Debuff Master
Chapter 902

Chapter 902

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is a three-legged crow. Hold on, but... how do you know about that?” Quandt asked, surprised that Siegfried knew about the mythical beast.

“Ah, I don’t really have any connection with the mythical beast, but I do with this little guy,” Siegfried replied, summoning the Three-Legged Crow.

“Kyaaaak! Caw! Caw!”

Then, the entity that always picked up items on Siegfried’s behalf appeared and gracefully perched itself on his forearm.

“What—?!” Quandt gasped.

He had seen the dark bird before, always darting around to retrieve items for Siegfried, but he never realized it was actually the mythical beast—well, its apparition, at least. All he got was a brief glimpse of it in the past, and it was too fast for him to look at it properly.

“T-That is the Three-Legged Crow?!”

“It’s more like an illusion of it?” Siegfried replied. Then, he turned and asked, “Hey, you’re not the real thing, right?”

“Caw! Caw!”

The bird let out a few cries as if responding to his question.

“Wow... It may not be the real thing, but even seeing its apparition is a remarkable thing already. A spectral form of such a mythical creature must possess extraordinary abilities.”

“Do you think so?”

Siegfried scratched the back of his head, looking confused. To him, the Three-Legged Crow was nothing more than a pet that helped him pick up loot, so he never considered it to be anything particularly impressive.

“I believe Your Majesty knows that finding the real Three-Legged Crow is impossible.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

He was already struggling to track down a phoenix to complete one of his quests, so how was he supposed to track down something even rarer?

“But... we have the Omnistone,” Quandt said.

“Huh?”

“If we can extract a few feathers from this one... We might be able to use the Omnistone to generate more feathers.”

“...!”

“It will not be easy, but if we succeed in doing so... we might be able to produce more of these robes.”

“Ooooh!” Siegfried exclaimed in delight after hearing Quandt’s words.

If what Quandt said was truly possible, then the robe could prove incredibly useful against the Blue Knight of Death.

All they had to do was evade the Blue Knight of Death at all costs. If the Robe of the Dead could either completely deceive the knight or nullify his unique ability, then it would prove to be an invaluable asset.

“It might be a mere apparition, but may I try to pluck some of its feathers, Your Majesty?” Quandt asked.

“Pluck its feathers?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“But it’s an apparition? Would that even work?”

“Just because it is a mere apparition does not mean it is a mirage without substance,” Quandt said. Then, he looked at the crow and continued, “It is an apparition with its own form, so I believe it's possible.”

“How many feathers do you need?”

“To replicate them with the Omnistone, we will need a significant amount of samples to work with... probably about... one full bird’s worth of feathers?”

“W-Whaa—?!” Siegfried jumped in shock. Then, he shouted, “You need all of its feathers?!”

“Yes, we will require many samples to ensure accuracy when analyzing materials so...”

“H-Hey, that sounds kinda extreme. Shouldn’t we ask if it’s okay with it first?” Siegfried said, glancing at the crow to gauge its reaction.

“Haha... That is true,” Quandt replied with a chuckle.

The old blacksmith had no plans to forcibly pluck all of the Three-Legged Crow’s feathers. He was a craftsman obsessed with pursuing new heights, but he believed that ethics was important as well.

Therefore, stripping it bare without its consent would be outright cruel, not something Quandt wanted to do.

“Would you mind asking if it would grant us permission to do so, Your Majesty?” Quandt asked.

“S-Should I?”

Both Siegfried and Quandt turned their gaze toward the Three-Legged Crow.

“Caw?!”

The crow flinched and stiffened as it stood on the receiving end of their gaze. However, it seemed oblivious to what was happening, as it simply tilted its head in confusion.

***

‘I guess there’s no harm in asking...’

Siegfried felt a little guilty, but he had no other choice. He had to at least bring it up and hope that the Three-Legged Crow would allow them to pluck all of its feathers out.

“Uh, so...”

He tried to ask but ended up fumbling his words.

“You...”

“Caw?”

“Would it be okay if... we plucked some of your feathers?”

