Chapter 03 : Bird Population Control

"W-what do you mean...? I do care about my children !"

Albert didn't understand the meaning behind the store owner's words.

A lot of beastmancers indeed consider their beasts as nothing more than replaceable tools to achieve their goal, but it wasn't the case for Albert.

He sincerely loved each of his snakes, considering them more like lifelong partners than pets.

His wife even reproached him to care more about his snakes than he did about his own -and real- children, and to be fair, she wasn't wrong.

When Lloyd saw the viscount getting agitated on his barstool, he pushed a cup of tea in front of him, before asking.

"If you think so, then let me ask you a simple question : why did you leave your house without verifying ? Were you in such a hurry that you couldn't even care about your pets ?" Lloyd reprimanded the Viscount, staring straight at his green eyes.

'H-How does he know ?!' Albert couldn't believe the store owner deducted so much by just examining a single scale.

"I-... I was indeed in a hurry, I received an unexpected royal edict to go to the city of Penumbra for an important meeting..." Albert muttered, still feeling guilty for having left his children behind.

'Why did you leave your house without verifying ?' sounded in Albert's mind like an echo. After thinking about those words, Albert realized his mistake.

He indeed didn't verify around his mansion for any trace of hostile presence like he usually does every time he leaves his estate for more than a week...

He didn't know if he just forgot, or if such a long period of peace made him complacent... but no matter what, the result was the same.

It was his fault if his most loyal and loved companion died this day.

As Albert calmed down and lowered his head with a remorseful expression, Lloyd felt guilty for being so rude to an old man.

'I should work on my temperament if I don't want to loose my head, I tend to offend nobles quite easily these days...'

To make it up to the old man who had a sorrowful expression, Lloyd racked his brain to understand what happened to his snake.

Even if he dropped out of university when he was living in Korea, he still recalled the few classes he had about reptiles.

The combination of scientific classes from Korea's best university and years of experience working in a pet store provided him with a great deal of knowledge and expertise when it came to animals.

He wouldn't call himself an expert like a veterinarian or biologist, but he was definitely more knowledgeable about animals than the average.

'If I'm not wrong, because the Viscount was in a hurry to leave his home he forgot to properly close one of the vivariums behind him. The unfortunate snake probably roamed around and left the mansion.'

This first guess was the reason why Lloyd blamed the Viscount for forgetting such an important step.

'Just imagine if the snake had bitten someone on the way, like a servant working in the mansion, or a kid playing in the neighborhood... Sigh... That's why those nobles shouldn't take care of animals themselves.'

Everyone do mistakes, sure, but when it comes to snakes a single blunder may have huge consequences for both the reptile and the people around.

'Once in an open field, the snake would be easy prey for any wild predator, like an eagle passing by for example...'

Lloyd recalled the faint scratching traces he saw on the inner side of the green scale. If the snake got attacked by a land predator, the scratching marks would have been on the outer side of the scale instead.

'As far as I know, the only natural predator that can let such traces on a snake's scale is a member of the Accipitridae, or any other bird of prey with powerful recurved claws, hm...'

After gathering the little pieces of information he had, Lloyd believed the most probable culprit was a kind of bird of prey similar to an eagle or a hawk.

Someone ignorant about this world may think that given the size of the scale, a mere bird wouldn't be able to kill such a huge serpent... Unfortunately, this place wasn't Earth.

If a little reptile like a snake can get this massive here, why couldn't a bird get as big, if not bigger ?

Lloyd wasn't naive. He knew that the animals and creatures of this world, although sharing a lot of similarities, were still vastly different than those from Earth.

He just had to look at the two black heads snoring at his feet to realize how distinct were the species of this world compared to Earth.

'To comfort the Viscount, I should tell him what happened to his pet, but first... I must make him understand his mistake. He must always remains cautious when dealing with snakes. This might have been a far more tragic situation if the snake had bitten someone on the street...'

Lloyd, who believed he properly guessed what happened to the pitiful snake, took a sip of tea with his eyes closed.

Noticing the atmosphere around the store owner becoming heavy, Albert gulped down in silence.

'Did he find out what happened...?' Albert was nervously waiting for the store owner's next words.

As if Lloyd was reading his mind, he said with a low voice.

"It's an eagle, or a hawk."

"?! W-What do you mean...?" Albert was confused.

He looked at the store owner with round eyes.

"The one who took down your snake... it's most likely an eagle, or a hawk. Or at least a bird of prey that share the same characteristics."

"Don't tell me..."

As if he had been struck by lightning, Albert suddenly stood up from the barstool and clenched his fists.

"Impossible...!!" He realized who the culprit may be, but just the thought that this person dared to do such a despicable act behind his back made his blood boil.

