Chapter 57: Each One’s Solution #3

Chapter 57: Each One’s Solution #3

Scratch, scratch.

The Nitro Bird gnawed at the rope anxiously.

Its eyes darted nervously from side to side.

Two humans running towards it.

The rope tightening around its ankle.

It was a life-or-death crisis for the Nitro Bird.

And a cornered creature can unleash power unimaginable in normal circumstances.

The thick rope had already been gnawed down to a mere core.

“Got it, I ca-“

The moment Mitchell’s hand grabbed the Nitro Bird.

Pop-

As the rope snapped, the Nitro Bird shot forward like a bullet.

“Where do you think you’re going! Give up, you bird-bastard! I won’t kill you, I won’t kill you! Just give me two feathers – I’ll pluck them painlessly!”

Mitchell grabbed the Nitro Bird’s leg and was dragged along.

Even with the dead weight attached to its ankle, the Nitro Bird charged relentlessly towards freedom.

“Wh-what? Hey, wait – there’s a cliff ahead-“

Mitchell’s eyes widened.

Was it because her vision narrowed in her desperate desire to escape?

The Nitro Bird was running towards the cliff without looking back.

“Mitchell, let go!”

Wagner shouted.

Mitchell gritted her teeth and shook her head.

“No! I need to pluck the feathers!”

“If you don’t let go, you’ll die!”

“I’d rather die!”

Wagner sighed.

From his perspective, there wasn’t much difference in the level of thinking between the Nitro Bird and Mitchell.

Just before the Nitro Bird plunged off the cliff.

“Huh? Hey!”

Mitchell’s body suddenly floated into the air.

Wagner’s large, bear-like hand pulled Mitchell away and flung her backward.

“Ar-are you crazy? Bear!”

“If someone has to die, it’ll be me.”

Wagner grabbed the Nitro Bird’s ankle instead.

Before Mitchell could even stop him, the bird and the bear disappeared over the cliff.

“Ah, ah… Ah…”

Mitchell was speechless.

In her shock, tears wouldn’t even come.

“How could this happen… M-my apologies… It’s because I was stubborn… Bear, Bear…”

Thump.

Mitchell knelt on the ground, her eyes vacant.

The choices made in a moment often determine one’s life.

Once again, she had lost someone precious.

What were those damn feathers worth? What was so important about the exam?

Mitchell’s eyes turned red.

“Sob… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please come back…”

At the very moment Mitchell was sobbing.

Snap.

A large hand appeared from below the cliff.

“Hngh.”

Wagner pulled himself up onto the cliff, exhaling heavily.

“Wagner!”

Mitchell grabbed Wagner’s hand without even having time to wipe the tears from her face.

“That was really dangerous just now. I thought I was going to die. I saw the face of the god Frelum before my eyes.”

“You stupid idiot! I told you to let go! Why didn’t you let go!”

“I’m sorry.”

Wagner apologized, panting.

He held up his other hand, which he had been gripping tightly.

“But it was worth trying.”

In his hand were two feathers.

“You idiot!”

Mitchell kicked Wagner’s side, her eyes welling up with tears.

***

Three hours left until the exam ends.

The few remaining adventurers had naturally gathered in a clearing without prior arrangement.

Of course, they had not obtained the feathers.

While seasoned adventurers, like Mitchell and Wagner, had come up with the idea of luring the Nitro Birds and obtained feathers, not everyone’s situation had unfolded so smoothly.

“⋯Shall we go back.”

One adventurer muttered.

What had the past two weeks been for?

It wasn’t as if they had idly wasted their time, but the outcome was the same.

Familiar failure. As always.

A sense of futility washed over them.

“Ah, fuck it. What was I thinking, aiming for the adventurer’s guild? A caterpillar should eat pine needles.”

“Let’s go get some drinks and forget about it.”

Sharing the same misfortune, they licked each other’s wounds and soothed their pain.

If they gained anything in those two weeks, it was perhaps making new drinking buddies.

The adventurers looked back at the wilderness with regretful eyes and then stood up.

Just then.

“⋯What is that?”

One adventurer squinted his eyes.

Someone was approaching from the direction of the sunset.

Stomp, stomp.

One person with a small stature.

And around their neck, a leash was tied to the necks of two Nitro Birds.

“Huh? Huh!”

“Th-that’s a Nitro Bird!”

The adventurers stammered.

Many of them hadn’t even seen a Nitro Bird properly in two weeks.

The spark of hope, which they thought had already died out, reignited.

“If we can catch them now…!”

