One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 47: Chapter 46 Sol Brothers

Igor’s hands were bound. Swaying, he followed a rope leading up the mountain.

Kadi suffered the same treatment, his hands also bound, completely exposed on the mountain.

Leading the way was a reticent and mysterious figure wrapped in a long purple robe.

Igor naturally couldn’t understand why he was restrained for no reason. After arriving at Guru Mountain, he had encountered numerous peculiar events, so this situation didn’t feel too strange. He didn’t struggle because it would be pointless. The man in the purple robe was incredibly strong, completely out of his league. Even if the Scale of Faith tilted in his favor, he wouldn’t be a match for this purple-robed man. Besides, nothing had happened that was worth invoking the Scale of Faith. Igor glanced back at Kadi, the—erm—creature he had only recently met. Now, Kadi was sharing his misfortune, which made Igor feel somewhat guilty.

Kadi gritted his teeth and tugged at the ropes binding his hands. The result, however, was disappointing: not only did the rope fail to loosen, but it tightened even more. It’s over, Kadi thought. Now that I’m completely exposed on the mountain, there’s no escaping being locked up in the Slumber Room. Still, that Igor fellow is pretty interesting. Even if I’m imprisoned, the conversations with him were worth it!

”Can I ask where we’re going?” Igor ventured. He had tried to question their situation several times already, but to no avail. The mysterious man simply ignored them, silently leading them up the mountain by the rope.

Speaking of this Dawn Peak, it was quite strange. From the foot of the mountain, Igor had estimated that reaching the summit of Dawn Peak shouldn’t take more than a day. However, he had already spent one night on the mountain and was about to enter his second evening there. Yet, the summit of Dawn Peak still wasn’t in sight. Although various strange occurrences had delayed him on the mountain, this still felt odd.

”It’s getting dark. Shouldn’t we find a place to spend the night?” Igor persisted.

The mysterious man remained unmoved, continuing up the mountain.

”Look, it’s getting darker and the Extreme Winter is approaching! We need to find a place to stay, quickly!” Actually, the approaching Extreme Winter wasn’t particularly relevant to finding shelter, but Igor figured that one should use peculiar methods when communicating with peculiar people. He himself didn’t realize that, in some ways, he was also quite peculiar.

Kadi, trailing at the rear, had his mind filled with chaotic thoughts. The pleasant conversation he’d had with Igor was now a memory, deeply engraved in his mind. Now, his thoughts were occupied by the horrifying scenes old Kevin had once described. Kevin had warned him not to interact with the people from downhill. If caught, the consequences would be severe.

Kevin had described those severe consequences to him in vivid detail. However, he had never truly believed him. From his observations on Dawn Peak, the methods of the people downhill weren’t nearly as brutal as Kevin had described.

”Hey, Igor,” Kadi said, tugging at the rope binding his hands. ”I heard you people like to buy and sell others of your kind. Is that true?”

”Yes, some regions still practice slave trading. But I’ve never seen it. If I did, I’d definitely teach those slave owners a lesson,” Igor turned his head, his voice full of indignation.

”Then... then do some buyers first disassemble the people they trade, and then piece them together into hideous, terrifying creatures?” Kadi pressed further. In public, he never considered himself a monster, a stark contrast to when he played house all by himself. Moreover, his question now seemed to invert the roles of monster and human.

”This...” Igor wanted to scratch his head, but his hands were bound. He had to abandon the idea. ”I’ve never heard of that.”

”Do you think he’s one of those perverts who likes to disassemble people and then piece them back together?” Kadi continued, as if he and Igor weren’t bound by the purple-robed man at all.

”He doesn’t look like it,” Igor replied.

”Are you sure?”

”Er...” Just as Igor was about to answer, the silent, purple-robed man leading them suddenly stopped. He rounded a tree, and a cave suddenly appeared before the three of them.

The mysterious man led Igor and Kadi into the cave.

”’You... sit... inside. Don’t... move,’” the mysterious man said, pointing to a corner of the cave. Then, he walked out and returned with some firewood. The moment the mysterious man stepped out of the cave, Igor noticed it was similar to the one they’d stayed in the previous night. The view from outside the cave entrance seemed hazy; not even a ghostly shadow could be seen.

With a CRACKLE, the mysterious man started a fire. The narrow cave instantly warmed, dispelling the encroaching chill of the night.

”Are you a Wizard?” Igor asked, puzzled that the mysterious man had started a fire without flint.

”No... I am not.” The mysterious man finally answered one of Igor’s questions, a small reward for Igor’s unyielding efforts along the way.

”Then how can you start a fire from nothing? If it’s not Spellcraft, what is it?”

”’You... mean... this.’” Confronted by Igor’s question, the mysterious man opened his palm, where a string of flames danced.

”...” Not only Igor was stunned; Kadi’s one eye widened in surprise as well.

