I Fell into the Game with Instant Kill - Chapter 25.2
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I Fell into the Game with Instant Kill
Chapter 25.2 - Tair Bamon (2)
Chapter 42.2 - Blood Magic (5) Chapter 42.1 - Blood Magic (5) Chapter 41.2 - Blood Magic (4) Chapter 41.1 - Blood Magic (4) Chapter 40.2 - Blood Magic (3) Chapter 40.1 - Blood Magic (3) Chapter 39.2 - Blood Magic (2) Chapter 39.1 - Blood Magic (2) Chapter 38.2 - Blood Magic (1) Chapter 38.1 - Blood Magic (1) Chapter 37.2 - Vampire (6) Chapter 37.1 - Vampire (6) Chapter 36.2 - Vampire (5) Chapter 36.1 - Vampire (5) Chapter 35.2 - Vampire (4) Chapter 35.1 - Vampire (4) Chapter 34.2 - Vampire (3) Chapter 34.1 - Vampire (3) Chapter 33.3 - Vampire (2) Chapter 33.2 - Vampire (2) Chapter 33.1 - Vampire (2) Chapter 32.2 - Vampire (1) Chapter 32.1 - Vampire (1) Chapter 31.2 - Super Sensory (5) Chapter 31.1 - Super Sensory (5) Chapter 30.2 - Super Sensory (4) Chapter 30.1 - Super Sensory (4) Chapter 29.2 - Super Sensory (3) Chapter 29.1 - Super Sensory (3) Chapter 28.2 - Super Sensory (2) Chapter 28.1 - Super Sensory (2) Chapter 27.2 - Super Sensory (1) Chapter 27.1 - Super Sensory (1) Chapter 26.3 - Tair Bamon (3) Chapter 26.2 - Tair Bamon (3) Chapter 26.1 - Tair Bamon (3) Chapter 25.2 - Tair Bamon (2) Chapter 25.1 - Tair Bamon (2) Chapter 24.3 - Tair Bamon (1) Chapter 24.2 - Tair Bamon (1) Chapter 24.1 - Tair Bamon (1) Chapter 23.2 - Floating Veil (4) Chapter 23.1 - Floating Veil (4) Chapter 22.2 - Floating Veil (3) Chapter 22.1 - Floating Veil (3) Chapter 21.3 - Floating Veil (2) Chapter 21.2 - Floating Veil (2) Chapter 21.1 - Floating Veil (2) Chapter 20.2 - Floating Veil (1) Chapter 20.1 - Floating Veil (1) Chapter 19.2 - Before Leaving Chapter 19.1 - Before Leaving Chapter 18.2 - King of the Dead, Astra Chapter 18.1 - King of the Dead, Astra Chapter 17.2 - Alkimas Workshop (4) Chapter 17.1 - Alkimas Workshop (4) Chapter 16.2 - Alkimas Workshop (3) Chapter 16.1 - Alkimas Workshop (3) Chapter 15.3 - Alkimas Workshop (2) Chapter 15.2 - Alkimas Workshop (2) Chapter 15.1 - Alkimas Workshop (2) Chapter 14.2 - Alkimas Workshop (1) Chapter 14.1 - Alkimas Workshop (1) Chapter 13 - Super Regeneration (4) Chapter 12.2 - Super Regeneration (3) Chapter 12.1 - Super Regeneration (3) Chapter 11.3 - Super Regeneration (2) Chapter 11.2 - Super Regeneration (2) Chapter 11.1 - Super Regeneration (2) Chapter 10.2 - Super Regeneration (1) Chapter 10.1 - Super Regeneration (1) Chapter 9.2 - Asher Gronhilde (2) Chapter 9.1 - Asher Gronhilde (2) Chapter 8.3 - Asher Gronhilde (1) Chapter 8.2 - Asher Gronhilde (1) Chapter 8.1 - Asher Gronhilde (1) Chapter 7.2 - Organize Chapter 7.1 - Organize Chapter 6.2 - Council of Lords (3) Chapter 6.1 - Council of Lords (3) Chapter 5.2 - Council of Lords (2) Chapter 5.1 - Council of Lords (2) Chapter 4.2 - Council of Lords (1) Chapter 4.1 - Council of Lords (1) Chapter 3.2 - Escape (3) Chapter 3.1 - Escape (3) Chapter 2.2 - Escape (2) Chapter 2.1 - Escape (2) Chapter 1 - Escape (1) Chapter 0 - Prologue
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Chapter 25.2: Tair Bamon (2)
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The Canes family was a family with a long history in the Fifth Lord's territory, holding the post of mayor of Wilpeck for the ninth generation.
Colton Canes, the mayor, was having a little late dinner with a distinguished guest who had visited the mansion after a long absence.
"So, there are rumors that the Seventh Lord who was crowned this time immediately crushed one of the merchant corps…"
When Colton hinted, the middle-aged guest nodded and said;
"It looks like the owner of the workshop the merchant group was trying to control had something to do with the Lord. I don't know the details. Whatever it was, the Lord completely captured the merchant group."
"…That's worrisome. What kind of person do you think the Seventh Lord is? I've heard that you're an outsider."
"How can I know that I'm just an administrator? I know nothing more than you."
He was Laika, an administrator belonging to the Seventh Lord's castle, who stopped by here for a while on business.
Also, as you can see, he was also a close friend that a personal acquaintance with Mayor Colton.
"He did nothing other than what he did to the merchant corps. From what I heard, he was looking at a map all day until I left the castle."
"Huh? A map, why…"
"The atmosphere on the side of Santea and the neutral countries has been unusual lately, so it may have something to do with it. I'm already saying too much by mentioning this, so don't ask too much."
Even if they were the only ones here, they still couldn't talk lightly about a Lord.
The two soon turned to other topics.
Then there was a commotion at the entrance of the dining room.
Colton tilted his head at the sight of his daughter strutting into the dining room.
"You came back early, my dear. You said you would visit the night market, but the sun hasn't even set yet."
His youngest daughter, who was born to his late wife, was a precious treasure to him.
Her daughter, Denbri, greeted Laika first.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your meal."
Laika nodded his head. He was a little offended, to be honest, but it was okay because he knew Colton cared so much for his youngest daughter.
She said to Colton.
"Do you know what insult I just went through out there, Father?"
"…?"
"A lowly person who doesn't even know the subject dared to tell me I was vulgar! This idiot couldn't even pull out his sword and just watched!"
Colton hardened his expression and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Laika also paid attention to the story with an excited expression on his face.
It was a fact that no one in the city did not know that Lady Denbri was an unreasonable scumbag. But did she come back after being humiliated by someone?
"Tell me what happened."
To that, Denbri explained what had happened at the restaurant.
The employee who spilled a drink on her dress, the escort knight, intervening while she was educating the employee, and even the verbal abuse from the knight's owner.
As her explanation continued, Laika looked at her with a slightly bewildered eyes.
It dumbfounded him. She would so proudly say that she had committed such atrocious violence for such a small thing.
Colton's expression was more serious.
What mattered to him was the insult she suffered, not her behavior.
"Do you know who that bastard is?"
"I don't know. He must be from a filthy family."
"Hmm…"
"I'm so humiliated that I'm going to die, Father. I can't live without him beating his head to the floor and apologising."
Colton asked Gerold, the escort knight, standing next to her.
"How was that knight's skill? Be honest."
"…She was much stronger than me. I'm sorry."
He bowed his head as if he was sorry.
Colton sighed and stroked his chin.
Gerold was a knight with sufficiently excellent skills. That's why he was given as an escort for his youngest daughter.
If the man involved was being escorted by a much better knight than him, he would, of course, not be an ordinary person.
Maybe not nobles from neighboring family, but nobles from another Lord's territory or some distant city?
"Okay. Wait."
Denbri's expression brightened at Colton's words.
He didn't know which family he came from, but at least in this city, Colton was like a king.
But did that man dare to insult her daughter and even order her to be cut down?
"What are you thinking?"
"Whatever it may be, I have to bring that man here."
Colton gave a simple answer to Laika's question.
He was thinking of bringing them to the mansion and seeing his face to find out which family he belonged to.
And if it's someone who belonged to a high family, he would suggest to solve things gently, otherwise I would make him pay for his actions.
"How do they look?"
"The man had black hair and the escort knight was a white-haired woman."
Colton immediately called the knights and ordered them to find the two people and bring them to him.
Meanwhile, Laika, who was listening from the side, tilted his head.
A black-haired man and a white-haired female knight? Why was that…
What nonsense am I thinking?
