Chapter 28: The Consequences of One’s Choices (3)

Chapter 28: The Consequences of One’s Choices (3)

We first stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild and the Temple.

What I heard there wasn’t all that surprising. I hadn’t been sure before due to my failed attempts to act separately, but this game did allow the party to split up.

As such, we formed two groups: the Inquisitor and the Archmage, and me and Deb. Naturally, my group was in charge of investigating the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Hey... Did we accidentally go to a hospital instead of the Adventurers’ Guild?”

Deb spoke up upon entering the guild hall. It was undeniable that the situation was abysmal.

Instead of the usual lively sounds, the guild was filled with the groans and moans of the injured.

“All I can see are corpses."

“...!”

Someone struggled to stand up at my scathing remark but couldn't, seemingly prevented by their injuries.

“Ah, Sir Demon Knight?!"

I then heard a familiar voice.

It was Clerk Izren.

“I-I thought you went to a different city...?"

“Do you have any information on those wretched parasites hiding in this city?”

“...!”

When she saw me, she immediately came over, her face a mixture of joy and confusion. However, after I spoke up, her expression swiftly changed.

Her eyes had the seriousness of someone used to dealing with public affairs.

“...This request is of an urgent nature, so no compensation has been set for it. Writing up a formal contract and receiving a fitting remuneration later also isn't possible. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee your safety, Sir Adventurer. Even so, will you still cooperate with us?"

Oh, if you put it like that, I kind of feel the need to act cool. Well, that wasn't even a question for me, though.

“I don't care about the reward."

I simply put my hand on my sword and showed fury in my eyes.

“I just came here to rip them apart."

“...!”

The clerk seemed fearful, perhaps because of my harsh words, despite sharing the same purpose. She then nodded her head.

“I'll get you the information right away!"

A very satisfying answer.

“...Hey.”

However, while I waited for the clerk to return, someone spoke to me. I didn't know the person's face. Judging by his equipment, he seemed to be an adventurer.

“You'll die."

There were a lot of nosy people in this world. Oh, not that I disliked it. How many people were actually brave enough to advise some strangers?

“If you even try, all of you will die!”

But wasn’t he a bit too pessimistic? He wasn’t actually trying to scratch my pride, right?

“Just go away and wallow in your own weakness elsewhere. Don’t pollute my ears.”

It was unclear how the Quest would go, but one would likely get hurt attempting it.

However, that meant only the player could solve it. Even if we failed, we would at least survive.

Anyway, that NPC’s statement didn’t apply to me.

“The sewers are filled to the brim with Demons! There’s no way in hell someone could survive that!”

“Hah.”

I frowned as I watched that person wail, his hand on his chest. A dense sensation of fear grabbed my ankles, making me uncomfortable for no particular reason. The discomfort was similar to what I felt when faced with Divine Power.

“So, what do you want to tell me?”

“—What?”

However, I didn’t like that feeling, so I shook it off with a sneer.

Instead, I grabbed my right arm and quietly spoke as though muttering to myself.

“I don’t care if it’s life-threatening, so long as I can kill those Demons.”

If I had to immerse myself, I’d prefer to do so in that hatred of Demons. Getting annoyed and angry at people just made me feel more stressed.

“Mister...”

“I brought it over!”

I held out my hand and coolly lowered my eyes. The clerk reflexively handed me the documents, but her eyes soon opened wide in surprise.

“I don’t have to read it to you?”

“There’s no need.”

That damn low literacy rate setting.

Making use of my speed-reading skills, I first leafed through the documents. The content was quite difficult for me to grasp as it wasn’t organized into tables, and, given the nature of my job, I didn’t often need to read through these types of documents.

Deb peeked at the papers from beside me.

“The damage caused... is big.”

What? He also knew how to read?

“Yes. There are the people who tried to leave the city, but... The Demons coming out of the sewers every night also cause extreme damage."

I made sure to memorize the information gained from Deb's and the clerk's conversation as I searched for a document detailing the case’s progress.

Initially, they only noticed the increased number of kidnapped or missing people, not knowing that Demons were coming out of the sewers. After finding that out, they locked down the city. Next, the Temple's priests and some adventurers formed a party to investigate what was happening down there. However, contact was lost. Not long after, they sent a second investigation team, of which only one member returned alive. According to their testimony, Demon Contractors were hiding among the Demons that attacked them...

And now, the people were forced to defend against those Demons every night.

“Currently, the city guards, the Temple’s people, and the adventurers are cooperating to survive, but... as the city becomes increasingly isolated, our supplies are running low. Furthermore, as the number of injured steadily grows with each passing battle, we no longer have enough manpower to go on...”

I had no idea how they ended up in that state, but I didn't want to dig any further.

The issues which urgently needed to be addressed were the Demons in the sewers and the city's isolation. However, with only one body, I could only choose one of the two...

