Maou no Hajimekata

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

[I have to say, I dont know you for all that long, but I never expected someone like you to actually bow down and beg Marina for help.]

When they returned to the Dungeon from their trip to the moon, Zana was finally able to ease up from all the accumulated pressure and let out a heavy, weary sigh.

[Then that makes two of us. Unfortunately, that was the only way out of our current situation.] [I wonder what is the Goddess planning to actually use you for.]

As far as Zana could tell, Aurs plea to Marina was genuine. However, the Goddess would never do something so stupid as helping a mortal out of the kindness of her heart. Her power mustve told her that Aur can be of use to her, but in what way? That, unfortunately, Zana does not know.

[I dont know, but whatever that is, she needs me alive for it, at the very least. If that was not the case she would have just cancelled my magic and leave us both to die since the moon is normally not an environment that humans can safely inhabit. If she so desired, one snap of her fingers would be enough for us to either freeze or burn to death.]

Knowing that now made Zana realize how dangerous the situation in which they were really was. And now they were basically taken hostage, forced to fulfill whatever whim the Goddess of the Moon had in mind if they wanted to secure her help in the fight against the God of Heaven. Displeased, Zana continued her musings.

[Her ability to see the best possible outcome for herself indeed powerful, but it has one giant flaw: It can show you the actions that will lead you to the best possible outcome, but it wont show you why those specific actions have to be taken. She might have decided not to kill us, but only because her ability told her so. But that can change at any moment, depending on the actions well take.] [This power is more problematic than I initially thought.] [Well its a policy of hers to ensure that you wont go against her. As long as we do exactly what she asked us to do we should be fine.] [Its better than nothing I guess.] Aur said as Zana pressed her fingers against her temples.

[The biggest problem will be the trail she gave us. Think you can do something about it with your ability?] [As if it was ever going to be that simple!]

Zana shouted at Aur for proposing something so preposterous. Zanas ability is Marinas ability. If they tried to get through the Goddesss trial by using her own power to do so, she would have most probably exercise the cruelest of punishments upon them.

[Well in that case well just have to make di without it.] [By the way, do you even know how to accomplish what she requested you to do and what the items she requested are?] [No idea.]

The trial that Marina imposed upon Aur required him to collect five treasures for her.

[So you just agreed to do it without thinking it through?! What she wants you to get here are Yamatos sacred treasures that appear in the legends of yore! Even I know about them!] [Well, if they are so famous, then does that mean that getting them wont be a problem?]

Instead of replying, Zana just sighed and gave Aur a [Are you fucking serious?] kind of look.

[It wont be easy. In fact, it will be the exact opposite of easy. Getting t them will be almost impossible exactly because these items are famous. [Buddhas Stone Bowl], a personal belonging of a foreign saint who traveled to Yamato, said to be shining with his Gods wisdom. The [Fruits of the Branch of Perpetual Youth], bringing longevity to the one who tastes them. The [Fur of the Fire Rat], said to withstand even the harshest of flames. As for the last two, [Dragon Neck Ball] and the [Swallows Cowry], I dont even know where we should start looking for them.

According to the legend, those were all the items sought by a certain princess who travelled to the moon. There is no way for Marina to actually be the said princess, but maybe shes related to her in some way?

[I wonder if we could still weasel our way out of it while getting what we want?] [Not possible. I think I dont need to tell you what will happen to you if you flat out refuse her now, do I?] [I thought so. Then its a good thing that such an action will not be necessary.]

As far as Aur could tell, Marina was not like the heroine form the legend of a princess who was asked by a noble to marry him but told him she would only do so after he fulfills a set of unreasonable requests. Of course, the possibility was still out there, but for now he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

[How can you be so sure of that? Or rather, why are you so confident?] [Isnt it obvious?]

Aur replied to Zana as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

[Because this Dungeon has everything we need.]

[That is everything I could think of for the time being.]

About one month after Aur ordered his men to collect all the items Marina requested.

[Unfortunately I was unable to find any [Fire Rats], but I hope this little fella here will be as good of a replacement as you need it, Aur.]

They were currently at a ranch that was in charge of supporting the Dungeons kitchens. Mio, a simple farm girl known among the ranks of Aurs men as the Queen of Demonic Beasts offered him a small fire lizard that was about one foot long. But it wasnt just your average fire lizard, it was a Salamander, wrapped in the ever-burning flame.

