Chương 7: The Knife-Headed Man and the Fish

There are many traps around the kobold's lair.

For example, tripwires, spikes hidden in the cracks between bricks, and a large pit filled with hungry slimes.

If an ordinary person were to approach rashly, they could easily suffer a serious injury.

But this was no problem for Richard, who had been secretly observing for more than two days. Relying on his memory of the kobolds' routes of entry and exit, he easily bypassed all the traps and finally arrived at the base of the collapsed tower.

Further ahead lies the kobolds' lair.

There were two kobolds inside. One was eating, while the other was squatting on the ground with his back to him, silently processing a few fish he had just caught.

Richard planned to kill the two kobolds outright.

This way, he could gain experience and buy himself at least two hours of undisturbed time, enough time to use his charm spell to cover all the suspicious targets around the tower.

He swallowed hard, held his breath, and slowly approached the kobold outside.

As a poet rather than a thief, Richard had no stealth skills, so he was nervous, afraid that his footsteps would be too loud and the kobolds would notice him first.

But to his surprise, even when he got within a meter, the kobold didn't notice him. Instead, it shook its shoulders, seemingly focused on scaling the fish.

Dude, are you this dedicated?

Richard raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly, wanting to see why this kobold was so focused.

Then, he met the eyes of the fish that lay dead with its eyes wide open.

Then it dawned on me that the kobold wasn't scaling the fish, but rather...

We are providing end-of-life care!

Through an intimate embrace that goes straight to the stomach, the other person can still feel the pulse and warmth of life even as they are dying!

As the saying goes, "If love between two people lasts forever, why should they be bound by boundaries?" This kind of love that transcends species is truly moving... Damn it, I can't make this up anymore. Why did I have to see this kind of scene?

Fortunately, I am a poet, knowledgeable and tolerant; otherwise, I might have suffered mental anguish.

Richard smirked, and without further hesitation, picked up his one-handed sword and delivered a fatal blow to the kobold, ending his sinful life.

"Gurgle?"

This commotion inevitably alerted the other dog-headed man inside the house.

He came out to check the situation, still holding half a grilled fish in his mouth.

Richard turned his head and looked at the kobold, especially the fish in his mouth, and for the first time, pity appeared in his eyes.

"Gag! (Oh no, it's a human!)"

"I now think it's a good thing that we can't understand each other. After all, sometimes knowing too much can really make you unhappy..."

Richard muttered a couple of things to himself, and then, taking advantage of the moment when the kobold tried to go back into the house to get his weapon, he unleashed a flurry of attacks.

At this point, the cold monster has been transformed into warm experience points.

[Experience points +4] You have accumulated enough experience. Would you like to upgrade your job level?

Huh? It's upgradable now?

Richard perked up and immediately answered yes.

Your bard level has been increased to 2.

You have gained 1 point of Charisma and 1 free attribute point.

[You have gained the perk: Eye of Insight - When you gaze at a creature or an object, you can spend a small amount of mental energy to view its panel. If the target is an item, the panel will indicate whether it can be charmed. If the target's strength or mystery level is higher than yours, the panel may not display completely.] Remarks:

"Damn it, how did he figure out I'm a boy? Wait, why is he getting even more excited?" — Clinton, the half-elf who loves cross-dressing.

It's true what they say: when you're sleepy, there's a pillow; when you have diarrhea, there's a toilet.

Richard was actually quite worried that he wouldn't have enough magic and energy. What if he ran out of energy and couldn't charm all the suspicious items near the tower within the time limit?

Now the system not only gave him 1 point of charm, enhancing his spellcasting ability, but also allowed him to find targets that could be charmed without casting spells!

This saves so much trouble!

Without delay, Richard immediately went to the vicinity of the collapsed tower and began to scrutinize the surrounding objects one by one...

Name: Stone Brick (Cannot be charmed) Level: Common Note: This is a good measuring tool for testing the health of another person's skull.

【Name: A Pile of Shit (Cannot Be Enchanted)】 Level: Common Note: You might as well let the Druid turn into a dog and try it; it might restore your health.

[Note: Item tiers are divided into Common, Excellent, Rare, Very Rare, Legendary, and Artifact] About an hour later.

Richard searched the area thoroughly, even digging up two piles of rocks and transforming himself from an art student into a civil engineer, but he still couldn't find anything to be charmed, and the necromancer's tools were nowhere to be found.

Does that mean those things have already been picked up?

Come to think of it, the kobolds live right next door, and if there were anything good in the ruins, they would have taken it long ago.

It seems we still need to search for the lair of the Headhunter.

With time running out, Richard immediately changed his target, displaying the spirit of a traditional hero, and began ransacking the kobold's house.

Upon closer inspection, he actually spotted two things!

One was a black square stone used to prop up the table legs, and the other was a dirty rag draped over the side of the iron pot, presumably used to wipe the pot.

At first glance, it doesn't seem very sophisticated.

However, from the perspective of the Eye of Insight, they appear differently: Name: Soul Magic Stone (Can be charmed) Grade: Very Rare (Damaged) Note: This was once a magical gem set in a necklace, but now it has lost all its magic and is even considered unsuitable for leveling table legs.

【Name: Necromancer's Cloak (Can be charmed)】 Rank: Rare (Damaged) Note: Although this thing looks like a rag, works like a rag, smells like a rag, and is even quite smelly... it really is a cape.

This is exactly what I've been looking for!

Having achieved his goal, Richard immediately put both items away close to his body.

He then took a large handful of dried meat and two pickled lizards from the drying rack (the most abundant item was actually fish, but Richard ignored them all).

Then he carefully left the kobolds' lair, making a large detour eastward, and finally returned to the blacksmith's shop where he had slept the night before.

After confirming that the environment was safe, he took out the magic stone and cloak, placed them in front of him, and cast the charm spell in turn.

[Soul Stone: Hmph...] [The necromancer's cloak: stained with oil, mud, and... and snot?! Damn it, don't these filthy kobolds have any sense of hygiene?!] Ok……

Is it possible that they are just a little hygienic, but not much, which is why they used you to wipe things?

Richard pursed his lips, and out of respect for the words "extremely rare," he first addressed the magic stone:

"Hello?"

【Humph! 】

"Excuse me……"

【snort? 】

"Not to be mean..."

Hmph hmph hmph~ What happened?

It's clearly been charmed, so why is it refusing to communicate? I didn't use a silence spell, did I?

Richard frowned.

Just then, the cloak spoke up: Don't waste your energy; that stinky rock won't pay any attention to you, at least not now...