Chapter 538.1: Lord Brother, Let’s Get to Sleep (1)
Chapter 538.1: Lord Brother, Let’s Get to Sleep (1)
Roel wasn’t fond of small animals, be it in his previous life or his current one.
It might have seemed like a peculiar trait for someone who enjoyed touching fluffy things, but it was more common than one would have expected. Even in his previous life, there were plenty of people who enjoyed cat videos but were less than enthused to adopt one.
Now that he was in the Sia Continent, it was even more impossible for Roel to adopt a pet due to his status as a transcendent.
Transcendents carried a subtle disposition that wasn’t apparent to adult humans but was highly conspicuous to sensitive little animals. This made it impossible for little animals to warm up to transcendents, particularly high transcendents. It didn’t matter how gently a high transcendent treated an animal; the latter would just tremble in fear.
It was thus no surprise that artificial lifeform magic tools were popular among transcendents.
In the study room, Roel stared at the hatchling tottering on his office desk with a strained look that was similar to that of a ripped-off tourist.
Not too far away, Alicia’s crimson eyes glimmered with excitement when she noticed the hatchling. She rushed over to take a closer look. Having been together with Roel for so many years, she could no longer be surprised by him suddenly conjuring a bird in the study room. What interested her more was the little lifeform.
“Lord Brother, who is this little fellow?”
“It’s an artificial lifeform produced using technology from the ancient era. It primarily serves as a scouting tool to detect enemies…” Roel explained the origin of the Spiritsense Hatchling with a strained smile.
Alicia was fond of little animals, and her feelings were reciprocated due to her nature as a walking ‘fountain of life’. It was an understatement to say that she was loved by animals. Be it the demonic beasts in the Ascart Fiefdom’s mountains or ordinary beasts, they would morph into excited puppies in front of her and prance all around her.
Yet, the current situation was proving to be an exception.
The Spiritsense Hatchling didn’t express affection toward Alicia as ordinary animals would. Neither did it obediently lower itself as demonic beasts would. Almost as if it was incapable of sensing Alicia’s life force, its attention remained fixated on Roel.
The hatchling’s lack of response toward Alicia had Roel raising his eyebrows.
He could understand why the Spiritsense Hatchling didn’t cozy up to Alicia; it was technically an undead creature despite looking like a living bird, being constructed out of tributed avian carcasses. It was more likely to be attracted to an undead-attribute god like Grandar than Alicia.
Alicia’s life force might have been alluring to most animals, but to the Spiritsense Hatchling, it probably felt as harsh as the night of the Winter Solstice. That was how attributes worked.
What was truly surprising here was how affectionate the hatchling was toward him.
By the nature of its creation, the Spiritsense Hatchling only expressed affection toward the god it guarded and the clergymen managing it. While Roel had become the Spiritsense Hatchling’s owner, strictly speaking, that should have only granted him the authority to command it. The hatchling itself shouldn’t have been too fond of him.
It was a perplexing situation.
“Lord Brother, this little fellow seems to be very fond of you.”
“…Mmhm.”
“It likes you so much that I wonder if the two of you share blood ties,” Alicia cheerily remarked.
“!”
Roel’s eyes slowly widened as a thought surfaced in his mind.
Wait a moment, could it be that…
He carefully assessed the hatchling with silver-gray feathers and green eyes, and after a moment of thought, he emitted a wisp of mana.
Spiritsense Hatchlings were the guardians of gods. By virtue of their birth, they only expressed affection toward those with favorable relationships with the gods. From that perspective, it wouldn’t be surprising if Roel, who was contracted with Grandar, Peytra, and Artasia, won its affection.
But it shouldn’t have been possible to sense the ancient gods while Roel’s windows with them were closed. That should have been beyond the capability of the Spiritsense Hatchling. Given so, there was only one possibility here.
Other than Grandar, Peytra, and Artasia, there was one more god whom Roel had ties with: Genesis Goddess Sia.
When he first reached Origin Level 3, he received Sia’s blessing and obtained the ability, ‘Being Toward Death’. It was possible that Sia’s aura had rubbed off him then. Furthermore, the legendary Kingmaker Clan were rumored to be Sia’s direct subordinates, just like the witches.
To verify his conjecture, Roel chose to release a wisp of mana wrapped with Sia’s blessing. Just as he had guessed, the Spiritsense Hatchling looked visibly excited upon sensing the mana.
Jip!
The silver-gray hatchling raised its little head and let out a crisp chirp. It unfurled its wings and began flying around the room. Its reaction confirmed Roel’s guess.
“To think that this would be the case…”
Roel was impressed with the System’s means. Who could have thought that it would actually find a Spiritsense Hatchling that had served Sia back in the ancient era? Factoring in this detail, it didn’t seem ludicrous anymore that he had to pay 50,000 Attraction Points for this hatchling.
In this world, everything related to Goddess Sia was worth a fortune. Without any exaggeration, if he presented this hatchling to the church, there was a good chance that it would be worshiped as a ‘Holy Bird’ or something along those lines.
The thought of that brought a smile onto Roel’s lips.
However, this wasn’t the time to be evaluating the value of the Spiritsense Hatchling. He was expecting something else out of it when he bought it from the Affection Points Exchange Shop. Thus, he turned to the Spiritsense Hatchling and ordered it to keep an eye out for anomalous auras.
As if to please the man who had received Sia’s blessing, the silver-gray bird enthusiastically dashed out of the window, unfazed by the darkness of the night. Its silhouette quickly vanished in the shadows, carrying Roel’s hopes with it.
…
Roel stared at the open window for a long time, his solemn expression slowly loosening up. On the other hand, Alicia didn’t attempt to approach the hatchling anymore upon realizing that it didn’t harbor any affection for her, but she was still intrigued by it.
“Lord Brother, where did that hatchling go?”
“I had it scout our surroundings. That’s how the magic tool is supposed to function. Hopefully, it uncovers crucial intelligence for me to work with,” replied Roel.
Roel had said those words to console Alicia in case she was upset by the hatchling’s lack of affection for her, but the latter didn’t seem to mind it at all. Instead, she studied Roel with narrowed crimson eyes.
“Lord Brother, you seem to be in a better mood now.”
“Hm? I guess you can say so.” Roel blinked his eyes before nodding in acknowledgment.
Alicia breathed a sigh of relief.
While she was intrigued by the hatchling’s cold behavior toward her, to her, there was nothing more important than Roel. Naturally, she was more focused on the fact that Roel had finally smiled after being in a heavy mood for the past few days, and she was happy for him.
It was only then that Roel belatedly realized that his brooding mood over the last two days had worried Alicia.
“My apologies for making you worry, Alicia.”
“…I was worried, but it’s good that you were honest with me. I was able to mentally prepare myself for it,” Alicia replied with a smile. She took a box from Anna and presented it to Roel. “Lord Brother, do you still remember the matter regarding the gift?”
“Gift?”
Roel was confused for a moment before realization struck him.
Before he received Artasia’s warning, he had told Alicia and Anna to head down to the bustling Ascart City and soak in its newfound prosperity. In response, Alicia said that she would get a gift for him. However, he received the Witch Queen’s warning while they were gone, and he was so affected by it that it slipped his mind.
Even so, Alicia kept this matter at the front of her mind. She waited till now, when he was finally in a better mood, to present her gift to him.
It was a pair of glasses.