Timing was everything. Rino would know it as he set the triggers for the bonfire and illusion. All he needed was for those fat cocoons to start wriggling and crack open. However, nature could not be rushed. All he could do was wait as the clock ticked.
The last time he felt this impatient was when he had to go to the toilet in the middle of the long-winded speech that the King had his ministers conferred on him for his instatement as the first royal court magician. After that experience, Rino vowed to never give or make or accept such a long-winded speech ever again.
He didn't care if the person giving the speech was the king of the empire or a delegate from a foreign land. Thus, his reputation as a mad genius spread far and wide. Rino didn't have the chance to confirm who spread that rumour, but he suspected it was an inside job to help the nobles protect their general dignity. He was an earl earned under his own merits but born as a commoner. People would rather forget his humble beginnings and call him mad to protect the empire's reputation for his actions because they couldn't control him. It made Rino very upset initially, but when he saw how much freedom he had as a mad person, he started using it as an excuse for everything, infuriating the king a lot when the old fart was still alive.
No longer checking the time, Rino simply left it up to fate. If these worms didn't want to start turning into moths, he would simply not execute his plan. What can the Gods do if he didn't make it on time? Fault him? Then he simply wouldn't work in future. The only reason why he persisted and continued with this was for the material he wanted to cover his loins. A man can be penniless, but he must never be naked!
There was a small rustling sound, and Rino quickly shifted to a closer hiding spot. The cocoons were moving! However, they didn't appear to be very enthusiastic about hatching. The lazy worms were still crawling all over those two huge husks, and Rino wondered if both cocoons would hatch tonight or only one would. There was one that appeared bigger and one that was slightly smaller.
The wait was boring even for the Gods as they started to yawn, dozing off occasionally. Nobody kept track of the time, and even Ark wondered why they were still sitting around the reflection pond. Then again, there really wasn't anything much to do in this small world. Apart from slowly recovering their divine powers, the Gods only had Rino to entertain them.
There weren't any cracking noises from the silk cocoons. However, they were shaking a lot more than before, and even the other worms were staying away from them. Rino wanted to grin, but his skeletal face wouldn't allow it. The adult moths circled around the hatching new moths protectively, so the lich decided that this was the best time to proceed with his plan.
The spells were triggered, and Rino waited with a bated breath. It was very dark in this forest, so any huge fires nearby could be seen easily. If Rino could see it from his hiding spot under a bush, the adult monster moths would spot it before him too.
At first, nothing happened. The adult moths continued to circle the nest protectively, but their natural instincts to fly towards light won over, and soon, Rino was left alone with a nest of hatchlings. Only the smaller cocoon was shaking a lot, and already, the head of the wriggly new moth could be seen. Other worms moved out of their way, not wanting to get squashed.
There was no time to lose! Rino jumped into the pit, not caring if his feet sank into disgusting rotting soil. His eyes landed on the shaking cocoon and the huge prize beside it.
Carefully so as not to disrupt the worms too much, he sidestepped the half-eaten tree and went straight for the hatchling, tugging at the cocoon with his shadow tendrils. The cocoon's threads came loose quickly, and Rino was busy throwing meters of silk up the pit using his shadow tendrils.
At the same time, he checked on the bigger cocoon that was showing no signs of movement. It would be a huge waste to let this opportunity go. Hence, the greedy lich used more shadow tendrils to unwrap the cocoon. Silk was precious and expensive. He didn't know much about monster silk, but Rino was thoroughly convinced that there was no difference between monster silk and wild silk after running his fingers over the thick threads. The threads might be a little scratchy, but they were definitely the right feeling he remembered them to be.
The naked cocoon husks were left in the pit as Rino gathered the last of his silk. Then, he quickly dumped what he had into the pit by his tiny portal. There was too much silk, but the adult moths were already returning.
Rino jumped into the pit with the silk and concealed his heist with poorly gathered earth over his head in a last-minute ditch. The fluttering of monster moth wings above this thin layer of earth could be heard, and Rino played dead. Maybe they would go away.
He didn't know how long he remained lying there playing possum, but by the time those fluttering sounds went away, the lich felt stiff.
As he was underground, Rino paid no heed to the time. The silk threads were rolled into a huge yarn that was about his height. The yarn was then rolled over to the teleportation pad. He honestly thought he would need several trips to bring all the silk he stole back to his base. Alas, the only thing huge about those cocoons were the husks. There wasn't a lot of silk thread to gather after he rolled them up. However, this should make him the underwear he wanted and more.
When Rino returned, he realised just how late he was to complete that side quest. What he thought would be a three-hour mission took an entire night. The sun was already up, but thankfully, his quest was marked complete while he was busy playing dead.
===
Side Quest #2
Objective: Gather the materials.
Cotton - 20/20 pods
Flax - 300/100 stalks
Hemp - 601/500 stems
Silk - 226/5 meters
Tutorial here.
Reward: Unlock location for an undiscovered mine.
Claim your reward here.
===
He might be tardy, but he did it in a good fashion. At least, that was what Rino thought as he claimed his reward. He didn't have lame excuses like missing the carriage or oversleeping. If anything, he was rather tickled by the thought of an undead playing dead.
Up above, Stephanie made a face, and Phil laughed at the bad joke. Rino was trying too hard to justify his actions, and the Goddess stomped away. She didn't spend an entire night watching him play dead to make a joke as tasteless as this.