Reed turned his head and was slightly disappointed.
Unlike Garum who was wearing clothes, Larksper was still shirtless, carrying a basket on his back like a barbarian warrior.
The man called the great chieftain looked like a single farmer.
"Did you come in a hurry?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Shake off the branches and leaves from your hair and body."
"Oh."
Larksper brushed his hair and body with his hands.
Feeling awkward, he scratched the back of his head.
"As the great chieftain, you should be more careful now. What will you do if you're injured while wandering around?"
"Larksper feels the responsibility, too. That's why I had to go on one last adventure."
"What adventure?"
Larksper put down the basket he had been carrying on his back and showed what was inside.
What he showed was...
"Larksper!"
Rosaria exclaimed.
It was not the orc Larksper, but a flower named Larksper.
It was a large and elongated flower that only the cliff swallows could pollinate.
The size of the hole alone was as big as an adult's fist, and when all the petals were fully spread out, it was a huge flower, not unlike a sunflower.
Rosaria approached Larksper.
"I wanted to show you!"
"Larksper has only been receiving. I wanted to show this to you first."
Their first meeting.
A little girl approached him without hesitation, showing him a picture of the flower.
Although he said he would show it to her, Larksper wanted to show her the flower in person.
So, he climbed the Blade Peak Mountain.
Despite the steep slopes and gusty winds, he did not stop and picked the flower that was said to bloom at the highest point.
"What do you think?"
"It's really beautiful. Even more than when I saw it in the book!"
Rosaria smiled and looked up at Larksper.
"This is a gift from Larksper. You can take it."
"Thank you!"
A pure smile without the barrier of race.
Larksper also smiled and replied to her.
"Larksper is also grateful to the teacher."
A heartwarming story unfolded.
As Rosaria laughed with the flower in her hand, Reed asked him.
"Now that you've defeated the golem, you've become the successor of the temple."
"That's right."
"Is there anything special about that succession?"
"I don't know. When I defeated it, all I felt was that it ended."
"No feeling of your body becoming lighter than before?"
"That's right."
"Hmm... We may not know it yet, but there must be something."
Larksper, who had caught it himself, didn't feel it, but Reed was persistent.
The reason he said this was because the "Talent Appraisal" that hadn't worked on Larksper so far had begun to show its effect.
Name: Larksper
Job: Orc Great Chieftain
Age: 18 years old
Disposition: Neutral·Good
Health: 1,840/1,840
Stamina: 1,270/1,270
Mana: 0/0
[Traits]
"Orc", "Successor of the Temple", "Survival Instinct", "Barbarian Warrior"
[Attributes]
"Steel Lv. 4""Agility Lv. 4""Power Lv. 5""Axe Technique Lv. 5""Spear Technique Lv. 3""Sword Technique Lv. 3""Digestion Lv. 3""Commander Lv. 2""Production Lv. 2"
The clearly engraved "Successor of the Temple" trait.
Although he couldn't see its content, Reed was sure there was something special about it.
'I don't know what it is, but I hope it's a helpful ability.'
Larksper's desired tribal unification was complete.
Now it's time to maintain it.
Handling 10,000 orcs might be even more difficult than unification.
He wished it to be an ability that would help in such times.
***
Reed sat in his office, staring intently at a single word.
The ancient double-edged axe.
A large axe whose name was not even known.
It was the item that Rosaria had picked and made Dolores the great chieftain.
The axe didn't rust over time and maintained its sturdiness, making it an attractive item for warriors.
However, it was clear that this item was more appealing to mages.
It was because of the runes.
'There are a total of eight runes embedded in the axe.'
Larksper used only two of the eight characters.
'It's not just that he can only use those two.'
If he knew how to use one rune, he would have used the other six as well.
It didn't seem like they left that penalty just because it was the first disaster they encountered in the game.
The conclusion drawn from the deduction was one.
"The axe was broken."
When they forcibly pulled out the axe that only qualified individuals could pull out, six of the remaining runes were lost.
So it was remade with only the two remaining runes.
"Larksper can understand those runes."
That's why he used the two runes that were available.
"It's not as difficult as I thought."
Ignoring Larksper was secretly regretful, but that was the harsh reality.
The problem was finding the origin of the easy problem.
No wizard in the tower knew about the runes, and neither did Phoebe.
"It's not like I can just give it to Dolores..."
At least he hoped to give it to Dolores after he finished interpreting the runes.
While he was pondering, someone called Reed.
It was the duty worker guarding the gate.
"Lord of the Black Sky Tower has arrived."
"Lord of the Black Sky Tower?"
The Black Sky Tower Master, Freesia.
A woman who had lived for more than 130 years but had the appearance of a child.
With an explosive temperament that would kick anyone she didn't like, she was one of the people Reed was most concerned about.
"Tell her I'll come down."
"Yes!"
After conveying the message, Reed immediately went down to the reception room.
However, there was no one in the reception room.
"Is there no one in the reception room?"
"What? What do you mean... She's inside the reception room right now."
"Are you saying my eyes are not good enough to see through leather?"
"No, no... that's not it!"
There was no reason for the staff of the Silence Tower to lie.
Reed glanced down at his feet.
Something black was crawling around, catching Reed's eye.
It didn't run away, but it was circling around Reed.
It seemed to be teasing him.
Frowning, Reed stepped on the black thing.
Squish-!
With a disgusting bursting sound, black smoke dispersed into the air from under his foot.
"Is it gone now?"
"Yes! Uh, where did she go?"
Reed sighed.
He had a rough idea of where she might have gone, so he didn't ask the staff, and headed somewhere.
It was the Tower Master's research building.
Reed quickly found her without playing hide and seek.
"Oh my, Reed. Why are you so late?"
The storage room.
A place where there should be no people, only items. A little girl was sitting on a desk.
Black hair, red eyes, and a sly smile.
She was giggling and laughing, being cheeky enough to evade the wizards and trespass without permission.
