Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End
chapter-537-2-30041322

…

The remainder of Roel’s day was jarringly silent after Carter’s departure. As if he had depleted his optimism for the act he had put before his father, his expression was now utterly impassive. Unbeknownst to him, the change in his mood permeated the manor, such that even the maids were more careful in carrying out their duties.

In the study room, Roel sat before the office table with his head propped atop his hand. He seemed to be in deep thought. As usual, Anna stood by the corner of the room, waiting for Roel’s instructions.

Alicia entered the room with light footsteps, only to fall into a dilemma upon seeing Roel’s state. She didn’t know whether she should disturb him or not.

When the fiefdom first started developing, Roel often sat alone in the study room to hatch his plans. During such times, Alicia and Anna had refrained from disturbing him. He would usually figure out something good and put it into practice, and the fiefdom’s growth would hasten.

The only other times Roel acted in such a way were when he encountered difficulties. He would figure out a feasible solution most of the time, but on occasions he didn’t, he would temporarily put them aside with a sigh.

The fact that Roel hadn’t sighed yet meant that he was still in the midst of processing the problem at hand, which was why Alicia was hesitant to make a move.

Roel was indeed in deep thought.

While Carter’s departure had relieved him of a burden, there were still many problems weighing down his heart, with the heaviest one being none other than the lack of intelligence.

So far, he still hadn’t managed to gather any information about his situation or his enemies. Heck, he wasn’t even sure that the ones coming after him were the Fallens. This was an uneasy situation for him to be in, especially since it was his first time preparing for a battle without any intelligence whatsoever.

If his enemy was the Fallens, it was likely that they would comprise transcendents who were either non-human or possessed special means. In such a situation, a lack of intelligence could prove to be fatal, since he was unfamiliar with the capabilities of ancient races and relics.

There was only so much he could do to prepare for the unknown.

He did consider mobilizing his army to comb the vicinity, but he decided against it, figuring that it was likely to be a waste of effort. After much hesitation, he finally turned to the System.

Had he any other choices, he wouldn’t have turned to the System at a time like this—there was no ongoing promotion. While the System did offer quality goods, its prices were frighteningly exorbitant when there was no ongoing promotion.

What Roel needed this time around was some kind of detection or prediction tool.

These non-combat items were sold in the Attraction Points Exchange Shop, which suffered from hyperinflated prices that ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. They were probably expensive because Attraction Points were much easier to earn than gold coins and were thus less valuable.

The incident with Charlotte’s curse a while back had earned him quite a bit of Attraction Points, but even when putting aside such major events, he could easily earn a fair amount from making public appearances in Ascart City.

The only problem was whether he would dare to do that now.

Given the current circumstances, Roel wasn’t in a good position to parade himself in public, meaning that his income of Attraction Points had been severed. He would have to make full use of whatever Attraction Points he had at the moment to survive this crisis.

Roel heaved a deep sigh before he began browsing through the items in the Attraction Points Exchange Shop. This was probably the first time in years he was earnestly looking through the items that were not discounted. Perhaps because the System had sensed his needs, he found quite a few items that appeared to be useful for his circumstances.

But when he began reading the description of the items in detail, his expression began to turn bizarre.

【Spiritsense Hatchling An artificial bird lifeform made out of avian carcasses sacrificed to the gods in the ancient era. It has exceptionally high sensitivity toward divine auras and peculiar mana pulsations. Be sure to take good care of it, for it spoils easily. Price: 50,000 Attraction Points】

“…”

Roel’s cheeks twitched. He was conflicted as to whether he should purchase this item.

Well-versed in history, Roel had heard about this ‘Spiritsense Hatchling’. It was a byproduct created from the remains of a divine tribute, and it could be somewhat described as a god’s guard.

It would be a gross understatement to say that the relationships among ancient gods were rife with conflict. Grudges were aplenty amongst them, and some even viewed each other as sworn enemies. It was rare for gods to wage war against each other due to the implications, but the same couldn’t be said about their worshipers.

Cults in hostile relationships often engaged in sabotage and skirmishes, sometimes even launching all-out wars. It wasn’t uncommon for cults to have their churches or temples desecrated, and that was where the Spiritsense Hatchling came in.

The avian carcasses used for Spiritsense Hatchlings were previously tribute to a god, and the process suffused them with the aura of the worshiped god. This granted Spiritsense Hatchlings high sensitivity toward divine auras and peculiar mana pulsations, which they would warn their owners about with a loud cry. That was also where the term ‘Spiritsense’ came from.

As for ‘Hatchling’… it could be that it was easier to craft magic tools out of newborn birds, or maybe ancient gods simply preferred hatchlings.

Roel decided that it was unwise to probe too deeply into the matter. What he was more concerned with at the moment was the price.

50,000 Attraction Points… Isn’t this daylight robbery?

It might be worth spending 50,000 Attraction Points to purchase the Spiritsense Hatchling’s crafting method, which had been lost after the era of the gods, but using the same sum of money to buy a single Spiritsense Hatchling was simply ridiculous. It was not as if Roel was some kind of talented master craftsman who could reverse-engineer the creation process.

While Spiritsense Hatchlings boasted excellent detection abilities, they were easy targets to strike down due to how visible and vulnerable they were. They were viewed as a consumable back in the ancient era, released in a flock of hundreds to serve as sonar.

But all Roel would be getting here was a single Spiritsense Hatchling. He would have to use the hatchling with great care lest it spoil.

Spending such a huge sum on a consumable item was as good as plunging a knife into Roel’s thrifty heart, but after much contemplation, he finally heaved a sigh.

While 50,000 Attraction Points was an exorbitant sum, the Spiritsense Hatchling could just be the critical difference maker for Roel, who was severely lacking in enemy intelligence. From such a perspective, he definitely had to purchase the Spiritsense Hatchling.

Thus, Roel ignored his aching heart and tapped the ‘Purchase’ option.

Meanwhile, darkness had started devouring the evening sun, cloaking the world in shadows.