◈Episode 28 In front of the fruits of choice (3)
We first stopped by the adventurer’s guild and temple.
What I heard one after the other was not surprising. I didn’t know about it until now because they couldn’t act separately, but there was a clear system for individual party members to act in this game.
Thanks to this, the group, me, the Dev Inquisitor, and the Archmage moved along in harmony. It was natural that I was in charge of investigating the adventurer’s guild.
“Hey… we came to the hospital and not the adventurer’s guild?”
As soon as Dev entered the Adventurer’s Guild, he said something like that. But the situation was so bad that it couldn’t be denied.
Instead of the usual commotion, the inside of the adventurer’s guild was filled with only the groans of the injured.
“All I see are invoices.”
“…!”
Someone’s body shook at the sharp remark. But it didn’t come out in the end. It’s probably because his wounds are preventing him from standing up.
“Oh, demon knight!?”
Then I heard a rather familiar voice.
It was Secretary Izren.
“You all went to different cities…?”
“Do you have any information about the parasites living in the city?”
“…!”
When she saw me, she came to me with a look of confusion and joy. However, after what I said, he quickly changed his expression.
The seriousness of someone dealing with public affairs flowed through her eyes.
“…Remuneration has not been set for the request as it is an urgent matter. Since it is impossible to draw up a formal contract, it is impossible to receive reasonable compensation later. Additionally, we cannot guarantee the adventurer’s safety. Will you cooperate with us as well?”
Oh, when you say it like that, something seems off. Although it is an unnecessary question to me.
“I’m not interested in conservatives.”
He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and scolded furiously.
“I just came to kill them.”
“…!”
Is it because the purpose is the same even though the tone is harsh? The secretary made a tearful face and then nodded.
“I’ll get the information right away!”
It was a very satisfying answer.
“…hey.”
However, while I was waiting for the secretary, someone else spoke to me. It was a face I didn’t know. Judging by his equipment, I think he’s probably an adventurer.
“And then die.”
There are a lot of really crazy people in this world. Oh, it’s not that I don’t like it. How many people have the courage to give advice to strangers?
“If we struggle, we’ll all die!”
But isn’t morale a bit low? Isn’t it a bit much to hurt your pride?
“Go home and confess your weakness. “Do not pollute my ears.”
It’s unclear how the quest will proceed, but it would have been made to wake up anyway.
And that means the player can solve it. Even if you can’t solve it, it will be possible to survive.
Either way, what that NPC said doesn’t apply to me.
“Even the sewers are full of demons! There’s no way you can survive in something like this!”
“under.”
I frowned as I watched the person crying while clutching his chest. A dense fear gripped my ankles, causing me to feel uncomfortable for no reason. It was a similar feeling to feeling dissatisfied with divine power.
“So what does that mean?”
“─What?”
However, this is not a good feeling, so let’s shake it off with a sneer.
Instead, I held my right arm and muttered as if I was speaking or muttering to myself.
“Life is okay. “If only I could kill the devil.”
If you’re going to overindulge, it’s better to have hatred for the devil. Does disliking people only make you more stressed?
“Nari….”
“I brought it!”
I lowered my white-open eyes with coldness and held out my hand. The secretary reflexively held out the document, but then his eyes widened.
“Is it okay if I don’t read it to you?”
“Not required.”
This damn illiteracy rate setting.
I first used my speed reading skills and flipped through the papers. Because of my job, I don’t often have to look at documents, and they aren’t neatly organized in tables, so it was a bit difficult to understand the contents.
Dev quietly peeked his head out from next to me.
“The damage… is huge.”
what. He also knows how to read.
“yes. These are the people who have gone out of the city… but there is also a lot of damage caused by the demons that come out of the sewers every night.”
I looked for an article detailing the progress of the case, keeping in mind the questions and answers from Dev and the administrative officer.
In the beginning, many people were kidnapped without even knowing that the devil was coming. After identification, containment procedures. The temple’s priests and a few adventurers formed a party to go down to investigate the situation and then lost contact. As a result of the second investigation team being dispatched, only one person came back alive. According to testimony, demon contractors are hiding among the demons and attacking them…
And now, they are on defense every night.
“The territory army and adventurer temples are working together to survive, but as the city becomes isolated, supplies are running low. Moreover, as the number of wounded increases due to the battle, we no longer have the manpower to fight…”
I wonder how it happened that I didn’t know about it, but I don’t want to dig in and find out the situation.
What needs to be urgently addressed in this situation is the sewage system and the isolation of the city. However, since I only have one body, I have no choice but to choose one of the two…
Is this really a turning point? If I choose wrong, will the city be ruined? Write it.
“Demon Knight too…”
Still, the worries didn’t last long.
