Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 138

A scroll that could move them to the Temple of Delphi in a single leap.It was an item difficult to describe even with the word “coincidental.”

Why did something like this appear in this situation of all times.......

It was far too suspicious.

So rather than feeling happy, Anagin felt uneasy.

He wondered if it might be some kind of trap.

Sanchonius was probably thinking the same thing, which was why he had reported it in such a hurry.

It was strange and suspicious that, just as they were heading to the Temple of Delphi, a scroll that could take them straight to the Temple of Delphi appeared.

‘Is it really a trap?’

Anagin eyed the scroll Sanchonius was holding out with suspicion.

Perhaps it was bait the mages had prepared in case they failed....... Or maybe the mages had a secret base hidden near the Temple of Delphi?

All sorts of stray thoughts bloomed in Anagin’s mind, and then he tore them all out and shoved them into a corner.

It was foolish to worry alone about problems that couldn’t be solved by worrying. He decided to think about it later.

‘This makes it even more regrettable. If even one mage had been left alive, I could have asked.’

Anagin unconsciously turned his head toward Pigmenes.

As if it could read the room, the moment Anagin looked at it, the creature flinched. It was worried Anagin might scold it, or vent his anger on it.

“You did well. Come back.”

Instead of blaming Pigmenes, Anagin lifted the Beast Devourer, offered a brief word of praise, and called it back.

Pigmenes had only followed Anagin’s orders. Strictly speaking, if there was anyone to blame, it was Anagin himself for not giving clearer commands.

‘Though telling it to beat them up moderately in that situation wouldn’t have looked cool.’

Making that joke to himself, Anagin conveyed his decision to Sanchonius.

“For now, let’s put that aside. It’s not urgent enough that we need to decide right away, and there’s still quite a bit to do besides that.”

Sanchonius, seemingly of the same mind, nodded and put the teleportation scroll away.

And just like that, the scroll issue was temporarily settled.

"Hey, you Descendants of Giant. What were you trying to say?"

Anagin called out to the Gigant fighter whose conversation had been interrupted when Sanchonius cut in. Was his name Koros? Anyway, he asked what he had been trying to say.

Compared to before, the man’s expression had grown noticeably more anxious.

Well, that was understandable. Anagin now had a scroll that could take him straight to the Temple of Delphi at any time. He could kill them and leave right now if he wanted.

In fact, Anagin was thinking about that too. It wasn’t an entirely baseless worry.

Still, there was something Anagin wanted to confirm first.

“Nothing to say? Then I’ll repeat my business. What was it again....... Ah, I asked about how to use Kr(κρ), and about the Giant’s Fist. You planning to answer—”

“The Giant’s Fist can’t be used with just Ek(ek) and Pa(pa). You also have to use Pl(pl).”

Pl(pl). Short for plássein.

A technique for forging the Energy(Γι) released outside the body into the form of a tool.

“Pl(pl)? ...Ohhh. That makes sense.”

Hearing the answer, Anagin nodded slowly, as if he understood.

If you considered the fist itself as a kind of tool, it made perfect sense.

It might even be more effective than using Pa(pa) to grasp the released Energy(Γι) again.

Anagin suddenly understood why the Giant’s Fist he had created felt a bit crude.

So this was why you needed specialists. There were limits to what could be done by intuition alone.

“What happened to Lord Keones?”

“Hey. I’m not done with my questions yet. How do you use Kr(κρ)?”

“...Didn’t we agree to exchange questions one by one?”

“The Giant’s Fist and Kr(κρ) are bundled as one. Does that sound like a forced argument? Then you should have won."

Anagin shamelessly brought up victory and defeat as he brazenly pushed his logic. But it was also the truth. If they didn’t like it, they should have won.

Surprisingly, the Gigant fighter seemed to accept Anagin’s words.

It was a bit strange. The hulking figure had been like that, too, and this guy as well. The Descendants of Giant strangely seemed to be on the same wavelength as Anagin.

That didn’t mean they felt friendly, though. They were humans spouting nonsense about being giants and such.

Their sharp awareness also rubbed him the wrong way.

“......If we answer, will you spare us and let us go?”

A fairly sharp question.

Anagin answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“If I like it.”

It wasn’t a lie.

