I had no desire to go out into the darkness right away, so I decided to wait for a brighter day when visibility would be better. Although night vision gave good results in the dark, it is still not a panacea. I had to wait quite a long time for illumination, given that I, like most likely other demonic creatures, do not need sleep. I needed to move on, but looking at this pile of meat, bones and skin of Bared, my inner greedy man refused to leave all this stuff just like that.
I rubbed the ring:
- Charon, can you hear me?
- *I hear, although I wouldn't want to. What do you need ?*
- Tell me, what date is today? Well, by hellish standards.
- *There is no specific date here. Everyone here just exists for eternity, without looking for time for anything specific. This is all?*
- No, not all. After butchering Bared, I still have pieces of his meat, skins and some organs, is there a way to exploit them somehow?
- *To be honest, I'm a little surprised.*
- Surprised by what?
- *As I already said, Bared is a beast with very tough skin. Only experienced devils or artisans can cut it.*
- Wait, did you say artisans?
- *Well, yes.*
- Do they buy monster body parts?
- *Yes, I just wanted to direct you to a local artisan, but you don't know how to listen to the end...*
- Well, where and to whom should I go?
- *Where are you now?*
- Good question. You know, I'm not very good at navigating in the desert...
- *Ngh...Look around, do you see a totem somewhere in the form of an eagle with five wings?
Coming out of the cave, I looked around. What other eagle should I look for in the middle of the desert? There is only sand, sand, dead bushes, more sand (I wonder how much you can sell hellish sand for in Japan?), stones, a valley, a tower... A tower? Trying to get a better look at this tower, I had to narrow my eyes so much that I barely looked like a Japanese.
And yet I somehow managed to see this tower. It was a huge thick red log, on top of which was what looked like a large bird, which had three plates on one side and two on the other. This must be the eagle.
- Yes, I see, should I go there?
- *What brilliant insight! Yes, in the cave under this totem lives a jack of all trades named Kagor. Negotiate about the skin with him.*
- Is he dangerous in some way?
- *No, but he is very talented, during the fourth revolution he forged such artifacts that even the first devils were afraid of.*
- Wow, what kind of artifacts are these, and what kind of revolution?
- *Ask him, unlike me, he's local.*
- Got it, and one more thing.
- *What ?*
- Thank you for not leaving me an ignorant idiot.
- *You're welcome, knowledgeable idiot, see you later.*
And yet, he is not so rude, which is only to my advantage. There is no point in carrying all these scraps if this Kagor refuses me; I'll go empty-handed for now. Of course, then if something happens, I'll have to come back here for a very long time, and it's not clear how to drag it all... Okay, I'll figure it out later. I walked towards the eagle totem. It's been a five hour walk, but there's still a long way to go...maybe I should sing a song?
-I would like to reach out my hand
I may see you, I may tell you to run
You know what they say about the young
Well pick me up with golden hand
I may see you, I may tell you to-*(1)
Suddenly, I heard some kind of whistle that became louder and louder.
I don't know how normal it is to hear such a sound here, so I'll play it safe. Having turned one hand completely into one solid pistol, I moved on. Now I look like Mega Man, funny.
The whistle became even louder, but this is no longer normal. Suddenly, something rushed past me at incredible speed. The moment it passed next to me, I jumped back. When this "something" ran away from me with that whistling sound, and I landed, I felt a dull pain in the area of the hand with the gun, but when I looked at the hand, I saw that the hand had disappeared all the way to the elbow and only my black blood poured in large quantities onto the ground. Surprisingly, the pain is tolerable, but the very fact that I am now without an arm reduced my joy to nothing. If I hadn't dodged, I might have lost my head instead of my hand...
Devils have good regeneration, so after a couple of noticeable seconds the hand stopped bleeding and began to grow back. This will take time, I am not yet such an experienced devil that I can quickly grow body parts. The whistling beast was returning. There is no point in shooting single shots, it can dodge. I need to fire five rounds at once. If I had two hands, there would be more chances to hit, but alas. The runner cannot be seen, it can only be heard. It is too inconvenient to focus on the sound; it spreads in all directions at once and this creates a false perception.
Changing my hand, I waited for the impact. A shotgun would be more convenient in this situation. The whistle was getting closer, now it was the same volume as when I lost my arm. I jumped back and fired five shots at the place where I had just been standing.
*Creeeeeee*
Looks like I got it... A few meters away from me lay a human-sized creature, wounded in the left hind paw, somewhat reminiscent of a mixture of a grasshopper and a mantis, green in color, just like in my world. Insectoid. This creature looked extremely ridiculous. A blue liquid was leaking from its paw. And here there is censorship... Does anyone here have red blood?! This mantis had a black mouth. Already eaten my hand, bastard? The green one is clearly eating while running; didn't you choke?