“Caw?!”

The Three-Legged Crow seemed to have understood his words, judging from how it flinched and broke out into a cold sweat.

“This is really important. You could end up protecting the world.”

“...”

“So... could you maybe, uhm... done some feathers?”

“...”

“Please, I’m begging you!”

Siegfried went all in. He dropped to his knees and started bowing repeatedly before the Three-Legged Crow. Why was he going this far? It was all because searching the entire world for the real Three-Legged Crow would be far more difficult than simply pleading like this.

In addition, asking to pluck its feathers was akin to asking a person if he could yank out their hair. He was asking for too much, no matter how he looked at it.

“Feathers grow back anyway, right...?”

“...”

“I’m not asking for my own sake. I mean, you’ve been with me all this time, so you know how hard I’ve been working to protect this world, right?”

“...”

“I know this is an absurd request. But what choice do I have? If you sacrifice just a little, you could save so many lives. And like I said, your feathers will grow back.”

Perhaps Siegfried’s desperate plea got through.

The Three-Legged Crow nodded reluctantly and weakly cried, “Caw...”

“Really?!” Siegfried exclaimed, his eyes widening.

The Three-Legged Crow nodded and cried out, “Caw! Caaaw!”

“Thank you!”

“Caw! Caaaw!”

“I won’t forget your sacrifice!”

“Caw! Caaaw!”

“I’m going to pluck them now, okay?”

“Caaaw!”

“Thank you!”

Having received the permission to pluck away, Siegfried firmly grasped the crow’s wing.

“Please go ahead,” he told the old blacksmith.

“G-Got it,” Quandt flinched and stammered.

Then, he got to work as he began plucking the feathers from the Three-Legged Crow.

They had to move quickly, as there was always a chance that it would change its mind once its feathers were being plucked.

“C-Caaaaw! Caaaaw!”

The Three-Legged Crow shrieked in agony, flailing wildly as its feathers were plucked away.

Siegfried had no idea whether apparitions could even feel pain or not, but it seemed highly likely that this particular one could.

“S-Sorry! Just hold on a little longer! Stay strong! You got this!” Siegfried exclaimed, channeling both Mana and Divine Power to keep the crow restrained.

It would only make it harder for Quandt to pluck its feathers if it continued to struggle so much, which meant the whole agonizing process would take even longer.

And so, in an act of true self-sacrifice, the Three-Legged Crow endured the ordeal of being plucked alive.

Roughly ten minutes later...

“I-It’s done!” Quandt exclaimed, stepping back with two hands filled with feathers.

“Well done,” Siegfried said before releasing his grip.

He turned to the noble self-sacrificing crow and was about to express his gratitude once more when—

“You really went through a lot. Thank you—”

It was then.

“Pfft!” Siegfried suddenly burst into laughter and had to clamp a hand over his mouth.

‘T-That’s just a boiled chicken! Pfft!’

With all of its feathers gone, the Three-Legged Crow looked exactly like a plucked chicken ready to be cooked in a clay pot.

“S-Sorry! Pfft! R-Really, thank you!” Siegfried struggled to suppress his laughter as he apologized to the featherless bald crow.

“Caw... Caaaw...”

The poor crow cried sorrowfully with its head drooping in utter despair. To make matters worse—

Plop! Plop...!

The Three-Legged Crow started tearing up, as it seemed to be feeling overwhelmed and humiliated at its own pitiful state.

“G-Go rest now.”

“Caw...”

And with that, the Three-Legged Crow, now featherless, vanished from sight.

‘It’s... It’s not going to refuse to show up from now on, is it?’ Siegfried thought worriedly.

Then, he turned to Quandt and said, “How are the feathers?”

“Hmm...” Quandt examined the bundle of feathers in his hand for a long moment. Then, he answered, “They aren't real feathers, but they’re definitely not made of ordinary matter.”

“Oh? Really?”

“This material is called ectoplasm, a matter created from pure spiritual energy. If we refine it properly with the Omnistone, it should be able to replicate the effects of the real feathers.”