The future was unknown, so he might really let them live and release them. Of course, he might not. The future held infinite possibilities.

However, the Gigant fighter seemed to take it another way.

“So you don’t intend to spare us.”

“If you’re dissatisfied, want me to kill you right now?”

Anagin shot back in a tone that suggested he had nothing to lose.

After all, there were two mouths here. If one died in front of the other, the survivor might change her mind. There were also ways to apply a little pressure.

“.......”

Even so, the Gigant fighter didn’t open his mouth.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid of death... but he seemed to have enough mental fortitude to endure that fear.

Rather than Anagin’s foot, which could crush his head at any moment, he was paying more attention to the Gigant swordswoman beside him.

‘Hmm.......’

Just as Anagin lifted his foot high, about to stomp down and crush the Gigant fighter’s head, Tramachus stepped in.

“If it’s Energy manipulation, I’ll teach you. So don’t kill those two, and hand them over to us.”

Anagin looked at him as if to ask what he was talking about, then alternated pointing at the Gigant pair.

“These guys?”

“Yeah, those two. Hand them over to our Chiron Tower. Along with those treasure hunters over there.”

“Why?”

Tramachus hesitated briefly, as if weighing his answer.

But he soon replied. He knew that if he didn’t answer properly, Anagin wouldn’t cooperate.

“The Descendants of Giants are like a common enemy to practitioners like us. Especially to practitioners affiliated with the Chiron Tower.”

“Why?”

Anagin repeated “why” like a child. Tramachus looked slightly annoyed, but answered one by one.

“Because the Descendants of Giants mock the authority of the gods, and on top of that, they’re trying to return the world to the Age of Giants.”

The Age of Giants.

A time when the rulers of this land were not gods, but giants.

Giants with immense strength and savagery roamed the land, and humans were oppressed by them.

It was said that after a long time passed, the gods appeared in this land and brought that barbaric age to an end.

“In short, the Descendants of Giants can be considered enemies of humanity. And therefore, enemies of us practitioners who protect humanity. Do you understand?”

“Hm... I get it. That’s not a bad story.”

Anagin interpreted Tramachus’s proposal positively.

Either way, he’d be learning Energy manipulation.

“Ha! You people who rely on gods! Do you really think you know proper Energy(Γι) manipulation?”

The Gigant fighter, helplessly bound on the cutting board, sneered disdainfully.

It didn’t feel like a bluster born of fear of death; it genuinely seemed like he found Tramachus’s words laughable.

After all, the Chiron Tower relied on blessings, while they themselves used pure Energy(Γι). It wasn’t hard to see why they might look down on them.

Even Anagin himself had sought Energy manipulation from the Descendants of Giants for that very reason.

“So what do you propose?”

“A deal. If you spare us and let us go, we’ll teach you Energy manipulation. If you refuse, we won’t say a thing.”

Tramachus said that if the Descendants of Giants were handed over, they would teach Energy manipulation, while the Descendants of Giants said that if they were released, they would teach their Energy manipulation.

With the situation unfolding like this, Anagin’s head started to hurt a little.

Ideally, he wanted to hear the Energy manipulation methods from the Descendants of Giants first, but then the Chiron Tower folks would probably get quite upset.

Normally, he wouldn’t care, but now that he wanted to hear the Chiron Tower’s methods as well, he hesitated a bit.

Wasn’t it better to hear both methods rather than just one?

It would be interesting to know the differences between them, and he could pick and choose what suited him.

The problem was that hearing both methods was nearly impossible.

Listening to one side meant not listening to the other.

‘But that’s not the case for me.’

Nearly impossible didn’t mean absolutely impossible.

Anagin quickly came up with a solution. It was a bit of a gamble, but there was no real risk. If it failed, it would just be a little disappointing, that was all.

“Alright, then let’s do this. Both sides teach me Energy manipulation.”

“What?”

“What?”

The two hostile factions—the Descendants of Giants and the Chiron Tower—asked the same question at the exact same moment.

But Anagin was serious.

“If you do as I say, I’ll spare both of you, and I’ll hand these guys over to you. Fair, right?”

“Fair, my ass.... Do you really think we’d go along with such nonsense?”

The Gigant fighter snapped back at the absurd conditions.

