Chapter 20 - At the Cost of Ignorance (6)

"I guess you want a compliment for your eyes."

"So I hit the mark."

The thief skillfully brushed off my sarcasm and twirled the kukri in his hand. It was one and a half times the size of a normal dagger; he had quite the muscle strength.

"Right, then, Sir Knight. Why did you come to this back alley? Seeing as you came with a dog of God wagging at your tail, why, did you decide to drag us away this time?"

"You wretch—!"

Come to think of it, did he have a bit of a temper too? Considering he belonged to the back alleys, he naturally would.

"... That's probably not it. They said they had something to investigate regarding the Temple dragging our people away."

"While dragging a Heresy Inquisitor around?"

"They said it might be related to demons."

The atmosphere rippled at the pickpocket's timely interjection.

"... Demons?"

The thief chewed over the word and looked my way. Thanks to his hood, the area above his nose wasn't visible, but I could make out the angle of his turning head.

"The location of those who were dragged away. Do you know it?"

"... Wait, are you saying the Temple is related to demons?"

Well, I don't know. There's a 99% chance they are related, but as long as we haven't opened the box yet, they're basically Schrödinger's Temple.

With that useless thought, I ignored the thief's question.

"I asked if you know the location."

"Look here, sir. There are over twenty people presumed to have been dragged away by the Temple! Yet you guys brought a Heresy Inquisitor here and are asking for their location. Don't you think you should at least offer some information if you want an answer?"

But the thief actually made a fair point. Was he always such a logical character? His personal story and combat were so boring that I barely played him, so I hadn't realized.

"If I knew the buried truth, do you think I would have come here?"

"...!"

"And those things behind me are not my party."

"... You're traveling together, but you're not a party?"

As I sharply separated myself from them, I felt like I could hear the sound of Kimchi Dumpling's eyes popping out behind me. The Archmage's sighs were basically equipped as a default passive by now.

"... We are not a party, but temporary companions. And... we also do not yet know if this matter is truly related to demons. Thus, we stand here to find that out."

"Then who is that Heresy Inquisitor?"

"She is someone dispatched to this city by the religious order for a different matter."

Fortunately, the Archmage's setting wasn't one to lose sight of his duties out of sheer bafflement.

"... Look here. I understand that your faith in the Temple has hit rock bottom due to this matter. But we truly have no relation to this incident. We merely stepped forward because we sensed something suspicious. So please, won't you suppress your anger and cooperate to prevent any more victims from appearing?"

Since he was also quite a logical person, the thief eventually shut his mouth. For about thirty seconds, an awkward silence swallowed all sound and laughed.

"Hey."

Having made a decision after a long while, the thief flicked his finger. Someone quietly slipped out from between the alleys.

"Go and report."

"... You're going to tell them?"

"I'm confident I can get myself out."

"Understood."

The other thief NPC quickly agreed and disappeared into the depths of the alleyway. Seeing the other presences I had detected slowly backing away as well, it seemed the worry of a fight breaking out here was alleviated.

"... I'll guide you for now. But damn it, it's not because I trust that Heresy Inquisitor. It's just to prevent the number of victims from increasing any further."

After saying that much, the thief let out a breath and turned around.

"Follow me."

True to a thief, his swift movements disappeared between the alleys in a flash. I was prepared and could catch up immediately, but he was a truly inconsiderate NPC.

[❖ Ominous Omen

∎ Move to the location where the people were dragged away]

Still, the quest had been updated.

* * *

"We're almost there."

The thief left the slums and led us to the commercial district. As expected of a thief, the way he skillfully and stealthily led us, weaving only through the gaps between flashy buildings instead of the streets, was truly capable and shady.

"It's over there."

And finally, he came to a halt inside an alley. Without stepping out of the alley, the thief's finger pointed to a building across the main street. It was a vegetable shop that people frequently visited.

"... A vegetable shop?"

The Inquisitor frowned, but the Archmage and I did not.

"I can certainly... feel the presence of a barrier. It seems a highly skilled individual is involved. I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking closely."

"... Well, I guess you didn't step up for nothing. Just as you said, there's a barrier placed on the door leading underground towards the warehouse. Thanks to that, we failed every time we tried to peek inside."

The Archmage, because of that reason.

[❖ Ominous Omen

∎ Find a way to enter the location where the people were dragged away

∎ Find traces of the dragged-away people]

And I, because of the updated quest.

But a question suddenly popped into my mind because of the conversation just now: why did the thief NPC recognize me, but not this mage guy? If he was chosen to accompany the Hero, the Archmage should be pretty famous too.

Was it because mages were set as homebodies, so there was no reason for their faces to be known?

"If that's the case... then truly..."

"We don't know if it's related to demons. But it's certainly not something honorable, at the very least."