”’Sorry... on the way... I didn’t answer... your... doubts,’” the mysterious man said haltingly. ”’There was... an emergency... I had to... concentrate... to deal with... those... little things.’”

”So, you mean you can tell me all the ’whys’ now?”

”’Yes... I found... this... cave... has... a Concealment Spell... providing cover. Those... things... can’t get in.’” The mysterious man’s speech was incredibly slow, each word punctuated by a pause that tested one’s patience.

”Then why did you tie us up? We’ve done nothing to wrong you.”

He chuckled. ”’No... grudges?’” The mysterious man took a stone from within his robes. It was crystal clear and vibrantly colored. ”’This... stone... is it yours?’”

”It used to be. Not anymore.” Igor looked at the stone, astonished. He had given all his Rain Crystal Stones to the Great Witch! How could one now appear in this man’s hands? However, on reflection, he realized something. He wasn’t the only one who possessed such stones; he had only owned four.

Then he added, ”Still, I can’t prove this particular stone was mine before. After all, many people have them.”

”’This... on it... has your... residual... Spirit Power. The scent... is like yours,’” the mysterious man explained. ”’Your... Spirit Power... occupies... a large... portion.’”

”The stone was a gift from Young Master Hustace. The residual Spirit Power should be his!”

”Ah, is that the Hustace you can’t decide if he’s your friend or not?” Kadi suddenly interjected upon hearing Igor’s response.

”Yes. Young Master Hustace is different from Fat Jack and Kirk. He talks so little that I’m hesitant to bother him. I’m afraid that if I ask, he’ll just give a concise ’no’ and leave no chance for a second interaction.”

”’It’ll be fine. After all, you modified the stone with him,” Kadi said, once again forgetting he was a hostage and slipping back into their earlier, pleasant conversation with Igor.

Igor was the same, launching into an eloquent account of their experience modifying the stone. ”Back then, a few of us followed Young Master Hustace into the laboratory, learning from an Alchemist about Equivalent Exchange. Initially, we were just curious. Later, the Young Master brought his own processed stones, and that’s when we began to research how to turn those fake stones into real ones.”

”’So... you... participated... in its creation?’” The mysterious man was surprisingly drawn into Igor’s enthusiastic tale!

”Of course! I remember saying that books mentioned Alchemists once using Lightning to exchange for Rain Crystal. We decided we could try it too. And then Young Master Hustace really brought... Lightning...”

”’Lightning... you’ve finally... gotten to... the point.’” The mysterious man stood up. His eyes seemed to blaze with fire, making Kadi and Igor distinctly uncomfortable.

”What did he mean about Lightning?” Kadi cautiously asked for clarification.

”’I... will tell you... a story. After listening... you... will understand... why... I... captured you.’”

Igor and Kadi both lowered their heads. A story at this sluggish pace? This is clearly torture! By the time he finishes his story, who knows what year or month it will be?

But as captives, Igor and Kadi had no choice but to brace themselves and listen.

After calming down, they both found that the story, told by the mysterious man in his slow cadence, was actually quite captivating. At least, with his deliberate, word-by-word delivery, they didn’t need to strain their minds to understand what he was saying!

Stars soon speckled the night sky, but Igor and Kadi saw none of them. They were lost in the mysterious man’s story, experiencing all its ebbs and flows.

The mysterious man’s story was neither too long nor too short. By the end, Igor was thoroughly shocked, while Kadi was merely filled with confusion.

”’Now... can you... understand... my feelings?’” By the time he finished the story, the fire had consumed half the woodpile. The mysterious man added more fuel to it.

Igor nodded repeatedly; he found there was nothing else he could do. The mysterious man’s story had instantly clarified why he’d been captured. At the same time, he felt there were many misunderstandings involved. For instance, he had only chanced upon the Lightning; he hadn’t stolen or robbed anything. The same was true for Hustace.

”’We... the Sol Brothers... are flesh... and blood,’” the mysterious man continued. ”’Now... my elder brother, Tobin... has disappeared. Should I... his younger brother, Stan... search for him?’”

”You should. But there must be many misunderstandings in this.”

”’You... must know... that hunting... Lightning... costs... life.’”

”But...”

”’I... had thought... Tobin... was already... drained dry. But... your... stone... let me sense... his presence...’”

Igor swallowed. The mysterious man’s grudge is entirely directed at Hustace’s father. Kadi and I are just caught in the crossfire! In fact, apart from that Lightning, what does any of this have to do with me, Igor? I’m not the governor’s son, nor do I work for the governor. Why am I the one caught up in this misfortune?

Still, thinking of Kadi, Igor felt a little more balanced. That guy is the truly unlucky one; he probably still hasn’t figured out the mysterious man’s story. He was captured entirely because of my incredibly contagious bad luck... no, it’s also possible he’s just a natural-born disaster magnet.

The fate of these two unlucky souls now rested in the hands of Stan, one of the Sol Brothers. Whether it would be a blessing or a curse, no one knew.