Chapter 407: The Golden Village

Looking at the endless, desolate mountainside, it was hard to believe that people once lived in such a place.

But nature changes. Perhaps the mountainside was once filled with lush greenery.

「For real?」

Six hours after they parted ways with the rank B adventurer party, Meteor Claire, Hikaru and the girls finally arrived at the place that old man Hoya told them about. The gold was there, as expected.

A golden village was glittering under the sun. All of the fifty-or-so buildings had golden roofs, and even the window frames, pillars, and part of the walls were inlaid with gold.

From the ridge, it looked like a puddle of gold. It was glaring to the eyes. How could anyone think of living in such a place?

Nevertheless, there was no doubt that this was the village of the Pozi. But there was one problem.

「A nest.」Lavia said, squinting.

「It sure is.」Paula added.

More than a hundred wyverns of various colors—from red to blue to yellow—were in the village. They were lounging, basking in the golden light that reflected off the village, eating meat from wherever they had caught it, and warming their eggs in the soft, loosened soil.

Most of them were the size of a dump truck or semi, but there were two wyverns that were several times bigger. One was fiery red, with golden horns, and the other was as blue as the ocean, silver horns protruding from its head. They looked to be the leaders of the group.

「Let's leave for now.」Hikaru said.

They were using Stealth to hide themselves, but there was a chance of them being seen in broad daylight. They moved to a spot that couldn't be seen from the village and had an emergency meeting, titled, "Shocking! The Golden Village of the Elusive Pozi Tribe had Turned into a Nest! What do we do now?"

「I get it. The wyverns were drawn in by the warmth of the village, just like cats gather in warm places.」

「What should we do? It doesn't look like there are any survivors.」

「Hmm...」

Hikaru was nibbling on some dry bread, while Paula was making a fire to brew some tea. Times like these required presence of mind.

I assumed there were no survivors, Hikaru thought.

Even if there were a few survivors, they would have known that they could not look after the village. So what would they do next? Simple. Go down the mountain.

The gold would be the key. If they sold the gold, they would be set for life. However, there was no information about a large amount of gold being sold. If there was, people would have deduced the village's location from the seller.

After old man Hoya left the village, something happened, and everyone died. There were others like him who left the village, but we don't know what happened to them. It's highly likely that they're already dead.

Hikaru found the idea of going back to town and talking to Hoya depressing. He had to tell him that the old man was the last of his people.

「Here you go, Hikaru-sama.」Paula handed him a metal cup.

「Thanks.」Hikaru felt better as he took a sip of the tea.

Before that, this village comes first.

He pulled himself together. No point in thinking about what was to come.

「I think the wyverns feel cozy in that village.」he said.「They use the gold more effectively than humans.」

In this world, gold was only used for jewelry and currency.

「But if we just leave them, won't they go to town?」Lavia asked.

「Yeah... There's not much food up here, so they probably go down to the forest at the foot of the mountain. It's only a matter of time before they attack Gordon.」

「Should we tell them about this place and have the Empire send a strike force?」

「That would be the safest option.」

Hikaru could easily retrieve Hoya's grandmother's necklace by sneaking into the village under the cover of night. And then as a reward, he could pick up a few gold and go back down the mountain. After that, leave the rest to the Empire. If they were lucky, he might even get some sort of reward.

「But that would be boring.」

They came here for an adventure, and choosing the safest option is not what adventuring is about.

「Let's think of a way to get all the gold. Or is that too greedy?」

「I think it's fine.」Lavia said.「Greedy, like an adventurer.」

「All that gold?! How much would we get for it?」Paula was panicking, but did not object.

「Thanks. Let's start with analyzing the situation.」

Information is the foundation for everything. Hikaru and the girls decided to observe the wyverns until the evening.

They learned a few things.

First: Almost all wyverns returned to their nests before evening. The ones in the village were probably all of them. There could potentially be other nests out there, but there was no need to think about them for now.

Second: The wyverns were inattentive. They led a peaceful life, laying on their bellies.

Third: The red and blue wyverns were the bosses, giving orders to the other wyverns. Highly intelligent, they mediated fights and distributed food to the others.

Fourth: They were less active in the evening and stopped moving. Hikaru guessed that they were active early in the morning and went to bed in the evening.