This is definitely the sewage area. My concept itself cannot leave the devil behind, and the hero, the Inquisitor, will also want to stay here.
Moreover, the travel time in this game is too long.
Even if we break the siege and request support from other cities, it will take at least a week for troops to arrive.
That amount of time would be enough for a city to collapse. Before that, we had to get to the heart of the case through a quick resolution.
“Inside Sewers.”
“yes?”
“Have you figured out the path of the demon that appeared in the sewer?”
There are too many documents! Also, why is there no highlighting point in the title of the table or chart?
It’s hard to find because it’s all written in clear letters. Please ask for it to be organized.
“Oh, there is this. At the end here… Oh, there’s a separate map for the sewer system…”
The clerk hurriedly responded to my request, and another clerk who noticed him quickly went inside and took out a piece of paper. It was a fairly large piece of paper.
“This is the map of the sewer itself… Survivors say the roads are very blocked and twisted. This is especially true because there are many places where the entrance itself has been blocked for defense.”
So, I am telling you to explore and remember on your own.
“Tell me the remaining entrance.”
“This place and this place… Ah, I think you probably know this place. “Because the mission you took on last time started from here.”
It is fortunate that there is still an entrance that I know of. I assessed its location and at the same time looked at my inventory.
If I had known this would happen, I would have packed more bandages. Since they are all one-shot cuts, I didn’t buy them separately. I never even thought that a huge dungeon would suddenly appear like now.
The good news among the bad luck is that I didn’t use a lot of the items initially provided. If I give up trying to go all the way and just run like a speed run, it seems like everything will work out.
「❖ What’s hidden behind the scenes
∎ Investigate what happened to the city
∎ Search the sewer
∎ Bonus: Eliminate demons 0 / ??」
The moment I made that decision, the quest was renewed. It was a quest that showed me that my judgment was not wrong.
“Take it.”
Even if the route has changed, it is better to have a map than not to have one. I folded the map and put it in my pocket. I have a pen with me—I forgot to return it—so there is no need to get it.
“You’re not planning on going alone, are you? “It’s too dangerous to go alone!”
But the moment I was about to turn away, Secretary Izuren shouted in horror.
“Knight Sir, are you sure you want to go in right away?”
The same was true for Dev, who had secretly received documents from me and was looking through them. Their voices are so good that it hurts my ears a little.
“You’ve been running non-stop for three days and nights, so you need to sleep for at least a few hours…”
“Huh?! Then it won’t work! It will be difficult to relax in the sewer! And supply…!”
Well, is that necessary?
There is one thing I realized while controlling my fatigue over the past three days. This is a fact that I missed because I was a bit dizzy when the fatigue level was high…
This game. There is no penalty even if fatigue exceeds 100.
I just feel sleepy and tired, but there are no disadvantages such as stat drops that are common.
What if you do it? Time attack should be a priority. I can’t see the city being destroyed while I’m taking a break.
As luck would have it, I was used to moving in this state. Due to the nature of my job, working at the expense of my life is a daily routine.
Of course, I wasn’t the type of person who moved… Wouldn’t it be similar to that?
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Why do you care! Then, let’s at least join the priest and monk Nari!”
no!
No, strictly speaking, I don’t hate it, but you made it so I couldn’t join!! If we wait here, ‘there’s no way he’ll wait for us!’ You’re going to raise a mace like this!
I gritted my teeth, remembering my favorite kimchi dumplings.
I’m doing this because I want to… That’s right! Still, you are the ones who stopped the party from happening at all! So it’s your fault anyway!
“Are you really going alone?”
Deb followed behind me.
I wondered if this was what it would feel like to have a younger sibling, someone who was similar in size to me and was begging me to follow him. Honestly, when I see him fighting with kimchi dumplings, I’m sure he’s younger than me.
Well, that doesn’t mean the Inquisitor is like a younger brother.
If you think about it, he’s closer to a nephew or cousin than a younger sibling. Especially the point that I can’t hate him when he’s fucking me with his googly eyes.
“You too, get out of here.”
“yes?”
“I have no intention of hanging around a weak person. “It’s a hindrance.”
Anyway, I gave up and gave up on improving the relationship.
I didn’t want to die, so I even made the assumption that this could be real, but then what? If it were reality, it would be ruined in a different way!
Only then can I overcome my shame and immerse myself in the concept. Oh, but I don’t want to play the arm devil. That was an excessive setting that even I could not tolerate.
“Ha, but.”
“I guess your job is to keep your word?”
Above all, Dev was not yet an official companion or companion NPC. I’ve never seen a related message pop up, so it must be that way.
