WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 88: I'm a Swallow, Though
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Cough!
I coughed.
Cough, cough!
Something black, either ash or dirt, sprayed from my mouth and nostrils.
Only after coughing for quite a while did clear snot begin to run from my nose.
I thought I was going to die.
‘How long was I unconscious?’
-About three days.
I jolted in shock.
Pelerian laughed.
-That was a lie. It was about three minutes.
You scared me.
What a terrible joke.
Still, I didn't feel bad.
I had survived, after all.
I quickly checked whether my body was okay.
Then I was horrified.
Aah.
My body...!
My beautiful crystal scales were hanging in tatters like rags.
Blood was streaming down me, of course.
-Calm down. You've only shed your skin.
Oh, right.
I'd thought it was about time for me to molt.
The explosion's shockwave must have blown away the parts of my old skin that hadn't fully separated yet.
‘It still hurts like crazy.’
I really had been injured, though.
It had been such a massive explosion that I was lucky to have gotten away with this much.
Raising my Heat Resistance so much must have paid off.
I'd heard messages saying my skill proficiency had increased...
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......
▸ Survival
[Resistance]: Poison Lv. 7, Bleeding Lv. 4, Pain Lv. 8, Heat Lv. 12, Cold Lv. 1, Petrification Lv. 1, Electricity Lv. 1, Shock Lv. 2
[Survival Instinct Lv. 7], [Black Scales Lv. 3], [Swimming Lv. 1], [Hold Breath Lv. 10], [Stealth Lv. 10]
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Wow.
Bleeding Resistance had gone up by one level, Heat Resistance had gone up too, and I had even gained Shock Resistance Lv. 2.
Survival Instinct and Black Scales, which had been stubbornly difficult to raise, had both gained a level as well.
Come to think of it, Survival Instinct hadn't warned me this time either. Wasn't it completely useless?
-Your life is safe, isn't it?
Pelerian defended Survival Instinct.
His tone was absurdly kind.
I knew why this old man was suddenly acting like this.
‘Ah, you told me to use magic!’
-Yes! And thanks to that, you killed them all at once!
He hadn't expected me to turn into grilled snake too, though.
I never imagined the foul smell in this cavern had been flammable gas.
Then again, I vaguely remembered reading in a science comic that gas explosions sometimes happened in mines.
-Ahem...
‘Sigh.’
Anyway, the Blood Moles threatening this place had now been roasted to death.
The Bone Crystals were fine, since they were metal to begin with.
The savory smell made me hungry, but I took Seedling Kibaemi out first.
‘So, did you want to come here because of these guys?’
The moment Kibaemi came out, they swayed from side to side in a little dance.
I thought they had reacted to all the Blood Moles gathered here, but apparently that wasn't it.
Even when I took out the Blood Mole Queen's Magic Stone, Kibaemi showed no reaction.
They had wanted Magic Stones so badly last time, so why not now?
Instead, I promptly ate the Magic Stone myself.
*「You consume a Grade 4 Magic Stone.」
For reference, the Blood Mole Queen's Magic Stone was Grade 4.
After chewing and swallowing it, something interesting happened.
New shoots began to sprout from Seedling Kibaemi's body.
Light green, tentacle-like things grew long enough for me to see clearly.
The technical term for those was tendrils, the thin stems that came out as ivy grew.
One stretched toward me.
‘Do you want to hold hands? Sure.’
I didn't have hands, but I held out my tail instead.
Seedling Kibaemi's tiny tendril wrapped around it.
*「Seedling Chimera Lv. 3 uses Communion Lv. 1.」
Huh!
The tip of my tail tingled.
I felt a little nervous, but I let Kibaemi do as they pleased.
Communion? That was a skill they hadn't had before.
When I focused and examined Kibaemi closely...
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【Seedling Chimera Lv. 3】
【Skills】
[Sixth Sense Lv. 1], [Perception Expansion Lv. 2], [Absorptive Growth Lv. 1], [Leaf Shaking Lv. 4], [Tendril Lv. 1], [Communion Lv. 1]
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Kibaemi had somehow gained another level and acquired Tendril and Communion.
Then I heard a message I normally shouldn't have been able to hear.
*「You use Perception Expansion Lv. 2.」
*「You sense nearby Magical Essence and ore veins.」
That message wasn't meant for me.
It was probably one Kibaemi should have heard.
From what I'd seen, other people didn't receive helpful messages like I did.
Was it because I was communing with Kibaemi?
I didn't know.
Still, I shared Kibaemi's senses.
I'd been wondering what Perception Expansion did.
It felt as if my senses had become unbelievably sharp.
I could feel all the Magical Essence contained in the nearby Bone Crystals, along with their unusual Mana.
*「You use Tendril Lv. 1.」
*「You use Absorptive Growth Lv. 1.」
Then Kibaemi placed their tendril against a Bone Crystal.
They began absorbing the Magical Essence within it.
