Chapter 88: The Impoverished Viscount’s Second Son Searches for Eyes 10
*
“Another… miss?”
I muttered unintentionally, holding the two-hundredth amber-colored jewel in my hand.
I’d thought that if I hunted about fifty Jewelhead Bunnies, I’d surely get one or two.
But after hunting two hundred, I unbelievably had zero.
Was there some kind of hole in my Theory (Erica)?
My calm-faced self looked like he wanted to say something in my mind, but I ignored him.
Because right now, I am the Masked Man.
If he wants to say something, he should put on a mask first.
The jewels crammed into my Tool Shed started to feel like a nuisance, so I headed back to the Merchant.
After watching the jewels get carelessly tossed in along with a “Much obliged,” someone called out, “Masked Man.”
I’d noticed him from the start, but the sight I saw when I turned around almost made me sigh.
Adventurers with severed arms or legs were lined up, rolling around with only basic first aid applied.
It’s more efficient and appreciated than dragging them out of the forest for treatment, but still, you guys are getting way too used to having your arms and legs lopped off.
“Yeah, sorry ’bout that, Masked Man.”
“If you really think so, then use a weapon! A weapon! Are you crazy, fighting a Jewelhead Bunny barehanded?”
As I said this to the Bearded Man for what felt like the umpteenth time, his party members nodded behind him as if in agreement.
And you, you’re competent enough to have never been hit once, so try to act a bit smarter.
Since the Bearded Man was at the end of the line, I headed back towards the forest with him.
“Man, I really think I’m gonna get one soon. I feel a lucky streak coming, y’know?” the Bearded Man said, sounding like a hopeless gambler.
This is why guys who rely on luck are no good.
You lack Theory (Erica).
Ezz and Pal were watching us with expressions like they were looking at something strange, but I didn’t mind.
Why, you ask?
Because by that point, I had already steeled myself.
Yes, prepared to be sent flying.
*
What highly murderous Magicka, I thought, impressed by the Magicka gaze piercing my chest.
From a Jewelhead Bunny? Don’t be ridiculous, I scoffed inwardly at my own thought.
That rabbit… that damn rabbit that, for some reason, defies my theory and won’t drop the prize, couldn’t possibly emit this kind of gaze (Magicka).
I pushed the Bearded Man walking beside me.
It was so he wouldn’t get caught up in it.
The Bearded Man moved about four steps away from me, pulling his party members along.
I couldn’t hear the words of complaint that came from the Bearded Man’s mouth.
Because by that time, I was already being sent flying horizontally.
I twisted my body mid-air to assume a landing stance.
Good, the Bearded Man and his group are safe.
I lightly shook both my arms, heavy and numb from blocking, as I landed on the ground.
I put strength into my feet sliding across the ground to brake.
If I didn’t, I was about to crash into the vendor’s carriage.
Panicking slightly that I wasn’t stopping as much as I’d expected, my body safely came to a halt just before the stall.
I called out to Ezz and Pal, who were standing stunned right behind me.
“Alright then, Ezz, Pal, time for work. Get the client back to town safely.”
“Whoa, that thing… wait a minute, do you understand, Shin-san? Do you know what that is?”
I gave a small nod at Ezz’s trembling voice.
I slightly adjusted the Mask’s position with my left hand.
My right hand gripped the hilt of my Sword.
“I know,” I answered Ezz.
Also, I’m the Masked Man.
“It’s a Jewelhead Dragon, right?”
As if answering my voice, the Dragon roared.
*
According to the documents I dug up at the Guild, primarily two types of Monsters spawn in the Forest of Fools.
Jewelhead Bunnies and Jewelhead Dragons.
Jewelhead Bunnies apparently spawn in quantities reminiscent of the Demon Realm Forest; if those Monsters were to leave the forest and wander around, Noel Jeun Town would likely have been built somewhere else.
It’s quite peculiar that they spawn in large numbers but don’t leave the forest, but even more peculiar is the Jewelhead Dragon.
The Jewelhead Dragon is a rather unique Monster.
According to the Adventurers Guild documents, it’s possible to make it spawn reliably.
Yes, not that it spawns reliably on its own.
But that it’s possible to make it spawn reliably.
The method is simple and straightforward.
Just hunt a whole lot of Jewelhead Bunnies.
To think that just by doing that, a Dragonkin simply pops into existence… the viciousness of the Forest of Fools is quite something.
Even so, adventurers blinded by greed gather in the Forest of Fools to hunt Jewelhead Bunnies.
The name “Forest of Fools” was given ironically.
But more than that, it’s simply a name based on fact.