Chapter 70
Similar incidents kept happening after that.
"Here, stay strong."
Thud.
Otherworlders who managed to break through the goblins' perimeter would hand me items, like they were giving alms.
"I'm just curious, but could you maybe show your tattoo? Oh... no?"
Thud thud.
Most of the items were things you could only get in the city center.
Starting from small things like bread, all the way to utensils like knives and forks.
"Did you really live in this forest the whole time? Then maybe you have a love... no, nevermind."
Click.
Some even took photos after giving me gifts.
Photos I didn't mind much anymore, having nearly been secretly photographed many times before.
But this time the feeling was slightly different.
It felt less like they were focusing on me, and more like they were trying to capture the moment of giving me items. Almost like they wanted to prove something...
Though I couldn't see the world they lived in, I could guess what was happening.
They were probably posting these on internet communities. Like giving me modern items had become some kind of trend.
At times like this, I slightly regretted the limitations of 'Player's Eye'.
Now that my identity as a Manifestor was revealed, there must be discussions happening in their communities.
Yet I couldn't see any of it.
"Ah, um... thanks."
Still, I accepted everything they gave me since they were offering.
I had no reason to refuse, and more assets are always better.
Though it did seem like I'd need to move sooner rather than later...
The whole time though, I had mixed feelings about it.
What was this exactly? It really felt like they were looking at me like some pitiful stray dog.
Their gazes were warm but somehow uncomfortable.
I mean, I'm doing pretty well for myself these days.
Though things have gotten a bit more intense lately.
Anyway, time kept passing like that.
During that time, I was moving almost non-stop every day.
Sure, the Otherworlders were bringing me gifts now.
But with my identity exposed, I had no idea when a raiding party might show up.
There's no way all the Otherworlders would keep quiet about me.
Surely one of them would talk, and that news would naturally reach the Empire's ears.
For all I knew, they could be organizing a raid right now.
So I had no time to hesitate.
That's why I've been extremely busy lately.
Not only organizing the items in storage, but also finding a new place to stay.
And that's not all - I'm even making a secret path deep in the cave to avoid getting surrounded.
'Man, what a hassle to deal with in the middle of winter...'
At least I'd stocked up enough food for this winter.
Otherwise even having three bodies wouldn't have been enough.
Though I was still pushing myself pretty hard either way.
After such busy days, I had to sleep with my guard up.
Sure, the forest nights were probably safe from intruders... but I couldn't let my guard down.
Obviously I wasn't sleeping well. The fatigue kept building up.
And so, six days had passed since Dantalian escaped.
That's when I finally got to see a welcome face.
"Yor!"
It was Chae-rin.
Finally a familiar face showed up, six days after the incident.
Given how big the incident was, she was a bit late showing up.
"Hah, ha... Sorry for coming so late. I was away on a mission..."
As if reading my doubts, she quickly explained.
I gave a small nod.
"No, it's fine. Nobody could have predicted this. Let's head to the cave first."
I was just glad she came at all.
I had more than a few things I wanted to ask about anyway.
So I led her towards the cave.
*
"The cave seems... kind of empty?"
That was the first thing Chae-rin said when she entered.
She was right - the cave had gotten a bit sparse. I'd been organizing all the random junk that had been lying around.
But that wasn't all. Yor gave her a casual response.
"Yeah, getting ready to leave at any time."
"Wait, leave? Where to?"
She was visibly startled. A hint of anxiety flickered in Chae-rin's purple eyes.
It was shocking news to her. The male NPC she'd gotten close to might be leaving.
She felt a slight worry that if he moved somewhere else, she might not be able to see him anymore.
Seeing this, Yor inwardly smiled and said something to reassure her.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere right away. Actually, I wanted to ask you about that."
He could understand how she felt. He didn't want to leave his familiar home either.
Though there were some bad memories, this place still held many memories for him.
Hearing that, she let out a relieved sigh and said:
"Phew, that's a relief. Do you know how shocked I was when I first heard the news?"
Chae-rin recalled when she first heard about it.
The news that a demon had entered where Yor lived, and suddenly his identity as a Manifestor was revealed.
Out on a distant guild request, she couldn't help but be alarmed.
For him, being a 'Manifestor' was something that should be hidden until death.
