Before my tongue had even touched the thing resembling a pill crystal, that strange fragrance wafted into my nose again. Yet despite that, the little beast across from me suddenly began dry-heaving, shooting me a sidelong glance with an expression of utter disdain. That instantly snapped me back to my senses.
I did not put the thing into my mouth. Instead, I carefully examined it again, and this time I finally noticed some incompletely dried substance resembling adhesive. That was what was producing the overpowering fragrance.
Could it be some animal's secretion?
Take ambergris, which was used in perfumes and fragrances. In essence, it was the dried secretion from a sperm whale's intestines. Could this thing also be the product of digestion? If that explanation was correct, then it was not hard to guess why these things were everywhere. This little fellow might look dull and adorable, but it was probably the sort that relieved itself wherever it pleased.
Looking around the nearby pavilions again, I could not find a single treasure. There were also holes resembling those left by tomb robbers, and it looked as though the ground had been dug three feet deep.
Surviving for a hundred years had not been easy. This little beast looked as though it had gnawed through everything in sight, and these heaps of multicolored objects were surely what it had excreted over the years.
After thinking it over, I immediately tossed several treasures out of my storage pouch. Sure enough, after giving me a glance, the little beast pounced without hesitation. Whether hard treasures or soft, pliable armor, it crunched everything up and swallowed it.
"So you're a Gold-Eating Beast. You could've said so sooner." I was both amused and exasperated. If this fellow had not refused to eat its own excrement