Even if he was spared, what meaning was there in being taken by the Chiron Tower? Anagin showed him exactly what that meaning was.

“If you don’t comply, I’ll only spare half.”

“Half? What do you mean by—”

The Gigant fighter tried to ask what nonsense he was spouting, but couldn’t finish his sentence.

In the middle of his words, Anagin drew the Beast Devourer from his waist and aimed it at the Gigant swordswoman.

It was a blade specialized for slaughtering beasts, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t cut people. It simply hadn’t had the opportunity.

Thinking it was just a bluff, the Gigant fighter showed no reaction at all, and without a word, Anagin brought the Beast Devourer down toward the Gigant swordswoman’s neck—

“Wait!”

Clack!

By a hair’s breadth, the Beast Devourer missed the Gigant swordswoman’s neck.

As proof, a thin red line appeared across her throat, and red blood trickled down from it.

“Why?”

In the silence, with only red blood dripping to the ground, Anagin asked.

Did he have something to say?

The Gigant fighter closed his trembling eyelids and answered.

“I’ll comply with your conditions....... So please, spare us.”

“Hmph, you should’ve said that from the start.”

* * *

After confirming everyone’s situation, they decided to take a short break to clean up the aftermath.

After all, it wasn’t like they had only taken down one or two looters.... Leaving their belongings scattered around would be far too wasteful, wouldn’t it?

Anagin and the others decided to start by collecting the possessions of the defeated looters.

There were many looters, and quite a few of them were skilled fighters, so everyone stood to gain a decent share.

The sheer volume of loot made gathering it a job in itself, but fortunately, it turned out to be easier than expected.

“Pairon. Oh, you brought everything back just like I told you.”

Right on cue, Pairon returned from the retrieval task he’d been assigned.

Anagin ordered the returning Pairon not to rest and to continue retrieving more items.

“Spit out everything you brought, then swallow up all the other stuff and bring it here.”

Pairon grumbled in annoyance, but the moment Anagin clenched his fist, he became diligent again. Naturally, Anagin and the Chiron Tower Four joined in as well.

With everyone working together, the looting progressed quickly, and in the process, Pairon’s special abilities became clear.

It didn’t just pick up and eat items lying on the ground—it could find hidden objects by scent and even evaluate an item’s value.

It was natural for a boar to have a good sense of smell, but this was an impressive ability nonetheless.

Of course, being a boar, it also had a sly side and would occasionally try to pocket genuinely valuable items for itself.

But there was no cause for concern.

No one was better than Anagin at hearing the sound of scheming gears turning, and every time that happened, he corrected Pairon’s behavior appropriately—with his fist.

“Stealing is bad, fist.”

Kweeeeeeiik—!

Thanks to that, the item recovery went far faster and more efficiently than if people had done it one by one.

Before long, they had gathered a mountain of coins, treasures, and no small number of magical tools in one place.

“Wow... that’s incredible.”

“Isn’t this on par with the Forest Brotherhood subjugation?”

“If you only count coins and treasures, maybe. If you include equipment and magical tools, it’s even more than that.”

“How ironic. Looting the looters themselves.......”

Faced with the mountain-like pile of spoils, even those of royal blood, noble lineage, or heroic descent couldn’t help but marvel.

Anagin was just as surprised, but when he recalled how many looters had attacked them at the start, it felt like a fair reward.

As the excitement faded, a sense of duty to wrap things up quickly took over, and he moved into action immediately.

“Let’s split the coins and treasures evenly, one-fifth each by headcount. As for the magical tools, we’ll check their functions and let whoever needs them take them.”

“...One-fifth, you say?”

Someone asked again, as if doubting their ears.

It was none other than Sanchonius.

“Yeah, one-fifth.”

“......Does that include me as well?”

“Yeah. You fought too.”

Anagin looked at Sanchonius with an annoyed expression that said, Why are you asking something so obvious?

It wasn’t like Sanchonius had been slacking off and only pretended to fight when Anagin showed up.

Sanchonius spoke with an air of deep gratitude.

“N-no. I didn’t contribute that much.”

"I didn't say you did anything great either. But regardless of that, you fought. And you worked hard."

Anagin hadn’t made the decision on a whim.