And apparently some guy had interrupted the stream and forced it to end.
She had been incredibly worried that something terrible might have happened.
At least she could get some updates through the internet.
Anyway, seeing him safe in person was finally putting her mind at ease.
As she was thinking this, Yor spoke up again.
"By the way, I have something to ask. What exactly are people saying among the Otherworlders? They keep suddenly giving me gifts."
"Ah, about that..."
Chae-rin explained the community sentiment about Yor.
Very fortunately, most users were showing favorable reactions towards him.
He'd built up familiarity through his stream appearances.
If anything, there was mostly sympathy for him being confined to the forest because of his blood.
The recent gift-giving trend was a result of that.
"Whew..."
Hearing this far, Yor let out a relieved sigh. This much was fine.
Though it felt odd being pitied, at least they were being friendly.
But he couldn't relax completely yet. Chae-rin had specifically used the word "most" after all.
And "most" implied there were also opposing opinions.
"Of course, there are some who aren't happy."
Chae-rin continued.
"Some say we should catch Manifestors since they're criminals anyway. Others worry their favorite NPCs might die if demons resurrect... And some users are even looking to see if there's a bounty on your head."
Chae-rin clicked her tongue at this point, muttering "Those rice-eating bugs..."
Yor just calmly nodded.
'As expected...'
These were reactions he'd anticipated.
With so many Otherworlders, it would have been strange if there was no dissent.
If anything, the situation was much better than he'd expected. At least most users were still friendly.
But even this wasn't Yor's main concern.
Honestly, he could still handle Otherworlders even if they came at him.
The problem was the Gaians who would have heard about him.
Yor carefully asked:
"How are the Knights' movements...?"
"Well, I'm not really sure about that yet..."
Chae-rin trailed off.
While she could check user discussions on communities, other information was harder to come by.
Plus, she'd come straight to Yor after finishing her request. Obviously she hadn't had time to gather information.
But she had heard some things.
"Though it seems we should be fine for a while. With the Dantalian incident and the Lemegeton situation... The knights seem super busy these days."
Her guess was they wouldn't have time to worry about this yet...
Hearing this, Yor thought to himself:
'So I've got a grace period...'
It was fortunate news in an unfortunate situation. He'd been prepared for them to rush in right away.
Though it was just a guess, it was still reassuring news.
Anyway, this covered most of what he'd been curious about.
Yor was about to return to organizing the storage.
'Ah.'
That's when it hit him. Suddenly he remembered one more thing to ask about.
Come to think of it, there was one more thing.
Yor briefly went into the storage and came back with something to show Chae-rin.
Seeing it, she wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh, what is that?"
It was Dantalian's severed ear.
The one Harold had been too busy fleeing to retrieve.
Squirm squirm.
Even separated from its body, the ear kept transforming repeatedly.
Though the ear shape itself didn't change.
The sight of flesh recombining into new forms was both grotesque and fascinating.
That's why he'd kept it.
It was a body part from a demon after all, and watching it was kind of interesting in its own way.
But that wasn't all. Based on past experience, there was a chance this was an item too.
"Could you appraise this for me real quick?"
So Yor handed the object to Chae-rin.
Though grimacing, she did as he asked.
The window she saw through 'Player's Eye' projected in front of Yor too.
[Severed Ear of the Other Side's Demon]
As he'd thought, it was indeed an item.
The Other Side's demon... seems that was Dantalian's title.
"Here you go."
Having confirmed this, Chae-rin quickly returned the object to Yor.
As if she couldn't stand touching it a moment longer. Seems she had no tolerance for squirming things.
Yor held it and fell into thought.
'So it is an item...'
Then what would its effect be?
He suddenly remembered using Seere's arm.
Severed demon body parts seemed to reflect some portion of that demon's abilities.
This would probably be no different. Whether it projected magic or something else though, he wasn't sure.
As he pondered this alone.
Shhhhk...
As part of the severed ear dissolved.
Suddenly a voice entered his ear.
No, rather than entering his ear, it felt like it was being hammered directly into his mind.
-Wow... isn't he grossed out by that thing?
It was Chae-rin's voice.
'Ah.'
Yor thought he had a pretty good idea what this item's ability was.