[It should be fine, thank you, but what I really need is its skin. What are we going to do about it?]

When the salamander dies and its skin is peeled, its flame disappears. However, since it was originally wrapped in flames, it does not burn even if it is thrown into the fire, therefore meeting the conditions of Marinas request, because Mio offered Aur a living one. What was strange though, was the fact that Mio was able to hold the Salamander in her hands without getting burned. Just how was she able to do this?

[If this is what you want, Aur, then neither me nor the little one here will be sad to part ways, since it already agreed to it when I asked him about it. Its better to hand him over than to keep him alive so he would suffer after skinning after all.]

Mio said with a smile. Well, if both she and the salamander itself were fine with it then there was nothing else left to be said.

[Thank you Mio, I appreciate that. All right, whats next?] [What about that [Dragon Neck Ball] thing?] [There, that should do the trick, right?]

Aur gazes at the thing which Yunis handed to him. It was a long, white object which fits perfectly into the palm of his hand. It looks somewhat like a sword but is also rough to the touch.

[Is this a polished dragon bone?] [You bet it is! I should have known youll recognize it right away!]

It was immediately apparent from its feel and weight that it was a bone and not a mineral of any kind. For a mere bone, it also contained a surprisingly large amount of magical power stored inside of it. The only creature to have such a bone would have to be the genuine dragon, the one with mighty wings and four limbs, not any of its subspecies.

[Its not Metus bone.] [Well yeah, I couldnt just go and take one of his bones because that would be rude as heck, so I just found myself a dragon and beat the shit out of him to get it. Getting to Dingrad was quite a pain in the butt, but I managed to find some suitable one there. Now that I think of it, it was my first time fighting and defeating a real dragon. It was kinda tough, but also lots of fun!] [Dingrad?! So this is Defikitos bone?!] [Yup. What of it?]

Yunis asks Aur an innocent question. On the continent where Aur was born was a land of Dingrad, a kingdom infamous for the fact that the Fire Dragon Defikito lived there. It was a demonic dragon which was said to be on par with Metus when it came to raw strength. Although he was considerably younger than him he was far more feared because of his whimsical nature and unpredictable attacks once every few decades, unlike Metus, who was a rather cautious one, avoiding any contact with humans unless it was absolutely necessary.

[You went there, and defeated him all by yourself?] [Of course. It was a bit tough at first, but then I used the power of the hero and made a short work off him.]

Yunis looked to be very proud of herself, but then her expression got all cloudy.

[But I couldnt find any kind of ball in his neck, so I tried to polish his bones into a spherical shape, but it didnt go very well.] [Tough luck.]

As far as Oulu knows, the skeletal structure of a true dragon is roughly the same as that of any other species. And the fact that there is no ball around the neck was confirmed when he examined Metus dead body.

[No matter the shape, dragons body is a valuable source of both ingredients and magical power, so its useful no matter what you do with it, so I think we can cross this one off the list as well. Next is] [Please have a look at this.] Gnome, the girl who runs the Merchants Guild in Aur City gave Aur the beautifully glittering golden branches. They were adorned with emerald-green leaves, and the fruits hanging from them looked like a giant pearl beads.

[You crafted this?] [Of course not, dont be silly. I asked the most skilled Doverg jewelry maker I know to make this for me. Now, that will be twenty-five thousand gold coins plus tax please.]

Aurs brow twitched for a few times when he heard the price, but Gnome only responded with her best professional business smile.

[Was that part also in the legend?] [The legend stated that the [Fruits of the Branch of Perpetual Youth] were a real thing, not a decoration. But if someone has already made them for us, it would be both rude and unprofessional not to pay them for their work.]

Tena, whos knowledgeable about Yamatos traditions answered mercilessly.

[We have already paid the craftsman, so whats left is only my provision for acting as a middleman in that transaction. I will gladly accept the money, but if you dont have that much on you right now]

Gnome got closer to Aur and whispered into his ear.

[.. You can pay me with your body as well.]

Her tone suggested that she was joking, but her body language was telling him that it was not a joke at all.

[Lilu, the dough.] [Aww, thats quite a shame.]