Immediately dismissing it as an absurd imagination, he burst out laughing. I thought it was a pretty strange coincidence.
It made little sense. Why would the Seventh Lord, who should be in his territory, suddenly be here in the Fifth Lord's territory?
In any case, Laika thought he had a pretty interesting spectacle to watch, and waited for the knights to come and bring the fearless ones.
Chapter 26.1: Tair Bamon (3)
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"Then let's eat!"
Lian licked his lips and looked at the chicken in front of him.
When I said that I would pay for the meal, he took a seat and sat down without the slightest hesitation.
"I was curious about the fried chicken dish, so I wanted to try it, but it was too expensive, so I was about to order something else, haha. Thanks to the young master, I'm now able to eat this."
As he picked up a chicken leg with his hand and brought it to the plate in front of him, the expressions on Asher's and Baros' faces changed.
Originally, it's okay to pick it up with your hands…
I wanted to eat comfortably, but I had to use a fork because it's a matter of dignity.
As I took one leg, the other two also took their share.
Asher, who was unfamiliar with the food, did not dare to put it in her mouth and just stared at the part of the thigh that she had taken, and then she cut off the tip with a knife and ate it.
She then looked a little startled and started eating faster and faster. It seemed to suit her taste.
It tastes good.
It was chicken with its own unique taste different from the familiar taste.
How could a dish with fried meat not taste good?
As we ate in silence for a while, the manager served drinks we didn't even order.
"Thank you so much for helping the waiter. I won't charge you for the food, so please enjoy it."
After saying that, he looked at me with a worried look and continued talking.
"Hey, young master. Lady Denbri, whom you had a quarrel with earlier…"
"It's okay, just go to work."
He seemed to try to warn me about that idiot.
The manager backed away hesitantly, and Lian, who had chicken bones piled up on the plate in front of him, asked me.
"But would you really be all right with young master? If her father is the mayor, wouldn't he be like the king of this city?"
"If you knew that, why did you try to help the waiter?"
"Well… no matter the situation is, I can't just watch people being beaten like that. And to be honest, I didn't even know if that woman was the mayor's daughter. I'm not from this city."
"Wouldn't you help if you knew?"
"No, I would still have stepped out and help. Of course, I didn't expect my hand to be cut off, haha."
He laughed and talked, as if he was talking about someone else and not himself.
As one could see, this man had such an optimistic personality.
Even in the game, he smiled like this until right before he met his end.
"But she seemed to be a, well, weird woman. I know this is off-topic, but it might be better for you to leave the city as soon as possible, young master…"
I turned the topic to something else.
"Looking at your behavior, you seem to be a wanderer."
"Ah, yes. I'm wandering around Calderic right now."
"Why?"
"If you ask me why… What is the reason for the wandering of a traveler?
A smile hung on his lips, but somehow it sounded a little empty.
Because I knew what his situation was now.
Even if he went back, anyone would not welcome him, and he couldn't bear to completely sever his kinship with his family.
Of course, what I was paying attention to right now was not his background, but something else.
The reason I was holding onto him and having a conversation was because there was something I wanted to confirm.
[Hmm? How did I spot the enemy ambush when there was no sign? Haha, because I have a good sense.]
[Okay, you've helped me a lot, so I'll let you know in particular. Don't tell anyone, please keep it a secret. In fact, I have a mystery.]
In the Earth Hill Kingdom episode, during the war with the enemy, this was the line that Lian, or Tair Bamon, gave to the player.
It's not exact, but I remembered him saying something like this.
He was an extremely rare mystery user on this continent.
He meant that there was a mystery that he held like me.
He said, 'I don't know what its name was. It was a mystery that amplified my senses and reflexes.'
Thanks to his mystical abilities, he was never caught or ambushed by the enemy during the war.
He also defeated enemy generals much stronger than himself, even with his not-so-great physical abilities.
There was one thing I wanted to check
Was this the point before or after he gained the mystery?
[How did I get the mystery? That was just a coincidence.]
[There was a time when I was wandering around the continent until a few years ago. I also worked as an adventurer, and I also explored uninhabited areas.]
[Somehow, at an antique store, a torn map was touted as a treasure map. It was a map showing the location of a dungeon. And that's where I got mysteries.]
As I recalled, he said he got a mystery from a dungeon marked on the map.
He roughly mentioned the location in the dialogue, but unfortunately I couldn't remember that far.
Chapter 26.2: Tair Bamon (3)
What if this was before he got the mystery?
Then I, too, had a chance to obtain that mystery.
A mystery that amplifies your senses and reflexes.
That was a very useful skill for me.
In the past, it would have been useless since my body wouldn't follow me at all, but now I had the floating tent.
Now that I had a means to counter the opponent's attack, the senses and reflexes to use it swiftly were also important.
…Come to think of it, it's a really necessary skill.
It was the same even when he thought about the time the Orc King attacked me before.
Even though the distance was quite far, the Orc King's was right in front of my nose in the blink of an eye.
Had I been a little late in opening the veil, one of its heavy fists would have shattered my body.
It's only level 70, but what about the monsters that are much higher than that? What about the other Lords?
If they attacked me with hostility, I would die before I could even open the veil in response, unless I was far away.
Or there was a risk of being ambushed or sniped by an opponent who was hiding somewhere or was very far away.
What's the use of an absolute defense if my throat was cut before I could even use it?
There must have been a huge gap between the speed of the superhumans of this world and my cognitive ability.
Of course, I was excited because I didn't know whether Lian had obtained a mystery yet.
I couldn't ask that outright, so I implied using another question.
"If you've been wandering around the continent, have you ever found something like a dungeon? Or a place where ruins are hidden."
"You mean dungeons or ruins. I've been looking for them, but unfortunately I haven't found one yet. Ah, I just remembered a story…"
Then, with an expression as if thinking of something, Lian took something out of his bosom.
An old-looking parchment that was rolled up.
He said with a laugh.
"This is the map I bought at the antique shop I stopped by in the city before, but the owner said it might be a treasure map pointing to where the ruins are hidden."
"…!"
I hid my surprise and looked at the map. No way?
It was to the point where I wondered if there was such a coincidence in such a perfect situation.
"It's absurd. I tried to open it for no reason, but tore it up a little, so I was forced to buy it for a few silver coins. But since I bought it, I thought I'd visit it as it was on the map, so I was heading there."
"Can I look?"
"As much as you like."
Lian obediently handed me the parchment and turned his attention back to the chicken.
I slowly unfolded it and examined it.
A map so crude and sloppy that I couldn't believe that the contents were real.
The location showed by the map was a place between the Fifth and Fourth Lords' territories, but there was a strange code-like character written on it.
…Is this really true?
No matter how I looked at it, it looked like scribbled garbage..
After examining the map, I turned my attention back to Lian.
Anyway, if this was a map that would lead me to the place where the real mystery was hidden, as I remembered, and if I get that mystery.
It did not differ from swallowing the mystery he would have gained in the future.
"I will buy this map again. Do you intend to sell it?"
"…Yes?"
Lian looked at me in surprise.
Then he immediately clapped his hand and said.
"Sheesh, no. If you're interested, just take it. I've also received favors from the young master."
"…Don't you think this could be a map where a real ancient artifact is hidden?"
"Then there's nothing special. If you really find even an ancient magic artifact, young master, please use it favorably, haha."
He didn't even seem to think that this was really a treasure map.
…Even so, my conscience stings a little to be honest.
But I couldn't be arguing about that right now.
If I was going to feel guilty every time something like this happened in the first place, I would not be able to properly use the knowledge of the future.
After I got the map and we finished our meal, we said goodbye to him in front of the store.
"Then thank you, young master. I'll go first."
I turned my body and looked at his back as he moved his steps, and I fell into trouble for a moment.
Could we just end this meeting like this?
The future war between neutral countries was an event that had a significant impact on the power structure of Calderic and Santea.
There's nothing I could do about it by meddling in it right now. In the first place, I had my own problems to deal with, so I didn't have time to care…
"…"
Bamon (3)
I finally opened my mouth.
Anyway, from the moment I possessed a character in this game and from the moment I became a Lord of Calderic, disorder about the future continued to pile up.
So I didn't have to be bound by the game's story. In the end, the decision was mine.
"Tair Bamon."
At my words, Lian's steps halted.
He slowly turned his head and looked at me with very bewildered eyes.
"You can solve nothing by running away forever. It would be better to return to the kingdom as soon as possible."
"…Wait a minute, how do you–"
"I am Ron, the Seventh Lord of Calderic."
The sudden revelation startled Asher and Baros, who were next to and turned to me.
