Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 478 Mission: 04-3 The Spotted Beast
Then, Nero encountered his first problem of the day.

"Only staff are allowed to enter the mine."

An orc with a deep, muffled voice blocked her way at the entrance to the mine.

That's right. If it were too easy to succeed, the game would be far too simple.

Nero even dared to say that this was merely a minor, insignificant problem. In a place like a mine, where people come and go, if there were truly hidden gold, it would have been taken long ago. Therefore, it's easy to conclude that without meeting certain conditions, the so-called "gold" would never appear in front of anyone.

"Then I'm really sorry."

Nero nodded and turned to leave, while also pondering the game's content once more.

If seeing or obtaining gold requires meeting certain specific conditions, then those conditions must be hinted at in some way. They might exist within a riddle, or in the location where the gold is kept.

Is it possible that it's in sequence?
It seems that this possibility cannot be ruled out.

The seven wild animals appear in the puzzle in the order of the lion and the leopard. Therefore, Nero can start by exploring the locations hinted at by these two animals before finding a suitable way to enter the mine.

The phrase "the lion is the ruler of the wolf" clearly establishes a hierarchical relationship, and this is the only description of the "lion." Therefore, the "lion's" corresponding relationship is quite clear: it is the "king" who controls this outer gate, the headquarters of the [Beasts of the Pack].

Lions and wolves are indeed the only two social animals among these wild beasts, fitting the description of "beasts of the pack".

However, Nero had just come from there... and according to the last sentence of the riddle, after collecting all the gold and casting the seal, he would probably need to return there to complete the mission. Therefore, Nero guessed that "the Lion's House" was probably the last place he needed to go.

Then the problem is coming.

Where is the leopard's home?

Or rather, what does the "leopard" represent in this puzzle?
Nero examined the mystery once more. If the "Story of the Seven Beasts" truly represented, as she suspected, how the miners working in the mines were devoured by the [Beasts of the Pack], then the identities of the other beasts should also be deduced.

One important point to note here is that the leopard is the one who ultimately kills the wild boar. The other wild animals merely "tricked" the boar, while the leopard, who wasn't initially involved in the conspiracy, ended up carrying out the killing.

If we consider the life of a "wild boar" as the life of a "miner"... what would ultimately kill him after he was cheated and deceived?
“…Life?” Nero murmured to himself.

More accurately, it should be "survival." To be even more specific, the essential condition for survival is probably "eating."

Demons need to eat too. Besides, naturally born demons are a tiny minority in this outer gate; the majority of the rest are other creatures who have acquired demonic spirits from various places.

Although Nero himself felt the idea was a bit far-fetched, he made up his mind anyway. His next target was the restaurants under the [Beasts of the Pack]!

Perfect timing, she hadn't had breakfast yet either.

After settling into a corner of the restaurant, Nero waited for the waiter to bring the menu while gazing out the clear glass window, pondering something more specific: how to obtain the gold.

There were very few clues in this regard, so Nero could only think about it from the perspective of the organizers—if they left the "gold" here, what conditions would the participants have to meet to make them hand over the gold?
As for the restaurant... the most expensive dish? Using price to control other communities?

That might actually be a bit of a problem. After all, as the saying goes, without money, there are problems everywhere. While Nero isn't exactly short of money right now, what if the organizers set an outrageously high price?
"Hello, how can I help you?"

The waiter arrived. Nero nodded subtly and asked, "Any recommendations?"

As she spoke, her gaze swept over the menu in the waiter's hand, paying particular attention to the most expensive dish.

It doesn't seem particularly outrageous; it looks quite normal. Therefore, this speculation can be declared invalid.

With no other option, Nero ordered a few dishes at random and then fell into deep thought again.

Now it seems that the "leopard's gold" might not be here either, since Nero's reason for finding this place was somewhat far-fetched in the first place. But if it's not here, what else could this "leopard" refer to?

As she saw the food being served, her mouth watered slightly, but then a thought struck her, and she suddenly realized something.

She thought of gluttony from eating, and then of indulging in material pleasures from gluttony—coincidentally, in a long poem by a famous Italian poet, the leopard represents "indulging in pleasure."

The series of coincidences made it hard to believe they were accidental, but Nero still vaguely felt that his reasoning was missing something.

The leopard is a creature that can eat its fill and then remain motionless for days without feeling hungry, making it very adept at conserving its energy. However, to the ancients, this might not have been much different from "eat, sleep, sleep, eat," thus becoming its symbol. But even if the leopard represents "gluttony," this restaurant didn't host any competitive eating contests, so what other factors could link it to this game?

Besides, Nero looked around and could clearly see that no miners would eat at this restaurant. She should have realized this much earlier... As workers, why would those miners travel to such a far and expensive place just for a meal?

Therefore, this place is not the same as the "leopard that killed the wild boar" in Nero's conjecture.

So what else is possible?
Nero looked out the window and his eyes widened in surprise.

That's right, it's the market!

Related to "life", miners will enter it, which also corresponds to "gluttony" and represents "material desires". Moreover, because a large number of shops are gathered there, all kinds of blessing games are often held there, which all fit together!
Nero finished his meal, wiped his mouth, paid the bill, and left.

The next stop is the largest market outside the gate, which is also very likely to be Nero's real "starting point" today.

There, Nero has a very high chance of finding real clues if he tries to find shops or goods related to the community [Beasts of the Pack] or "leopards".

Then, the gift game "The Seven Beasts: Gold and Seals" will truly begin.

(End of this chapter)