‘The regeneration effect isn’t half bad, is it?’
After thoroughly looting the treasure, I took a peaceful rest while soaking in the forest atmosphere.
Because it said the more you rest, the more the effect increases.
I think I’m roughly thirty percent recovered by now.
‘Huh? What’s that?’
A dark silhouette that looked rather small for a monster was moving beneath the tree.
‘It’s a silhouette that looks familiar somehow.’
Caw—
Just then, the crow woke from its slumber and spread its wings.
The time for escape had finally arrived.
‘Hurry up and drop me quickly!’
The cries of the crow chicks rang out, and the fellow clutching me hopped out of the nest and took flight.
I looked down to see which monster would serve as the stepping stone for my escape.
‘Huh?’
I got a bit closer to the silhouette beneath the tree.
Soon, I was able to identify them.
‘It’s humans!’
It was the first time I had encountered decent human beings since my benefactor, so I was glad to see them.
They were busily preparing something.
Looking at them, it seemed they were about to climb the tree.
‘Wait a minute. Don’t tell me those people are the target?’
Caw—!
Damn it. This time, “no way” was really about to catch a person.
This wasn’t the time to be cheerfully delighted!
‘You crazy demon! Not humans!’
You might not care, but if I do it, that’s murder!
Caw—!
However, being a monster, the crow naturally set out on its human hunt without hesitation.
‘I don’t want to! No! I can’t!’
Contrary to my wishes, my body was already falling.
Due to gravity, I drew closer and closer to the crown of a person’s head.
‘Dodge!! It’s dangerous!!’
I rolled my body in midair to somehow avoid the collision.
That wasn’t going to change my direction, but perhaps my desperation got through, as my eyes fortunately met one of the men.
“Huh? Jaden!”
The moment he saw me, he threw himself forward and saved the person next to him.
‘Phew. What a relief.’
Thanks to landing in a safe spot, I was able to touch down without any injuries, to—
“Aaaaargh!!”
“Hyung!!!!”
‘Good grief….’
I wondered why I was completely fine, and it turns out it was thanks to crushing that man’s calf.
The man called Hyung suffered injuries so severe they were hard to put into words.
Well, it packs the power to shatter monster skulls, so there’s no way a human would emerge unscathed.
‘What do I do about this?’
It wasn’t my fault, but since it happened because of me anyway, I felt guilty.
Honestly, if it had just been broken, I might have pretended not to notice and moved on, but that looks a bit too….
Caw—
‘Ah! You need to run away.’
The mother crow would step in directly whenever a hunt using me failed.
So that the chicks could feed comfortably.
It was a cruel method where it would swoop down at high speed using its sharp beak to gouge out the prey’s heart.
‘Thinking about it pisses me off.’
That bastard could easily hunt all by himself, so in the end, he was just doing it to slack off, wasn’t he?
While someone had to risk their life free-falling every single time!
“Damn it!”
‘What, I thought I said that out loud.’
“Come at me, you feathered bastard!!”
Even amidst the injury, both men drew their weapons and stood their ground.
I hate to say it, but they won’t be able to beat the crow with short swords like that.
Because its speed was so terrifyingly fast that most monsters fell helpless before it.
‘I should help, right?’
It feels a bit like giving the disease and offering the cure, but I bear some responsibility too.
Above all, I don’t want to watch a person die right before my eyes.
And as a bonus, I can take revenge on that demon crow, too.
‘…But will it be alright?’
If I suddenly move, those two might mistake me for a monster.
Then those blades might turn toward me.
‘What should I do?’
Caw!
In the meantime, the crow began its descent, leaving no time to hesitate.
Once it gathered momentum, it would pierce their hearts in the blink of an eye.
‘Ah, whatever!’
I just have to make sure I don’t seem threatening.
I carefully rolled my body so the two men wouldn’t notice.
Then, right before the crow slammed into them, I leapt and cast Gigantification at the same time.
‘Take some Poison Mucus, too!’
It was a single blow into which I poured everything I had.
Though I didn’t know how effective it would be.
“W-what is this?”
The brothers panicked at the massive boulder that suddenly blocked their front.
For it hadn’t fallen from the sky, but had practically sprouted from the ground.
Crunch—
With the Headbutt effect triggering on top of it, the crow’s beak shattered completely.