Lian or Tair's expressions changed variously, as if he didn't understand what I was saying, and finally asked back.
"What did you just say…?"
"You know that the situation between neutral countries is unusual. Go back to where you belong before it's too late."
"…"
"And if you really feel you can't handle it, send a messenger to the Seventh Lord's castle. Depending on the situation, maybe I can help Earth Hill."
I left only those words and turned away from him, who stood there in a daze.
Asher and Baros followed me.
I don't know if that guy will return to the kingdom right away with just this…
The minimum link was made, so the rest was up to his choice.
***
Back at the inn, I looked at the map again.
The location was in the forest area between the Fifth and Fourth Lords, so the path was not twisted.
It will take a long time to find this too…
It was nice to have one more mystery to get, but I felt tired already when I thought the hardships would increase much more.
I was about to lie down on the bed, but there was a commotion outside.
Knock knock.
Soon, a knock rang.
"Come in."
Carefully opening the door, Baros glanced outside with a firm expression.
"The mayor's knights came to the inn."
At those words, I immediately understood the situation.
The sound of coming up the stairs echoed, and a series of knights appeared behind them. Asher blocked their way.
The knight standing at the forefront looked at Asher with a frown, then shifted his gaze to me and said.
"Is that the person who insulted Miss Denbri?"
"…"
"Looks like it's right. The mayor has given the order to bring young master. Please, I hope you will follow obediently."
I immediately grasped the situation and let out a blank laugh.
I was going to go there when the day was bright, but they found me right away like this.
"Guide me."
Let's see how far they would go.
I said that and shook my head.
***
"They say they are in the mansion's hall right now, Mayor."
"I get it."
The attendant reported bringing in a thug who insulted his daughter. Colton nodded his head.
Denbri, who was sitting next to him, was also excited and jumped up from her seat.
At that sight, Administrator Laika clicked his tongue inwardly and turned to Colton.
"Can I come and see him too?"
"Do whatever you like."
As he moved to the hall of the mansion, he saw three people standing in the middle.
Denbri spotted the man standing in the middle and raised her eyebrows.
The man also spotted her and met her eyes.
She said with a wicked grin.
"Did we just meet again? I said you'd pay the price, did I?"
Colton was about to open his mouth as he looked around at the man and the two people standing on either side of him.
"You insulted my daughter…"
He turned his head when he heard a sudden gasp next to him.
Laika was looking at them with an expression as if he had seen a ghost. He shuddered all over his body as if he had suddenly caught a chill.
Then he soon fell on his knees and bowed his head.
"I meet the Seventh Lord!"
…What?
Colton stopped thinking for a moment because he didn't understand what he just heard.
Denbri, who was happily contemplating what kind of hell to show that damn guy, also made a stupid face.
"…Lord?"
A terrible silence fell in the hall.
The elf frowned and looked at Laika, who had his head bowed to the floor, then spoke cautiously to the man.
"This is Laika, the Administrator of the Seventh Lord's Castle. It seems that he was on a business trip to this city."
The man, the Seventh Lord, nodded and went over to one chair in the hall and sat down.
"You must have called me because you had something to say."
He glanced over at Colton and the others, who stood still.
"Since you have summoned me like this, let's hear what you want to say."
Chapter 27.1: Super Sensory (1)
His mind turned white.
Colton tried to understand this baffling situation.
Laika was lying face down with his head bowed on the floor beside him, motionless.
What the hell did he just say?
Lord?
Who the hell was that guy?
He wanted to believe that he had heard it wrong, but the situation unfolding in front of him clearly denied it.
The Seventh Lord sat in a chair, crossed his legs, and looked around at the people in the hall.
The knights who had brought him and stood proudly were also frozen and unable to breathe.
In time, Colton also gradually became contemplative.
In the suffocating silence, it didn't take long for him to come to terms with what he had done.
The new owner of the seat of the Seventh Lord, who had been talked about all over Calderic recently.
…The Seventh Lord was the man in front of him.
Baros carefully looked at the Seventh Lord and asked.
"By the way, why are you here with the mayor of Wilpeck, administrator?"
It was a tone full of pressure, as if he wanted Laika to prove his innocence.
If you couldn't do that, it wouldn't be strange if your neck fell off right here.
Laika felt fear and dread creeping through his body, swallowed his saliva in one gulp, and stuttered his mouth open.
"I was visiting the cities of the Fifth Lord one after the other for a related administrative matter. The reason I stayed with the mayor was because I had a personal relationship with him… He said he would bring those who insulted his daughter back to the mansion to resolve the situation. I followed him out of curiosity to observe. I never dared to imagine that you would be in this city. I am sorry."
In fact, Laika felt really unfair. The situation was equally confusing.
For him, who was enjoying a brief retreat in Wilpeck, the situation came as a whirlwind. No, it wasn't even a lightning bolt; it was a disaster.
It was only because he knew the face of the Seventh Lord that he could act quickly with his survival instinct as soon as he saw them.
How could he have imagined that the Seventh Lord had left his territory and were in this city out of nowhere, and that he was the one who had a quarrel with the daughter of the mayor?
Of course, he couldn't ask the Seventh Lord, so there was only one thing Laika could do. He prostrated himself so that sparks would not fly to him.
Baros said, frowning.
"Anyway, didn't you just watch the situation and try to enjoy it as a game?"
"That, that's…"
Cold sweat broke out on Laika's back.
"No… is this… uh…?"
Meanwhile, Denbri, who was still muttering with a puzzled expression, turned to Colton.
Baros' gaze turned to those two this time.
Because the Lord had decided to just mercifully do nothing, he had no choice but to watch that stupid girl walked away scathe free from the restaurant.
But she even dared to call the knights to this place even though the Lord had already given her one leniency?
"Mayor, will you continue to stand like that?"
Colton, who suddenly came to his senses, grabbed Denbri by the shoulders and knelt on the floor.
The biggest crisis came to the mayor's life, which had suffered little for over 20 years.
Denbri, who was forced to kneel with him, reflexively frowned. She had never been on her knees since she was born.
She was completely taken aback, and when she saw Colton's expression, she shut her mouth.
"My apologies… Seventh Lord."
The Seventh Lord tilted his head to the side.
"I thought you called me here to tell me something, but what are you doing on your knees?"
"I'm sorry. I dared not know the great One and committed great disrespect."
"Tsk."
The voice of the Seventh Lord grew even colder.
"I told you to tell me why you called me. Are you going to keep doing that like a parrot?"
Colton bit his lip hard.
What could he say? Could he say that he was going to make the arrogant guy who dared to scorn her daughter pay for his crimes?
The other already knew everything, but the Lord was making him spit it out of his mouth himself.
Dead.
He's really dead.
The family could perish right here and now. Even if the Seventh Lord tried to do so, no one could stop him.
What about the Fifth Lord when she heard about this later? Would she be furious that he had wreaked havoc in her territory and killed the mayor?
No, even if she heard the circumstances, she wouldn't care.
In Calderic, a Lord was such a being.
No one but the same Lord dared to look at them at eye level, and if you tried to climb, they would trample you to death like an insect, no matter how high of a position you might hold.
Colton slammed his head on the floor instead of answering. Not just once, but repeatedly.
"I have committed a mortal sin!"
Bang bang!
Looking at Colton, who was constantly banging his head with his forehead shattered and blood flowing from it, Denbri, who was next to him, shuddered.
It was because it was only then that she realized the seriousness of the situation when she saw her father, who did not differ from an emperor in Wilpeck, act like this.
No matter how much she lived like no one could stop her, she knew what the status of a Lord meant in Calderic.
"Mayor, please stop. You dare in front of the Lord…"
Baros narrowed his eyes. He immediately cut off the mayor's words and stepped back.
"Mayor."
"…"
"This is the third time. Explain why you called me here."
Chapter 27.2: Super Sensory (1)
As if this was their last chance, the voice of the Seventh Lord was both indifferent and scary.
Only then did Colton realize.
He knew that no matter what he did, he couldn't get any sympathy from this monster. The best thing to do was just do what he was told, and pray that he would die a comfortable death.
"…I heard that someone had insulted my daughter, so I intended to bring him back here and make him pay for it."
The Seventh Lord said.
"Did you get all the details on why that happened?"
"…Yes."
"Tell me."
"A waiter spilled a drink on my daughter's dress, so while my daughter was educating the waiter…"
"Education. Is that what it's called when you wield violence so ruthlessly over something like a stain on your clothes?"
"…"
"She even tried to slit the wrists of the person who stopped her. If that's education, then what do you think is appropriate education for me in this situation? Here, the mayor of a border city ordered his knights to bring the Lord to him by force."