Was this actually a branching point or something? If I chose wrong, would the city be ruined? Damn it.

“...”

He had no reason to come along with me. That was a clear fact.

“...Right, my job was to watch the horses."

Perhaps realizing it as well, he muttered softly, only revealing the lower part of his face beneath his hood. He parted his lips slightly again as if in a trance.

“But Mister..."

Ah, I can't hear you, I can't hear you.

I sped up my steps. Fortunately, Deb said nothing more and stopped following me.

Soon, I could see the drain near the river bank that I remembered.

“Are you the reinforcement?"

As one might expect from a defense zone, quite a few people were in front of the sewers. All of them were covered in bloodied bandages, so it seemed to have been quite difficult for them to keep defending.

“Who are you?"

I took out my adventurer’s card and showed it to them, putting it back once they had confirmed my identity.

“Wait a second, where are you going? If you're here to support us, then you have to follow our instructions!"

There were barricades around the riverbanks, but a narrow path was left open at one point, probably to remove the corpses. I walked through it without any hesitation.

“Hey!"

When someone came to stop me, I caught a glimpse of the veins protruding from his skin.

They were black, a clear sign of Demonic Erosion. Well, a side effect, so to speak.

“Are you actually trying to get in there?! Have you gone crazy?!"

I listened to what he had to say before turning my gaze elsewhere. In addition to that NPC, I could see many others with black veins and bloodshot eyes.

It was quite difficult for me to ignore them. If they turned into Demons like that, they would become a huge pain in my ass. And...

“Take it."

“Are you deaf—Huh?"

Well, I just so happened to be carrying some medicine for that condition. I would never have to use it, too.

“It's an antidote! I heard there aren't many left anymore...!"

Moreover, I'd be really thankful if I could open up some space in that damn inventory!

While the people's eyes were on the antidote, I went down the riverbank. Some became quite upset when they noticed, but I had already reached the bottom.

「A hostile existence has entered a radius of 20m.」

At that moment, I saw a red light shining from the dark sewers. Pitch-black feet stepped through the sewer entrance, the iron bars before it completely ripped off.

“...! It's a Demon!"

“Hey you, come back up here!"

What good timing. I pulled out my Zweihänder while trampling over the corpses of various Demons.

“You'll die!!"

Okay, let me see what came out.

「Sammokgu │ A Demon resembling a dog, but with three eyes instead of two. It can see through walls with its third eye.」

「Ghoul │ A Demon that feasts on rotten flesh. To kill it, one must split its belly open. However, it will resurrect if cut one more time.」

There were Skeletons, Goblins, and two kinds of Demons I saw today for the first time.

As I watched these things crawling out of the sewers, I took a stance.

“Damn it, you madman, just give up! Just come back up—!"

“Victory to my blade, glory to the heavens...!”

I left out the part where I pointed my blade to the sky this time. Instead, I widened my stance and swung my Zweihänder down horizontally, gripping it tightly.

Crack!

As I crushed the skull of the Demon corpse I was currently standing on, black energy came out of the sword and flew in a crescent shape toward my enemies.

Slash!

It was a little slanted and not perfectly horizontal. The bodies of the Demons before me were cut in half.

The attack that flew out just now was the [Slash] skill.

「[Slash]│Swing your sword and send out a strong slash filled with Arcane Power.

Effect: Consumes 40 MP. A ranged attack that causes 300% damage to enemies.」

That was the skill description. However, I hadn't selected that skill yet. Even so, for some reason, I could use unselected skills. So, that Stinger bug wasn't just in my head.

Ah, the activation trigger was just willing that black energy to surround my blade. I had wondered if I had to use Breaker and pretend it was something else, but that didn't seem to be necessary.

I still didn't really know how this actually worked. However, players weren't people who fixed bugs but those who made use of them.

Thanks to that, I could save my skill points.

“Wh-what in the..."

All the people around me let out dumbfounded sounds, seeing all those enemies drop dead in a single attack. It was quite the sight.

It seemed I could now enter without anyone holding me back.

I quickly checked whether the monsters around me were all dead. They were. In other words, there was nothing in my way to stop me.

Crack.

I put away my Zweihänder and placed my hand on the hilt of my Longsword, just in case.

Of course, I didn't run then. While I was in a hurry, there was no reason to run like a sinner. That wouldn't look cool.

Jump!

However, a Sammokgu I thought to be dead suddenly opened its eyes and jumped out of the corpse pile. It was still moving despite its whole body being cut in half, making it seem like an actual Demon.

Slash!

Wow, it was a good thing I noticed. I took out my Longsword without even looking. The blade, flowing through the air as smooth as water, immediately split that thing's head.

No one should be willing to interfere with me anymore after seeing this.

I entered the sewer system without much trouble, greeted by a strange twisting passage covered with weird black vines.