Chapter 64: A Clue to the Mysterious Magic Tool

Inside the leather case, there were also needles and thread wrapped in cloth, a small pouch containing stones, scraps of parchment, and what looked like a tiny ink bottle. The ink bottle was completely dried out. On the scraps of parchment, there seemed to be some kind of notes written.

“Simple barrier. Wind magic stone, water magic stone, dark magic stone.”

“A simple barrier…? …Ah!”

Ren turned toward the door. The phrase “simple barrier” made him think of the broken, mysterious magic device he had seen in front of the hut.

“Could that be what it was…?”

He decided to take another look at the strange magic tool later.

The other item in the case looked like dried-out remnants of jerky. Looking through the rest of the wooden box, he found a small burlap sack containing something coiled like stiff thread. When he pulled a bit of it out, he realized he had seen something similar earlier.

Ren stepped outside and opened the stone lid of the mysterious device again. As expected, aside from the larger magic stone in the center, the others seemed drained of mana. The thread wrapped around that magic stone looked identical to the stiff thread from the small burlap sack.

“This might be thread for magic tools…”

He muttered as he examined it under the sunlight—then noticed the shadows had grown longer. The sun was beginning to set.

“Oh no, it’s getting late.”

Ren quickly closed the stone lid of the device and returned inside the hut. After a bit of thought, he decided to take the whetstones and the burlap sack of thread with him as well. As he closed the wooden box, he noticed that it too bore a branded crest—the emblem of the Cream Baron family.

“So this really is one of our family’s huts…”

Before leaving, he took one last look around the interior. There were no signs of light leaking through the ceiling, and the floor wasn’t wet—so it likely didn’t leak when it rained. The door was intact too.

“…I feel like this could be useful someday… Maybe as a place to rest while hunting… or even live…”

When he said “live,” Ren widened his eyes slightly at his own words. The idea didn’t seem impossible—but at the same time, the dust-filled interior made it hard to imagine moving in right away. Outside, he could hear what sounded like the cries of Monsters, reminding him that this was a forest where such creatures roamed.

He shut the door firmly, walked back to the strange magic device, glanced at it once more, then turned back toward the hut.

“…I’ll come back.”

He quickened his pace and returned to the “starting point” where he had buried the four small boxes. Facing the direction of the hunting hut, he buried three more boxes at short intervals and let a small smile form on his lips.

But after looking around, he remembered he still didn’t know the way back and let out a quiet sigh.

In the end, Ren managed to make it out of the forest safely. The correct direction turned out to be the one he had fled toward when escaping from the Great Boar. The monster was no longer there, which relieved him—but seeing that the Wild Heal Berries had been completely devoured left him disappointed.

By the time he exited the forest, the sky had begun to glow red with sunset. He had originally planned to make a campfire by the riverside and try crafting a quill pen and carbonized cloth, but he realized he had spent far more time than expected.

“It’s back again!”

“I’m so done with this!”

Suddenly, he heard shouting.

Looking around, he spotted a boy in the grasslands swinging an axe. Dodging it nimbly was what looked like a three-eyed eagle.

“Go away already!”

Another boy shouted, swinging a long stick at the creature.

Looking closer, they seemed to be the same boys Ren had seen at the Adventurers’ Guild.