Chapter 117: What A Mage Leaves Behind When They Die (2)

It is said that when a tiger dies, it leaves behind its hide, and when a man dies, he leaves behind his name.

Then what does a mage leave behind when they die?

“Now, let’s find out.”

Humming a tune that came naturally to me, I began rummaging through Morgana’s corpse.

The staff, which had to be secured first, had already been slipped into the Subspace Ring during the battle.

As for other valuable items… Maybe the artifact stolen from the Magic Tower.

Though I’m not sure how to use it, the aura of death that had trapped us and blocked Benny’s magic was undeniably powerful.

It was a pity that the relic of the Beast God, obtained from the subjugation of One Who Devours the Twilight, had to be handed over to the Temple as evidence… This time, I’m definitely using it for personal gain.

I meticulously examined Morgana’s corpse while running a happy circuit in my mind.

First, there are two rings and a bracelet on her hand. I’m not sure what they are, but they all seem like magical items.

I should take them for now. I could leave the appraisal to Benny or Eve.

The necklace around her neck didn’t seem to emit any magical power…but I took it anyway.

After all, wasn’t Morgana a mage far beyond my meager abilities?

It might be a hidden magical item, and even if it’s not, it looks expensive enough to grab anyway.

“Hmm.”

Is this all that stands out? Now, it’s time to strip her down in earnest.

“The robe…seems useless.”

It was a luxurious and intricately enchanted robe, almost on par with her staff, but now it was damaged with a hole through the chest.

Of course, despite losing the power of its enchantment, the fact that high-grade materials were used generously and that it contains advanced spatial magic knowledge means it will be quite valuable. Let’s take this too.

I stripped the robe off Morgana’s corpse and rolled it up.

Then, just in case, I rummaged through the pockets and even ran my hands all over the inner lining to see if there were any hidden spaces.

“Oh?”

Sure enough. While the lining didn’t feel odd, the moment I put my hand into the pocket, it slid all the way up to my forearm.

It’s not that I suddenly gained monstrous strength and tore the robe. It’s because spatial magic is applied to the pocket.

The weight I felt while stripping it off earlier was about the level of a slightly heavy winter coat. In other words, it’s an artifact with both the spatial magic I so desired and weight reduction applied simultaneously…!

“Indeed, one should live virtuously.”

So, isn’t this how luck comes around?

Giggling, I emptied the pocket of all its contents. Fortunately, although the protective spell was broken as the heart part was pierced, the other spells seemed to be functioning normally without any instability.

From the subspace pocket, I pulled out a few potions containing blue liquid, a heavy wallet, and two thick books.

Not knowing much about the potions, I put them back. The wallet seemed full of money, so I decided to count it quietly later…

As for the books, a quick glance revealed that one seemed to be a research journal or diary, and the other was a magic book about spatial magic.

…Why do villains always leave behind something like a diary?

When I write novels, I often include such settings, but that’s simply because it’s convenient to use.

But Morgana doesn’t have any readers to convince, so why on earth…?

Tilting my head in curiosity, I set aside the research journal. I plan to burn it instead of selling it.

“Intense Flame.”

With a short incantation, I uttered the activation word. Watching me burn the journal without hesitation, Hippolyte’s eyes sparkled as she stepped back.

“Huh? That seems like the most valuable thing. Are you sure about this?”

“Knowledge should exist for people. Attempts to overcome death and the great magic for it are fine, but if the lives of innocent people are taken as the price, no matter how tremendous the knowledge is, it’s worth less than a piece of trash.”

Maybe because I intentionally used a powerful 2-star magic, it turned to ashes in an instant, scattering everywhere.

As I blew it away so it couldn’t be gathered again, I suddenly met Hippolyte’s gaze.

“Kid. Was your name Donna?”

“It’s Jonah.”

“Yeah, Jonah. I kind of like you.”

“Gasp. Wh-what’s this? Are you hitting on me? Sorry. Your face and fashion are a bit my type, but that ‘I’ll make you fall for me’ confidence is so annoying, it’s physiologically impossible for me!”

“…I never thought that. Why does it feel like I just got rejected?”

Hippolyte, scratching the back of her head through the lion’s mane, asked Lydia, who was observing Benny from a bit further away.

“Hey Lydia. Is this kid always like this?”

“Hmm? I didn’t see what happened, but if something weird goes down, Jonah would always say something weird.”

Lydia nodded. Benny also nodded half a beat later, as if in agreement.