*「The proficiency of Absorptive Growth increases sharply.」
*「Absorptive Growth Lv. 1 becomes Absorptive Growth Lv. 2.」
*「The proficiency of Absorptive Growth increases sharply.」
*「Absorptive Growth Lv. 2 becomes Absorptive Growth Lv. 3.」
Aah!
The Bone Crystal's Magical Essence surged in like a flood.
*「Your level has increased.」
Seedling Kibaemi leveled up again.
Absorptive Growth leveled up with them.
The speed at which they absorbed Magical Essence became even faster.
*「Your level has increased.」
*「Your level has increased.」
*「Your level has increased.」
The Bone Crystal vein had filled the cavern and shone beautifully in every direction.
In an instant, every Bone Crystal lost its glow and turned gray.
Kibaemi! What are you going to do if you eat them all?!
*「You share Magical Essence through Communion Lv. 1.」
*「Seedling Chimera Lv. 7 uses Healing Lv. 1.」
A considerable amount of Magical Essence flowed through Seedling Kibaemi's tendril.
On top of that, the wounds on my body healed in a way completely different from a potion.
Did you devour the Bone Crystals' Magical Essence to help me?
If that was why, then I had to understand.
*「Seedling Chimera Lv. 7 acquires the trait ‘Bone.’」
I had no idea what it was, but Kibaemi gained a cool trait all on their own.
Still, wasn't that a trait a plant shouldn't have...?
Kibaemi had grown a lot.
They now had more than five leaves.
I gently stroked their leaves.
After putting Kibaemi back into Subspace, I looked around.
‘This is bad.’
All these Bone Crystals had become useless.
I'd have to keep it secret that Kibaemi had eaten them all.
After searching around for a while, I finally found the tunnel I'd come through.
The entrance had completely collapsed, but after I dug in a little, the original tunnel remained.
It was amazing it hadn't collapsed entirely.
Blood Moles really were masters at digging tunnels.
As I crawled diligently through the tunnel, I soon reached where Dunkel and Manjin were.
“G-Gasp!”
I'm back!
The dwarves practically flipped out the moment I appeared.
One even tried to swing a pickaxe at me.
“W-What happened to you?!”
Dunkel shouted at me.
What was wrong with how I looked?
But it didn't seem like Dunkel was criticizing my appearance.
“Are you okay? Your injuries are serious. A potion, we need a potion...”
Ah, I see.
My body was burned all over and covered in scabs, so I must have looked badly hurt.
I raised my tail to stop Dunkel from making such a fuss.
Manjin asked carefully.
“Was there... a nest?”
I nodded.
“Then, those injuries... You got them fighting?”
I nodded again.
The dwarves gaped in shock.
“We thought there'd been an earthquake. That's how much of a commotion it was. What kind of fight did you have?”
I took out my notebook and pen.
I was about to write out my amazing exploits in detail, when I remembered that Kibaemi had ruined all the Bone Crystals.
After thinking for a moment, I wrote.
‘Nothing happened.’
“Good grief!”
Was that too dismissive?
‘The nest is gone now. I killed them all.’
When I cautiously looked at Manjin's face...
“Good grief. Good grief!”
His eyes trembled as if he was moved.
“...Thank you.”
Why were you so grateful?
I took Kibaemi out of Subspace.
‘Kibaemi, can you heal that injured youngest dwarf too?’
Kibaemi nodded with their leaves.
* * *
Solion Impel.
The capital of the kingdom.
As befitted a capital, wealth from across the kingdom flowed into Solion Impel.
There were upscale restaurants where a single meal cost as much as a typical family of four spent in a month.
There were also designer clothing brands that made dresses and formal wear exclusively for nobles.
There were jewelers that bought and sold relics and gems of considerable value as well.
One such building stood on Purewell Avenue, the capital's luxury shopping district.
It was a three-story building clad in black ebony.
The gold-leafed sign read Daniel & Perel.
A guard in an elegant suit stood at the door with a sword at the waist.
The many magical devices installed for security were surely impressive too.
On the third floor of that building, a senior appraiser from Daniel & Perel inspected a crown.
Wearing a purple velvet vest, the appraiser studied it through a magnifying glass.
“Goodness...”
He had spent his entire life appraising rare gems and accessories.
It was rare for a sound of admiration to leave his mouth.
“This crown belongs to the northern barbarians. How could it possibly have remained in such perfect condition?”
Next, he examined a small silver dagger.
“This is the sort of silver dagger a daughter from an influential Imperial family would use. You can see the dragon pattern, can't you? It is an accessory that only a young lady of extremely high status could have worn. Its value goes without saying.”
There was a hint of excitement in his voice.
The merchant who had brought in the items remained silent, wearing only a gentle smile.
“The gold coins are a pity, though. Their markings have all been damaged...”
Among the items the merchant had brought were gold coins made in an old style.
“If these were Sairun Gold Coins, we could have put them up for auction and gotten four times their gold value.”
The problem was that their markings had been scraped away with something like a blade.
