Due to deal restructure text to speech player is currently unavailable. Will find a solution soon.

Chapter 292

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Getting Closer to the Tower

It wasn’t even noon yet . The light of the sun shone throughout the whole clearing .

Stone Golems were rock creatures created by sorcery . Fueled by Spirit magic rocks or just regular magic rocks, they followed only the orders of their creator . They wouldn’t stop moving until the orders were cancelled or they ran out of fuel .

『・・・――――・・・』

『――・・・――・・・』

『――――・・・・・・』

The golem’s heads, modeled after a human’s, had eye sockets . Red lights flickered inside them . When completely still, the light remained dim .

Three Stone Golems entered the woods and stopped after a few meters, looking around . Their necks moved in an inhuman-like manner, spinning once in one direction and then the other . After a while, they stopped and returned to their original stations all at once .

Hikaru watched them from behind a tree . Just in case, he put quite a distance between them and set his Stealth on full throttle .

They might move like humans, but they’re not exactly like humans .

Hikaru continued watching the Stone Golems even after they returned to their original spots . Daytime was when his Stealth was least effective . He’d have to proceed extremely carefully . The Stone Golems, however, never moved despite how long he waited . They simply stood still like statues, covered in moss and grass .

Hikaru picked up a stone and threw it .

The golems didn’t react while the stone was in the air, but as soon as it landed, the closest golem turned its head to its direction, and that was it . It didn’t move another muscle . About four of them reacted to the stone .

A short while later, three birds flew over the clearing, about five meters high .

「Oh…」

The golems turned their heads upward all at once . They didn’t do a thing to the birds, however . They simply watched the birds as they flew by .

Hikaru found a flower with mana—a contaminated flower—in the woods, tied it to a stone and threw it towards the golems .

The result was remarkable . Before the stone even landed, three golems lunged at the flower and crushed it under their foot .

『They’re looking at us!』

「Oh, crap . 」

Golems were charging straight at them . Hikaru grabbed Drake and broke into a run .

『Hikaru! Was there even a point to that experiment?!』

「Of course . 」Hikaru smiled . 「We can make it to the tower . 」

『・・・――――・・・』

Once again, the golems returned to their original, seemingly-predetermined positions . The ones closest to the tower had its feet covered in grass, indicating that it hadn’t moved for a long time . Yet it wasn’t as though they had stopped working . Hikaru could still sense the immense mana within them .

Then again…

Hikaru pressed his hand on the tower .

They can’t do anything if they can’t sense me .

He could feel bumps on the surface of the white tower . It felt cold under his touch . Hikaru had made it to the tower simply by walking straight with his Stealth fully activated .

『Phew… I wondered what would happen there for a second . 』

「Well, nothing happened, right?」

『I know, but how? They don’t have eyes?』

「Yup . As you can see . 」

Stone Golems were extremely sensitive . If they had Soul Boards, they’d have points on Life and Mana Detection, and Hearing as well .

But that was all . Unlike humans, they didn’t have eyes nor noses . Hikaru’s Stealth was ineffective during the day because of sight, a sense that humans primarily used to observe their surroundings . The Stone Golems not having any eyes meant it was like they were in complete darkness, which allowed Hikaru to break through easily with Stealth .

It would’ve been troublesome if the golems had sonar abilities like bats, but them ignoring the stone completely while in the air was proof they didn’t . They only reacted to the sound once the stone landed .

The problem now is how do I get inside…

Ignoring the golems, Hikaru circled the tower .

「There’s no entrance!」

What the heck is this? They closed the all entrances when it was built? But why? I can still sense an incredible amount of mana from inside . It wasn’t from the dragon that flew away . Wait a minute… I see! It’s just like the golems .

Golems looked like humans, but they weren’t .

From a human’s point of view, this looks like a tower . But you can’t apply common sense to evil creatures . If this isn’t a tower…

「It’s a Root…」

According to Deena, Roots were places where powerful monsters sprang forth . Five hundred years ago, Lands Harvest was destroyed because of its proximity to a Root . Among the ones Hikaru had sensed before, this tower had the largest amount of mana so far .

「Hmm… A Root with much more power than the other ones?」

Hikaru felt something odd . But first, he had to figure out what to do with this place . It didn’t matter if this place was a Root or just an ordinary tower . Wakamaru’s theory of an accomplice leaking info about the optical camouflage would be debunked . Forget about that . First I need to investigate this place .

Hikaru took out a knife and started scraping off the surface of the white tower . He managed to do it with ease .

「This powder looks familiar…」

『What now, Hikaru? Aren’t we going inside? I can feel a nasty dragon in there . 』

「There’s still a dragon inside?」

『Nope . It’s not alive . 』

「So a dead dragon?」

『That’s not it either . Uhm, how do I put it…』

Drake started groaning, so Hikaru ignored him and tapped the wall with a clenched fist . It wasn’t that thick . Let’s destroy it quickly, then .

「It’s your time to shine . 」

Hikaru took out the scabbard made out of the Everdark Sacred Tree and unsheated his wakizashi .