Chapter 23

Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 23Episode 23:

Rivernos, a large city that has achieved remarkable growth based on fertile land.

However, even within the majestic fortress, there are bound to be slums.

Among the unfortunate people living in the slums, Sigmund was also an orphan who grew up in a shantytown with his younger sister Sephia.

Of course, he wasn’t an orphan from the beginning.

Even though they didn’t have a father, they had a mother who loved them.

However, their widowed mother was worried and left a will to Sigmund.

‘Please protect my younger sister.’

Just like that, their single mother left and the siblings became orphans in a shantytown.

To raise Sepia, Sigmund did all kinds of odd jobs, including criminal activities such as theft and pickpocketing.

However, even though they were young, their lives did not get better and on that day, Sigmund, who had stolen something, was almost beaten to death by the guards.

An opportunity came to him.

The leader of the Knights of Rivernos recognized Sigmund’s courage.

This meeting was the first opportunity for Sigmund, who had a talent for swordsmanship, to take flight.

‘River North’s youngest deputy commander.’

Sigmund grew up like a storm, and as soon as he became an adult, he was trusted by everyone, rose to the position of vice-captain, and even received the title of semi-noble.

The future of the Sigmund siblings, who had grown up unhappy in the slums, seemed to be repaying them for their hardships.

But life is new.

It may not be an illusion that the misfortune that comes to them after overcoming it seems like someone is planning to torment them.

News of the disappearance of Sephia, who went to find a pretty flower garden for Sigmund’s birthday ahead of his birthday.

After hearing the news, Sigmund was unable to maintain his sanity due to anxiety.

In Sigmund’s world, there was only sepia.

At first, it was just because of my mother’s will. The reason he tried to escape from the slums and the reason he tried to develop the strength to protect someone.

Sepia had suddenly become the purpose of Sigmund’s life.

Sigmund put all his effort into searching for Sepia, borrowing the power of not only the knights but also the lords.

However, after 15 days, Sigmund, who has not found any clues, is about to lose his senses.

“Vice-captain! “I found a clue!”

“Really!?”

“yes! “Here are the relevant documents.”

“It moves right away.”

“yes!”

Sigmund hired everyone who was good at searching, including thieves, adventurers, and wizards, and even tried to ask for help from the church.

bang!

Sigmund, who was in his office, stormed out of the room upon hearing the news brought by his deputy.

“It’s not that far.”

“yes! “We have identified the exact traces at the border between the plains and the Tyr Mountains!”

Sigmund flipped through the stack of documents organized by his deputy and immediately figured out Sepia’s whereabouts and information about the group that kidnapped her.

Upon hearing the news that traces of Sepia had been discovered, the knights who came to Sigmund shared the information even though they had not received a separate summons order.

chuck! chuck!

Sigmund doesn’t pay any heed to the crowd of knights and just keeps walking, flipping through documents with a venomous look in his eyes.

And the knights who followed behind them checked the equipment they were wearing and waited for Sigmund to give his orders.

Not just knights.

Even the administrators and wizards of the Rivernos territory were following Sigmund’s footsteps and sharing the information coming in one after another.

“Lord Sigmund! “I figured out that it might have something to do with warlocks!” S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“The additional report is also consistent with the previous information.”

“Reconnaissance Team 1 is on standby at the scene.”

They weren’t just showing excessive loyalty to Sigmund because he was the deputy commander of the River North Knights.

Sigmund, a commoner, was a promising figure in many ways not only because of his ability, but also because of his upright beliefs and charisma as a leader.

Those who watched Sigmund closely know how much he cherishes his sister.

The people following Sigmund were all angry and seemed to have no hesitation in helping him.

“These bastards. How dare you….”

“The size of the identified group of thieves is 50. However, the size and power of the slave traders involved are still being ascertained.”

Sigmund learned that the people who kidnapped Sephia were a group of slave traders and thieves, according to the information gathered by Rivernos.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his skin.

“Go after these bastards right now! “I will rip it out by the roots!”

“yes!”

Although it may have been just harsh words and actions, those who followed Sigmund did not care.

They just move to their respective positions as soon as an order is given.

When Sigmund stepped out of the building, Rivernos’ white horses were already listed for him.

“Open the door!”