“Could I perhaps ask how you acquired these items...?”
The appraiser asked cautiously.
Questions like that were normally taboo.
Still, his desire as a jeweler had gotten the better of him.
“Ha ha.”
Roil, the merchant who had brought the goods, simply smiled gently.
The appraiser immediately apologized.
“My apologies. Would you wait downstairs in the reception room? Once I finish the appraisal, I will arrange payment.”
“Thank you.”
“How would you prefer to receive your payment? You may take gold coins, but they would be quite heavy.”
“Half in Royal Bank notes and half in Imperial Bonds, please.”
“An excellent choice. This way, please.”
A servant waiting behind them escorted Roil and Amaen away.
The appraiser began examining Roil's items again.
A smile formed on his lips.
The merchant named Roil was not a longtime customer of Daniel & Perel.
Naturally, Roil's membership rank wasn't high, so a substantial commission would be charged.
The appraiser would earn quite a bit too.
‘No, should I raise his membership rank and lower the commission a little?’
He even entertained a thought he rarely had.
Roil was worth it as a business partner.
He had never heard the name before, yet the merchant carried an air of experience.
The items he had brought were remarkable too.
It would be good to maintain a relationship with him in the future.
The appraiser was thinking that when someone suddenly approached and picked up one of the gold coins.
“This looks like a Sairun Gold Coin.”
“What...?!”
Who dared touch an item while a senior appraiser was evaluating it?
The appraiser looked up indignantly, then froze.
It was a familiar face.
“It had Preservation Magic placed on it, but the markings were damaged anyway. This looks like grave loot, doesn't it?”
The man looked unremarkable.
His eyes were shadowed as if he was tired, and he wore glasses.
Those were his only notable features.
Yet the appraiser stiffened.
He knew the man belonged to the Swallow's Nest, the Intelligence Bureau rumored to bring down even birds in flight.
“Grave loot? They could be items that were legitimately excavated from somewhere like a Dungeon.”
“Then why damage the markings?”
“It isn't unusual for items to circulate that way...”
“Who sold them? Can I meet them?”
“No.”
The appraiser refused firmly.
Daniel & Perel bought relics, so the Intelligence Bureau sometimes came by like this.
But how could he carelessly reveal a customer's information?
“They seem to have arrived recently.”
“I said I can't tell you.”
“Have they left? Their contact information... No. The reception room?”
“...”
The appraiser simply kept his mouth shut.
Then the Intelligence Bureau agent suddenly grinned.
“So they're still in the reception room.”
Damn it, how had he figured that out?
The appraiser was flustered.
This was why dealing with Intelligence Bureau agents was always difficult.
It felt as if they could see straight through people's thoughts from a single facial expression.
The agent immediately turned away.
“Wait! Please, at least...”
“Oh.”
This time, he turned back without smiling.
“So it is the reception room.”
Had he been probing from the start?
The appraiser wanted to punch that expressionless face.
Of course, that was only in his imagination.
“...I didn't tell you.”
“Of course not.”
Leaving the devastated appraiser behind, the Intelligence Bureau agent walked downstairs.
The reception room was on the second floor.
It was beautifully decorated to suit the status of the customers who visited.
A carpet imported from the East covered the floor, and magnificent tapestries hung on the walls.
Luxurious sofas and tables were arranged beneath a chandelier.
In the middle of the afternoon, there were only two guests in the reception room.
Amaen and Roil were chatting quietly over refreshments.
The agent approached them.
Thanks to his trained cold-reading skills, he picked up countless details even as he walked.
A young man wearing expensive clothes.
But his beard was not properly groomed.
A face accustomed to smiling.
He seemed to be a merchant, but his skin was tanned.
Did he travel for business himself?
He didn't look like the sort of person who would come across relics like those.
And the child.
The child didn't resemble his father much.
Pale skin and creamy blond hair, like the child of a noble family.
The clothes were entirely new.
There were cookie crumbs, so the child hadn't received etiquette training.
Huh.
Wait.
The agent stopped short.
The child was playing with his hands.
Perhaps the child had learned magic.
A bluish Mana sphere moved between his fingers as if it were alive.
It was astonishingly precise Mana control.
To possess that skill at such a young age.
Was it natural talent?
Of course it was.
A man traveling with such a rough gem of talent.
And selling valuable relics.
His clothes and mannerisms didn't seem as if he was familiar with the ways of the world.
The Intelligence Bureau agent's deductions collapsed like dominoes.
Then everything finally fit together.
He became certain of where the two before him had come from.
“Um...”
As the Intelligence Bureau agent appeared and stood there silently, Roil asked with a puzzled expression.
“Who are you?”
The agent clicked his heels together and answered.
“I am a swallow from the Swallow's Nest, who happened to stop by.”
“What?”
Roil's expression twisted strangely.
The agent continued calmly.
“You are from the Magic Tower. My apologies for disturbing your rest.”
“Ah...?”
Footnotes:
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