92-Episode 90: Groundwater Channel of the Royal Capital



This is the entrance to the underground canal. Are you sure you want to go there?
 The boy from the orphanage who was showing me around gave me a worried look.

'Don't worry. If it looks dangerous, I'll be right back.
But you look excited, though.
 I guess it's obvious to Sa-san.

 The place we visited is a large well-like area on the outskirts of the city.
 If you look into a hole in the stone brick packed in a circle, it leads deep underground.
 You have to use a rusty ladder to get down there.

'Well, I'll be off then.'
Have a good day...
 As the boy saw us off, me and Sa-san broke into the underground canal.


 ◇


It's dark... Are you okay?
 The underground channel is almost completely dark with little light source.
 I can see with my 'night vision' skills, though.

'Huh? It looks normal. And it's brighter than the Great Maze.
Oh, yeah?
 That's the Lamia tribe (reincarnated), born and raised in the maze.
 His physical abilities are incomparable.

But I'm glad to hear that. I was expecting an even dirtier place because of the sewage facilities, but the water is clean.
I heard that it's made by drawing water from the St. Luin River, which runs beside the capital city of Sinfonia. The downstream stream is connected to the sea.
Wow.
 We're walking (...) lazily over (...) the underground canal.
 By the way, we are holding hands with Sa-san.
 I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.

I'm not going to be able to get it right. But there are no demons in the water? Or a sea serpent.
S-San you're not in the Great Maze.
 There can't be such strong demons in the underground waterways of the royal capital.
 It's also welded to avoid demons.

''It seems that only weak class 0 creatures are in the waterway.
Class 0?
Ah, the demon danger class. The Adventurers' Guild sets them up.

 Since it was a good time, I explained to Sa-san the classifications of the strength of the demons in this world.

 ■Danger level of demons....................Recommended adventurer rank
 Class 0, harmless ... enough to take down a civilian. 
 Class 1 Danger: Lower .......Stone rank adventurer recommended.
 Class 2 Danger: Medium .......................Bronze rank adventurer recommended.
 Class 3 Danger: High ... recommended by Iron Rank Adventurers
 Class 4 Disaster Designation: village......recommended for Gold and Silver rank adventurers
 
 Class 6 Disaster designation: country ......................Mithril rank adventurer recommended
 
 Class 8 Disaster Designation: the world ... bring Master Abel, the savior!


Huh, it's such a finely tuned system.
 Mr. Sa-san says, impressed.
By the way, Mr. Saasan is the designated disaster.
"Whoa!
 He was freaking out.
 He didn't seem to know it was happening.
 Sa-san, he's unaware of his own strength.

 The underground canal has many branches, with a small canal 2-3 meters wide and a medium canal more than 5 meters long.
I proceeded carefully so that I wouldn't get lost using my "map" skill.
 However, there are no demons, so it's peaceful, unlike dungeons.
 What you need to be careful about is meeting a snake cult or mafia and trying not to be found.
 So far, I haven't encountered anyone.

 That's how I was leisurely advancing through the underground channel.

'Sa-san, stop!'
There was a response to the 'spotting' skill.
'Yeah, I hear footsteps. And more than one.'
 We used our stealth skills to hide in the shadows.
 Bingo.
 Is this a cult of snakes?
 We waited with bated breath for the enemy.

 --Clatter, clatter.
 The sound of boisterous footsteps.
 And then they appeared.

 It takes the form of a human being, but its body has no flesh.
 A being that is only in the form of bones, but still moves.
 The undead.

A skeleton!
The demons are here! (Takatsuki-kun)
 Strange.....
 What's going on with the demon-avoiding wards?

I don't know, Takatsuki.
(Hmmm, I could go through with it.)
 The theory of dungeon attack.
 When you meet a monster, you should "defeat each and every one of them" as much as possible.
 This is to avoid getting caught in the crossfire later on.
 Lucas-san, a veteran adventurer, has warned me many times to make sure that I always have a way out of the dungeon.

'Let's take it down, Sa-san.
Riley, Takatsuki-kun.
 And there's a lot of 'water' in the underground canals that can be used as a weapon.
 Fortunately, there are a lot of spirits there as well.