Colton flinched.
The eyes of the Seventh Lord turned to Denbri.
"Did you say that you would make me unable to walk on my two legs without me crawling between yours?
The complexion of Colton and Laika, who were lying down, became more swarthy. Did you even say such a thing?
Denbri couldn't hold back the fear and said with tears dripping down her face.
"Now, I made a mistake. Lord. Help me. Help me…"
The Seventh Lord shook his head.
"I was planning to just let you off since I didn't want to make a fuss in another Lord's territory."
"We've committed a mortal sin…"
"I still have the same thoughts. I'm too lazy to make a fuss over such a ridiculous thing."
However, at the words that followed, Colton's face turned pale.
"Since it happened in her territory, the Fifth Lord will take care of it later."
…That too was tantamount to a death sentence.
What would happen if this news reached the ears of the Fifth Lord?
It didn't matter what the relationship between the Seventh Lord and the Fifth Lord was.
It was unacceptable that the likes of a mayor dared to insult a Lord in the slightest.
Even if the Seventh Lord didn't use his hands right away, it was a predetermined future that the Fifth Lord would directly punish them herself.
The Seventh Lord rose from his seat.
As if everything he had to say was finished, he turned to the entrance of the hall.
When Baros glanced around, the knights standing around him hurriedly knelt one by one.
The Seventh Lords stopped walking for a moment and looked back.
"If you've lived trampling on others with such unreasonable power, you should have been prepared to be trampled on like this someday, don't you think?"
There was nothing Colton could answer to the words of the Seventh Lords.
The figures of the Seventh Lords and his two attendants slowly moved away from the hall toward the exit.
***
By leaving the mansion, I completely turned my attention away from the mayor.
I had no intention of punishing them or anything like that in the first place.
It's not that I was showing mercy, it's just that I felt embarrassed to have my hands stained with blood for something like this.
And anyway, even if I did nothing, if this incident reached the ears of the Fifth Lord, the mayor and Denbri would… whatever it was, it would be a terrible end.
"Hmm…"
It was late at night.
Returning to the inn, I looked at the map I received from Tair again.
Also, I compared and matched the map with the map of the Fifth Lord's territory to identify the location of the map in more detail. With the help of Baros, of course.
"There's a forest on the northwestern border of the Fifth and Fourth Lords. That seems to be the point marked on this map."
A slight detour from the path, but it didn't matter as long as the mystery could be obtained.
I stroked my chin and looked back at Tair's map.
But what is this letter?
Unknown strange characters written on one side of the map. Was it a password?
This also seemed to have something to do with the destination, but I couldn't figure out what it meant.
Oh, Tair could have known, so he should have asked. I was so distracted by the map that I couldn't even pay attention.
As I stared at the text, Baros spoke again.
"The forest, the greatest tree, when even the twilight completely subsides, it is written that lifeless branches will guide adventurers."
"…?!"
I looked back at him in amazement.
"Can you read this?"
"Yes. One of the ancient cipher characters."
I looked at him with eyes asking how he knew that, and the answer came back.
"I know a little about ancient letters because I was interested in exploring ruins while working as an adventurer in the past."
"…Right."
There's really nothing he couldn't do.
The reason he was so good at Calderic's geography was because he had such a past.
By the way… the biggest tree?
I pondered for a moment and tried to interpret the meaning of the sentence.
Was the 'biggest tree' pertaining to the biggest tree in the forest, and 'when twilight has completely subsided' meant night time?
But what was the last 'lifeless branch'?
"Do you know what the 'lifeless branch' meant?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know…"
I asked Baros again, but he seemed to not know what it meant.
As I turned my gaze to Asher, she stood there a little dazed, pretending to think quickly, then shook her head.
…I'll have to see for myself.
Then, the immediate goal was set.
Go to the forest marked on the map and find the biggest tree.
Chapter 28.1: Super Sensory (2)
The day was bright and we left the city of Wilpeck.
To the nameless forest on the northwestern border of the Fifth and Fourth Lords' territories.
Is this a dungeon again?
I gazed at the scenery outside the window, lost in thought in the carriage.
This time, the place where the mystery was hidden was probably also a dungeon. Because Tair said so.
The difference between a ruin and a dungeon was whether there was a risk factor or not.
If there were only hidden treasures, it was a ruin, and if there were dangers such as guardians or traps, it was a dungeon. Just like when I was looking for the floating veil last time.
The dungeon I had to find this time was a place I had no information about, so the danger was unknown.
It's said that Tair accidentally broke through the dungeon and found the mystery, so it doesn't sound like a very dangerous dungeon…
Tair was only at level 20, so there was a high probability that the level of the dungeon was at that level.
Of course, it's just speculation, and in the end, nothing was certain unless I experienced it myself.
Aside from the risk, there was also the problem of deciphering the code and then finding the dungeon.
Time passed, and we arrived at Oron City, on the northwestern border of the Fifth Lord's territory.
This time we arrived quite early in the day, so we could grab a lodging and I went straight to the adventurer's guild to hire a guide.
If they described it as the biggest tree in the forest, it would mean that it was so big that it would stand out, so I wondered if there would be many people who knew about it.
Upon entering the guild building, the hall was buzzing with overflowing adventurers.
I looked around for a moment and then spoke in a slightly louder voice.
"I will hire the best guide who meets the conditions for 10 gold."
Pop.
Like a miracle, the noise stopped, and all eyes turned this way.
I wondered if everyone had heard it correctly, but I spoke again as they were making faces that seemed concerned.
"I'll hire a guide for 10 gold. Does anyone know of the biggest tree in the Northwest Border Forest?"
Every time I hired a guide; I ended up spending money.
Well, there was an abundance of money, and it's the most effective way, so what about it?
The adventurers seemed to look at each other, but soon words came out one by one.
"…Are you talking about the Mengrodi tree?"
"I think you're right. What else could be the tallest tree in the Northwest Forest?"
Looking at the reactions, it was a famous tree that everyone knew about.
It was a good thing. At least I wouldn't have a hard time finding the tree.
"…Hire me! I know very well where the Mengrodi tree is!"
Soon, an adventurer raised his hand and shouted.
Starting with him, other adventurers also intervened one by one.
"You're fucking shit. How many adventurers in this city don't know that place!"
"I'm much better than that guy! I can guide you to your destination quickly and safely!"
In an instant, even the employment auction hall became open, and I could see the staff at the counter perplexed.
I said a bit of my apologies to them. Did this cause too much of a fuss?
Just then, we heard a loud cry from above.
"Shut up everyone! You said you would hire the best adventurer!"
The mouths of the adventurers who were making a fuss shut their mouths all at once at the gruesome voice, like a beast roaring.
I looked upstairs.
At the same time, someone jumped off the railing and came down.
[Lv. 41]
A beastman woman with scars all over her bare skin, carrying several short swords around her waist.
"Sir, I'm the best here, so hire me."
She strode towards me and said with a confident smile.
Among adventurers, talents over level 40 were quite rare. Was she a first-class adventurer?
"No, Railo… you can receive so many other requests. Isn't it too much to take such a request?"
An adventurer raised a disgruntled voice.
But when the woman turned her gaze to him and glared at him, he instantly shook and withdrew.
"Well, you idiots. If you're complaining, do you think your skills are better than mine? You'll get 10 gold after guiding the road with those skills? Have you lost your conscience?"
There were no adventurers who expressed their dissatisfaction further. They either frowned or sighed and turned around as if they had given up.
It was harsh, but not wrong. All the commissions one received were proportional to their skills.
Turning her gaze back to me, she introduced herself with a slightly business-like smile.
She said, "I am Railo, a first-class adventurer. There is no adventurer more skilled than me in Oron City, so you will not regret hiring me."
I nodded and took the money out of my pocket.
"Here's half the down payment."
Railo smiled when she was handed the five gold coins.
"When are you planning to leave?"
"If possible, right now."
"Okay. Then let's go right away."
So I quickly hired a guide who seemed pretty good at her job.
Chapter 28.2: Super Sensory (2)
Since the forest was quite far from the city, we travelled by carriage.
There was no problem since there was a trail.
"Hey, it looks ordinary, but isn't this a very high-class carriage?
Railo, who was sitting in the other seat, said.
In the seat next to her, Asher sat silently, as always.
Outwardly, Asher always looked expressionless, but as I kept looking at her, she had a slight difference from normal.
Now, I felt she was in a bad mood. It could be because she was annoyed by the noisy Railo.
