Returning with a full haul

Seeing Kronos's slightly odd expression, Gner grinned happily. You're exactly the one I wanted to disgust.

But what he actually said was, "Thank you, great Warlock. Your generosity has shown me the path forward."

As Gner launched into another round of flattery, Kronos hurried over, grabbed his arm, and said, "You're welcome. Everyone loses their way in life sometimes, and anyone would be willing to point them in the right direction."

Gner distinctly felt as though his arm had been caught in a pair of pincers. He knew Kronos was warning him.

Once Gner shut his mouth, the feast soon came to an end.

Their tasks for the afternoon were clear: Gner would buy cured meat, while Kronos would continue "playing the mystic."

The village chief directed several young men to hitch up five ox carts for Gner, then went from house to house with him to buy cured meat.

Gner couldn't tell good cured meat from bad, but the village chief knew his stuff and had no intention of helping his villagers cheat Gner.

The village chief naturally understood that if they sold Gner poor-quality cured meat for the benefit of one or two households, he might never return. It wasn't worth it.

As for Kronos, he sat comfortably in the village chief's courtyard, surrounded by a ring of people. He didn't speak to them, simply sitting there quietly.

As Kronos put it, he had already repaid their hospitality for the day, so from now on, he would only help those with whom he shared a destined connection. Those gathered around him all believed they could be among the chosen.

In reality, however, Kronos was silently counting the time. Almost an hour had passed since he had brought up this business of destined connections. If he waited a little longer, everyone in the village who could come would probably be there.

Then he could pick two people at random, spin them a yarn, and be done with it.

After that, he could cast an Invisibility Spell and make his escape. He had already slipped Gner a note telling him to leave as soon as he finished buying the cured meat.

The main problem was that they were too close to the harbor, and some villagers had gone there to shop that day. If the church caught wind of this, its people would definitely arrive the next morning. That was far too dangerous.

Judging that everyone had probably arrived, Kronos picked two people at random.

He began with their pasts. With the Eye of Time, that was naturally no trouble, and since they were all villagers, everyone knew whether he was right.

Next came their futures. Kronos hadn't actually intended to make those up either; he truly looked into what lay ahead for them.

Then, drawing on fragments of their futures, he fashioned a cryptic pronouncement for each of them.

After finishing his final sentence, Kronos looked around and said, "Everyone, thank you for your warm hospitality. But our destined connection has run its course. If fate allows, we shall meet again."

As he spoke, Kronos scattered a handful of glittering powder, then vanished on the spot.

The villagers around him immediately fell into a commotion and hurried to search everywhere, but he was already nowhere to be found.

In truth, the Invisibility Spell only made him invisible. After casting it, Kronos had sprinted out of the village.

This outing had been one mishap after another. Now Kronos could only walk toward the harbor on his own. Perhaps he could catch a ride with Gner later, but first he had to change his clothes back.

After changing his clothes and adopting another face, Kronos strolled leisurely along the road to the harbor.

His face now belonged to "Klein," the passenger aboard the ship, so he could openly catch a ride in Gner's carriage later.

What Kronos hadn't expected, however, was that the village's supply of cured meat far exceeded his estimates. Besides the meat newly hung out to dry, every household had older stock.

According to the village chief, few merchants thought much of their cured meat, so not many were willing to buy it. As a result, there were leftovers every year.

And because the prices offered were poor, the villagers habitually kept their best-quality cured meat and stored it away.

This time, Gner had announced that he would buy at ten percent above market price, so all the villagers brought out their treasured reserves.

Thus, the cured meat Kronos had thought would fill only two or three carts ended up piled onto five full ox carts.

Gner didn't care. It wasn't his money, and he had enough on hand anyway, so he bought everything offered. He didn't leave the village until two hours after Kronos had departed.

At first, Kronos had walked along as though enjoying a pleasant outing in the countryside. But the farther he walked, the more impatient he became, until he was on the verge of cursing aloud.

Just as Kronos was about to abandon all decorum, the six vehicles finally came trundling up behind him.

"Gner! Gner! So you went to buy cured meat." He had no choice but to keep up the act, since villagers were driving the ox carts behind the carriage.

Gner poked his head out of the carriage. "Oh, Klein. Are you heading back to the harbor? Would you like a ride?"

Before Gner had even finished his last question, Kronos hurriedly said, "Sure." Then he jumped onto the carriage without ceremony and climbed inside.