“No. They already have an owner.”

A pragmatic adventurer shook his head.

As he said, the Nitro Birds were leashed.

This meant they were not wild Nitro Birds.

“Who are you? How did you catch those?”

As one adventurer asked, the owner of the Nitro Birds pushed back her hood.

Flowing silver hair.

Long eyelashes.

White skin, not even tanned by the hot sun of the wilderness.

It was Estel.

She was already a famous adventurer in Garden.

She had driven out the corrupt cook, conquered the sewers, and even personally eliminated the notorious vigilante captain, Dawson.

And she was cute, too.

There were even secret fans of Estel among the adventurers.

“Estel…?”

“Somehow, I only needed two feathers, but I ended up catching two whole birds.”

Estel wore an arrogant expression, as if it were no big deal.

If anyone else had said that, they would have deserved a slap, but Estel somehow pulled it off.

This is why lookism is unfair.

If you are pretty and cute, most of your actions are forgiven.

“Wh-what are you going to do with those birds?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’ll have to return them.”

Estel said with a slight smile.

“I can’t just leave them in the wilderness. Poor things. I only need two feathers, so there’s no reason for me to keep the live birds with me.”

In that moment, the same thought flashed through the adventurers’ minds.

The Nitro Birds, which were almost impossible to catch, were now tied up alive before their eyes.

Perhaps it was possible.

‘I can get feathers.’

One adventurer bent his back into a perfect right angle.

“Hey! Please! If you give me just one feather, I’ll repay you handsomely later!”

Starting with him, other adventurers swarmed forward.

Without anyone leading, they bowed their heads before Estel and pleaded.

“Please give me one feather too!”

“Sister, I won’t forget this kindness!”

Estel gave a wry smile.

‘Who’s calling me sister.’

Adventurers with half-bald heads and white beards, shamelessly groveling.

But dignity doesn’t put food on the table.

They were desperate in their own way.

The weak also have their own ways of survival. Their own strategies to continue living, however ugly or dirty.

Knowing that, Estel didn’t mock them.

“This is troublesome.”

Estel said softly, stroking the Nitro Bird’s head.

“There are almost thirty people here, and if I give feathers to everyone, too many people will pass.”

“Th-that’s…”

The adventurers were inwardly aware of this fact.

If it were one or two people, it would be fine, but there were too many people to share feathers with.

“If I let this many people pass, the examiners will surely look unfavorably upon it. I might even be disqualified. I don’t want that.”

Estel tilted her chin, pausing.

She was just a young girl.

If she wanted to, all these adventurers could have rushed her and stolen the Nitro Birds.

But at that moment, no one dared to try.

Estel’s reputation, which they had heard and seen countless times.

And the feat of capturing two Nitro Birds alive, which they couldn’t even get close to.

They had no intention of attacking. Estel was already an absolute powerhouse they couldn’t challenge.

“I’ll pay money!”

One adventurer raised his hand suddenly.

A careful observer might have noticed the fleeting smile on Estel’s lips, but now was not the time to worry about such things, as everyone was desperate.

“Money?”

“Just in case, I brought four thousand gold. I don’t think four thousand gold for a feather is a bad price…”

“Indeed, it isn’t.”

Estel nodded. The adventurer who offered money smiled broadly and rummaged through his wallet.

“Four thousand gold? F-four thousand gold? Aish, you stingy bastard! I’ll pay six thousand. Don’t sell to that guy!”

A middle-aged adventurer stepped forward gallantly, beating his chest.

Estel hadn’t said much, but a competition had already begun.

An impromptu auction held in a clearing in the wilderness.

“I can’t help it. Then I’ll sell to only five people. This much should not be noticed by the examiners.”

“Thank you!”

“Estel, you are our benefactor!”

“Then you five decide amongst yourselves. I’ll sell to those people.”

Estel moved to the shade under a rock, spread out a blanket, and lay down.

Taking out a glass of iced juice from her Ring of Storage, Estel opened a newspaper and read it leisurely.

“Hey! You stingy old man. You’re bragging about six thousand? Go home. I’ll pay double that.”

“You too. See this armor set? Even sold at the lowest price, I can get twenty thousand gold for it.”

The adventurers, who had been consoling each other about their shared misfortune moments ago, were now engaged in a heated argument.

Peace is only possible when everyone is in the same situation.

The moment a lifeline of salvation appears.

And the moment they realize that only those chosen by that lifeline can cling to it, that awkward peace shatters instantly.

The final price for the feathers sold to five adventurers reached thirty-two thousand gold per person.