"Oh, I made a lot of noise. I'm sorry."
She soon calmed down and looked out the window, as if she had noticed Asher's reaction.
She then asked me after a while.
"By the way, can you tell me why you are looking for the Mengrodi tree?"
Was she asking that now?
If she was going to check who the client was and what the purpose of the request was, it would have been normal to check before accepting the request.
Or would she accept any request without hesitation, knowing that she would get caught up in something dangerous?
This adventurer named Railo seemed to have that much confidence in her own skills. Looking at the level, it was probably true.
I was going to just say whatever, but I changed my mind.
Come to think of it, was there any reason to hide it this time?
Maybe she could even help find the dungeon. Even if she tried to do something, Asher was here.
"Have you ever explored a dungeon?"
Railo answered my sudden question.
"A few times. Why do you ask that?"
"Going to the Mengrodi tree is to search for a dungeon."
"Ah… was it like that?"
I nodded my head.
"Honestly, I had a rough idea. Most of the men who ask for directions to some unexpected places are looking for ruins."
It seemed like she had taken on this type of request quite a few times.
I asked again.
"Is there a lifeless branch associated with the tree called Mengrodi?"
"…Lifeless branch? Well, I've never heard of such a thing."
Railo tilted her head, but soon became interested.
"Is that a code related to the dungeon? Finding a dungeon with a code is a lot of fun."
After saying that, she murmured the word lifeless branch, deep in thought, and then brushed her hair.
"Anyway, finding a dungeon makes work much more fun. After guiding you to the tree, can I continue to help you? Of course, I have no intention of accepting more commission money."
"It doesn't matter, but if we find a dungeon, I have no intention of letting you explore the inside."
At that, Railo giggled.
"Please give me an extra pay based on how much you think I've been helpful. And to be honest, I expect little. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, finding ruins is a waste. What do you think?"
That's right.
I took things a little too easily, perhaps because I was consistently successful in finding mysteries.
Dungeon was actually not that easy to find.
***
After arriving in the forest, we got off the wagon and started moving.
Baros had to guard the wagon, so we left him it at the entrance of the forest and I went inside with Asher. Railo took the lead and guided the way.
"But isn't it funny when you think about it?"
"…?"
"Isn't it said that dungeons are legacy left by ancient mages? But then, they could just pass it on to their disciples and let them inherit it. Instead, they made dungeons could kill trespassers who tried to get their treasures."
Well, those dungeons could be made by mages who didn't have disciples to succeed them.
Or maybe eccentric mages just made it out of boredom.
In the first place, it was just the setting of the game, so I never mulled over about it.
It's enough to attach the background in moderation, and rather, it's strange if there were no dungeons in RPGs.
As they went deeper into the forest, monsters gradually appeared.
A giant rat, bigger than a human, appeared blocking the way. Was it a Giant Rat?
I didn't know what monsters appeared in this forest.
No matter how much I played RaSa, I didn't know all the monsters that appeared in this ordinary forest without a name.
Railo approached Giant Rat with a tap on her neck.
Crackling!
It roared and lunged at me with an intrusive cry.
Railo, who had stomped her foot, swung her fist without drawing her sword.
The Giant Rat, which bounced away with a sound like something exploded, had its head smashed to death.
Railo said, shaking off her fist with a slightly refreshed face.
"Let's keep going."
After that, we rarely encountered other monsters. Even if we ran into them, it was only about level 10 trash mobs like Giant Rats.
It seems that there aren't many monsters here in the first place.
By the time the sun went down, we reached our destination.
It took little time because the forest wasn't that big.
"Now, this is the Mengrodi tree."
I looked up at the huge tree in front of me and admired it a little.
I expected it to be the biggest tree in the forest, but it was much bigger than I had imagined.
It was several tens of meters tall, and the circumference was wide enough for ten people to stand hand in hand.
After touching the surface of the tree for a moment, I turned my gaze to the sun setting in the sky.
The sun is setting just now…
The mightiest tree, when the twilight has completely subsided, the lifeless branches.
These were the three keywords of this dungeon search.
The biggest tree was here, and the time was soon to be night, and all that was left was the 'lifeless branches'…
What the hell is a lifeless branch?
I raised my gaze to the dizzying branches of the Mengrodi tree.
As I did that, Asher and Railo started looking at the branches as well.
Then, suddenly, Asher opened her mouth.
"Hey, look at that."
She stared somewhere behind me and pointed with her finger.
I looked to where she was pointing, but couldn't see anything. I narrowed my eyes.
What's there…
"…!"
I immediately widened my eyes.
A single twig intermingled among the lush branches.
However, upon closer inspection, it was different. Because only that branch had no leaves.
Was that a 'lifeless branch'?
Chapter 29.1: Super Sensory (3)
"Huh? Only that branch has no leaves. It's amazing."
Railo also put her palm on her forehead and looked at the bare branches.
I furrowed my brows and was lost in thought.
A lifeless branch.
It must have meant that tree branch.
If not, what else could it be? It was an unnatural sight no matter who looked at it.
But how is such a thing possible?
Was it just the genetic characteristic of the tree, or did the creator of the dungeon who left the code did something to this tree?
I skipped it because it wasn't really important.
Rather, if it was a 'lifeless branch', it meant that it was the most decisive hint to find the dungeon.
Because the code says that a lifeless branch would guide adventurers.
"…"
I stared up at the branch.
What and how could a branch attached to a tree guide me?
I thought for a moment. Maybe if it was cut down, the branches would fly around and give directions… But it didn't seem like that's the case no matter how much this was a fantasy world.
Direction? Is it a direction?
I thought of something simpler.
Were you just telling me to move in the direction the branch was extending?
It was confusing, but I couldn't think of anything else, so I moved. If it wasn't the case, then I could just come back.
I looked back at the two and said.
"Let's move over there."
That's how we headed in the direction the branch was pointing.
The sun had completely passed before I knew it, and darkness fell over the forest.
I took out the glowstone and walked, carefully examining my surroundings. I didn't know where there might be traces suggesting the location of the dungeon.
After moving for several tens of minutes, something that clearly stood out came into view.
A single tree among the other trees emitted a sense of presence. Its leaves were dimly shining.
…Luminous tree?
Railo also found it and muttered in wonder.
"It's a luminous tree. It's hard to see, but who would think it was in this forest too?"
As the name suggested, the luminous tree was a tree with leaves that emitted light at night. Like fireflies.
It was located exactly on the route we were walking on, so there was something suspicious about it.
Could it be that?
When the twilight subsided, the reason the time of the day was included in the code.
If interpreted differently, it meant that something specific that could only be seen at night was a hint to the dungeon.
And the luminous tree was a tree that emitted light like this only at night.
Feeling something connected in my head, I moved closer to the luminous tree.
Hmm…
So what's next?
I moved in the direction where the lifeless branch was pointing to and found a luminous tree standing there. What more did I have to do?
I asked Railo.
"Do you know something?"
"Yes?"
"The biggest tree, when the twilight has completely subsided, the lifeless branches will guide the adventurers. So I moved to the direction where that branch of the Mengrodi tree was pointing, and this luminous tree appeared. It seems to be a signpost to the dungeon. Let me know if anything comes to mind."
Railo stood there looking dumbfounded before she asked.
"I don't know? More than that, why do you say this is a signpost to the dungeon?"
"What else stands out at night other than this?"
She seemed to think about it again, but then she looked surprised as if she realized it only then.
"Indeed, that's it! Could you please explain?"
"…Have you really done a lot of dungeon explorations?"
"I'm better at using my body, and my other colleagues are good at using their brain."
"Where are your friends now?"
"After finding one artifact and having a big meal, everyone retired. I'm an adventurer because it's my calling, so I'm still active."
Such a story.
Anyway, Railo didn't seem to be of much help.
I wasn't expecting anything, but I asked Asher as well.
"Do you think of anything?"
Asher seemed to think hard, then she carefully opened her mouth.
"That… it's not."
But instead of speaking to me, she shook her head.
One of the two ways to piss people off was to stop suddenly talking when they were about to say something.
"It's okay, tell me."
I urged her to speak again.
"I heard that most dungeons and ruins are located underground."
"Right."
Since ancient times to modern times, people had excavated more relics because the remains on the ground were more noticeable than underground.
"That's why I thought maybe there's a dungeon hidden right under this tree."
"…"
It was a very simple opinion.
But so what? It seemed reasonable.
"Ah, that's a bit. How could they hide it so blatantly like that?"
Railo interjected and said.
My reason for having doubt was the same as hers, but my intuition leaned in favor of Asher's opinion.
