Maou no Hajimekata Volume 2 Chapter 17 part4
Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist
Chapter 17: Letâs Get Ready for a Counterattack, Part 4
When they returned to the Dungeon from their trip to the moon, Zana was finally able to ease up from all the accumulated pressure and let out a heavy, weary sigh.
As far as Zana could tell, Aurâs plea to Marina was genuine. However, the Goddess would never do something so stupid as helping a mortal out of the kindness of her heart. Her power mustâve told her that Aur can be of use to her, but in what way? That, unfortunately, Zana does not know.
Knowing that now made Zana realize how dangerous the situation in which they were really was. And now they were basically taken hostage, forced to fulfill whatever whim the Goddess of the Moon had in mind if they wanted to secure her help in the fight against the God of Heaven. Displeased, Zana continued her musings.
Zana shouted at Aur for proposing something so preposterous. Zanaâs ability is Marinaâs ability. If they tried to get through the Goddessâs trial by using her own power to do so, she would have most probably exercise the cruelest of punishments upon them.
The trial that Marina imposed upon Aur required him to collect five treasures for her.
Instead of replying, Zana just sighed and gave Aur a [Are you fucking serious?] kind of look.
As far as Aur could tell, Marina was not like the heroine form the legend of a princess who was asked by a noble to marry him but told him she would only do so after he fulfills a set of unreasonable requests. Of course, the possibility was still out there, but for now he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Aur replied to Zana as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
About one month after Aur ordered his men to collect all the items Marina requested.
They were currently at a ranch that was in charge of supporting the Dungeonâs kitchens. Mio, a simple farm girl known among the ranks of Aurâs men as the Queen of Demonic Beasts offered him a small fire lizard that was about one foot long. But it wasnât just your average fire lizard, it was a Salamander, wrapped in the ever-burning flame.
When the salamander dies and its skin is peeled, its flame disappears. However, since it was originally wrapped in flames, it does not burn even if it is thrown into the fire, therefore meeting the conditions of Marinaâs request, because Mio offered Aur a living one. What was strange though, was the fact that Mio was able to hold the Salamander in her hands without getting burned. Just how was she able to do this?
Mio said with a smile. Well, if both she and the salamander itself were fine with it then there was nothing else left to be said.
Aur gazes at the thing which Yunis handed to him. It was a long, white object which fits perfectly into the palm of his hand. It looks somewhat like a sword but is also rough to the touch.
It was immediately apparent from its feel and weight that it was a bone and not a mineral of any kind. For a mere bone, it also contained a surprisingly large amount of magical power stored inside of it. The only creature to have such a bone would have to be the genuine dragon, the one with mighty wings and four limbs, not any of its subspecies.
Yunis asks Aur an innocent question. On the continent where Aur was born was a land of Dingrad, a kingdom infamous for the fact that the Fire Dragon Defikito lived there. It was a demonic dragon which was said to be on par with Metus when it came to raw strength. Although he was considerably younger than him he was far more feared because of his whimsical nature and unpredictable attacks once every few decades, unlike Metus, who was a rather cautious one, avoiding any contact with humans unless it was absolutely necessary.
Yunis looked to be very proud of herself, but then her expression got all cloudy.
As far as Oulu knows, the skeletal structure of a true dragon is roughly the same as that of any other species. And the fact that there is no ball around the neck was confirmed when he examined Metusâ dead body.
Aurâs brow twitched for a few times when he heard the price, but Gnome only responded with her best professional business smile.
Tena, whoâs knowledgeable about Yamatoâs traditions answered mercilessly.
Gnome got closer to Aur and whispered into his ear.
Her tone suggested that she was joking, but her body language was telling him that it was not a joke at all.
Lilu hands the money to Gnome, who licks her lips seductively when she sees the bulging coin purse, after which they move on to the next item on the list.
The one who handed white, deep plate to Aur. It is a simple ceramic dish with no decorations whatsoever, but for some reason, it was emitting light. Even so, Aur could feel barely any magical power form it⌠no, if someone like Aur, a master magician was unable to sense anything from it, it would be better to say that it had no magical power at all. It was quite strange for something like that to be in Aurâs Dungeon, which was practically overflowing with magical power. AlsoâŚ
Melizand screamed unexpectedly when she saw what Aur was holding in his hands. Ah, now he remembered, this was the bowl Melizand used to eat her meals in!
Thinking about it, it really is kind of comical that a saint would use another saints belonging as a simple tableware. But there was also something strangely fitting about it. So th reason why it was giving off light must have been because it absorbed the magical power which was leaking out of Melizand. And since magical power and the force cancel each other out, then it was obvious that it wonât have any magical power in it at all.
Everyone could tell that she wanted to take the item back from Aur. After all, she was using it for so long that it soaked so much of her power that it could literally be called a part of Melizand now, or her extension, something very personal on a both spiritual and emotional level.
Although Melizand is a former saint who held immense powers, right now she is just an ordinary girl who lacked physical strength, so when she started to punch Aur with her tiny fists, Mari just grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.
Spina appeared before her master with faithful eyes and a birdcage covered with a cloth in tow.
For some reason Aur had a really bad feeling about this, but he couldnât explain to himself why exactly.
Spina said and removed the cloth form the cage.
The creature inside it was⌠really hard to describe.
Spina repeats her sentence. However, it does not look like a typical swallow at all. The head and torso are that of the said bird, but its whole body is covered with fish-like scales and shells and its legs look like enormous snails.
The thing which Marina wanted were the scales of a swallow, but since no swallow can naturally produce scales on its body, Spina thought that creating a creature that combines those two features will be a good idea.
Spina puts the creature on the floor and takes out a small wooden box with water in it.
Inside, there was a shellfish with a bird beak that was not fully developed yet.
Spina asked Aur while tilting her head to the side.
Synthetic beasts that combine two or more organisms basically are infertile, leaving only one generation of their kind. Even if they had the ability to reproduce, their offspring cannot breed or do not grow well in the first place. Very rarely, there specimen that has the normal ability to bear offspring is born through genetical engineering. That is the phenomenon known as [fixing].] The most famous example of it is the demon beast Chimera, a monster with a goatâs body, a lionâs head, and a snakeâs tail. It is said to be a synthetic beast that was created by a magician hundreds of years ago, but nowadays it has become an entire species that could be bred with relative ease. Therefore, the name Chimera has been adopted as its collective name.
However, such existence was a product of the long history of sorcery and research, and they were mostly a coincidence product, and even Aur had never heard of the technique to create them intentionally.
Spina said such a thing, oblivious to Aurâs reaction to her achievement.
As a master magician, Aur was also skilled at creating magical creatures, but when faced with his disciple who had clearly surpassed him, Aur could only stare at her in admiration.