Lilu hands the money to Gnome, who licks her lips seductively when she sees the bulging coin purse, after which they move on to the next item on the list.

[This is [Buddhas Stone Bowl], right?] [Yes, thats right.]

The one who handed white, deep plate to Aur. It is a simple ceramic dish with no decorations whatsoever, but for some reason, it was emitting light. Even so, Aur could feel barely any magical power form it no, if someone like Aur, a master magician was unable to sense anything from it, it would be better to say that it had no magical power at all. It was quite strange for something like that to be in Aurs Dungeon, which was practically overflowing with magical power. Also

[I feel like Ive seen it somewhere before] [Ah! Hey, thats my bowl!]

Melizand screamed unexpectedly when she saw what Aur was holding in his hands. Ah, now he remembered, this was the bowl Melizand used to eat her meals in!

[I see. So this [Buddha] guy was a kind of a saint as well, huh?]

Thinking about it, it really is kind of comical that a saint would use another saints belonging as a simple tableware. But there was also something strangely fitting about it. So th reason why it was giving off light must have been because it absorbed the magical power which was leaking out of Melizand. And since magical power and the force cancel each other out, then it was obvious that it wont have any magical power in it at all.

[Wait, what are you going to use it for?!]

Everyone could tell that she wanted to take the item back from Aur. After all, she was using it for so long that it soaked so much of her power that it could literally be called a part of Melizand now, or her extension, something very personal on a both spiritual and emotional level.

[What do you mean, what? I thought I have already told you that I am going to offer it up as an offering to Marina, the Goddess of the Moon.] [Wha.?! Oh hell no! Marie, help me stop him!]

Although Melizand is a former saint who held immense powers, right now she is just an ordinary girl who lacked physical strength, so when she started to punch Aur with her tiny fists, Mari just grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.

[Okaaaaaay. Next!] [Here, master, the [Swallows Cowry].]

Spina appeared before her master with faithful eyes and a birdcage covered with a cloth in tow.

[Show it to me then.]

For some reason Aur had a really bad feeling about this, but he couldnt explain to himself why exactly.

[As you wish.]

Spina said and removed the cloth form the cage.

The creature inside it was really hard to describe.

[What what is this?] [Its a swallow, master.]

Like hell it is!

[] [Its a swallow, master.]

Spina repeats her sentence. However, it does not look like a typical swallow at all. The head and torso are that of the said bird, but its whole body is covered with fish-like scales and shells and its legs look like enormous snails.

[Is that a magical life form?] [Yes, indeed, master. It is a synthetic life form that combines the beings of swallow, snail and salmon, respectively.]

The thing which Marina wanted were the scales of a swallow, but since no swallow can naturally produce scales on its body, Spina thought that creating a creature that combines those two features will be a good idea.

[This is a hybrid of a swallow and a shellfish. As it grows up, its properties as the shellfish fill gradually die out while that of a sparrow will grow stronger]

Spina puts the creature on the floor and takes out a small wooden box with water in it.

[And this will be the end result.]

Inside, there was a shellfish with a bird beak that was not fully developed yet.

[And what about its ability to reproduce? Have you fixed it] [Fixed it?]

Spina asked Aur while tilting her head to the side.

Synthetic beasts that combine two or more organisms basically are infertile, leaving only one generation of their kind. Even if they had the ability to reproduce, their offspring cannot breed or do not grow well in the first place. Very rarely, there specimen that has the normal ability to bear offspring is born through genetical engineering. That is the phenomenon known as [fixing].] The most famous example of it is the demon beast Chimera, a monster with a goats body, a lions head, and a snakes tail. It is said to be a synthetic beast that was created by a magician hundreds of years ago, but nowadays it has become an entire species that could be bred with relative ease. Therefore, the name Chimera has been adopted as its collective name.

However, such existence was a product of the long history of sorcery and research, and they were mostly a coincidence product, and even Aur had never heard of the technique to create them intentionally.

[If thats what it is then you have nothing to worry about, master. This one here is the fourth generation.]

Spina said such a thing, oblivious to Aurs reaction to her achievement.

As a master magician, Aur was also skilled at creating magical creatures, but when faced with his disciple who had clearly surpassed him, Aur could only stare at her in admiration.