After thinking about it, I ordered Asher.
"Dig deep right in front of the tree until I tell you to stop."
"Yes."
Asher gestured to Railo, who was standing still, to step back.
Railo, who stood next to me, looked at me as if it what I ordered was just absurd.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Nothing else comes to mind."
"No matter how deep she dug, who would…"
Kwaaiang!
The sound of the explosion hitting her ears startled Railo, and she looked back.
Every time Asher struck with her fist, the ground burst open and the hole got deeper and deeper.
Railo stared at the absurd sight.
Time passed.
Asher, who had been digging the ground for a long time, suddenly jumped over the pit and she said.
"Something like a stone wall appeared and there's a space inside."
"…Stone walls?"
I moved closer to the pit, put the glowstone above it, and looked down. She dug too deep.
It was dark, so I couldn't see it well, but as Asher said, the artificial stone walls seemed to be faintly visible.
So, it's real?
I was dumbfounded and laughed out loud.
Did the guy who created the dungeon think no one could really find it?
Even after I found it, I was amazed at how the hell Tair found it.
"…?"
I tilted my head.
Wait a minute, wasn't something inconsistent?
Even if you estimate the depth of the hole Asher had dug, it was well over a few meters.
So, Tair, like Asher, dug this deep alone and found that… Did that make sense?
"…"
I felt a strange sense of difference, as if something was out of place, but I still had to go inside.
I said to Railo.
"I'll be back, wait here."
"…Ah yes."
She nodded her head gracefully.
Seeing Asher's strength, it felt like her tone had become a little more polite.
I jumped straight down the pit.
Chapter 29.2: Super Sensory (3)
It was quite high, but there were no problems.
I had already confirmed that if I used the floating veil in the air, it would fix my body mid-flight.
In short, if I used it while falling, the force of falling disappeared, so I could use it for landing.
Teouk.
Right before landing, I used the floating veil to land safely on top of the stone wall.
There was a hole in the stone wall where Asher was standing.
When I brought the glowstone closer, I saw that there was a space inside, just as she said.
"Go in."
"Yes."
At my words, Asher jumped down the stone wall first.
After checking the height of the floor, I also jumped down. And…
"…"
I was a little dumbfounded and looked around at the scenery unfolding in front of me.
There was a very wide space inside the stone wall. It was a scale I had never guessed.
It was also very artificial.
The walls and passages were cut straight like an underground lair of a secret organization, and the glowstones on the walls emitted faint light as if their power was almost exhausted.
What the hell is this place?
No matter how one looked at it, it's not an ordinary dungeon.
No, was this even a dungeon?
Feeling the growing sense of alienation growing in my heart, I moved along the aisle ahead.
The aisle was very long. It was also twisted here and there and sometimes divided into several parts.
After moving for such a long time, we could reach a certain communal space.
…Altar?
That was the first thought that came to my mind when I first saw it.
A structure made of red stone placed in the middle of a large space.
The walls, ceiling, and floor around it were illuminated with magic circles and bizarre characters.
I had no choice but to pay attention to such trivial things.
It was because 'something' was sitting in the magic circle in the middle of that strange structure.
Wearing an old robe, something that looked like a human at first glance.
The moment I found it, an ominous feeling of unknown origin soared instinctively, and a number that made me doubt my eyes was reflected in my field of vision.
[Lv. 97]
…What the hell was that, the fuck.
I couldn't help but understood that they were in a very shitty situation right now.
This place was not a dungeon where Tair found a mystery.
It was the moment she was about to tell Asher, who was holding the hilt of the sword with a nervous expression on her side, to escape…
Flash!
Violet rays flashed.
Asher, who was directly hit by the beam, was blown backwards before she had time to react.
"…!"
I hurriedly turned my head.
Asher was pinned against the wall and could not move. I thought she was dead, but she thankfully just fainted.
I slowly looked forward again at the sound of laughter.
"Kheuh… hehe, heuhhahaha…!"
The grotesque laughter that flowed from the monster in the robe reverberated through the space.
"It's here, It's finally here! After all, fate didn't forsake me!"
As he got up from his seat, the robe he was wearing crumbled and flew away.
And the exposed body of the guy was just bizarre.
The skin was black like ink, the veins clearly rising above it were pure white, and the eyes were shining brightly with blood.
Peeing!
Immediately, I took out the bow I was carrying on my back, took aim and shot the arrow drenched in my blood.
However, the arrow was blocked by the shield that wrapped around the robed monster and only bounced helplessly.
Feeling very disappointed, I lowered my bow and opened my mouth.
"…What are you?"
The monster who had been laughing for a long time stopped laughing and said.
"Enpyrus Deima, the wizard who dreams of eternity."
"…That's a name I've never heard of."
"Oh, so much time has probably passed since my name has already been forgotten."
His level was 97. He only had a one level difference compared to the Overlord, Rashtain.
My life was in danger.
Asher was knocked out, and my instant kill ability couldn't reach him.
I kept my composure and stared at him with sunken eyes.
"Is the reason you attacked us because we invaded your territory?"
"Invasion? Hahaha! Quite the opposite! Do you know how long I've been waiting for someone to come here?! I couldn't step out of this small magic circle, barely maintaining my dead body!"
He said incomprehensible words.
However, I could tell from his words just now that he was an ancient mage, and that he had been imprisoned here for a very long time.
And he was thrilled by my presence here.
Fu-wook!
"…?!"
The light flashed again, and my stomach felt hot.
I knelt down as I felt my body drain from the intense pain that followed.
"Kuk…"
I looked down at my side, which had been completely ripped open and blood was pouring out of it.
I didn't even have time to activate the floating veil because I couldn't react to the attack at all.
At that moment, I heard the monster's voice.
"What are you? Why can't you block an attack like this when your soul level is so high?"
Gulleong!
The blood that flowed from me floated in the air and moved to him.
Soon, a voice full of joy filled the cavity.
"Well, it's okay. The blood of someone as high as you can bring my body back to life! I can get out of this damn place and finally go out into the world again! Hehe! Hehahahaha!"
Hearing a buzzing sound in my ears, I raised my head.
He sucked up all the blood he had taken from me and began to greedily absorb it.
The more he did, the more his body repeated expansion and contraction as if it were revitalized, and a huge energy swirled around him.
I was dizzy from the pain, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight.
After drinking all of my blood, the guy with a face full of elation tilted his head.
"What's so funny?"
I barely opened my mouth and squeezed out my voice.
"Thank you for being so considerate…"
"What?"
"Die."
Poof.
The monster's body collapsed, and the energy that filled the cavity disappeared at once.
Chapter 30.1: Super Sensory (4)
After confirming that the monster had died, I lowered my head.
It really hurt and I felt like dying.
The opened side simmered and new flesh appeared. Super regeneration was activated, and the wound was being regenerated.
However, it felt like the recovery was slow. It could be because the injury was serious or the magic that attacked me slowed it down.
I soon recovered from my injuries and rose from where I was sitting.
I felt as if my body was drained of strength.
Of all the risks I'd been through, this time was the most dizzying.
If I had been hit in the head rather than the side, I would have died. No matter how effective super-regeneration was, it wouldn't be able to restore even the head.
The light of the magic circle that was illuminating the space also disappeared when the monster died.
I stared at the dead man and looked back at Asher with a sigh.
Asher was sprawled against the wall and lay motionless.
I went over to her, picking up her messy clothes.
"Hey."
I didn't know if her injury was serious or how should I wake her up, so I patted her cheek first.
As her eyelids fluttered, Asher slowly opened her eyes.
I asked her as she blankly blinked her eyes in relief.
"Are you okay?"
"…Yes. How much am I… that monster?"
"Dead."
Asher, who was confused, let out a small sigh, as if she understood the situation, and then became devastated.
To be honest, it was fortunate that she was only hit once and flew away and then retired from battle. I could see the level, but she couldn't. So, this must be another blow to her self-esteem.
"Sorry. Nothing else…"
"He was as strong as the overlord."
At that, Asher widened her eyes and looked at me.
I took a Scarlet potion out of my arms.
The attack hit her right below, so she was fortunately safe.
Asher shook her head, planted her sword on the floor, and stumbled to her feet.
"It's okay."
"Just drink a little if you don't want it to be poured on your wounds."
"No. It's really fine."
How stubborn…
She kept repeating that it was okay even if I was practically forcing it to her, so I pretended to bring it to her mouth.
Startled, Asher stepped back, tripped over her foot, and fell again.
I looked down at her as she fell, a little startled by her furious reaction.
"Your condition is not normal, after all."