'Does his territory have a problem with bird population control ?' Lloyd didn't understand why his customer had such a vivid reaction after learning that the culprit was most likely a wild bird.

"Sir Aurelion, are you sure of this information...?" Albert asked, a drop of sweat flowing down his temple.

"Well... After examining the scale you showed me, I'd say I'm 90% certain a bird of prey killed your snake. The remaining 10% is completely out of my competence. I'm not omniscient after all, ahah."

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Lloyd tried to calm down the Viscount with a touch of humor, but the Viscount was too angry to even notice.

"cough... Now that this matter has been solved... With all due respect, Sir Achalinus, you may have to change your habits if you don't want such a tragic event to occur once again."

While Lloyd usually had a carefree and relaxed attitude, he now wore a very serious and somber expression.

His black eyes, darker than the night, were set on Albert and did not waver for a single moment.

As the Viscount also stared at the store owner, his green pupils constricted when he noticed something strange happening inside Lloyd's eyes.

Albert saw multiple silvery-blue tendrils glow for a short instant through the darkness of Lloyd's pupil, before quickly fading away.

"Argh..." Albert suddenly held his head in pain.

"Are you alright, Sir Albert ?" The store owner seemed genuinely concerned, but Albert didn't get fooled by this facade of his.

He felt a sudden headache the moment he saw a glimpse of what was obscured behind the store owner's eyes.

'It is as if an unimaginable monster is hiding under a human-like appearance...'

Albert felt a shiver running down his spine.

For the first time in a long time, the man infamously known as Serpentdoom... felt fear.

'Did I go overboard...?' Lloyd wanted to show a serious expression to the count to make him understand how serious was his mistake, but after seeing the old man holding his head in pain, he felt guilty and stopped the act.

'Even though Sir Albert has always been cordial, I doubt a noble would listen to a commoner's rent anyway...'

Lloyd sighed, before standing up from his seat and browsing behind his counter.

Out of nowhere, he took out a long tranquilizer rifle.

"As someone who loves all animals equally, I usually never recommend this kind of solution... but in your case, it may prove useful."

He then handed the rifle and a box of tranquilizing flechettes to the dumbfounded Viscount.

"Sometimes, wild animals' populations need to be regulated. While this incident happened because of your carelessness, the only thing you can do now is to ensure these birds do not cause any more damage to your estate."

'Looking at his reaction when he learned that it was a bird that killed his pet, I'm sure that his territory must have a serious issue with wild birds population..'

It reminded Lloyd of the swarm of pigeons infesting the large cities on Earth.

"As you may know, I do not have a license to sell firearms, and even if I did I wouldn't sell you a rifle to shoot down birds. However, this baby right there is an exception."

Albert watched the store owner running his finger down the rifle's barrel.

"It may not prove useful to control a large population of bird, but it would be more than enough to at least protect your estate."

"Boss Lloyd, what is this exactly...?" Albert had no clue what was this bizarre object the store owner took out from behind his counter.

Despite being a noble, he never saw such a weird-looking item, nor anything else similar to a modern firearm.

This world had some kind of weaponry that resembled the 16th-century first guns on Earth.

However, the best designs had nearly the same efficiency as ancient Arquebuse and Muskets from Earth, which was a joke compared to the world-shattering magic existing in this world.

Their projectile couldn't pierce the naked skin of an apprentice knight, and the pellets could be stopped by even the cheapest iron chest plate that the foot soldiers wore during wartime.

No need to say that such crude weapons were completely useless against anyone able to control mana.

The few black powder weapons that were still in use were the cannons mounted on the ships roaming the Outer Continent's shoreline, yet even they have been greatly modified and enhanced by magic and runemancy.

"This, Dear Viscount, is the best Tranquilizer Rifle I have at my disposal. If you happen to see wild birds infesting your estate, just ask one of your servant to shoot them down with this weapon, and bring them to me."

Lloyd had a wide grin on his face.

'It's been a while now that I wanted to sell small animals. If the Viscount and his servants take down a bunch of birds of prey and bring them to me alive, I may be able to sell them for a good price, hehe...'

The expression killing two birds with one stone has never been more accurate than today.

"Can this metal rod take down a 'big' eagle-like creature ?" The Viscount was skeptical.

Noticing the doubt in his customer's eyes, Lloyd instantly switched to the professional salesman.

"Each flechette has enough tranquilizer to put to sleep the biggest creatures you can think of. To be honest with you, I even think that the dosage is too high for an eagle, no matter its size. Those flechettes may prove lethal to birds."

Lloyd wanted the Viscount and his servants to catch birds for him, not to kill them. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to reduce the tranquilizer dosage of these flechettes without opening them, and thus damaging them.

"T-The biggest creature you say !?"

