Chapter 39 - A Better Next Time (4)

Every house was more or less the same, but the village chief's house was slightly larger. Upon entering, the dragon statues placed everywhere caught my eye.

"These statues are..."

"It is the Sea Dragon. The ruler of the western sea."

"I heard the Porzen Region reveres the Sea Dragon, and it seems it was true."

"Because the sea's weather changes depending on its mood. Well... although my faith is somewhat shaken right now..."

'Revering the Sea Dragon, huh. Is that why people wore dragon-carved pendants around their necks or prayed to the Sea Dragon?'

'But wouldn't the Inquisitor, who is from the Temple, dislike this?'

"Why do you ask?"

The Inquisitor's expression as she turned around was still displeased, but she didn't show any rejection toward the Sea Dragon itself. She probably didn't care much about this.

'Then again, if she was going to get angry about idolatry, she should have gotten mad at that mural first. Things like that usually depict an object of worship.'

"I apologize that we only have water to offer you."

"It is fine. We did not come here to be served."

Since the dining table was small and there weren't many chairs, I leaned against the wall instead of sitting down. It made me look like I wasn't part of the party and looked way cooler, so I didn't feel bad about it. Muhaha.

"The sea started becoming strange a month ago. It looks calm on the surface, but the waves crash erratically, and the fish began to disappear one by one."

The village chief calmly explained that when they forced themselves to cast nets, only inedible black things came up, and diving only yielded dead clams.

Even just hearing fragments of it, it wasn't a very good situation.

"At first, we wondered if the Sea Dragon was angry, but when it is angry, rainstorms and tidal waves would strike. It was never like this."

"I see. Then is there any possibility of a red tide? The situation is somewhat similar to when a red tide occurs."

"I have never heard of a red tide lasting for over a month. Above all, the sea should turn red if it were a red tide, but such a phenomenon has never been witnessed."

"Hmm."

"What are those black things that come up when you cast your nets?"

"We do not know either. We have lived by the sea our whole lives, but it was our first time seeing such a thing..."

The village chief briefly stood up, saying she would show us. Soon, what she brought back in her hands was a wooden bowl containing something.

"..."

The first to react was the Inquisitor. She immediately dropped the displeased look she'd worn since entering the village and took the bowl.

"Inquisitor?"

"It is faint, but I sense unholy energy."

'As expected, a gamer's intuition never misses. Whatever the cause is, as long as it isn't natural, it will definitely lead to a quest.'

'On top of that... seeing how the existence of the Sea Dragon keeps getting highlighted since we entered this region, it'll probably be tied to that. There's no way they placed those ruins there for nothing either.'

'It's just a guess, but I'm half-certain. Speaking purely meta, "primeval beasts" like the Sea Dragon were added to serve as raid bosses by giving them a rampage or corruption setting.'

'Man. The memories of grinding them endlessly just to craft best-in-slot gear are still fresh. Corrupted fairies dropped expensive recipes, so I farmed them a lot for gold. Turning that into real cash was pretty sweet.'

"Unholy energy, you say?"

"Yes."

'However, technically, this is just circumstantial evidence. Until hard proof comes out, I should only treat it as a hypothesis.'

"Is it a demon?"

Therefore, I tried mentioning a demon while pretending not to know.

At that, the Inquisitor's eyes widened. It was true that it was my first time speaking to her in a while, but she looked so surprised that I felt awkward.

"I am... not sure about that. It is unholy, but it is different from demonic energy."

"Tsk."

'Since her experience as an Inquisitor is shallow, it makes sense that there are things she doesn't know, but even if I were to be understanding and let it slide, I'm the one who gets treated like a demon.'

I put contempt for her incompetence in my eyes and let go of the sword hilt I had been fiddling with. The Kimchi Dumpling became sullen and lowered her head.

"Hmm."

On the other hand, the Mage carefully examined the contents of the bowl. Because she picked it up with her hand, I could see it as well, and it was a truly bizarre shape to explain.

'Should I call it sludge? If you burned meat pitch-black like coal, it would look somewhat like that.'

"Have you ever seen this before?"

"I don't know what this is either."

"Is that so... Perhaps a problem has occurred with the Sea Dragon."

"Wh-What do you...!"

"I am not certain. However, is it not the entity that governs the western sea? If a problem has occurred in the sea and is not being resolved, it is faster to look to its master for the cause."

The village chief's face crumbled at the Archmage's cold remark. Then again, anyone would make that kind of expression if a problem occurred with the object of their faith.

"However, if a problem truly occurred with the Sea Dragon, the entire Porzen Region should be in an uproar... and the Temple could not possibly be unaware of this. Hmm, is there any news from the city or other villages?"

Even right on the verge of despair, the village chief reacted to the question itself. With a devastated expression, she quietly shook her head.

"Not that I know of. They say the catch has decreased a bit... but it cannot be an abundant year every year."

"Is that recent news?"

"It was a fortnight ago that we gathered everything we could sell and took it to the city, Gruh Telz, to secure food. It takes about six days to get there, so the news cannot be that old."

'It takes about six days to get there, and if they departed a fortnight ago, the actual time they arrived in Gruh Telz was nine days ago.'

'And the possibility of the city changing drastically in nine days is low. It might be a different story if some demon ritual took place, though.'

"I see. Thank you for telling us."

"What could I not tell our benefactors?"

She bowed her waist so low that her face almost touched her knees and softly continued speaking.

"Anyway... at this rate, only death awaits us..."

"..."

No one could offer any words of comfort to that.

"... Do not think too negatively. If there is no particular impact on the city, the cause might not lie with the Sea Dragon."

"... Whatever the cause may be, it does not matter at this point. Whether we starve to death or die of thirst, it is all death by a different name, is it not? We only hope for it to be resolved."