It could no longer run, so it approached me with a limp. The game doesn't make sense any further. A shot in the head will relieve you of the pain in your legs, and will relieve me of the headache. *Shot*. The grasshopper fell to the ground. By the time I got to it, my arm had completely grown back. Hmm, I thought it would be longer. Unfortunately the coat does not have the ability to regrow, I hope an artisan can restore it. I picked up the grasshopper, surprisingly, it was light. This lightness was its complement to the speed that its legs developed. And if I eat mantis leg, will I become faster?
Already knowing that fire was not needed here, I tore off the wounded leg of this creature and began to gnaw on it like crackers. It tasted somewhat like a combination of celery and apple. Unusual, but tasty.
I must run further to the totem. Before the encounter with the mantis, I was running at the same speed as before I died, but what is my speed now?
I ran towards the already clearly visible totem. Of course, I didn't accelerate to that "whistling" speed, but I clearly ran two and a half times faster than before, I think if I run like this more often, my ability should improve. The totem stood in some mountains; the desert was no longer felt there. Fifty minutes later b.h.t. I was already under the totem. Indeed, a five-winged eagle... Next to the totem there was a cave leading deep into the mountain. Apparently this is where I need to be.
Little by little I descended into the cave. The deeper I descended, the less light there was behind me and the more light there was in front of my face. Lanterns were hung throughout the cave, it was unclear what they were powered by. No fire, no light bulb. It feels like the light in them just appears out of thin air. All this time I was descending along large boulders, but when these lanterns began, the boulders gave way to neat steps.
From the depths of the cave I heard clanging sounds, as if metal were beating against metal. Having gone down to the very bottom, I noticed a bunch of different swords, tools and several skins hanging on the walls of the cave. Ahead was a curtain, behind which the stove chimney was visible. Nearby there was a small source of magma and a large basin of water. For now, it looks more like a forge than an artisan's lair.
And that's where those clanking sounds came from. I went to the curtain and pulled it aside. In front of me stood a gloomy plump man with a bushy beard, with a hammer in his right hand and a red-hot sword in his left. Those sounds were his cutting of the sword on the anvil. I appreciate work regardless of the situation, I will wait until he finishes the sword. After a few more blows, he lowered the sword into cold water, steam began to rise, and from the water he pulled out a sword of incredible beauty, as if from a souvenir shop. It's time.
- Greetings.
- Aah! Who are you and how did you get here?!
- Man, you actually have a huge tower in front of the entrance...
- Yes, but only those who were told about it by those who know about it can notice it and the entrance. How did you know about this place?
- Charon sent me here...
- Oh, so you're from Charon, then everything's okay...
He was not so much frightened by my visit as he was puzzled and a little angry.In any case, his character will not bother me, because I have already seen what level of master he is.
- Beautiful sword.
- This is a failure.
- Why?
- I have lost my skill over the years. Clients will ask: do this, do that; I do it right away and everything is fine, but as soon as it comes to swords, I make mistakes.
I did not continue this topic further, and finally decided to talk about the matter.
- Tell me, do you collect parts of monsters?
- Certainly ! Residents of the underworld regularly order various things from me, and most of them require rare materials, which are sometimes very difficult to find, or rather, to catch. Here's an example: an order to create a bag from Friral. Where can I get it?
- What is Friral?
- Are you walking through hell for the first cycle? Freeral is a large green insect that runs faster than the wind.
- This is it ?
I stuck the mantis out from behind the curtain and extended it towards the blacksmith.
- Where did you get it from?!
- I shot it while I was walking towards you. True, he doesn't have one paw...
- Not a problem at all! Boy, you are my savior! May I know your name?
- Reigai Yurei, the Gun Devil.
- Forgive me, please forgive me for my familiar attitude towards you, I didn't know that you were one of the devils!
The blacksmith fell to his knees in front of me and began to ask for forgiveness. Devils are apparently held in high esteem here, or they are simply feared...
- Calm down, I just recently became a devil and I'm not going to do anything with you.
The blacksmith began to rise with surprise in his eyes.
- You are definitely not a devil in your behavior. Devils are much stricter and they are terrifying. You are not one of them, who are you?
- Let's just say, a dead man who was lucky enough to become a devil, and you are a craftsman, Kagor?
- You said it right, that's my name. Since you were even told my name in advance, it means you need something more from me than giving me Friral.
- Yes, 20 kilometers from here there is a cave in which I left Bared's meat, skin and some internal organs. I would like to exchange them with you for something else, what do you say?
- Boy...did you leave such valuable ingredients unattended?!
- Are they that important?
- Bareds have been appearing less and less lately. Their meat is now a delicacy. The hide is an excellent material for creating armor, and the organs are ideal alchemical ingredients. How could you leave them there?
- I can go and come back for them now.
- Stand ! Here, take this bracelet.
Kagor gave me a gold ornamental snake bracelet with five stones that looked like rubies.
- What do I need this for?
- This is a bracelet with storage, each stone carries a ton. This volume should be just enough for Bared.
One more trinket, okay...