"You heard me right. I remember seeing a veterinarian putting to sleep a male rhinoceros with a single of those same flechettes in a documentary."

"??!" Albert's jaw dropped.

He couldn't believe what he just heard.

If he hadn't previously witnessed with his own eyes the strange power of the items sold in this bizarre shop, he would have thought the store owner was just spouting nonsense.

Rhinoceros were not the same in this world as they were on Earth ; on Lunaris, they are a rare type of Land Dragon.

All the beasts from the Dragons species are known to be among the most difficult creatures to subdue for a beastmancer, but this was especially true for Land Dragons which are naturally fierce and aggressive.

On average, a male Land Dragon is more than 5 meters tall and weighs between 2,700 and 7,300 kilograms. In Albert's mind, it was shocking that just a single flechette could neutralize such a huge monster. (author nt. : 5m = ~16.4 feet / 2,700 to 7,300 kg = ~6,000 to 16,000 pounds)

'I know the weird items from this shop are incredible, but I find it hard to believe a single flechette shot from this small metallic rod can take down a Land Dragon...'

Albert examined the rifle on the counter with a perplexed look.

'If what Boss Lloyd said is true, then I could easily take my revenge with such a powerful artifact. I just need to find the nest of that bastard's Royal Griffon...'

When the store owner mentioned a bird-of-prey-like creature was responsible for the death of his snake, all the pieces of the puzzle in Albert's mind came into place.

The reason why he has been summoned so urgently to the northern border so far from his estate, how the intruder knew the location of his snake's cave, why he couldn't find nor locate the corpse of his contracted beast, who was bold enough to openly offend House Achalinus...

Albert now knew who was the real culprit behind the death of his companion.

The beast that has been cruelly slain during his absence was the most powerful of his serpents ; it was a rare breed that his late father bestowed upon him during his coming-of-age ceremony when Albert was young. It was a magnificent Malachite Ourobos that was destined to reach the Apollyon-class after its last molting.

When Albert left his estate, his snake was just about to start shedding his skin for a last time and break through the peak of the Thaumiel-class.

Only a few people knew that his most powerful beast was about to evolve, and among them, one petty man was extremely wary of Albert acquiring an Apollyon-class beast.

If he adds this to the fact that only another peak Thaumiel-class or Apollyon-class beast could have been strong enough to suppress and slay his beloved Ourobos...

'This bastard... I'll make him pay with his blood.' Albert's face contorted in an unsightly way.

Feeling murderous intent next to his owner once again, Blackie woke up from his nap -for the second time-, but this time, he loudly barked at the old man.

"BLAFF! BLAFF!"

Both heads were growling, while showing their razor-sharp teeth.

Blackie was ready to leap at Viscount Albert and shred him to pieces at the slightest hostile gesture toward his owner.

"Oi, what kind of bee stung your ass for you to be in such a bad mood today ?! Sit, and be quiet !"

Lloyd didn't understand why his dog was so aggressive toward the old man today.

"Do not blame him, Sir Aurelion, it's my fault." Albert had an apologetic expression.

Even if this young Cerberus looked to only be an early Thaumiel-class beast at best, Albert didn't dare underestimate it.

More importantly, he didn't want to offend the friendly store owner by letting his emotions run wild once again.

"How much for this metallic rod, Sir Aurelion ?" Albert respectfully asked.

"I won't lie to you, it's quite expensive... However, because you are a regular of my shop, I can lend it to you on the condition that you bring me the birds that you took down. How about it ?"

Lloyd made this suggestion with a mysterious smile.

'He wants me to bring him unconscious Thaumiel-class beasts... Is he some sort of Black Mage that need alive beasts to do a sacrificial ritual...?' Albert felt uneasy, but he soon put this thought in a corner of his mind and agreed to the store owner's proposition.

'I would make more money by selling all the birds he'll bring me rather than just selling the rifle, hehehe...'

...was what Lloyd -still in the professional salesman mode- really thought.

"I accept. I can't promise you that I will succeed, but no matter what, I'll do my best to preserve the 'body'."

"Don't worry, there is a picture manual inside the box. From where I come from, even kids would be able to use such a toy. Just follow the steps one by one." Lloyd warmly smiled at his customer, while closing the rifle box and putting it inside a large bag.

"??!"

Albert was dumbfounded.

'How hard was life in Boss Lloyd's country for even the kids to hunt Rhinoceros, armed with just a metal rod...?' he thought.

"Thank you for your time, Sir Aurelion. I shall bring you a gift befitting of your generous help the next time I visit your shop."

Albert put on his jacket and sincerely bowed his head toward Lloyd, before leaving the pet store.

"Just be careful with your pets next time, alright ?" Lloyd waved at him cheerfully, already counting in his mind how much money he will make by selling these birds.