“Ooooh”

“I will give it a try.”

“Please do. I will leave it to you.”

With that, Siegfried entrusted Quandt with the task of mass producing the Three-Legged Crow’s feathers and crafting them into Robe of the Deads before leaving the workshop.

***

After leaving Quandt’s workshop, Siegfried went to have dinner with Brunhilde and Verdandi.

Once done with dinner, he read a fairy tale to Verdandi, making sure his adorable daughter could drift off into a peaceful sleep.

“So, the rabbit then...” Siegfried trailed off mid-sentence.

ZzZZz... Zzz...

Verdandi had already dozed off after a while.

“Sleep well, my precious, beautiful, adorable, and brilliant daughter,” Siegfried whispered, gently kissing her forehead before quietly stepping away.

After leaving Verdandi’s room, he made his way toward Brunhilde.

However, she was asleep as well.

‘I probably shouldn’t wake her up,’ he thought.

Lately, Brunhilde had been caught up in the whirlwind of raising Verdandi, and she was exhausted almost every day.

‘I’m sorry.’

Siegfried felt both guilt and gratitude toward Brunhilde, who had taken on the brunt of parenting. It would still not be enough even if he stayed with them around the clock to be a parent and a husband.

Unfortunately, Siegfried was a special person in this world, and he had to run around trying to save the world.

This was one of the main reasons he gave his all to Brunhilde and Verdandi whenever he found even a brief moment he could spare for them. It was his way of at least trying to fulfill his role as a husband and a father.

‘I should let her rest,’ Siegfried thought with a smile.

He took one last look at Brunhilde before heading toward the warp gate.

There was only roughly a week left until the grand festival that Emperor Stuttgart was going to hold to commemorate the empire’s victory in the civil war. With that in mind, Siegfried planned to make progress on the "O, Great Life!" quest in the meantime.

[O, Great Life!]

[Summon Terra, the Incarnation of Life, to fight against the Blue Knight of Death.]

[Type: Epic Quest]

[Progress: 0%]

- Phoenix

- Gaia’s Chalice

- Neptune’s Blood

‘Hmm... Neptune is the God of the Sea, so I should go check out the church serving him.’

The Northern Great Rift could go berserk at any moment and unleash the Blue Knight of Death, so Siegfried wanted to make as much progress on the quest as possible while he had the time.

‘But wait... Neptune’s Blood? Is it even possible for me to get my hands on something like that?’ he wondered.

Just as the thought crossed his mind—

“Kyuuuuuuuu!”

From a distance, Hamchi came rushing toward him, crying out at the top of his voice.

“Huh? Hamchi?”

Siegfried’s face lit up at the sight of his trusty companion.

While he was stuck in the infirmary, recovering from the side effects of his transformation, Siegfried felt oddly empty without his trusty companion by his side.

“Yo! Hamchi! How do you feel now? Better?” Siegfried shouted, running toward him.

“Kyuuu! Run! Owner punk! Run!” Hamchi screamed.

“Huh? Why?”

“Just RUN! Damn it! And take Hamchi with you!”

“Eh? What’s wrong with him?”

Siegfried noticed there was something different about Hamchi today. Since he last saw him, Hamchi had put on an alarming amount of weight, so much that he could easily be mistaken for a pig rather than a hamster.

Boing! Boing! Boing!

Yes, he was running without a doubt, but he looked like he could move faster if he just rolled instead.

“What... the hell happened to him?” Siegfried muttered.

It was then.

“Kyaaaaak! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!”

From the distance, Mochi came charging after Hamchi with a hammer in hand.

“O-OWNER PUNK! Take Hamchi with you! PLEASE! I’M BEGGING YOUUU! Kyuuuu!” Hamchi pleaded desperately.

“Was that guy getting... farm-raised by her or something?” Siegfried gasped under his breath, his face twisting into one of sheer disbelief and horror.

Looking at how plump Hamchi had gotten and the way he was running for his life, Siegfried could not think of any other explanation than the poor hamster getting food shoved down his throat.