"…"
Asher's eyes looked this way, and I felt a faint mix of embarrassment and resentment from her gaze.
Who kept insisting on rejecting the potion here?
"It's an order, so drink."
Eventually, Asher took the Scarlet potion and drank it.
She was an irreplaceable talent for me. How could even a hundred bottles of this potion be wasted?
If there was any trouble, I had to fix it right away, so that there was no problem.
By the way…
I sighed inwardly and turned my head back to the fallen monster.
What the hell was that bastard?
Why was there a monster of such a crazy level in this forest?
No matter how many strong mages were there in the golden age of ancient magic, at level 97, they would have been one of the strongest on the continent.
He said he's Enpyrus Deima.
It was a name I didn't know about the ancient NPCs because the game rarely mentioned them.
The ancient era almost had no records other than the ruins buried all over the continent.
I moved and went up to the altar.
Looking around the dead man, there was something like a book.
I picked it up and paused.
This was because the book crumbled at the slightest touch. How old was this?
I had no choice but to crouch down in front of the book and flip through the front pages as carefully as I could.
"…"
What?
I stared blankly at the letters written in the book.
So… these were ancient characters, but I could interpret them perfectly.
Earlier, I paid little attention because all I could think of was to survive, but I actually had a natural conversation with the monster in an ancient language.
Being able to understand and speak ancient language, I easily concluded.
Because I had experienced this sensation once before.
It was like that when I first possessed this body.
The first time I entered this game, I communicated with the prisoner in the common language of the continent with no problems.
I didn't know the details, but I wondered if something similar to that time had happened.
Is the conversation a trigger?
It made sense if the trigger was having a direct conversation with someone in a language I didn't know.
I planned to check it out later, but for now, I turned my attention back to the contents of the book.
Chapter 30.2: Super Sensory (4)
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Reikichi for the donation! ^^
– I wanted to be an eternal being.
The first sentence of the book began like that.
– All living beings are born with a mortal destiny. Even if aging is delayed by magic or other powers, even if the living body is discarded and the dead body is resurrected, the end will eventually come. I wanted to overcome that limitation. I wanted to shed my mortal shell and become an eternal being.
What followed word by word was about magic research.
Even after reading it, I didn't understand it, so I skipped it.
– But in the end, I couldn't fulfil my dream even with so many efforts.
– The end has come to the body that has lived for thousands of years. Originally, I could have lived longer, but the burden accumulated through various studies came to a limit.
– If I use the necromancer to resurrect as the body of the dead, I can prolong your existence. However, if that happens, I can never return to being a living being again, and I will have to live the rest of my life in the body of the dead. It's denying me everything.
– I met my end here, where I have been with my whole life. I don't want to leave a legacy. All that remains is this diary.
– Loneliness. I never imagined that the day would come when I would feel this feeling. If I had known it would be like this, it wouldn't have been so bad to raise a few decent guys as disciples.
Up to this point, it seemed like an ordinary life of a mage crazy about magic.
But why did he stay alive like this without dying?
The answer to that came immediately after.
– At the moment of death, I have everything down, and then a new realization came.
– I realized how to increase the lifespan of this body, but it was useless. For me, the body of a high-ranking being was needed as a sacrifice. Far from looking for a sacrifice, his now dying body could only survive within the barely opened barrier. What a cruel fate.
– The way to be reborn as an eternal being, a flawless existence, was dimly visible. It can't end like this. Even if I can't move because I'm confined to this place, I will wait for someone who will find this place someday. Even if eternity of time passes, I will not disappear and will wait…
Sacrifice… was that why he went wild with joy when he saw me?
Perhaps because of the [Soul of the King], I seemed to be a high-ranking being in his eyes.
What followed that was increasingly messy.
I could see in the writing that his mind was getting more and more broken, perhaps because I was confined alone for so long.
After skimming through the contents, I closed the book.
Nothing special.
I was just dumbfounded.
So this place wasn't the place written on the map, and this guy named Enpyrus wasn't the creator of the dungeon.
I accidentally, unluckily, found the place where the crazy ancient mage was sealed instead of the dungeon I was originally looking for.
…What kind of crazy coincidence is this?
Did I receive any penalty for possessing this body?
If I could see the stat window, wouldn't the luck stat displayed be -99?
It was like when I was looking for super regeneration, when I was looking for the floating veil, just whenever I tried to find a mystery, it felt like a crisis always happened.
Once again, I cursed inwardly and got up from my seat.
In his diary, he wrote he would not leave any legacy, so it didn't seem like there would be any relics to look for.
Still, I went out of the aisle just in case, went around and looked around, but couldn't find anything.
I just found out that this underground space is absurdly large, no less than my castle. Could a space this huge be buried entirely in this forest?
Feeling empty, I said to Asher.
"Let's go out."
***
When we returned aboveground, I couldn't see Railo.
Where did she go?
I waited, wondering if she had gone to see something, but after a while she did not come back.
If she was attacked by something, there should be a sign of battle here, but there wasn't anything like that.
Asher looked around and said.
"There doesn't seem to be any sign that she's still here."
"…"
I pondered and concluded.
She must have run away.
It was a situation that could only be explained that way.
When she saw Asher's skills, it intimidated her, so she decided to just leave.
Because she witnessed where the dungeon was, she could have thought we might try to kill and silence her.
The way back is not complicated, so it doesn't matter…
I sighed inwardly.
So where the hell was the dungeon that Tair found?
It was a pity to just go back like this, so I looked for more.
We continued moving in the direction the branch pointed.
After quite a while, I found another luminous tree.
The luminous tree grew close to a fairly large rock, and the surrounding area was full of bushes.
I went closer and looked.
Examining the overgrown bush revealed a small passageway between the rock and the ground.
"…"
I stared at the passageway, then turned my head.
Asher came closer too, staring down the passageway, and then our eyes met.
Fuck…
A string of curses rose in my throat before it finally subsided.
So, because I chose that first luminous tree, we went through all that hard work looking for something that wasn't there.
Kwaaang!
I had Asher widen the passage and went inside.
When a wide space appeared after passing through a narrow corridor, I saw wooden giants standing in the center like wooden dolls.
[Lv. 48]
Looking at the shabby level above their heads, I clicked my tongue slightly.
Yes, it's right here. The dungeon that Tair discovered.
Soon, blue light lit up in their eyes, and letters in ancient languages appeared on the wall next to them.
– Adventurer, face the ordeal.
– Overcome the trials and claim my legacy hidden in this dungeon.
– If you destroy the magic stones on each edge to avoid the guardians, their movement will gradually slow down, and if you destroy them all, it will stop.
I looked around the space.
As the saying goes, each of the walls at the edge of the space was studded with magic stones. Destroying all the magic stones seems to be the condition for clearing the dungeon.
Cooong.
Soon, the Guardians began to move and approach us.
I told Asher.
"Asher."
"Yes."
"Destroy them."
Waa!
Asher's blow swept away all the Guardians.
Chapter 31.1: Super Sensory (5)
3 bonus chapters! Thank you to transhumanist Sykes and Zxz for the donations! ^^
It wasn't a high-level dungeon, as I thought.
After dealing with all the guardians and moving on, a trap came out this time.
Magic circles were engraved on the walls of the long, straight passage.
– Salute to those of you who passed the first ordeal.
– Break through the magic arrows raining from all sides and go to the passage on the other side…
Kwaaang!
Asher's sword strike destroyed all the magic circles on the wall.
After that, traps continued to appear, but we easily passed it.
These traps appeared while telling us we had to pass the trials.
I didn't think the one who made these traps expected us to move forward while dealing with everything like this, so I feel a little sorry.
Most dungeons were created in ancient times.
Because of this, there were many cases where the guardians and traps prepared by the creators were too old and did not work. Just like the dungeon where the floating veil was hidden last time.
However, the creator of this dungeon didn't seem to be a very good mage. The devices were still working properly, at least.
Perhaps it was created relatively late in ancient times, or it was not an ancient dungeon at all.
Eventually, a huge stone gate appeared, as if advertising that this was the final stage.
Is it the end?
I found nothing like a hidden space on my way here.
So the mystery I was looking for must be in there.
I wondered if this was the end of an ordeal that was really not an ordeal. Then a letter glowed on the floor right in front of the door.
– The last ordeal is an ordeal to test your luck.
– Armed Forces, Wisdom, Companions, Trust, and Powerful Weapons. Even if you have all of those things the most important thing is luck.
– Pick up the marble placed right in front of the door and insert it into one of the two holes in the door.
