## Chapter 389 – Color From Space
After moving for quite some time, we managed to find a place with few people around.
Wienia, pulling out a map, said that since meteorites would have scattered around this area anyway, searching anywhere would have a similar probability of success.
Even if they fell in a concentrated area, meteors explode in the air and scatter in all directions. The scale is almost dozens of kilometers.
This entire area is potentially a meteorite deposit.
“Shall we start searching, then?”
Anyway, this is where it starts.
The key to meteorite hunting is to look for traces of burnt trees, hollowed-out ground, or black stones.
The fact that a meteorite fell in this area is a given, so there’s a high possibility that small fragments of meteorites are scattered around.
Considering they fall from the sky, we should think in terms of a range of dozens of kilometers.
Seeing how many people are gathered over there, a lot of such meteorites must have been found. Of course, not all meteorites are expensive, but isn’t that how jackpots usually work?
It hasn’t rained recently, and the ground itself is hard, so if a meteorite fell somewhere, it would be noticeable. The only problem is the abundance of bushes, but I have no doubt that luck will come our way.
“Iron meteorites aren’t made of pure rare metals. They usually contain various minerals,” Wienia said, rummaging through her backpack.
“Only after going through a refining process to remove all the impurities can they be called iron meteorites.”
“In that case?”
“We’ll use this magnet to detect them.”
Wienia took out a magnetic plate from her backpack and handed it to me.
Indeed. If we attach something like a stick to this and make a makeshift meteorite detector like a mine detector, we could reduce the effort of bending over.
If it contains iron, it will react to the magnet.
“Kuh, as expected of a mage.”
“No, anyone should be able to think of this, not just a mage, okay?”
“I didn’t think of it.”
“Oh, you silly darkie. Come here. Let me hug you.”
“Teeehee.”
As I buried my face in Wienia’s chest and brought the magnetic plate to my chest armor, I could feel it trying to stick. But it wasn’t strong enough, and it slid down.
Is it about the level of a refrigerator magnet?
“It might not be that effective, but it’s better than pulling out all the bushes. Now, darkie, quickly go get a branch or something and make it easier for us.”
“Alright.”
I immediately cut off a long branch and tied the magnetic plate to it with string. After a little effort, I was able to make it look decent.
“This is almost a perfect meteorite detector.”
I tried it out on the soil and bushes, and I was able to get some iron powder. Of course, it was just trash. I shook it off immediately.
“Well, it seems okay. Let’s go.”
And so, we moved while scanning the ground.
As I looked at the ground, Cloudie and Wienia scanned the surroundings. If they found any hollowed-out areas, they would run over to check.
Of course, there were no gains.
Only scrap iron, junk metal, and a ton of iron powder stuck to it. Maybe this place had already been swept clean by another group.
“Katt, over there.”
“Hmm? Meteorite?”
“No. People.”
“Ugh, these damn guys.”
As we moved, we saw a group of people approaching us from over there. They were wearing irregular clothes and were all armed.
A group of adventurers?
They were also searching the area like other groups, but as soon as they found us, they stopped and became wary.
Before long, an older man who seemed to be their representative looked around and approached us.
Don’t tell me they’re going to claim this spot again.
I decided to ask first.
“Who are you?”
“We’re adventurers from out of town.”
They were people in the same situation as us. Well, I don’t think even these guys would claim the spot, unlike the others.
“Ah, did all of you come from the same place?”
“Not all of us. Not all of us, but most of us met after coming here. We came all the way to find meteorites, but they were so cold, talking about zones and whatnot. We had no choice but to band together with friends in similar situations.”
“Hehehe, is that so? We were just like that too. We’re also adventurers.”
“It’s obvious just by looking at you.”
It seemed that adventurers who had flowed in from out of town had joined forces because all sorts of groups were claiming zones.
Well, with squads searching instead of just three or four people, the only thing some small-time adventurers from out of town could do was get lost as they were told. It’s only natural to join forces.
Certainly, with this kind of scale, they would be able to secure a spot somewhere. To make a loud voice, you have to gather heads.
Because even if you secure a spot, it will be taken away if you’re weak.
He looked us up and down and then made a suggestion.
“It’s a good thing. Why don’t you join us? Right now, we have to gather together to protect the meteorites. At this rate, other guys will take over the entire area. Shouldn’t we join forces before that happens?”
I understand the intention, but I have no intention of joining forces.
“Thank you for the offer, but if we find a meteorite, it won’t be much fun if we divide it by the number of people. We’ll do it on our own.”
Having a large number of people means that you have to divide the profits accordingly. Of course, the difficulty of the search will be greatly reduced, but still.
Even so, I can’t share profits with these guys who I don’t know where they crawled out from.
Three of us are enough.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Well then, let’s each do our own thing. Good luck finding meteorites.”
“Hmph. That’s a shame.”
Rarely, it seemed like things were going to be resolved with words.
He seemed to have a good personality for an adventurer.
“Then this is our zone, so please go somewhere else.”
As soon as I thought that, he changed his expression and said.
“Excuse me?”
“This is our zone. As I explained earlier, we’re being kicked around here and there. I’d appreciate it if you could go somewhere else. This is the only spot we could find. Can you understand?”
I think this bastard is a polite son of a bitch.
He speaks kindly, but he’s just telling us to get lost if we’re not going to join their side.
What? Resolve with words?
How dare he betray my expectations?
I expected it on my own, and I was betrayed on my own. That gave me extreme anger.
Still, if we’re going to argue about spots, I have something to say too.
“Is there any need to get lost? Looking at it roughly, you guys came from over there. This place is fine, right? If you think about it, you guys came to our spot.”