Sigikigeek –

Sigmund mounts a horse and the elite knights of Rivernos follow him.

“Go at full speed without stopping! “Never fall behind!”

“yes!”

The knights of Rivernos shouted loudly at the words of his loyal lieutenant, not Sigmund.

Doo doo doo doo!

Sigmund kicked his horse and a procession of knights followed him.

Sigmund, who was only thinking about Sepia’s safety, gritted his teeth and muttered quietly.

“Sepia….”

* * *

A clear sky without a single cloud.

For some reason, the two people crossing the vast Plains of Paramont were circling the outskirts, where grass and trees were thick, rather than the center.

“This is the right one.”

Sephia, who escaped from her hideout in the Tyr Mountains, opened her mouth, pointing to the silver grass field on the wide plain spreading below the ridge.

“Of course. “I told you I knew a shortcut.”

“….”

The path Dio led through the silver grass that grew as tall as a person was a shortcut to River North.

“To get to River North, go straight southwest from the cave.”

“….”

Sephia looks completely untrustworthy despite Dio’s kind explanation.

It was as if they were wondering how on earth they knew about a road that showed no signs of being walked by anyone.

‘You must be anxious.’

Dio understood Sepia’s feelings because everything had felt like this until now.

You won’t get lost at all even if you don’t have a map or compass.

Even though it is not a road people travel.

It’s fortunate for Dio that Sephia doesn’t ask much about this.

‘It’s obvious that if you vaguely explain it, your credibility will decrease.’

Dio glanced at Sepia, who was silently following him, and began to think about her again.

Sepia was thought to be just an object of pity.

However, her ability was seen two days ago when she had a fight with a group of warlocks.

In this regard, Dio needed to understand Sepia’s potential abilities and story more deeply.

‘I should also check Sepia’s status window.’

The reason why I didn’t check Sepia’s status window until now was simple.

This is because I didn’t expect much from an NPC that was only level 15 and had no significance.

‘I wasn’t careful.’

But who would have expected this to happen?

Dio opened the system and pressed Sepia’s name on the contractor list.

Then, as he expected, Sepia’s status window opened, allowing him to check out its abilities in more detail.

—————

: Sepia

: 15

: ???

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 17

Intelligence: 22

Stamina: 15

Mana: 28

HP: 152

MP: 194

—————

Unlike Dio himself, there are no bonus points.

It seems like your stats will automatically increase as you level up.

And one thing that can be considered unusual is….

‘Because he is a person whose occupation is private…’

his class is not ‘none’.

Sepia’s occupation hidden by a question mark.

This meant several things.

‘It’s magic with an ego… Is it a wizard with exceptional talent for a specific attribute? No, it might not be magic. ‘A spiritist?’

Dio, who thought of several possibilities, immediately shook his head.

The abilities that Sepia showed were a bit…unorthodox, so it’s still difficult to draw conclusions.

Additionally, if it is a new class that is unknown to D.O. due to the 2nd update, it cannot be ignored.

In any case, Sephia’s demonstrated abilities may have potential comparable to Sigmund’s.

‘In order to realize that possibility, we have no choice but to ultimately increase reliability.’

Dio turned his head and opened his mouth towards Sepia.

“sepia. Look over there. It’s a granary area. From here on, we are within the jurisdiction of Rivernos.”

“…yes.”

“….”

Dio occasionally tried to talk to Sepia in order to lower her anxiety and guard, but Sepia’s answers each time were extremely concise.

I felt like I needed to approach her in a different way to gain her trust.

* * *

Another night came during the journey to River North.

Now that we have entered the granary area, there is not much left to reach the city.

Of course, because the plain was so wide, it was a full day’s walk, but if you were lucky, you could catch a ride on a passing carriage.

Dio confirmed that Sepia was asleep and opened the status window for a final check before entering the city.

—————

[Status Window]

: 87

: Forgotten Swordsman

Strength: 149

Agility: 90

Intelligence: 36

Stamina: 90

Mana: 45

Bonus Points: 0

HP: 767

MP: 632

—————

Slash – Swing the sword to inflict damage to enemies in front.

Cooldown: 5 seconds

[Proficiency 100 Achievement Condition 1 – Liberation!]

[Width] – After using the skill, a mark is left equal to the number of successful attacks.