Still, I didn’t think it would die from just this, so I leapt before it could get up.
[Would you like to activate Blessing of Predation (lv. 1)?]
‘What. It’s dead already?’
Thump—!
The notification had popped up before I could crush it, but since I was already airborne, I couldn’t stop.
‘Wait, that injury didn’t seem severe enough to kill it….’
Could it be that the beak was its weak point?
That must be why it utilized me.
Because its beak was both its weapon and its weak point, so one wrong move could put itself in danger.
‘Come to think of it, even when it stepped in personally, it only ever pounced on monsters that couldn’t properly fight back.’
To think I was held captive by a guy like this, oh, what a miserable lot in life.
‘First, let’s collect what’s mine.’
[You have devoured the Magic Stone of a Leader Indi Crow (Lv. 23). Absorbing magic power.]
[Level Up! You have obtained 2 Skill Points.]
[There are skills available for acquisition.]
‘Oh. Its level was pretty high.’
It was higher than the Ultra Rabbit, but it didn’t seem stronger.
It seems level isn’t the sole measure of strength after all.
Or maybe it was just because its weak point took a direct hit.
‘I wonder if there are any useful skills.’
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
[Available Skills]
- Sharp Beak – 1P
- Flight Acceleration – 2P
- Aerial Throw – 3P
- Eye of Discernment – 4P
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
‘Flight!!’
Could it be that I can fly too?!
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
[Flight Acceleration (lv. 1)]
Reduces drag during flight to enhance acceleration.
※ This skill is currently unavailable for use.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
‘Tch. Of course.’
It wasn’t a skill that enabled flight, but one that took effect during flight.
In other words, it’s just a pie in the sky for me.
‘First Deadly Fangs, and now this—why do you keep showing me skills I can’t even use?’
Since it’s an available for acquisition list and not an available for use list, there’s nothing technically wrong, but it still pisses me off.
‘At least this one looks usable.’
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
[Eye of Discernment (lv. 1)]
Allows you to faintly recognize precious things.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
‘Why does it always have qualifiers like “to some extent” or “faintly”?’
Is it because the level is 1?
It seems the crow was able to gather valuables thanks to this skill.
Did that guy have a low skill level too, which is why there were a measly four artifacts?
It’s a passive skill, so it doesn’t seem bad.
‘There aren’t any other skills worth taking anyway.’
Then my points will hit zero again, though….
‘Ah, whatever! What good is saving them?’
Better to acquire it and regret it than to regret not having it. Right?
And so, with self-rationali… no, with conviction, I acquired the skill.
“What in the world just happened……?”
Ah, right! There were people behind the rock.
I completely forgot.
‘I should cancel Gigantification first.’
If I approach them like this, they might really mistake me for a monster.
* * *
“What the!”
The massive boulder right before their eyes shrank into a fist-sized pebble in an instant.
To be precise, its size had simply decreased, but that wasn’t important right now.
“Brother! The leader is dead!”
“What?”
Jaden’s words were true.
It seemed its beak had shattered upon colliding with the boulder that had suddenly appeared.
Its beak was connected to the brain, making it both a weak point and exceptionally hard.
It was three times harder than the skull of an ordinary creature.
The rock was the one that should have broken.
“Is it a mage?”
“A mage?”
He thought a passing mage might have seen them in trouble and helped them out.
“Brother, keep treating yourself. I’ll look around!”
While he scouted the surroundings, Smiden poured a recovery potion over his leg to treat it.
It was something obtained with great difficulty that he rarely used, but his left leg had been utterly pulverized, leaving him no choice.
Because moving in this state would put them both in danger.
“There’s no one here?”
Having finished surveying the perimeter, Jaden returned and said, puzzled.
“That can’t be….”
A mage’s magic was as rare and expensive as it was powerful.
If a mage really had helped them, they would surely show themselves to demand compensation for saving their lives.
“Did they just leave because of an urgent matter? If they don’t show up, we save money, so that’s good.”
His younger brother’s words made sense.
There was no need to go out of their way to find them and create an excuse to spend money.
They might demand an absurd price, after all.
“Come to think of it, about this pebble.”
“What about the pebble?”
“Isn’t it kind of cute?”
Smiden frowned at the out-of-the-blue remark.
However, looking closely, it felt as though Jaden might be right—
“…That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Ah. Right. The nest!”