Since there was no one here, we were searching for meteorites after securing a spot. Since they came from over there, they invaded our zone.
I’m a little pissed off, but since he was polite to some extent, I decided to be polite one last time.
Yeah, I can understand the zone culture.
We just secured a spot, so.
Still, if you’re going to demand a spot, at least be a civilized citizen who protects their own spot and then talks. This is our spot. Since you guys came here, you’re the ones who have to leave.
Of course, as always, conversation didn’t work.
“No. We were coming this way from the beginning, so this is our spot. Leave now. If words don’t work…”
ㅡSwish.
He grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out halfway, then smiled slyly and looked behind him. It was a clearly hostile act.
Even the adventurers who met his gaze behind him made ferocious expressions, chuckled, and glared at us while fiddling with their weapons.
He’s saying that if words don’t work, they’ll just bury us.
…These small-time dwarf bastards.
Look at them acting up just because they gathered some numbers.
“If they don’t work? What are you going to do, mister?”
“What?”
Maybe politeness is just an illusion.
I strode towards him, got close to his face, and said.
“You son of a bitch, you should watch your mouth. Don’t you know that your parents’ lives can be decided by a single word? If they don’t work? What are you going to do if they don’t work? Fight?”
“N, no. It’s not that…”
“Hey. Why did you pull out your sword?”
As expected, he noticeably shrank back when I threw away politeness and acted tough. Originally, people’s nature is to look down on you if you treat them well.
Especially the adventurer bastards, that tendency is even more serious.
“If you’re going to threaten me, you son of a bitch, get stronger first, you bastard. I was accepting you because it seemed like we could talk, but suddenly you’re acting like a dick. Hey, what are you going to do? I’m asking you what you’re going to do if words don’t work, right now.”
“T, that’s… well, that’s…”
He looked at the adventurers behind him as if trying to ask for help. Of course, they were also shrinking back, seeing that the situation was turning bad.
He’s sending gestures asking for help, but there’s no way there would be loyalty among guys who gathered on the spot.
“Get lost.”
“…Yes.”
In the end, he gave in and turned around to run away at my words.
But if I just let him go, my reputation as the Heavenly Demon would be buried in the mud.
“Where are you going?”
“Yes? You just told me to get lost…”
“Before you go, you have to give me everything you have, what are you talking about? You bastard, that’s common sense, common sense. Take out your wallet, quickly.”
“…”
He was seriously flustered at my words and looked around hesitantly.
“…Y, you son of a bitch! Everyone! This guy!”
Then, he suddenly started shouting.
Of course.
I always try to resolve things nicely, but no one cooperates.
“Asura Blood Demonic Fist!”
ㅡPow!
In the end, the only things I could ask for cooperation from were my fists and sword.
“Gek!”
He was hit in the face with the Asura Blood Demonic Fist and fell backward, then did a backflip like a joke. I believe this has cured his conscience.
Damn it, I came to find meteorites, but I’m just beating people up.
Violence was my destiny after all.
Would the Heavenly Demon of the Central Plains fear conflict?
“O, oh?”
“Hey, that’s…”
“I don’t think I can beat him…”
Then, the adventurers started whispering among themselves. If they showed aggression, I would kill them immediately, but if they didn’t intend to, I could just let it go.
It was this bastard who pulled out his sword, not those guys.
“Hey, adventurers! Are you going to challenge me! I won’t stop you!”
When I pulled out my sword and declared, the adventurers answered urgently.
“N, no, no! There’s no way! Do whatever you want, big brother!”
“We have nothing to do with that bastard!”
“We didn’t like seeing that bastard acting like a boss anyway!”
As expected, in this damn world, you have to show your strength once for conversation to work. The adventurers, who had suddenly become polite, elected a new representative and left.
The only ones left on the scene were Kim Katt and his wives, Quetes, and one miserable adventurer who was collapsed and coughing.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Take out your wallet, you bastard. If you don’t want to die.”
“Kuh!”
“No. I’ll search you directly.”
He, who had been knocked out with one Asura Blood Demonic Fist, groaned and twisted his body. I used my strength to spread his arms and legs and searched his pockets and chest.
“So why the hell do you have to pick a fight like that when we could have resolved it nicely? Honestly, if you hadn’t pulled out your sword, we could have resolved it with words.”
“Kuh… Cough! T, there!”
“What, you bastard?”
He tried to desperately stop my hand. I thought he had hidden his wallet here, so I gave him an Asura Blood Demonic Flick, and he made a bizarre sound, “Gehk?!” and fainted.
What a weak bastard.
I cut his clothes with a knife and conducted a search. A wallet came out, and some dried food scraps and miscellaneous trash came out.
“This is a beggar.”
As I was about to search his underwear for the last timeㅡ
“ㅡHmm?”
Something was caught.
ㅡIt’s hard.
There was something hard like a stone, so I cut off his underwear and tried to check it. It was wrapped in dirty cloth, and it was something like a stoneㅡ
“K, Katt? What are you doing?”
“Katt… are you trying to take off his underwear? You’re so cool! Cruel! Ruthless!”
“Sister?”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
ㅡWienia and Cloudie were whispering something, but I couldn’t hear them well. With a trembling heart, I peeled off the dirty cloth.
Then, what was revealed was a black stone.
No, should I call it a stone?
This texture… was metal rather than stone.
Metal.
“O, oh!!!!”
This, damn it!
“W, Wienia! Cloudie! Isn’t this a meteorite?!”
I immediately showed them the stone. Wienia narrowed her eyes and examined it, then widened her eyes and said in disbelief.
“You found it like this?”