He knew that Sanchonius, neither a Gigant nor a Blessed one, hadn’t been much help directly in combat.

But you couldn’t judge things by one part alone. You had to look at the whole.

Throughout their journey so far, Sanchonius, along with Sphinx, had handled all sorts of tedious chores, and more importantly, when Anagin needed it, he had provided information about this forest right away. Timely, necessary information.

Above all, he had risked his life fighting against a horde of looters.

“I took all that into account when I decided, so just take it.”

“H-hah, but.......”

Sanchonius trailed off while glancing at the Argo trio.

They weren’t pressuring him, but he still seemed self-conscious.

“Shut up and take it. Didn’t you agree to follow my orders?”

At this point, Sanchonius could no longer refuse, and the Argo trio gently urged him to accept it as well.

“...Thank you.”

“Alright, then. Let’s divide up the magical tools. Sphinx, can you help?”

Sphinx jumped down from Anagin’s shoulder, maintaining its cat form, and began examining the magical tools.

She had said before that this wasn’t her specialty, but she turned out to be better at identifying their functions than expected.

“I learned a bit from Ponytail. Ah, this one looks like a ring with a familiar bound to it. An owl?”

There were nearly as many magical tools as there had been looters. Silent shoes, a bracelet that could summon a bear, a ring that controlled an owl familiar, enchanted gambling dice, a flute that lured beasts, and so on.

Still, it wasn’t as though there were many items that truly caught the eye.

Their performance was uniformly mediocre.

He briefly considered keeping a few for spare parts, but quickly gave up on the idea.

Somehow, it felt like those trivial items wouldn’t even be useful as repair materials. Call it intuition.

In the end, Anagin only kept a handful of magical tools that seemed practical and handed over the rest: a fur blanket made from Arcadian beasts, a few pairs of shoes, the beast-luring flute, and the magic dice.

Oh, and while he was at it, he also picked up some cooking tools for Sphinx and a stealth cloak.

“If anything happens, hide with this. You’ll just get in the way otherwise.”

“It’d be nice if you made a habit of saying one less thing, brother.”

“Absolutely not.... What’s this?”

Anagin spoke while looking at a uniquely shaped crossbow and a massive iron statue among the magical tools.

“Equipment used by the treasure hunters. Interested?”

“A little. It looks unusual. This thing fired arrows consecutively, right?”

Anagin pointed at the heavy crossbow with a cylindrical tube attached as he asked.

“Yeah. Besides that, there were rounds that caused explosions, noise, or spread lethal poison, and even that giant iron statue. They gave us quite a bit of trouble.”

“Is that related to why you want to take those guys, too?”

Anagin asked while pointing at the bound treasure hunters off to one side. Judging by their matching attire, they seemed to belong to the same organization.

“Those guys couldn’t have invented this stuff themselves. It’s probably from Ruins, so we want to find out where they got it.”

Recalling how Grumbal had practically drooled over the bronze statue he’d taken, Anagin nodded in understanding. It seemed the Chiron Tower coveted Ancient Ruin technology as well.

“Mind if I take a few of these?”

"You're taking some?"

“I think they could be useful at the right moment.”

He was fairly serious. A crossbow capable of continuous fire, along with explosive, poisonous, and noise-producing ammunition, seemed more than sufficient to introduce variables into a fight.

Tramachus didn’t refuse. To begin with, he had no reason to. Anagin wasn’t asking for everything, just a few items.

“Can I take that iron statue too?”

Anagin asked while looking at the iron statue with multiple spider-like legs.

“That one’s a no. It’s the most valuable as research material.”

“Well, can’t be helped.”

Anagin accepted it quickly. He didn’t want it badly enough to force it out of someone who refused.

“By the way, how are you planning to take all those looters to the Chiron Tower? You’re not expecting us to escort them ourselves, are you?”

“Don’t worry about that. We have a magical tool to send urgent messages to the Chiron Tower, and we’ve already called for personnel.”

Sanchonius said he had taken care of it immediately. People would arrive within a few days.

Anagin nodded, pleased.

That would be plenty of time to learn the promised methods of Energyi(Γι) manipulation.

Thinking that, Anagin looked at the Descendants of Giants.

“So, what should we start with?”