「That's about it, I think.」

Hikaru and the girls were in a hollow, sitting around a small fire as they discussed their observations.

「Did you notice anything else?」Hikaru asked.

Lavia raised a hand.「The pillars on all sides of the village were destroyed. They were probably magic-related, judging from the spirit magic stones and regular magic stones used.」

Hikaru nodded.「I can only speculate, but I think they may have been wyvern repellents.」

「Did the wyverns destroy them?」

「I don't think so. I'm guessing that after the last resident died, no one was left to maintain them, so they weathered away. That, or...」

「Or?」

「The residents themselves destroyed them.」

「Why would they do that?」

Looking at the uninhabited village, only awful images came to Hikaru's mind.

「Maybe those who were forced out of the village destroyed them out of spite. Or someone who was almost killed and badly injured destroyed them for revenge. Or someone had the wyverns kill the inhabitants to keep the gold for themselves.」

Lavia and Paula froze, their faces pale as sheets.

「But I think they just naturally weathered away. Whatever the cause was doesn't matter to us anyway.」

「Th-That's true.」Paula nodded.

「Are you going to the village tonight?」Lavia asked.

「That's the plan. I want to get the necklace that old Hoya asked me to retrieve for him.」

「Are we killing the wyverns tomorrow?」

「Hmm...」Hikaru pondered it over.

「Wait, you can kill them?」Paula was astonished.

Lavia wore a face that said,「After everything we've done, you're still surprised?」Hikaru thought that with his current level, he could kill all the wyverns.

「But there's so many」Paula said.「Normally, you'd send an army to fight them.」

「If you want to fight them head-on.」Hikaru said.「But we can get close to them with Stealth.」

Hikaru could even go alone. He could probably kill at least ten of them before the whole flock were on full alert. Even then, they couldn't be vigilant all the time. Hikaru could kill another ten the next night, or better yet, he could kill more while they were asleep. Lavia's fire magic could burn them all at once, but he didn't want to risk melting the gold.

「But I'm curious about those two bosses. They look as intelligent as humans, don't they?」

「That's what I thought too.」Lavia agreed.「The other wyverns just followed orders, but those two seemed to be talking to each other at times.」

「Same here.」Paula said.「Like they're communicating with their eyes.」

Even Lavia and Paula thought the two wyverns were exceptional.

「So let's think of something different instead of annihilating them.」

Hikaru did not want to slaughter wyverns one-sidedly. Picturing the wyverns they saw during the day, lying on their bellies, made him hesitant to attack them.

「Something different? Like driving them away?」

「Yeah, that too. I want to see if we can reactivate the repellants.」

「You said 'that too', so does that mean you have something else in mind?」Paula asked.

「Well, I don't have any proof, but I think it could work. Anyway, I'm going to see if we can use the wyvern repellent.」

Hikaru took off the wyvern repellent bell that was tied to his belt. He didn't want it accidentally waking up the creatures.

「I'm off, then.」

The sun had already set, and darkness had settled in around them. Hikaru stood up and activated his Stealth. Even the girls nearby could no longer see him.

As Hikaru made it to the top of the slope, he studied the Pozi village. A half-moon was beginning to rise, its light shining on the settlement.

Maybe this is what old man Hoya saw when he left the village.

Reflecting the moonlight, the village displayed a different kind of brilliance than during daytime, when it was too bright to look at directly. Now the village was shining amid the deep darkness, basking under the light of the moon.

The magical light flickered bewitchingly, sparking Hikaru's desire to have it all.

I should just kill them all. If they're sleeping, my assassination buff will apply. If I do it right, I might be able to kill them all in one night. Hikaru was about to climb down the slope when he stopped. Wait, what am I even thinking?

His objective was to scout the village and retrieve the necklace. Then all of a sudden, he started thinking about killing the wyverns. There was nothing wrong earlier, but now it was as if his thoughts were being influenced, making him think of other things.

Wait a minute...

Hikaru activated his Mana Detection. He barely used it on the way here because he had a good view of his surroundings and their goal was gold. In other words, there was no reason to search for any hint of mana. With Mana Detection on, he realized something.

There's a small amount of mana on the gold?! How is that even possible?