"..."

The Inquisitor's expression turned incredibly ferocious. A squeaking sound of friction came from the hand gripping her mace.

"Then, how do we enter?"

She ground her teeth and glared with wide eyes. Seeing it match the moment she had attacked me in the dead of night made the back of my neck feel quite chilly.

"If I take the time, I could dismantle the barrier, but..."

The Archmage stroked his chin and shook his head.

"The time it would take is one thing, but the location is not suitable. We would be discovered before I could break the barrier."

"Is there no way?"

"Hmm... The barrier is focused on concealment, so if we exert physical force, I think it would break easily."

There's never an easy way to go about things. Well, that's just how games are.

"Then at night—"

"We go now."

It hasn't even been that long since dawn, and they want me to wait until night? I refuse.

My permitted time was truly running out now. I wanted to clear this quest—or at the very least, the dungeon in front of me—within that time.

Anything more than that would likely be too much, so I just wanted to neatly finish up to that point.

"Are you crazy? The guards will swarm us!"

"What's the problem?"

I didn't care about the thief's remark and grabbed my two-hander.

"Kidnapping should be a heavier crime than trespassing."

"...!"

"Are you saying we should use the swarming guards to our advantage? But that's only possible if this city's higher-ups aren't in cahoots with the Temple."

That was also a valid point. Looking at the companion NPC who was opposing the player's opinion, I spat out my words as if chewing on them.

"If you're scared, fall back."

But if that becomes a problem, well? It's true that the difficulty tends to increase if you go for a frontal breakthrough... which is probably why the game developers used the companion NPC's mouth to suggest a plan.

But the fact that it can be attempted means that it can ultimately be cleared that way too. It wouldn't be too late to reconsider the developers' suggestion after seeing the results of ramming into it first.

"It's too reckless!"

"You seem to be mistaken about something; do you think we have a lot of given time?"

Above all, my gamer's intuition was telling me that even if we skipped to nighttime, it would only get harder, not easier.

It wasn't just simple intuition; just looking at the information revealed so far proved it.

"Over twenty sacrifices. The Temple holds a captured Demon Contractor. As a Sage, you surely wouldn't fail to predict a single outcome from this."

"...!"

"A Demon Contractor was captured...?"

"... He is right."

I wondered if the game would force me to wait until night, but fortunately, it didn't seem to be the case. Seeing as the Inquisitor was agreeing with my opinion.

"If the parish in question is corrupted, the handed-over Demon Contractor wouldn't still be in the interrogation room by now."

Great. So if a branching choice like this comes up, it means I can persuade the companion NPCs and storm in, right?

"... Being called an Archmage is also useless. To think I couldn't even consider something like this. You are right. Let us enter."

Well, I hadn't seen a single NPC called an Archmage who actually lived up to the name, so there was no need for him to blame himself that much.

There are truly many intelligent characters in the world who are sacrificed for the sake of plot progression.

"... How fiery of you."

As even the Archmage agreed, the thief let out a soft whistle. But he didn't seem like he was going to back out either. The stance he took as he drew his kukri proved it.

"If it gets dangerous, I'm pulling out immediately, so keep that in mind."

Right. Out of all the guys who say that, not a single one ever actually pulls out.

"Then our timing to breach—"

And there was no way my concept would care about something like that!

I stepped out of the alley while gripping my two-hander.

I debated for a moment whether to run, but quickly gave up on the idea.

After all, the thief said the door was in the warehouse, and if it was a warehouse, boxes would be piled up on top of it. Then, even if I ran in, I'd have to groan and move boxes around, and that... really wouldn't look cool at all, would it?

"Ah, welcome! What would you like to buy...?"

Rather than doing that, I'd confidently walk right in.

"E-Excuse me, customer, you can't go in there—. Keugh!"

SMACK!

I struck the shop owner in the solar plexus and sent him tumbling to the other side. Naturally, there was no way the shop owner didn't know about the existence of the underground door.

Ultimately, it meant this guy was either a demon follower or a collaborator, and my concept absolutely did not forgive such people.

"Kyaaaaah!"

"Sir, you really don't care about the consequences."

"That's too extreme."

The thief's words were true, so I brushed them off, and the Archmage's words were something the Archmage would have to get used to, so I didn't need to care.

I calmly kicked open the back door of the shop as if I hadn't heard anything.

THUD.

Contrary to my expectation that there would be something like a backyard, the door connected to another room.

"What are you doing!"

Another person who was tending to goods in the alley next to the shop—I guess it was run by a couple—hurriedly ran out and shouted.

She was too far away to subdue, so I decided to just ignore her. My gaze quickly scanned the inside of the room.

"I'm going to report you! Get out right no—"

"We are from the Temple. Please cooperate."

It seemed this was indeed the right place.