The only one consistently showing me kindness was Shadow.

-Screeeech… Heck!

However, I wish you would stop multiplying eyes on the tongue revealed between those sharp teeth. Even for me, that’s just too disgusting.

Shaking my head, I resumed farming Morgana, which I had paused for a moment.

The clothes inside the robe are luxurious, but they are just ordinary clothes without any special function, so pass.

I continued examining various parts of the body, but there was nothing particularly valuable.

“No. Sigh. Hiss.”

So where on earth is the artifact? With a deep sigh, I even stripped off the outer garment, just in case.

It might have been beautiful once, but now it’s old and wrinkled, leaving only traces of its former self.

“Darn it!”

It feels like I just wasted my time and hurt my eyes.

Swallowing a curse inwardly, I turned my head. There, kneeling and raising her hands in front of Lydia, was Benny…

Of course, just like me, she wasn’t wearing any underwear, so her young and fresh body was blatantly exposed.

…Good. I felt the energy to farm again.

I steeled myself and examined Morgana’s corpse again, flipping it here and there.

But the artifact was still nowhere to be found.

Shouldn’t an artifact exude the aura of its deity? Just like how a full-bloom statue always emits a faint divine power like a mood lamp.

If it’s an artifact that can even impose death to abstract concepts like space or outcome, it’s certainly no ordinary item.

I should be able to feel its presence somewhere.

With a slight nod of my head, I pondered for a moment. But as I noticed the surrounding glances of ‘What is this guy doing, stripping the corpse and falling into deep contemplation?’ I realized my gaze was also being drawn to one spot.

The wound on the chest. Specifically, where the remnants of the shattered heart were.

It was the place where I had driven the Unicorn Dagger to end Morgana’s life, and also where the thick defensive magic had been futilely pierced by the Sanctuary.

As if possessed by something, I dug into Morgana’s wound and looked inside.

“Ah.”

And I found it.

Among the pieces of the shattered heart and the cold, congealed blood, something silver sparkled.

As expected of the artifact of the God of Death, it was exuding a deadly aura, but I hadn’t noticed it since it was found inside an already dead body.

“Bingo.”

Unable to hide the laughter that naturally flowed out, I reached in and pulled out the artifact of death from the remnants of life.

A ring in the form of an ash-gray snake biting its own tail.

Made of a peculiar material, uncertain whether metal or glass, its eyes gleamed red, exuding an eerie aura.

I have no idea why this was embedded in the heart. I don’t even know what power this artifact holds.

However, finding out is not particularly difficult.

An object imbued with power is called an artifact, and the power’s use becomes naturally known without needing to be learned.

Naturally, with some familiarity, the exact ability of the artifact will become clear.

Giggling, I slipped the ring onto my index finger. Could that have been a sort of trigger?

Knowledge pierces through my mind, not of my own. It’s the familiar sensation of knowledge being injected through gacha.

“Ugh.”

The pain felt was brief, but the content could not be ignored.

“What the…?”

A snake biting its own tail. This holy artifact astonishingly possessed the power to exclude death.

What this means is that while it spreads the aura of death around it and can actually cause someone to die…

Its original use is to deflect the user’s death far away by absorbing that power.

Morgana was merely distorting the artifact’s power with magic and using it abnormally, but originally, it was an item that gave the wearer one extra life.

If I had simply handed over Morgana’s corpse, she would surely have been able to move again at some point.

Being resurrected might not be exactly what Morgana desired, but it is fitting for a mage obsessed with immortality.

“Indeed. So that’s why it was embedded in the heart.”

If it were simply worn on a finger, someone could have taken it, and the miracle Morgana was preparing in her body would have been nullified.

Thus, she chose the area near her heart, which she could protect most securely with all sorts of spatial magic.

She never expected to die so easily by having her heart pierced!

Smirking, I pulled up the corners of my mouth and draped my outer garment over Morgana’s corpse.

Then, I nodded towards Hippolyte, who had reminded me of something I hadn’t thought of and would have unwittingly yielded the profit.

“Thank you, Hippolyte! Thanks to you, I got what I wanted!”

“Oh? Ah, you’re welcome.”

Hippolyte, who had been hesitating for a moment, finally asked in a very cautious voice.

“Just out of curiosity, Jonah. Is there by any chance something like a voice that you hear only when you enter the Labyrinth, or do you feel the need to dedicate everything in the world to the Goddess?”

“……”

What the hell.

Am I being suspected of being One Who Devours the Twilight or a lunatic?