Chapter 138: The first one wins
Chapter 138: The first one wins
I didn’t need another sign. Light on my wings, I hurried into the opened passage. Behind my back, I could hear the sounds of growing argument between Naread, who insisted on having a compensation for being lied to, and Marianna, who just laughed in his insect face.
I paid them half a mind. The rest of my attention was on the surrounding cave. It certainly was once widened with claws—its walls and ceiling showed deep burrows that could’ve only come from digging. On the floor, arranged neatly by type and size, all cleaned and polished, laid the treasure. Naread, at the very least, didn’t lie about that part.
It wasn’t gold and silver like I half-expected to see. Instead, it seemed to be any shiny and pretty thing one could find in mountains, lit up by a speckle of light that came from several small holes—also man-made—in the ceiling. There were scales in many colours, so big that I could’ve used as a shield, geodes of minerals I didn’t even know names of, a heap of iridescent steel feathers of Birds of Paradise.
For dragons and magpies, they all were treasures, sure. For me, it was all trash. But there was something that caught my attention as well. An arrangement of swords, shields, and armour that must’ve once belonged to unlucky adventurers who died in these mountains. Some broken, some a little melted, but some still in decent state, and if the knowledge I picked up from all the time spent at Rosha’s side, high-quality products.
I darted to the pile and took a closer look. I had a limited storage capacity, so the only thing I would take would be the one that will be useful. A sword that seemed to tremble slightly when I touched it wasn’t something I would most likely use. Neither was the breastplate that gleamed with violet in my blind sight—that was adamant’s colour, from what I could remember.
But a small ring that seemed so unimpressive next to its companions caught my attention. It didn’t look like a decorative jewelry. It was shaped to look like a set of three masks: one smiled, one cried, and the third one frowned.
‘Pest, can you tell if any of these items are magical?’
‘Sure can. The sword and the ring. The rest is junk. I’d be able to tell you what exactly they do if you kept them around me for a while longer.’
‘We don’t have that time right now.’ With these words, I stuffed both the sword and the ring inside of my body. The sword fit a little awkwardly, especially without a scabbard, but I was ready to drop it if I had to. Then, I strained my ears to listen to what was happening outside.
“…could at least apologise, Marianna! Don’t you have at least a shred of, I don’t know, common decency?”
Another bout of laughter was Naread’s response. With how he liked to talk, I concluded that I still had some time. I spent it to eat the breastplate and the broken gear. It was made of rare materials, some of it, at least, and was worth plenty of EXP. Then I did the same to the dragons’ scales.
The pleasure of knowing that Marianna was going to find a third of her hoard just gone was a great spice to add taste to the otherwise not the most delicious treats.
After this, I sneaked closer to the exit. The invisibility spell was still on me, but I knew Naread noticed me despite—or because of—it. Still, the only way he showed that he noticed me was a twitch of his head towards, which could’ve meant anything, since he didn’t actually possess expressions.
It was time to execute my own plan. It was quite a simple one.
‘Pest, now do the thing.’
‘With pleasure!’ he said with rare for him enthusiasm. I had a feeling that maybe enjoying such things and create chaos was in the nature of draining curses.
It was a quiet whisper Pest created, but I could hear it well enough even over the sound of Naread’s (mine) voice. And so would Marianna, since it came right from a point next to her ear.
“This is the real Naread before you, Marianna. He wants to destroy your treasures,” Pest whispered to the dragon in my voice, causing her to freeze on the spot.
Naread, though, was so busy talking that he didn’t notice a thing. “Fine, fine! I suppose it was stupid of me to even try to appeal to the conscience of such a bitch, Marianna,” he said. “Then, how about that? Right now, while this copy distracted you, the real me sneaked into your treasury and demolished it! What, you didn’t expect me to do this right behind your nose? You couldn’t find me even now, ha!”
I ground my teeth. I knew it. That asshole… at least I betrayed him first! The worst thing about this entire ordeal was that neither of us will fight to the death. But that didn’t mean I didn’t intend to kill these two, anyway.
“What? My treasures?!” Marianna roared, loudly enough that the cave shook a little. “Naread, you bastard, did you think to trick me with your crude spells? I can tell that you are the real thing, and while I won’t smash you like a bug, I can sure make your life hell! And you!” She suddenly turned to pin me with her blazing stare. “Don’t think I can’t see you creeping around with my things. You, I won’t even need to kill—you will die on your own, eventually. Neither of you will leave this cave!”
I was going to challenge that claim. Since my invisibility was busted anyway, I morphed out my orichalcum armour to destroy the spell. My way forward was blocked by the massive body of the dragon, so the only other way was back into the treasury. Good thing it wasn’t a dead end!