WeTried Translations

Translator: Abood

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Saviour Embarks on a Nameless Journey

Chapter 47: The Art of Searching for Monsters

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Breakfast was thick bacon, fried eggs, salad, yogurt with jam, and tomato and onion soup. I alone received two portions.

The man who had smoothly ordered, “This one eats a great deal, so two servings, please,” sat beside me with a perfectly cool face. Marius, would it not be fine for this fellow to order two portions himself? And if we were speaking of someone who looked likely to eat a great deal...

“Boss, sacred beasts are beyond me, so don’t even try it.”

Tain said that the moment my eyes turned his way.

Blast him. A sharp one, this man.

“Which would you like?”

The server came around to the tables with several kinds of bread arranged on a tray.

“The round one and the toast.”

I chose an ordinary palm-sized round loaf and an ordinary piece of toast. This inn’s butter was delicious, and I wished to enjoy it.

“I will have these two.”

Marius chose a square loaf with raisins and another kneaded with walnuts. This man was the sort who put even more butter on soft bread already filled with raisins and nuts.

“Which would you recommend?”

Alina tilted her head toward the server.

“For the young ladies, how about this one topped with fruit?”

“Then I will have that, please.”

“Me too.”

The server had recommended a bright-looking piece made from a small slice of bread spread with cream, then topped with bayberries, berries, and the like.

“I’ll take that big one, and the hardest bread you’ve got.”

Tain seemed to prefer food with substance.

“I shall come around aga... Would you like to choose more?”

The server smiled and began moving toward the next table, only to stop.

The bread had vanished from my plate, along with my fried egg for good measure. There was only one culprit. Has Pya not improved his concealment and speed? I did not even notice.

“My apologies.”

I received the same things once more and began eating.

He had kept me from sensing his presence. That might be because he was a sacred beast, true, but he was also fast. Whether I stopped him or not was another matter, but could this perhaps be made part of my training?

“So, do you not usually eat breakfast?”

“Not that I don’t eat, but most days I just put away two or three grilled skewers from a stall and call it done.”

Alina took interest in all sorts of things, absorbed them as knowledge, and when she found something good, tried to put it into practice herself. Even now, she was happily asking Tain about his daily life. My granddaughter is adorable, is she not? But do not let your face go slack over her, hm?

We had already discussed in the room what seemed to be the clue I found last night. Here, there was enough distance between our table and the neighboring guests, but in exchange, the employees were listening carefully so they could pick up on the customers’ conversations.

Whether that was to swiftly satisfy a guest’s wishes, or to gather information for sale, was a delicate question.

We left the inn and headed for the place in question. Since no auction was being held, the closer we came, the fewer people we saw. It was a short way into the forest from the boundary between town and trees, a space with neither buildings nor woods, left open as if someone had scooped it out.

“If there were a fence, it would look like a riding ground.”

As Io said, with the grass trimmed short and places where it had been worn away to expose the soil, it truly did look like a riding ground.

“We did knock down the trees during the battle, after all. They seem to have made good use of it.”

Marius sounded impressed.

I see. So the auction grounds stood at this odd distance, neither quite in town nor immediately outside it, because of us. They had apparently tidied up and repurposed a portion of the forest that we and the monster had ravaged.

The result of avoiding a full-scale battle inside the town was what stood here now. The residents were hardy, or perhaps shrewd. Well, I suppose it must have been convenient.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

Marius took out a small pouch and grabbed a handful of its contents.

What he drew out were crystals, perhaps a little larger than grains of sand. He scattered them in a loose semicircle.

This was an art for searching for monsters. Normally, it seemed one used larger crystals of much higher transparency, but Marius was frugal, or perhaps because he had managed our travel purse, he was rather... practical, despite having been born to a marquis house and having held the rank of chief priest.

“To embed a formula into crystals this small, while avoiding the impurities and cracks inside them...”

Io looked at Marius with an expression mixed with reverence and awe.

I had seen him make those stones before. At first, he had seemed to be experimenting by trial and error, but he had quickly grown used to it, and before a quarter of an hour had passed, he could enchant an entire pouchful.

The reason it was a semicircle rather than a full circle was because he had excluded the direction of the town. When Marius chanted something, the stones in the direction where the monster’s presence was strongest would turn reddish black. Some monsters were skilled at hiding and could not be seen by human eyes, so it was a useful method.

Even now, three or four grains turned black. Would this not be easier to see if he used stones a little larger?

“I once saw a priest in the town of Elda spend half a day divining like this. The monster is lurking in the direction of these blackened stones, yes?”

Alina looked up at Marius, as if asking whether she had the right answer.

“I can understand in my head that it’s incredible, but when you make it look that easy, it just gets confusing.”

Tain shook his head.

“Rather than doing this, it would be more economical to tie a string to Suirun and have him walk around the area.”

Marius shrugged.

“Boss, are you that much of a monster lure...?”

“Grandfather...”

“Stop that.”

You need not be so perceptive about such things.

What am I, a cormorant on a leash?

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