– If you choose the correct answer, the door will open. If you choose the wrong answer, the door will not open forever. Opportunity comes only once.
Asher couldn't read the ancient language, so she just stared blankly at it, not understanding the meaning.
After reading all the explanations, I moved on.
I picked up the orb from the pedestal in front of the door and walked closer.
Clap.
With little hesitation, I inserted a bead into the hole in the left, and there was no response from the door.
The letters shone on the floor again.
– Wrong answer, adventurer.
– Unfortunately, you do not deserve to claim my legacy. Throw away your regrets and go back.
I scratched my cheek and said to Asher.
"Asher, break it."
Waa!
The huge stone gate was shattered.
It seemed to have been strengthened with magic, but it meant little in front of Asher's power.
After going through all those traps, we finally reached the end of the dungeon.
I stood in front of the collapsed door, peeked inside, and spoke to Asher.
"Wait here."
"Yes."
I left her and went inside.
After passing through the narrow passage, what appeared soon was a space resembling a laboratory.
In the middle was a luxurious wooden box, like a treasure chest.
When I opened it, there was an old book and a letter inside.
"…"
Judging from the title, the book seemed to be a magic book in which the creator of the dungeon organized his magic, and the letter was also a letter from the creator.
After looking at the contents roughly, congratulations on coming this far, and since his own magic is a one-person transmission, he should pass it on to only one person.
I closed the letter with a smile.
Looking at the devices in the dungeon, one could roughly tell the maker's magic skills, but the letter was written as if he had left a great magic book of some century.
I looked around.
There was no passage to go further, so this was the only space where the mystery could be.
However, there was no mysterious pattern anywhere in the immediate sight.
Could it be that after all this hardship, was it all in vain again?
Feeling a little impatient, I took a more thorough look around me.
"…Ah."
And when I moved the bookshelf in the corner and looked at the wall behind me, I could finally grin.
A mysterious pattern engraved on the wall.
It was shimmering in a blue light and was exquisitely covered because it was the size of a bookshelf.
I reached out my hand without hesitation toward the pattern.
Hwaaak!
As always, the pattern glowed brightly and was absorbed into my body.
I stood there blankly for a moment, then slowly looked around again.
…What is this?
I felt it.
As soon as I absorbed the mystery, I felt it clearly.
The sound, the smell, all the stimuli flowing in from around.
I clearly recognized the presence of Asher standing outside the room, as if I could see it.
As I concentrated more, my senses sharpened and I could even feel insects crawling on the floor.
It felt like crossing the threshold of a whole new world.
Was this?
Was this the sensation that superhumans in this fantasy world usually feel?
And it wasn't just a sensation.
My reflexes were also noticeably improved.
I picked up a stone from the floor and threw it.
The stones flying in a parabolic arc to the other side looked slow, like slugs crawling.
In addition, the visual acuity was enhanced, so even while flying, every angular part of the stone could be seen clearly.
What a cheat, really.
This was a skill I really shouldn't have missed.
After being properly beaten by an ancient mage earlier, I realized it once more.
Even if I had defensive abilities, if I couldn't react to an attack, it's useless.
However, with this level of cognitive ability, he could cope with the speed of most superhumans.
I'll have to adapt quickly.
I clenched my fists and closed them, calming the sharpened senses again.
I just got it, so I was not used to it yet, but it didn't seem like it would take long for my body to get used to it.
Come to think of it, this mystery had no name.
In the game, Tair never gave it a specific name.
After thinking about it for a while, I immediately came up with a suitable name.
There was the mystery of super-regeneration, and this one roughly had the same feeling.
'Super sensory.'
With this, I had already obtained three mysteries, including super sensory.
Chapter 31.2: Super Sensory (5)
We left the dungeon.
I had no need for the magic book, the legacy of the creator, but there was no reason to leave it either, so I brought it with me.
I didn't have the talent to learn magic, but wouldn't this be helpful to the possible people I would recruit later?
After leaving the dungeon, I told Asher what I was thinking.
"Asher."
"Yes."
"Expand your power once and swing your sword."
"…Yes?"
She flinched and turned to me.
She probably had misunderstood something, so I shook my head.
"I'm not asking you to attack me. I'm asking you to do it to an empty space."
"Ah…"
The reason I made this request out of the blue was because there was something I wanted to check.
Asher looked puzzled, but she didn't ask why and she meekly drew her sword.
I spoke again to her, who was about to wield her sword.
"Do it with all your might. You can even use any of your special abilities."
As a member of the White Moon, Asher had a racial trait that enhanced her magical powers.
I wanted to see her in full power while using that trait.
A little taken aback by my request, Asher hesitated, then she nodded her head and showed off her ability.
Saaa.
Asher's body glowed softly, and soon the skin all over her body turned white.
It was the first time I had ever seen her use this. Because she hadn't used it until now.
Adjusting her stance, she caught her breath and began swinging her sword.
Waa!
A sword strike was drawn in the air, producing an unbelievable sound from just her swinging the sword.
I maxed out my super sensory and stared at her sword dance.
…I could see it.
I could see the sword movement, enough for me to react even if that sword was directed at me.
My senses had become so good that I could detect even the movements of a level 81 person. And there was even still room for it.
It seems like it's enough to respond to a level 80 to a certain extent.
But what if the enemy was stronger than that?
I recalled the movements of the warrior I saw on the escort ship or the mad blows I encountered in the hallway during the Lords' meeting. The ancient mage's attack that had completely razed my side earlier.
The attacks before gaining super sensory were not visible at all, so there's no way I could guess them even if I recalled them… but I don't know. Unless I checked it again myself.
Anyway, after confirming the somewhat satisfactory results, I opened my mouth.
"Stop."
Asher stopped and took her breath lightly.
She didn't even wield it much, but it seemed that she really used her strength with all her might.
And for some reason, she was staring at me as if she was expecting something.
"…"
Why was she looking at me like that?
I tilted my head and realized why.
Did she think I ordered her to do that so I can evaluate her skills?
Looking at those strangely expectant eyes, that seemed to be the case.
I was silent for a moment and then said.
"There is definitely potential. Keep trying."
"…All right."
She nodded her head with a slightly regretful expression.
I felt apologetic because she seemed to expect more, but what advice could I give her with my skills?
It was dark at night, but we went straight through the forest without stopping.
It exhausted me but I could endure because I had super regeneration. I wanted to sleep as soon as we reached the carriage.
It wasn't until the sun rose in mid-sky that we arrived at the carriage and saw Baros, who was eating alone
"You're here, my lord."
He must have been hunted somewhere, seeing as how he was eating a well-groomed rabbit and roasting it.
Asher and I joined him and ate on the spot. Then went back to the city.
***
Back in the city, I stopped by the Adventurer's Guild again to find out what happened to Railo.
I heard from another adventurer that she had returned to the city and that she had rushed off to another city the moment she did.
She must have felt terrified.
Her situation was kind of funny. Anyway, I just made sure there wasn't anything wrong with her, so I could put my mind off her.
After we stayed for one more day, we immediately left the city.
The next destination, as originally planned, was the territory of the First Lord, the Wiseman. It was a bit far this time.
From the current location, we planned to go through the Fourth, Third, and Second Lords' territories in a curved line and traveled the shortest route.
After so much time, we arrived at Cubax, one of the large cities on the border of the Third Lord's territory.
I was lost in thought as we waited at the checkpoint at the castle gate and waited for our turn.
This is now a fork in the road…
I was a little worried.
One of the most necessary abilities for me was blood magic. Elrod Forest was the place to get it.
Elrod Forest was far to the west of this city of Cubax.
Should I continue on to the First Lord's territory as it is, or should I stop by Elrod Forest?
According to the original plan, I was going to put aside getting blood magic and just focus on mysteries.
However, after gaining the floating veil and super sensory, I became more confident in my ability to save myself, so I felt a bit of regret just passing the forest like this.
After a short thought, I decided it would be better to just go to the First Lord's territory.
No matter how I thought about it, there were too many variables if I went to Elrod Forest.
Even though I was sure of my safety, I had to talk to the vampire tribe living there in order to get blood magic. But was that even possible?
So, as originally planned, it would be best to put off blood magic and focus on the mysteries.
"…?"
I was lost in my thoughts, but I looked out the window as there was a commotion outside.
There were several wagons passing proudly to the side, ignoring the checkpoints standing in front of the gate.
I could see the sight of the passers-by standing in line, hesitating and looking away.
One wagon's luggage compartment was barred with iron bars, making it look like a prison in which young boys and girls were imprisoned.
…Slave traders?
I rested my chin on my hand and stared at them.