Once inside, Kronos cast a Soundproofing Spell and asked, "What took you so long?"

"We estimated wrong. Look at the ox carts behind us. I never thought there'd be so much cured meat. Quite a lot was stock they'd saved from previous years, so it held us up until now."

"Forget it. A little extra is fine. At least the progress in digesting my Potion was very encouraging. Consider it their reward." Kronos spoke while sprawled limply in his seat.

"Yes, and at least this cured meat tastes pretty good." As he spoke, Gner took out a piece of steamed cured meat and handed it to Kronos.

Kronos didn't argue. He merely took a bite of the cured meat, then said, "Keep an eye on the road. Before we enter the harbor, have those villagers unload the meat, then send them away."

Gner was puzzled. "Why?"

Kronos explained, "All this cured meat carries traces of the Spirit World. Ordinary people might get sick from eating it. I need to purify it."

"Huh?" Gner was dumbfounded. "Then why are all those villagers fine?"

"Obviously, their families have been steeped in the Spirit World's aura for generations. Anyone who couldn't handle it died long ago. At this point, they might be fine even if they spent a couple of days in the Spirit World."

"Doesn't that mean they could enter the Spirit World and fetch things for you?" Gner certainly had an unusual way of thinking.

"Uh... in principle, yes. But they couldn't pick up the Phoenix blood. They might turn into undead the moment they touched it. Even throwing the entire village at it wouldn't be enough." Kronos thought it over before answering.

"All right, then."

About a kilometer from the harbor, Gner had the villagers unload the cured meat, then gave each of them a few soli and sent them away.

Gner certainly didn't know how to perform a purification ritual, so all he could do was walk to the ship at the harbor and find Benjamin, then have Benjamin send people and carts to move the meat.

Faced with such a large pile of cured meat, Kronos worried that a single Purification spell might not cleanse it completely, so he dutifully set up a purification ritual and used the spell in conjunction with it.

After the purification, his Eyes of Mystery Prying could no longer see any traces of the Spirit World on the cured meat. In truth, eating it as it was probably wouldn't have caused any serious problems.

But since it was meant for the sailors aboard the ship, it was better to be cautious. If something went wrong, it would be a major problem.

Before long, Benjamin arrived in person with workers and carts.

"Are you particularly fond of this flavor?" Benjamin came over to ask as the workers moved the cargo.

"It's decent. Mostly, that village helped me with a few things."

That was certainly true. Not only had they helped him digest his Potion, they had also led him to discover a drop of blood from Gregrace, the Ancestor of the Phoenix. The place was practically a blessed land.

Kronos had no desire to continue the conversation, so Benjamin tactfully said nothing more.

After all the cured meat had been loaded, Kronos accompanied the carts back to the harbor. Instead of returning to the ship immediately, however, he sought out an Adventurers' Shop.

This outing had made Kronos realize just how little experience he had with expeditions. After so many years of neglecting such things, Gner wasn't much better.

So he bought an Adventurer's Handbook at the Adventurers' Shop. It was intended for beginners and contained practical advice and examples. Kronos planned to take it back to the ship and study it carefully.

After returning to the ship, Kronos didn't seek out Gner, instead heading back to his own room.

Unexpectedly, he neither meditated nor practiced spells, and he didn't read the Adventurer's Handbook either. He went straight to bed.

The day had truly exhausted him. He had dealt with so many things, but above all, that barrage of Weed-Clearing Spells and the spells he had used in his later performance had left him utterly drained.

Everything else could wait until he woke up.

Kronos slept straight through from that evening until early the next morning.

When Kronos stepped onto the deck in the early morning, no one else was there. He stretched and breathed in the fresh air, the gentle sea breeze brushing his face. It felt wonderful.

There was no breakfast available aboard the ship, so Kronos had to leave the harbor and find a restaurant on the streets outside. Now and then, he spotted sailors who had risen early to exercise.

Once he had eaten his fill, there was nothing else to do, so Kronos slowly strolled back to the ship.

Then he found a comfortable spot on deck, took out the Adventurer's Handbook he had bought the day before, and began reading at his leisure.

Benjamin had said yesterday that they would depart for their next stop that morning, so Kronos waited there for the ship to set sail.

Yesterday's experience had already proved that this sea was full of treasures. He could no longer contain his restless excitement and wanted nothing more than to continue his treasure hunt.