Chapter 57: A King’s Treasure

I started to check the warehouse and I didn’t take long to find many interesting things. My panel went crazy, showing an endless list of objects piled in mountains as if they were garbage. [Poison Vial (B)] [Dragon Tooth (A+)] [Fireproof Cape (C+)] [Martyr’s Necklace (A+)] I couldn’t believe the absurd amount of rare items. There were especially accessories and many elements to craft armors, but there were no finished weapons; it was as if they had slowly lost the ability to build weapons and armor and had only continued to preserve the items for their fabrication. The only things I could consider useful for the village right now were the poison vial, which, according to its description, contained basilisk venom that could paralyze even a young dragon. Also, a giant dragon tooth that could be used to make a weapon, a fireproof cape, and a necklace that, upon detecting a fatal blow, could absorb it. It was very similar to the necklace the kings had given me that saved my life against the Demon King, only of a slightly lower quality, since the other one could withstand three fatal blows. I started selling everything that didn’t seem useful at all to the system, keeping only a few things that I could use in the future. In the end, I finished with a little over 100,000 mana stones. Manaia was by my side the whole time, asking me what the things were and why they were disappearing. I explained that it was a guild ability and that I would use those resources to buy useful things for everyone. I also told her that the main thing now was to prepare to face the demon king before he came with his entire army. I handed her the necklace directly so she could protect herself. Despite her reluctance, I stood firm with the excuse that if I were to be gone one day, she could take control of the situation, but if we both died, who could take charge of the village? Despite her continuous excuses, I forced her to put it on, since we would need her more than anyone right now. We both finished and returned to have some dinner. The atmosphere was strange. All the women looked at me with a mixture of respect and fear. Although they knew I was strong, they didn’t expect me to be able to kill the Demon King’s emissary. Even Jayde, the cat girl, was more and more impressed with her new leader. I took this opportunity to talk to the cat girl about her village, since it was quite close and would be my next objective. I asked her if she had a map of the area or if she could describe the path to me, the possible threats, or anything that could be useful. "Our village is about three hours from here," Jayde explained to me. "We are a village exclusively of the catkin race, meaning that no slaves of other races are allowed to enter the village. There are many other races that take slaves wherever they can get them, regardless of their race. Also, we have some strong warriors, but the Omaishi is in a secret place that no one in our village has been able to find for generations. My mother once told me that it is kept in a special black jade box that can inhibit the Omaishi’s vibrations so that it cannot be tracked by anyone in the clan. The problem is that the other villages, the dogkin, lizardkin, and hawkin, also look for it and have their own methods of locating omaishis." "Are those villages hostile?" I asked with curiosity. "No, only when it comes to looking for the Omaishi. Battles between clans are forbidden in normal times, but any tribe can challenge another for its Omaishi, and the challenged tribe must accept without excuses. The winner can look for the omaishi, but if they don’t find it, the loser can choose between trying to find the enemy’s omaishi or asking for a 5-year truce." "And, apart from winning their Omaishi, is there another way to conquer them? I wouldn’t want to exterminate your old clan or other clans, except for everyone who hurt you and your family. I want to form a large army regardless of the species." Jayde thought for a while, considering my words, until she answered. "I know those elders well; they’re stubborn but not idiots. If you force them into a fight and manage to crush them until their spirits submit to your will, you can conquer them. But for them to accept, you would have to give a gift to our chief, who is the strongest of our tribe, and you would also have to defeat him in combat." "I see... And, how do they look for the Omaishi?" I said, taking in the information. "Well," she said, with a thoughtful look. "The Omaishi emits a vibration, almost inaudible to humans. That’s why we, with our sharp sense of hearing, look for it. In the first rounds of searching, we failed because there were so many people searching that they made the ground vibrate too much. Unlike the dogkin, who, regardless of the people, use their sense of smell to find it." "Interesting..." I whispered. A new challenge. I wanted to ask Jayde to go look for the Omaishi, but I also temporarily discarded the idea, since it could serve me to prepare an ambush against the races that are sent to find the Omaishi. Because I was so worried about Lira, I hadn’t checked until now, and I discovered that that village was already my territory, so I could find out when someone went to look for the Omaishi, if they dared, of course. After dinner, I said goodbye and walked toward Manaia’s hut. When I arrived, I saw Zela and Leila standing outside, sitting with sad faces. I walked over and asked them what was wrong. "Lira doesn’t want to say what happened," they told me in a soft voice. "She only wants to talk to you." I nodded and told them to let me talk to her, but they asked if they could go in with me to see how she was. I told them it was fine. I entered the hut, followed by Zela and Leila, and saw Lira lying down, looking at the sky with a pensive expression. She said nothing when she saw us, just looked at me and smiled before continuing to look at the sky.