The user can activate additional skills in conjunction with cutting.

When skill width is activated, the most recently displayed mark explodes. (Maximum 5)

Damage 150% fire damage per mark

Special effect: Knockback 50% per mark

Consumes MP 40

————– –

1. Achieve mastery level 100 – [Complete]

2. [Width] Use 1000 times 261/1000

3. Acquire essence of flame

4. [???]

—————

After defeating the warlocks, I went up 1 level.

Dio, who had finished distributing the strength stats, looked at the skill list carefully.

Forgotten Swordsmanship is a growth skill that creates additional functions for each condition that is opened within a skill.

‘Since the class is a growth type, does that mean the skills are also a growth type?’

‘Width’, which was opened by completing the first condition, consumes a reasonable amount of mana and has many uses, so as a result of using it from time to time, I have already used it over 200 times.

And the pledge of liberation….

‘It’s really strange.’

A pledge of liberation that has been leveled up as a reward for hidden quests.

The method of increasing your skill level only by completing specific quests was quite a unique case, even for Dio, who had been playing the Order Board for a long time.

‘No, maybe…’

Dio recalled the fantasy of the system he saw when he became a forgotten prosecutor.

The Oath of Liberation is the forgotten swordsman’s unique skill.

If Sepia, the target of the Hidden Quest, is a fixed character who can raise the level of the Oath of Liberation.

‘Couldn’t Sepia also be a person related to the forgotten prosecutor?’

Dio, who carefully guessed while considering the connection between class, skill, and hidden quest, soon shook his head.

‘The power that Sepia showed was great, but compared to the power of the woman seen in the fantasy…’

The light that Dio saw burned the enemies, but the gap and nature seemed very different from Sepia.

For now, I had no choice but to leave the possibility open.

“Whoa.”

Dio, who decided that there was nothing more to come out even after thinking about it deeply, looked at Sepia who was sleeping.

With the information Dio knows now, he cannot know exactly what relationship Sepia has with the forgotten swordsman.

‘Rather than trying to increase credibility… we need to learn about the character Sepia itself.’

Above all, another personality that appeared when killing Viktor.

When Sephia came to her senses again and asked, she said she didn’t remember.

It was evident that he was reluctant to speak with anxious eyes.

‘I think Viktor was trying to tell me something before he attacked.’

Since this is an important issue, there is a way to use the power of the oath to reveal the truth to Sepia.

However, because of this, power could not be used carelessly.

The nature of the covenant states that the contracting party may be forced to refuse the orders of the ruler.

If you make a mistake while forcibly digging into the sensitive parts of sepia with the power of an oath…

‘You could die.’

It was not possible to use force and recklessly test what would happen afterwards.

It’s still too early to make any hasty judgments, but Sepia herself doesn’t seem to like her own abilities very much.

The story is that although Dio may think it is a natural talent, Sepia himself may think it is another curse.

‘He probably didn’t even try to control his abilities in the first place. And I’ve already seen firsthand how warlocks covet this ability. ‘I might be wary of that too.’

Dio hasn’t been with Sepia for a long time.

No, it was my first time hanging out with Dio, who was a dead man.

However, I realized from the moment she was freed from the curse that Sepia was not a person who acted without thinking.

The ability to judge the situation and the calmness shown while controlling heightened emotions immediately after liberation.

Just looking at it, he was a person who was far from ordinary.

Even though he was receiving help from D.O., his actions to keep his distance were completely understandable.

‘I may be constantly on guard lest I, having discovered an ability I wanted to hide, might harbor the same thoughts as a warlock.’

Maybe Dio’s guess was wrong.

It’s not like you can read people’s minds, so it’s foolish to just think and judge as you please, but…

‘It must be difficult for Sepia to easily accept the idea of subordination by covenant in the first place.’

Pledge of trust Putting all these systematic things aside.

Dio developed a strong curiosity about the person named ‘Sephia’.

Rather than worrying about ‘reliability’ in order to utilize skills, my desire to know more about the character Sephia grew.

Even if the reliability is lowered to 0.

‘I can’t help it. Should I try that method?’

Dio’s eyes lit up as he remembered an operation that would take place tomorrow.

Survive as an SSS-level warehouse characte