.

"I shall be off, then, gramps."

"Oh… Where to, if I may venture to ask?"

I was off to eat noodles. Just as plain as that. Pasta was yummy, and ever since I and the old stout merchant noodle-maker got separated, back in Sville, my tummy kept asking for such a meal. Noodles, noodles, noodles. So now wasn't the time to stay put and do nothing.

But I was stopped by the old man. Did I forget? Before I'd have permission to go out in the open, in a society populated mostly by human races, I'd first need to hide something from people. I'd need to hide myself. Hide the monster. My ominous, monster-like black aura.

Naturally, I wouldn't want to get caught out there. Princess Elina said that I'd need that in order not to get caught by someone as keen as her. Right, she was the one to find out about my nature back on the battlefield, so her advice was to be heeded.

Before it went away to get things done, the monster first stepped in front of the old man. A finger was placed onto my forehead, the old magician murmured a faint chant, and my ever-leaking magical energy stopped flowing out at once. The sensation felt funny, but at the same time, it was just like I was trapped, so a bit discomforting.

Before you mastered the art of magic-wielding, said the old man, you couldn't prevent your aura from constantly leaking out of you as easily. With a regular Joe, constantly "leaking" wasn't an issue since you weren't overflowing with aura and magic, to begin with. That was different for me, however. As I had so much energy, it leaked out in great quantities.

But fear not—thanks to a handy old man, you could summon a "barrier" on your monster kids before they went out playing with their humans! All of that with only one application of a certain spell from our old man.

My brows drew closer and I gulped. With hesitation, I conveyed what the sensation felt like when the doctor pressed me with questions. "I-It's not… 'flowing out' as considerably anymore…?"

"Oh ho ho!" the old man laughed. "Sure… Lest you forget, this means of hiding your nature, son, will only work as a temporary measure." The skillful old man went on and told me that, in the first place, it was bizarre the aura still leaked out even slightly. Ideally, it should completely hide a regular person, but it couldn't work as properly on me. "I should mention it: you will have to learn and train!"

If I could just find some guy with a handy skill called "Mana Regulation," or something, this affair would go quicker… "But sure, old man."

I went out.

.

.

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In the residence, I thought and thought. At present, I walked and walked. Heading out was the right call. Always thinking and learning was growing dull on my youthful mind. Brain wasn't up to the task anymore. Even if it were, at any rate, all matters requiring discussion had been settled and done with, thanks to the old man.

I'd had enough; now I was free.

"Where to?" the old man had asked. To the outside world. To life. To what's good and great.

The outside world was welcoming me into its heart again, and I was looking out for treasure. So I set off down the track, following in the path Princess Elina's carriage must have followed. After five minutes of strolling and three minutes of sprinting, I reached a more populated area after the endless gardens of the aristocratic district abruptly stopped. Here, there were many more streets. Before long, these many streets welcomed me, too, along with the great number of passersby and pedestrians.

Also, the fresh air welcomed me. And then, the gray cobbles arranged into lively roads of chariots, horses, and messengers did welcome me, too. The warm wind stroking my black hair and neck, my pockets full of coins, my feet and toes, still bare and unshoed, the prickly sensation of the ground beneath my feet, and finally, the sun, still dangerously burning and beating down on every human, vigorously bathing us all in its sun rays' warmth to the point of discomfort, also welcomed me outside.

"R…Right back at you!" I yelled out to the skies, still in the middle of the streets, observing everything around me. People, workers or not, turned to me, sparing me no more than a quick glance, scoffed, and went back to their business. Being as bizarre as ever, I held my arms out in a frenzy as if to embrace the whole world, laughed lots of Ha ha ha, and yelled it again. "Right back at you! Yaaah, I welcome you, too… Capital!"

Country bumpkin. People already had a name for me, along with other mean but fair remarks.

Letting my strong sense of smell guide me, I didn't so much use the Guiding Fragrance device of the System to let myself be guided toward my destination, but just for the sake of it, I followed a good bowl of noodles' entrancing perfume.

A commercial alley. That was about where to. Finding myself a stool, I sat down at the first stall and found another version of that stout old bearded man as the owner of the place.

"What'll I serve ya?" Cheerfully, the customer was addressed, and swiftly, my order was taken. "Comin' right up, sonny!" While I waited for my order to be ready, I casually asked questions to the noodle-maker. A long moment passed, and I thanked the stout merchant for the meal after I was served, sniffed around in the air as I appreciated the warm sauce's fragrance, then plunged my head right into the ample bowl of pasta and wolfed all the food down like an animal would, making a mess of my face.

Taking no note of the merchant's slackening mouth and widening eyes, after I ate, I'd need to pay up since I was a very civilized citizen. Really, if people got the idea that I was just like a beast in the wild, they got the wrong impression. Without counting up what I gave the merchant, I plunged a hand into one of my two pockets and poured its contents for the old merchant to take.

Another slapping surprise climbed up the merchant's face, and as he kept calling out to me that it was all too much, louder and louder, but I took off at once. Whoever ever had such a thing as "too much money" in the world? My business here was done: I had eaten my fill and had asked about what I needed to know.