In fact, he came to watch over the horse, but he didn’t say he would join us, right? As for the horse guard, I let the Inquisitor and Archmage take the horses to the temple.
Oh, by the way, I didn’t donate the horse. It was just safest to leave it to the temple.
“….”
Anyway, there is no reason for him to be with me. That was an obvious fact.
“…Yes, my job was to keep my word.”
Perhaps he was aware of it as well, and the lower-ranking official under the hood cooed quietly. The slightly parted lips seemed to indicate his daze.
“But Nari….”
Oh, I can’t listen, I can’t listen.
I sped up my steps. Fortunately, Dev didn’t say anything more or follow me.
Soon I saw the drain below the riverbank that I remembered.
“Is it support?”
As expected from a defense location, there were quite a few people living in front of the sewer. It looks like the defensive battle is going to be quite tough as everyone is wearing bloody bandages.
“Who is it?”
I took out my adventurer’s card, showed it to the other person, and took it back the moment the other person confirmed their identity.
“Wait a minute, where are you going? If it’s support, follow instructions!”
There were barricades surrounding the riverbank, but there was a narrow path left open at one point, possibly to dispose of the bodies. I walked there without hesitation.
“hey!”
Then, when someone tries to stop me, I can unintentionally see their prominent veins.
Black-stained veins. It was an additional effect of demon energy erosion. You can call it a side effect.
“Are you sure you want to go in there?! it’s crazy?!”
I listened to the other person’s words and turned my gaze elsewhere. In addition to these NPCs, you can often see people with black veins and bloodshot eyes.
It takes a while to ignore. If you turn into a devil like that, you’ll only have a headache. And…
“Take it.”
“You even ate an ear— what?”
Well, I happened to have some medicine. I won’t be using that medicine forever.
“This is an antidote! “I heard there isn’t much left…!”
Above all, thank you if you can clear the way by processing malicious inventory!
I went down to the riverbank while people were paying attention to the demonic energy antidote. People were upset later, but he had already come down.
“A hostile target exists within a 20m radius.”
At that time, a red light began to shine in the darkness of the sewer. Stepping through the entrance where the bars have been torn off are pitch black feet.
“…! “It’s the devil!”
“Hey, come up now!”
Good timing too. I pulled out a two-hender while trampling on the corpses of various demons.
“Then die!!”
Let’s see who shows up.
「Sammokgu│A devil that resembles a dog but has three eyes. With my third eye, I can see through the other side of the wall.”
“Ghoul│A demon that indulges in rotten flesh. “You have to cut the stomach to die, but if you cut the stomach twice, you will be resurrected.”
There are skeletons, goblins, and even two guys I’ve seen for the first time today.
I took a stance while looking at the things crawling out of the sewer.
“Give up you fucking idiot!” “Sit down now!”
“Victory to my sword and glory to the sky…!”
This time, the act of raising the sword to the sky was omitted. Instead, he widened the distance between his legs and swung the two-hender held tightly in both hands horizontally.
Kwasik!
The head of the corpse he was stepping on was crushed, and the black energy extending from the sword flew out in the shape of a crescent moon.
Suddenly!
Slightly inclined rather than horizontal. The bodies of the demons in front of me were all cut in two.
The sword that flew—it was a slash.
「Slash│Swing the sword and send a powerful magical slash forward.
Effect: Consumes 40 horsepower. “Attacks enemies within range with 300% damage.”
This is the skill description, but for reference, I haven’t filmed the skill itself yet. Nevertheless, the fact that I could use unacquired skills was just a stinger bug that I thought was my imagination.
Ah, the trigger is all about wishing for black energy to surround you. I wondered if I needed a trick of pretending to use a breaker and doing other moves, but even that wasn’t necessary.
I still don’t know how it functions. However, players are not people who fix bugs, but people who use them.
Thanks to you, I saved points.
“What is this…”
Everyone in the hall made dumbfounded noises as their enemies fell in one breath. It was a very good phenomenon.
For now, you can go without getting caught.
I quickly checked whether the monster was alive or dead. There was no one alive. In other words, there is no obstruction here either.
Crash.
I put my two-hender in my hand and took a step forward with my hand on my longsword just in case.
Of course I didn’t run. It’s true that I was in a hurry, but there was no reason to run like a criminal. It’s not cool either.
Crunch!
However, a cedar tree that was thought to be dead opened its eyes and jumped out of the pile of corpses. Even though his body was torn in half, he only had his head moving, making him look like a real devil.
Suddenly!
Wow, I’m glad I can still see it. I took out my longsword without even giving him a glance. The sword that floated through the air like water split the guy’s head in two.
If I do that, no one will interfere with me anymore.
I neatly entered the sewer. A strange passage with black strands stuck to it greeted me.