"Water Demon and Ice Bed
 They freeze the floor and take away the skeleton's legs.
 The number of demons is three.
 I thought we'd start with one at a time.

"Ho ho-ho.
 Sa-san smashed the three demons together with his giant hammer.
 With a crunch, there was a sound of things shattering and the skeleton shattered.

''Ugh........''
'Huh? Are you done?
Well, you'll see.
 The former skeleton of a former skeleton has been shattered and slammed into the wall.
 I didn't have a chance.
 ...Let's move on.

 And then it appeared.
Skeletons, skeletons, skeletons, zombies, skeletons there's a lot of them.
There's a lot of undead...
 With a grim face, Sa-san murmured.
 All of this was knocked away by Sa-san with a single blow.
 Hmmm, convenient.
 However, there's one thing that bothers me. 

'These guys are always acting in threes.
It's not a coincidence, is it?
Maybe someone's telling him what to do.
 It seems that forming teams of three is common practice in the armies of this continent.
 Skeletons and zombies are controlled by moon attribute death magic (necromancy).
 So is there a necromancer controlling these guys somewhere?

I wonder if it has something to do with the Order of the Serpent.
Shouldn't we go back? Takatsuki-kun.
 Sa-san, who has been warriors since earlier, proposes a retreat.
 She seems uneasy.
 Certainly, I don't want to run into any more strong demons or large numbers of demons.
 Shall we leave soon? I was about to say.


'Duh, somebody! d*mn it! These guys.

 I heard a man shout.
 Asking for help in this weird place full of undead?
 You're definitely not uptight...
 What's going on?

"Takatsuki-kun! Let's go!
 Oh, you're not going to see what's going on or anything, sah.
 You're so manly.

 We headed towards where we heard the screams.

'Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!'
 A young man was surrounded by skeletons and zombies.
 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, paper-thin.

''Water Magic, Water Dragon!''
 The object of the magic is the man who is being attacked.
"Aaaaah!
 I let loose a spell that would take the man alone.
 Skeletons and zombies remain there.
 The man I had roped into the vortex is drawn back to me.

"Sir!
Hey.
 Dogan! The full swing of the giant hammer released by Tosasan blew away the undead army.
 It looks like there are about 20 of them.

''It's over!''
Quick!
 It didn't stand for more than a minute, and then it was settled.

'Who was being attacked by the demon?'
He's out. Hey, wake up!
 I slapped the young man on the cheek.
 By the looks of it, he was about twenty years old and had a dog on his head? They are beastmen with ears like a wolf.
 It's too dark to see clearly, but the clothes they wear look expensive.
 In the Ninth Ward Street, he is dressed like this.
 Suspicious........

''.........Ugh, what happened to me. Am I dead?
I'm alive.
Oh, you people!
 The man quickly moved away and then looked in astonishment at the skeletons and other dismembered zombies that were shattered behind Sa-san.

Did you defeat them all?
''Yes, this one, Sa-san, over here.
You guys, what the hell... no, you've been a big help. Thank you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're welcome.
 Sa-san puts the giant hammer back to a smaller size as he does so.
 Now ... what is up with this guy?
 Is he a snake cult, a mafia member, a bandit, or just a regular guy?
 At the end of the day, it's nothing.

My name is Peter Castor. Feel free to call me 'Brother'.
 He smiled and said his name.
 A bow that took a little bit of acting.
 He's a rascal. 
 Or, as the Japanese say, flashy.

"Because, you know, Asa-san...
You're Takatsuki, right? You're the leader of our party.
 It was mostly just Sa-san alone who defeated the demons.
"I'm Takatsuki Makoto and this is my friend Sasaki Aya. I'm an adventurer in the Land of Water (Roses).
 I will not tell you that I am a brave man.

'Why is there an adventurer from the Water Country (Roses) here? ...Oh, defeating demons, I see. Thanks to that, I'm saved. By the way, the Adventurer's Guild is very quick to make arrangements!
 Peter is nodding his head in self-satisfied agreement.
 He doesn't seem to be suspicious of us.
 Suddenly he says, "Have you heard of the Order of the Snake? I can't ask, so I guess I'll start with small talk for now.

