Chapter 67

"How's it going?"

As I was analyzing the Griffin statue with my hand on it, Eberheid called out to me.

"I feel a mix of avian magic. We had the Clockbird feathers, didn't we? Next, let's try to assimilate those a bit."

"Got it."

Goburo, the former hobgoblin, was trembling at the mouth as if in fear. He was no longer a hobgoblin, having undergone several modifications. It would be more accurate to call him a Goblin Chimera. This is my first time creating a chimera of this size, so I'm a bit excited.

I decided to name the three goblins Goburo, Gobuko, and Gobujima in my mind. They are all male, though.

Eberheid took a feather from one of the survey team members and placed it on Goburo's back. Then, he opened a small bottle and sprinkled the liquid inside onto Goburo's back.

Eberheid extended his hand over Goburo.

"Attikor"

A light flashed, and the water was absorbed into Goburo's back. Eberheid didn't use a staff; it seemed his ring was fulfilling that role. I should get one of those too. When I have some money, I'll make one.

"Let's take it slow, okay?"

"Sure, I understand."

I directed my staff towards the magic stone embedded in Goburo's neck. The magic array was carved around the stone to utilize Goburo's magic power.

As I channeled magic power into the stone, Goburo raised his hand and touched the base of the Griffin statue. Magic power flowed into the statue through Goburo's hand. I touched the Griffin statue and analyzed the flow.

"Feeling good! There's a response! But it's just a step away, like it's not quite reaching..."

I directed my staff towards the magic stone and adjusted the magic power flowing into Goburo while continuing the analysis.

"Should we switch roles?"

"No, let me try a bit more... Let me get a bit more familiar with the Clockbird... And something, a horn that's full of magic... Ah, no, not that one! This is good, this is good!"

The Griffin statue turned red as if it had been heated to a high temperature... and in the next moment, it collapsed. Because it was linked through a barrier, the other Griffin statue in a different location also crumbled into dust.

"We did it! We did it! The outer part of the triple-layered barrier should be deactivated!"

"...With this, we can see the way forward. At this rate, we might be able to deactivate all the barriers by the end of today."

"Right! Let's get it done quickly!" "Hey, did you see that? The barrier just..."

When I turned around, the survey team members and Wegener were looking at us as if they were shocked.

"The goblins are pitiful..."

One of the survey team members muttered.

"He's a demon..."

"Look, he's rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth. He's going to die, for sure."

"Why are there strange spots on him? Is he okay? It looks like he might start spewing some kind of miasma."

"Is that goblin looking up at something?"

"Probably seeing the ghost of his parents or something."

Hey, you guys were hunting hobgoblins too, weren't you? You're acting like this is a big deal... You could just congratulate us honestly. Why are you suddenly so concerned about goblin welfare? If we leave them alive, they'll just cause danger to other people.

"...Hey, does that kid have a permit for biological magic?"

"Well... However, I believe Sir Eberheid has one, so if we act on his initiative, there shouldn't be a problem..."

"However, it clearly looked like the kid was in charge. If there was a kid his age with a permit for biological magic, I would have heard about it. Isn't that a violation of national law?"

"......I saw it as Sir Eberheid being in charge."

"Hey, look at Wegener's eyes and say that again, hey"

Wegener was also talking to one of the survey team members, and it didn't sound good. I didn't know that biological magic required a permit. Is there something like a driver's license for it? I understand that amateurs using biological magic could be dangerous, but I didn't know there were such cumbersome regulations.

...I'm starting to want to go back to a place where the law doesn't reach. I hope the management isn't as thorough as this.

We moved to the next Griffin statue and deactivated the second layer of the barrier. The Griffin statue linked to the second layer collapsed. Only the third and final layer remained.

However, Goburo and Gobuko died as sacrifices. Goburo probably died from physical exhaustion, but Gobuko's death was my mistake. Now, only Gobujima can break the final barrier. If Gobujima fails, we'll need to capture more goblins.

I should have increased the number of live captures. I didn't realize biological magic would be this difficult. The pressure is also high since this is the last one. I hope I can pull it off...

"I'm counting on you, Gobujima."

I called out to Gobujima, who was being carried by one of the survey team members. Gobujima just stared at the ceiling with dead eyes.

We approached the final Griffin statue. After thoroughly analyzing the statue with magic, I immediately began the magical modification of Gobujima. As with the first and second attempts, I assimilated parts of magic beasts with a bias in their magic power into Gobujima.

"Eberheid-san"

"What is it?"

"There's a problem. I think it's better to destroy this statue and then move on to analyzing the other linked statues."

This statue has a trap. If we try to solve it directly, a nasty mechanism will be triggered.

"Did you notice? But do you think you can destroy it?"

"......I can't be sure, but I have confidence. However, it might damage the passage as well."

"Quite the confidence. Don't worry, just knock it down. That's what our forces are for. If it comes to it, I have a trump card."

Eberheid pointed a bag filled with high-grade magic stones at me. If Eberheid isn't worried, it should be fine... right? I don't really understand how much of a threat the trap would pose. I'll leave that judgment to Eberheid.