Only then did the brothers remember their original objective.
“Help me up. Urgh…….”
“Hyung! Are you alright?”
No matter how good a potion was used, complete recovery was impossible.
Especially with an injury of this severity.
“I’ll go up.”
“…Will you be alright?”
“Of course. Honestly speaking, I’m in better shape and more nimble than you, Hyung.”
“Cocky punk.”
He was worried, but they couldn’t just give up and go back like this either.
Fortunately, the leader was dead, so the danger was lessened.
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back. Let’s head back quickly and buy something delicious to eat with the kids.”
“Alright.”
After equipping his gear, Jaden began scaling the tree.
While Smiden was watching him anxiously from below, a sudden rustling sound came from the side.
“…!”
He immediately raised his weapon and took a guarded stance.
However, there was nothing there.
“…Was it just an animal?”
Relieved, he turned his head, only to notice something odd.
“…Where did the pebble go?”
The thing that was right in front of him until a moment ago had vanished in a brief second.
“Now that I think about it, it’s strange.”
He belatedly recalled that the stone hadn’t sprouted from the ground, but had been dropped by the crow.
Back then, it was definitely fist-sized, but it seemed to have grown in size.
“Could it have been a monster?”
It clearly possessed an ability like an Ultra Rabbit’s.
He had never heard of a pebble-shaped monster, but the discovery of new species was an event that occurred with fair frequency.
“Even so, it’s strange. It definitely seemed to have helped us.”
A monster saving humans? That made even less sense.
It was a tale bound to draw ridicule from everyone if told anywhere.
“Claiming to have found a dragon’s egg or a Candidus would be far more believable.”
He let out an empty laugh, looking at the traces left behind by the unidentified stone.
“The magic stone must have been ruined.”
Had they obtained it, it would have fetched a pretty sum, but they had to be grateful simply for keeping their lives.
“I hope there are artifacts.”
Even if not that, he hoped there would be expensive accessories.
Because many orphaned children had arrived this month, leaving countless places where money had to be spent.
* * *
‘Phew. Looks like that went over well somehow.’
Seeing that the man named Jaden called me cute, it seems the Cuteness skill is working after all.
Thanks to that, it feels like I didn’t get further mistaken for a monster, either.
‘Their expressions are rough, but are they good people?’
The skill description said the effect grows stronger the kinder the target is.
You really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, as they say.
‘Whoa. He’s already climbed that far?’
As if possessed by a monkey, he scaled halfway up the tree in an instant with nothing but his bare body.
Judging by their talk of the nest, it seemed they had come after the treasures hoarded by the crow.
‘Though I already devoured everything with magic in it.’
Well, even without those, there were plenty of accessories that looked expensive, so it should be fine.
As a result, I saved their lives too, and with this sort of thing, finders keepers anyway.
‘By the way, dragons must actually exist.’
Being called a dragon’s egg somehow felt nice.
If only “Pebble” hadn’t been stamped squarely onto my status window, I might have harbored some hope, too.
‘Though I don’t know what a Candidus is.’
At any rate, I paid for injuring his leg, so I carry no debt on my conscience.
‘Well then, I’ll be taking my leave.’
Truth be told, I had considered following those people just like this.
Because then I would be able to reach a city or village where humans live.
‘It would have been a disaster if I recklessly sought out a place with humans.’
I wanted to head to a village as soon as possible, but my thoughts changed just a moment ago.
‘To think they’d suspect me of being a monster right off the bat.’
Of course, because I’m a cute and gentle pebble, they dropped their suspicions quickly, but still.
The Cuteness skill was said to be more effective on benevolent targets, but on the other hand, there was no telling what would happen if I met an evil person.
If it simply didn’t work, that would be fine, but in the worst case, it might backfire.
‘We can’t even hold a conversation, so I can’t take that risk.’
Even if I can understand the other party’s words, it’s meaningless if I can’t speak myself.
I lack the face and limbs crucial for body language, so I can’t even do that.
I’d be lucky if I didn’t get sold from place to place as a cute and bizarre pet rock that understands human speech.
‘It’s a shame, but being cautious is the right move.’
They don’t say to be careful even with a glass of water in unfamiliar places for nothing.
‘Nice meeting you! Please return alive.’
Without lingering regrets, I rolled my body in the direction opposite the crow’s nest.
Comments (0)