Chapter 258: Winged Nomad 3
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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The reason stone dwarves clung so closely to the harpies was because of the eggs the harpiesid.
Some viewers were disappointed to see a ck harpy''s egg instead of a red one.
Nheless, the ck harpies, with their eagle bodies, incubated treasures, not just any eggs.
Lili started to chatter away with exnations.
"Isn''t it beautiful? I had no idea ppers couldy such beautiful gems."
"This is an egg?"
"...This is a mana stone?"
"ppers, I mean, the ck ppers, turn it into this if they incubate it long enough!"
Lili, being a stone dwarf herself, found the terminology confusing, but it turned out that ck harpies, a female-only species, kidnapped male monsters to reproduce.
Interestingly, the unfertilized eggsid outside of their breeding season were filled with mana.
They evolved to use these eggs as nutrients for their offspring once they started raising them... but there was a slight problem, and they ended up incubating these unfertilized eggs continuously.
Both red and ck harpies came from the same world, a world destroyed by the Demon King.
They needed male semen, but looking around the mountains, there were only rotting and moving corpses.
Harpy, with their instinct to build kingdoms in the mountains and defend their territory, couldn''t suddenly be migratory birds crossing the continent in search of males, could they?
"So, if the ppers incubate their fake eggs long enough, they turn into these pretty gems!"
"If it''s a mana stone of this size, mages wille running with their eyes lit. Even if you tell them toe with carts filled with gold instead of food, they''d dlye!"
The result was a mana stone as big as an ostrich egg.
They incubated it, condensing mana for their offspring, and eventually, the tower''s magic turned it into a mana stone.
The stone dwarves stayed here, filled with the idea of crafting this new gem created by the harpies.
Somehow, they ended up resembling servants trimming the Harpy Queen''s ws, perhaps as part of a deal to receive therge mana stone.
ording to Katie, from a northern Ducal family, it''s a premium product that would drive mages and nobles crazy.
The purity of the mana is one thing, but its beauty is unparalleled.
The human head-sized blue gem gently glowed, and since it was originally an egg, its surface was as smooth as if someone had crafted it.
"We could make a deal with this. Oh! And, you said the harpies raise one-horned mountain goats that turn into stone when ughtered, didn''t you? Maybe they''ve also collected mana stones from one-horned mountain goats?"
"Irene is right. Last time on the way here, I saw them raising one-horned mountain goats on the ridge."
Rare mana stones as big as a human head and guaranteed high-quality one-horned mountain goat mana stones.
The harpies are sad they can''t eat their livestock, but from a human perspective, it''s nothing short of a jackpot.
No way, you''re saying if you raise pigs on a farm and ughter them, you get fist-sized nuggets of pure gold?
Unless harpies chew gold instead of food like stone dwarves, selling one 43rd-floor mana stone for food would be far more profitable than eating a single one-horned mountain goat.
All that''s left is to inform the Guild and the Temple.
"Would it be faster to leave through the underground city?"
"We have to pass through ruins midway, but it''ll be quicker."
Humans wouldn''t dislike gem craftsmen and mana stone farm owners.
The concern mighte from those seduced by the harpies'' beauty into doing foolish things, or those greedy for mana stones attacking docile, non-resisting one-horned mountain goats.
Of course, as always, the Temple knights will take care of that.
If there''s an intelligent being, they''ll cling asking, "Do you know the Goddess?"
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Raei Trantions
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The floors of the 40th to the 43rd caused a great stir in the outside world.
If it were just a passage, only adventurers, mages, and temple priests would be bustling.
However, the existence of cities belonging to the stone dwarves and harpies and their desire to trade with humans meant that the scale of interaction inevitably grew.
Not just mages and adventurers entering for research, but alsorge tradingpanies selling food, entered the tower.
"Where did they hear the news from?"
"Merchants wille even to the northern snowfields if there''s profit to be made. They probably gathered information while trading with the mages of the magic tower."
Merchants arrived with carts full of chicken, duck, and pig meat, preserved with refrigeration magic.
Trading meat for mana stones was so profitable that their eyes gleamed with greed.
As a craftsman race, stone dwarves were not ones to be taken advantage of, so no worries there.
Besides the tradingpany reeking of raw meat, there were those transporting scraps of metal, armor, and swords, and those carefully transporting luxury items like gems and jewelry.
Thanks to this, the gatekeeper mage''s dark circles deepened, but the gate usage fee made it worthwhile.
They were grinning from ear to ear.
"Ah, there you are!"
While leisurely enjoying coffee and watching the endless stream of tradingpanies entering the tower through the gate, a familiar voice was heard.
In a fantasy world setting, the sight of enjoying a 1L iced Americano with a slice of cake had the viewers chuckling, and a temple knight, who had been muscle training with Manaashi, came looking for us.
The temple knight, who had forged a friendship beyond race through muscles, came to us, obviously to convey the Temple''s stance.
"May the Goddess''s blessing be upon Lady Hanna, the hero who reveals the will of the Goddess, Sir Rnd, the owner of the holy sword, and all those apanying them on their sacred journey."
"Yes, thank you, Brother. Did youe to deliver a message from the temple?"
"That''s right, Sister Irene! Since both species don''t deny the existence of the Goddess, there weren''t any brothers or sisters who opposed."
Merchants would trade with goblins if there''s profit, but the Temple''s stance was a bit different.
No matter how gentle a species might be, if they deny the Goddess and refuse its faith, for them, that gentle and kind smile would turn into the face of evil.
"That means?"
"I heard that Lady Hanna captured some red harpies around the tower and handed them over to the Magic Tower."
"Ah, is it a problem if those harpies start believing in the Goddess?"
"What? Oh, no. The harpies captured by Lady Hanna are wild species with no faith, practically no different from monsters, so there''s nothing to me her for."
Han Se-ah frowned, realizing she inadvertently ended up kidnapping natives for human trafficking, not just capturing monsters for research at the Magic Tower.
She hasn''t yet fully adapted to the human rights concepts of a medieval fantasy world.
In a ce where even human rights aren''t properly respected, who wouldin about a few harpies being kidnapped?
Even the Temple knight in front of us strictly differentiates between harpies with faith and those without.
Even after sharing a friendship with Manaashi, it would be natural for him to ughter the unbelieving within the ck Naga family.
"However, I have a request. While exploring the 43rd floor, please capture the red harpies near the Harpy Kingdom and hand them over to the Queen. It seems the Queen ns to convert and integrate the wanderers who don''t listen to hermands and attack humans into her kingdom."
"Ah I see."
Whether they understand humannguage or not, those without faith are treated no differently than monsters.
The Temple''s justice is to kidnap them if necessary to make them believe.
So, another quest with a ratherrge scale has been added to the list of side quests.
Hunt the unidentified monsters underground.
Kidnap red harpies to convert them into believers.
Feels like I''ve be the Spanish army that set foot on the New World, doesn''t it?