Looking at the underground door sticking out from under a box, I kicked the box away. Since it was an empty box, it flew far away without me losing face.

"Why would the Temple..."

"Well. Why do you think?"

While the Inquisitor dealt with the shopkeeper, I raised my sword.

CRASH!

The sword, clad in dark energy, split the underground door in two. In the process, an effect like a glass pane shattering appeared for a brief moment before vanishing, but it wasn't very important. That was probably the barrier.

"... Demonic energy."

I felt something strange and ticklish from the inside, but figuring it was just my imagination, I stepped on the broken underground door.

CRACK!

The underground door, which had been split in half, finally collapsed downwards, revealing the entrance.

"W-What are you doing—!"

"Archmage, bind the two of them!"

It was around that time when an anger-filled voice issued a command.

But it wasn't like I had to wait around for whatever they were doing. While pale blue chains bound the shop owners, I took a step down into the basement.

"From this moment forth, I begin the execution in the name of God; evil shall be exterminated, and sinners shall be judged!"

From behind, the Inquisitor's resounding shout echoed alongside the sound of her shield slamming down.

"I didn't expect to see a Heresy Inquisitor's inquisition right in front of my nose, though..."

As I continued down the stairs with that sound as background music, something stuck right behind me this time. It was the thief.

He had been picking fights earlier, but it seemed he was scared now.

"More importantly, is it okay to just go in like this?"

"It seems everyone who fell victim to you had problems with their ears."

"... Yep, I'll shut up."

STEP, STEP.

Regardless, I didn't know how deep they had dug this underground tunnel, but the stairs showed no sign of ending.

"Wait, please hold on!"

Even after the Inquisitor and the Archmage hurriedly joined the back of the line, we had to go down for a full three minutes—at least, it felt like it.

[Somon: Hidden Underground Passage]

The area name was updated only after a straight hallway appeared.

"I will take the lead."

The Inquisitor offered while making the presence of her shield known, but well. I also knew that was efficient, and I kind of wanted to do it, but...

"Ah!"

"... Aren't you the worst when it comes to not listening to people?"

I ignored her and moved forward. In the process, I clearly heard what the thief muttered as well. True to a thief, his eye for reading people was quite something.

But was I going to yield to that? No!

I never gave up the frontline, and the rest scurried after me. After having her offer to stand in the front ignored about four more times, the Inquisitor finally sulkily accepted her position—the third in line.

"The door!"

Soon at the end of the hallway, a creaky wooden door came into view. A thick scent of blood wafted from beyond it.

Then I had to be ready to attack or react the moment we entered.

I extended my foot while keeping my hand on my two-hander.

BANG!

The door must have definitely been locked, but with a single kick, the lock shattered and it burst wide open.

"Damn it, the summoning isn't—!"

"Is it the Hero!"

"How on earth did they find out...!"

"That's right! Your executioner has arrived!"

"... The Hero?"

Beyond the shattered door, the Demon Contractors hiding in the underground tunnel were visible.

[❖ Ominous Omen

∎ Subdue/Eliminate all enemies]

The quest was updated.

"You bugs... are gathered perfectly in one spot for me to kill...!"

"Meet God's judgment, you wicked seeds of evil!"

Listening to the Inquisitor reciting lines similar to mine, I assessed the battlefield with a cool head.

The spreading cavern was quite spacious, and the Demon Contractors were holding a ritual inside it.

Were there about a dozen of them? Three of them had stepped to the back and were assisting. They were the ones who reacted when we entered and were trying to respond.

"Tch, buy us some time!"

"Arise!"

"Prepare to summon the Draugr!"

At the resounding shouts of the Demon Contractors, the corpses that had been laid out on the cavern floor rose up.

[Skeleton | A low-level demon born when demonic energy dwells within a corpse left with nothing but bare bones. Devoid of both intelligence and self-awareness, they wander the living world following the instinct left in their bone fragments.]

It was the appearance of the demon that first comes to mind when you think of undead.

"I will prepare a spell, so I ask for your backup."

"U-Uh... something like that isn't difficult."

However, because they were as weak as they were common, they didn't feel like much of a threat. Right away, Kimchi Dumpling, who was growling like a tiger, was splitting skulls in a single strike with her mace.

"Victory to my sword..."

"Do you think your struggles will work!"

"Glory to the heavens...!"

"God is with me!"

My two-hander was similar. Stepping away from the Inquisitor's shield and swinging my two-hander, the skeletons were swept away in droves.

"Hear me, you who loves slaughter. Come forth, to the prepared land."

However, the skeletons had the numbers, and the cavern was wider than expected.

"For I have prepared blood and flesh for you. Give birth to darkness and bring death down upon this land!"

Their spell was completed before we could reach the Demon Contractors.