Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Chapter 42: Survivor and Murderer (1)

"Ummm... So... You guys are the ones who made this?"

Nod nod.

The group of scarabs nodded their heads simultaneously as I asked them. The item that they claimed to be their creation is the mithril knife I was using.

It started out with a simple transaction. The scarabs had brought a spark stone to me in order to trade it with their favourite jelly. However, when I started to skin the rabbit that Dingo hunted with the mithril knife, the scarabs came and watched. Then, the Scarab Leader drew a knife, an arrow, and a scarab figure on the ground. They claim to have made it.

"Aren't you a scarab? How do you make a knife like this?" I was aware they were not an ordinary scarab but a sentient one, but it was still hard to believe that these tiny bugs had the ability to make something like a mithril knife.

The Scarab Leader hit its head with its forelegs. Is it an action to express their frustration just like how gorillas pound their chest to express their emotion? Then, let's give them the benefit of doubt.

"Wait a minute." I took a coin from my cave and held it to them. "If you're truly it's maker, can you process this?"

When the Scarab Leader moved its forelegs to indicate something, the two scarabs behind him rushed towards the coin. They moved their snout, and then, to my surprise, they started to gnaw on the coin.

"Huh?" I let out a surprised voice as I saw an unthinkable thing happen in front of me. The two creatures were eating the coin before spitting it back and mending it into the shape of a sword. On top of that, the surface of the tiny sword was also sleek, about as shiny as a weapon crafted by modern technology. At this point, I have no other choice but to admit it.

"Awesome, really. But if you can process it as sleek as that, why is this knife so rough?" I asked while holding out my mithril knife towards them. The Scarab Leader then moved his forelegs and covered his eyes.

Why are you crying all of a sudden?

He then drew a slumping picture of scarabs and a certain familiar monster. The monster in the drawing—whose identity was a goblin—was hitting the slumping scarab.

"Goblins hit you?" The scarabs nodded his head eagerly at my question. In the next picture, scarabs were seen running away from the abuse of the goblins. From those two drawings alone, I roughly know what situation the scarab was in. They were being abused by the goblins. Therefore, they didn't make the right stuff, just haphazardly make anything the goblins want them to make. And the crude knives and mithril knives with rough surfaces were the result of that forced labor. It's impossible for goblins to recognize good products, so even if I was in their shoes, I would also make it roughly.

"You guys did a good job running away. So where are those goblins?" At my question, all the scarabs pointed north, in the direction of the goblin nest I had found. At that revelation, an idea crossed my mind. I already had a plan to destroy that nest someday, but since the scarabs also bear a grudge against them, I could turn the hunt into a profitable one.

I put the Scarab Leader on the palm of my hand and said. "I will take revenge for you. But of course, I won't do it for free, so let's make a deal. I want these kinds of ignition stones. Emeras is fine too."

The Scarab Leader thought for a moment, then drew ten lines on my palm. It seems like he was asking if it's okay for him to pay me 10 of those items.

"Deal." With that, a deal was established. From my point of view, the goblin nest in the north was just a threat that should be removed one day. But with the deal I just landed, I would get paid and also get a friendship point with the scarabs. All in all, it was a very profitable deal for me.