Hikaru looked over his shoulder, checking his stuff that was next to Lavia. There were coins inside, but he found no traces of mana. The gold in the village, on the other hand, had a miniscule amount of mana.

Was it there during the day? I'm not sure. But Lavia and Paula were acting normal, so maybe this is something that only happens at night.

Hikaru recalled what Hoya said.

Despite the faint light provided by the stars, the roofs, pillars, walls, were shining. The breathtaking sight made me shudder, and I almost turned back.

And then there was the geologist's note.

They measure their worth in how much gold they have. Gold has them captivated.

What if it wasn't the value of the gold, but the gold itself that attracted people?

So that's why the Pozi were so obsessed with it!

A new realization dawned on Hikaru. Going into the village like this was not safe.

In that case, it's time for a power-up.

Hikaru opened his Soul Board. He unlocked Willpower and put points on Mental Strength.

I knew it.

When he looked at the gold once more, the feeling of being drawn to it had lessened considerably. Another point and it was almost gone, and after another one, it had completely faded.

There was resistance to poisons and diseases under Vitality, but not anything mentally-related. It felt like a waste of points, but Hikaru decided that since he still had ten more points, he would spare them for where and when they were needed.

Neither Lavia nor Paula had points on Mental Strength.

Basic abilities are nothing to sneeze at.

After regaining his senses, Hikaru walked down the slope. The wyverns were laying down between buildings, or in what looked like a plaza, every one of them sleeping cozily. Their size made their breathing loud.

As usual, Hikaru's Stealth worked wondrously; he walked around without anyone noticing him. Despite the wyverns' size, there was still enough space for Hikaru to pass through.

He walked around, keeping in mind the features of the house that Hoya told him about.

The houses were made of stone, but some of the pillars had collapsed, leaving behind tilted roofs. The doors and window frames were all dirty, as the ones that were not made of gold were made of wood.

A few clouds drifted over, making the surroundings even darker.

Is this it?

Hikaru arrived at a small, cozy house, its door already gone. As he stepped indoors, his nose caught the smell of dust. It wasn't a big house. In front of him was a kitchen with a dirt floor, but beyond it the floor was wooden.

Then he froze. A cloud drifted past, and moonlight poured in through the broken window, reflecting off the mass of gold sitting on the floor.

Even with Mental Strength, the radiance hit Hikaru like a hammer on the head. Had it not been for the frayed gray hair, he would not have realized that a mummy was wearing it. There was gold all over its body—hair ornaments, earrings, collar, necklace, bracelets, anklets, and even embroidery on the clothes. There was no jewelry anywhere.

At the top of the many layers of necklaces, there was one that resembled a small bird. The gold-covered figure was probably old man Hoya's grandmother. Hikaru could not tell how long it had been since she died.

A chill ran down Hikaru's spine when he realized that rather than surprise or fear, he felt envious.

My mind's being poisoned.

The mana from the gold was corroding his mind. Hikaru quickly reached out his hand and grabbed the necklace with the little bird. The mummy fell forward, but he managed to pull the necklace safely.

Hikaru bolted out of the house, breathing heavily. What the hell is going on? What is wrong with this gold? The golden roofs up ahead entranced him, making him dizzy. He felt nauseous.

He made it to the edge of the village. He put his hand on a fallen pillar and caught his breath.

We can't stay here. The village itself is dangerous. Should I check it out during daytime? Nah, no point in taking gold that transforms at night.

He spotted a mallet with a rotten handle and a rusty head lying near the collapsed pillar. He knew then that the pillars were destroyed on purpose. There was still a tiny amount of mana left in it, emitting a similar wavelength to that of the wyvern-repelling bell. The mana was basically invisible to those who didn't have Hikaru's level of Mana Detection.

So they were enchanted by the gold and started killing each other. But why?

The Pozi had established a settlement. Building golden structures was not something that could be done in a couple of years. It probably took decades. The residents should have lived here for longer. Did the gold not contain mana back then?

I'm sure there was a reason for their declining population, but maybe there was something that triggered this kinda ruin.

Questions led to more questions—which is why Hikaru failed to realize the presence looming behind him.

「Who are you?」

Hikaru gave a start and turned around. He should have his Stealth on.「Was that you just now?」he asked.

Golden horns and red scales.

「Who else could it be?」answered the wyvern.