Book of Gelel

In the Land of Rivers, in a small village.

A black-clad man wearing a Fox Mask walked along the village road.

Whenever the nearby villagers saw him, they could not help but avoid him, pulling their children close to keep them away from the masked man.

At last, Minamoto Takuya stopped before a relatively luxurious house for this village. Without knocking, he stepped straight inside.

Seeing this, the surrounding villagers hesitated over whether they should go over and help.

"Who are you?!" Inside the house were a couple and their young child.

"I am a ninja who enjoys collecting unusual things," Minamoto Takuya introduced himself.

"A ninja?!" The young man with light blond hair was startled, then immediately became wary. "There is nothing unusual here. Ninja-sama, you have the wrong person."

"This child is named Timothy, right?" Minamoto Takuya walked up to Timothy and reached out to ruffle his hair.

The sight left Timothy's parents completely stunned. His mother could not help shouting, "Don't hurt my child!"

"Ninja-sama, he truly is my son, Timothy." Timothy's father's heart slowly sank. The other man had clearly come prepared.

"Then I have the right person. Would you give me the Book of Gelel?" Minamoto Takuya asked directly. He remembered that Heide had killed Timothy's parents when he was young for the sake of this book.

The book recorded everything regarding the Gelel Ore Vein, including how to use it. It could save him a great deal of research time, so he had to obtain it.

The moment he heard the words "Book of Gelel," Timothy's father went pale.

At that moment, Timothy seemed to feel that Minamoto Takuya was "bullying" his parents. He pounded Minamoto Takuya with his tiny fists.

The sight nearly made Timothy's mother faint. When she tried to beg for Timothy's forgiveness, she discovered that the other man did not care at all.

"Well, I'm the sort of person who prefers peaceful transactions. But if you refuse to give it to me, I may have to resort to some unconventional methods. You wouldn't be able to bear them," Minamoto Takuya said.

As he spoke, he looked into Timothy's father's eyes. His own eyes quietly turned blood-red, a pair of tomoe spinning within them as he showed the man certain memories in the form of an Illusionary Realm.

After a long while, Timothy's father looked deathly pale. He looked around and only then realized that he was still alive, and Timothy had not been deceived by the man who killed them, worked for him, and nearly been killed by him as well.

"If you agree to give it to me, I can help you deal with that man," Minamoto Takuya said.

Timothy's father immediately fell silent, then nodded with difficulty.

It was not that he wanted to believe in some Illusionary Realm. Even if he did not believe it, there was nothing he could do. The other man could easily kill him first and take the Book of Gelel afterward, just like the person in the Illusionary Realm.

Besides, was there really any need for him to deceive them?

"Then can you give me the Book of Gelel now?" Minamoto Takuya asked as he looked at him.

Timothy's father paused, then sighed. What right did he have to make conditions?

He went inside and brought out a book wrapped tightly in layers of cloth. With reluctance in his eyes, he handed it to Minamoto Takuya.

"The transaction is complete. That man will never appear before you again." After flipping through it and confirming it was genuine, Minamoto Takuya chuckled and vanished from before them.

Only then did Timothy's parents rush over to Timothy, hugging him as they checked whether he was hurt.

When they finally found that Minamoto Takuya truly had done nothing to Timothy, they let out deep sighs of relief.

As he traveled toward the base of the wealthy merchant Heide, Minamoto Takuya reflected that he truly was a peace-loving ninja.

No one had died when he obtained the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Well, it was none of his business if someone else had done the killing.

No one had died when he obtained the meteorite either, and now there had likewise been no casualties when he acquired the Book of Gelel.

Only when he had wanted the Shikotsumyaku had those lunatics from the Kaguya Clan attacked him without reason, forcing him to punish them slightly.

As for Heide, whom he was about to destroy, that was simply part of the transaction. If anyone was to blame, Timothy's father should blame himself.

Moreover, Minamoto Takuya looked at the blood in his hand. It was Timothy's blood, which he had collected along the way.

Timothy was royalty of the Gelel Kingdom. It was said that only members of the royal family could perfectly control the power of the Gelel Ore Vein.

But Minamoto Takuya did not believe that, because the Gelel Ore Vein had not been created by them. They had merely discovered it and eventually refined its power.

Therefore, to the Gelel Ore Vein, the royal family had initially been no different from ordinary people. At most, they had deliberately used some method during the refinement process, making it so that only royalty could use the Gelel Ore Vein without side effects.

Minamoto Takuya had taken Timothy's blood simply to study what was special about his bloodline.

As for using the Chimera Technique to fuse with him and perfectly utilize the Gelel Ore Vein's power? That was impossible. The Gelel Ore Vein was not worthy of wasting one of his fusion slots.

After putting Timothy's blood away, Minamoto Takuya quickly headed for his next destination.

Soon, he arrived at Heide's base and walked straight in as though no one else was there.

"Who are you?!"

The guards tried to stop Minamoto Takuya, but their movements halted in the next instant. Their bodies split into two, blood splattering across the ground.

"Water Style: Water Blade Circulation Technique!"

A stream of water spun around Minamoto Takuya's body, moving with him as he walked. Those who tried to stop him, like those lunatics from the Kaguya Clan, were cut into several pieces.

Unlike the Kaguya Clan, however, these people were not lunatics. When they saw this, they became afraid instead of charging forward without regard for their lives.

Sure enough, the vast majority of them fled immediately.

Minamoto Takuya did not stop them. His target was only Heide. He had killed a few people in such a bloody manner merely to frighten off the rest and save himself the trouble.

Before long, the thick stench of blood drew the people inside the mansion out.

The one in the middle with a sorrowful, compassionate expression was Heide. He always deceived others by claiming he wanted to create some ideal nation, when in truth, he merely wanted to use the power of the Gelel Ore Vein to gain immortality.

As for any ideal nation, that was naturally just part of his deception.

"Who are you?! Why did you kill my men?!" Heide glared furiously at the Black-Clad Man wearing a Fox Mask. He did not remember ever offending anyone.

"I am a ninja who enjoys collecting strange things. You have a Gelel Stone on you, don't you? Could you give it to me?"

This time, Minamoto Takuya did not mention a trade, because the other party himself had already become the object of the transaction.

All that remained was to deal with him and obtain the Gelel Stone.