'Do demons often appear in the underground canals?'
'Hey, hey, hey! No way. The underground canal has been my playground since I was a kid, but I've never seen the undead like this before!
 Apparently, there are usually no demons.
 I don't know, something strange is going on here. 

But I killed about 10 pairs of skeletons and zombies before I got here.
'Oh my God! Really, girl! You can't use this for trading from now on!
 At Sa-san's words, Peter held his head in his hands.
 He's overreacting with his every action.

We should be leaving soon.
'Oh! You'll be saved. I was with my buddies, but a demon attacked me and I got separated from them.
 Peter said happily.

'Is it safe to not look for your mate?'
I used me as bait to draw the demons to me. They could have gotten away with it.
Wow.
 You're a fellow human being.
 That's where we met, but maybe he's not a bad person. 

Let's get going.
I'll show you. The underground canals have been my playground since I was a kid, so I know every loophole.
 You speak with pride, Peter.
 Wasn't that where children aren't allowed to go?


 ◇


Hey.
 Saasan swung the giant hammer and the demon was blown away.

"Amazing, that lady. That demon is a piece of wood!
 Peter shouted excitedly.
'But you're stronger than that, Takatsuki-kun!
 Sa-san came back, reducing the size of the hammer.
 And hey! You weren't just saying that!

Brother! What grade are you?
''I'm a silver-ranked mid-level adventurer. Sa-san is just lifting it up.
 I showed him my silver badge and explained.

'By the way, Peter, what are you doing in the underground canal?'
 I'll try to probe while making small talk.

'Hey, hey, stop with the 'san'! You can call me Peter, brother! I had a layover at work today and it's been a messy day with no business partners showing up and demons showing up. But I got to see my brother (Brother) and your daughter, so that makes up for it! Thank God for the goddess Ila.
 Peter prays over a huge goldwork necklace around his neck.

(Not a cult of snakes, is that confirmed?)

 The members of the Order of the Serpent believe in the "Evil Demon King Tufon".
 And according to Master Noah, he is a devout believer.
 He wouldn't pray to any other gods in his performance.

(The goddess Ila is the god of good luck and commerce. Many of her followers are merchants and...)

That was a disaster, Peter. Is this the best way out?
Hey, this is it. Right here.
 We walked out through an exit a short distance from where we entered.

'Dazzle.' 'My eyes aren't used to it.'
 Me and Saa-san walked out of the dark underground canal to the brightly lit ground and covered our eyes with our palms.
 I wish I had sunglasses.

'Haha! Brother! If you're going to get out of an underground canal, you're going to have to do it.
 I looked and saw that Peter was wearing sunglasses.
 Hey! You have sunglasses? Different world.
 Well, I could at least get some tinted glasses.


Hey! Are you all right? Are you hurt, sir? Who the f*ck are you? Don't be young!
 Gee! There's some kind of stern, large men with tattoos and haircuts!
 They're all wearing sunglasses! Jesus, these guys.

"You guys! These people are the ones who saved my life in the underground canal! Don't be disrespectful!
 Peter's earlier flirtatious mood disappears and he yells in a dusky voice.
''I beg your pardon! Young!

Yeah.
 Me and Mr. Saasan and I look at Peter with a blank stare.

"I'm sorry, brother! I don't have time today, but I want to thank you later. I'll lend you this one as proof of my commitment.
He handed me a gold badge with some kind of emblem on it.

'Well then! Brother! I'll see you soon!
 Peter left, surrounded by a group of large, black-clad men.

"..........
 Me and Sasan are left in a daze.

"Hey, Takatsuki-kun........
 Yeah, I know what you mean.
"Peter, you were the head of the mafia...
 It seems that Goddess Ila-sama is popular with mafia and thieves as well as merchants.

'Takatsuki-kun... what is a young head?'
Well, I saw a movie once. It's a mafia job.
Hmmm, what are you going to do now?
Let's go home.
Yes.

 We eventually returned to the inn without any clues to the Order of the Snake.

 What awaited me when I returned to the inn was an order from the Highland Castle to turn myself in.