'I don't really like this kind of heavy atmosphere.'

I gently closed my eyes while leaning against the wall. The evasive urge and shallow sympathy that usually arose when facing another's despair tickled the palms of my hands.

'Anyway, this world was too much.'

"First, it seems we will need to conduct a separate investigation to ascertain the cause. Perhaps it is not an issue with the Sea Dragon, but a problem occurring solely in these nearby waters. Is that not right, Inquisitor?"

"Yes, the Archmage is correct."

The Inquisitor quietly looked at the pitch-black sludge before adding to her statement.

"Now that unholy energy has been detected, as a servant of God, I absolutely cannot back down."

[❖ The Rot Washed Ashore

∎ Investigate the happenings in the sea]

A new quest appeared, separate from the one telling us to go to Gruh Telz. It was a side quest.

"Could it be... you intend to resolve this matter for us...?"

"I cannot give you a definite answer."

"That alone is enough... Thank you, thank you..."

'But something is a bit strange. Why are you guys accepting the side quest?'

*'I was going to accept it anyway, but absurd is absurd.' * I tightened my crossed arms. Around the same time, the Archmage asked a final question.

"We might have to stay for a few days for the investigation. Would that be alright?"

"Of course. Not only can we not treat our benefactors poorly... but we will cooperate in any way we can as long as this matter can be resolved."

Suddenly, the people wearing dark clothes and looking at us with red-rimmed eyes flashed across my mind.

'It didn't seem like they were entirely welcoming of us, though.'

"Then it would be better to divide our roles for an efficient search."

As I was lightly tapping my fingers at the unpleasant feeling on my tongue, the Mage assigned the roles in a flash.

The Inquisitor and the Archmage, who were excellent at detecting energy, would go out to sea to search for the source of the anomaly.

DeB, who had good eyes, would listen to a more detailed situation from the villagers or check if there were any traces of a ritual nearby.

No one said it out loud, but my role would fall into the latter as well.

'Even if no demonic energy is detected, you never know. In the event there is a Demon Contractor, DeB's combat prowess is a bit too shaky for him to handle it alone.'

"Oh boy, His Lordship is going. I will be on my way first, then."

'However, even if I'm doing the same task, I'll step up and do it myself; I won't give off the vibe that I'm following your orders! Haha!'

"Have a safe trip."

I turned away from them, kicked the front door open, and stepped outside. Should I investigate the village or the beach? Naturally, I chose the latter.

'My concept has no talent for conversation.'

CRASH!

As I advanced, crunching across the sandy beach, the sea welcomed me with the sound of its waves.

However, the sea foam washing onto the shore seemed to be tinged with gray for some reason. It sharply contrasted with the water, which looked beautifully blue and clear.

"Wow. The clams are all dead."

DeB, who had been following from behind, picked up a conch and immediately clicked his tongue. The clams and sea snails that had died with their mouths open were tossed back onto the beach.

"What do you think is the cause, Sir?"

'More than that, both the Inquisitor and DeB are truly persistent. I remember not answering them for days, but they never get discouraged and constantly try to talk to me.'

'Ah, of course, I like people like that. Being able to wait for an answer that doesn't come means they're just that mentally strong.'

"Whatever it is, eliminating it will solve it."

Even so, I didn't give a cooperative answer. *'Just giving an answer at all is good enough.' *

"Couldn't it be a problem that can be solved without necessarily resorting to force? Well, most things in the world do tend to be resolved that way, but..."

CRUNCH.

While DeB was chattering away, I stepped on something. When I casually lowered my head and moved my foot, I found a slightly unusual-looking clam.

It must have cracked when I stepped on it, as the inside was slightly exposed.

"What is that?"

'Wait a minute. There's something else inside besides the clam meat.'

After a moment of thought, I tapped the cracked shell away with the tip of my shoe. DeB, who had come up to my side and craned his neck, suddenly pricked up his ears and screamed.

"A pearl!!"

'This? Here? Like this? It dropped??'

"It's a real pearl!"

I blinked before quickly understanding. In the game, gems weren't as rare of an item as one might think.

'No, they were rare, but how should I put it? Since they were mostly used as materials for crafting or enhancing items, you could find them occasionally. Depending on the game, there are many cases where they're as common as pebbles rolling around on the side of the road.'

"Even with this size and luster..."

In the meantime, DeB excitedly picked up the pearl. Befitting the Thief class, he must have known how to handle gems well, as he didn't forget to use a cloth to grab it.

"This will sell for at least 1.5 million ghal."

DeB carefully wrapped the pearl in the cloth and held it out to me. I thought he would take it for himself, but it seemed he didn't have the guts to claim it as his own share right in front of me.

"You hit the jackpot, Sir Knight."

'I only hate moving without compensation, but since I haven't established that I have a greed for wealth, I wouldn't have said anything if DeB had taken it... but I won't go out of my way to refuse it either.'

I snatched the cloth from him.

"On another note, it's a shame for those villagers, huh? If they had found this pearl, they would have had less to worry about regarding food for at least a fortnight. They didn't even recognize the treasure right under their noses."

'... But is 1.5 million ghal really worth that much? There looked to be at least fifty people in that village.'

I quietly looked at the pearl peeking out from the cloth before putting it into my inventory. Time doesn't flow inside the inventory, so the gem would degrade less this way.

'My inventory space has become even more constrained, but whatever.'

It was unexpected unearned income.

'... Maybe the game gave it to me in advance because it's obvious I won't get a reward even if I clear this quest.'

* * *

It seemed the pearl was the greatest achievement we were able to find.

We thoroughly scoured the surrounding forest and beach until the sun went down, but we didn't discover anything special. Two deer were all we had to show for it at best.

"Ah, you have returned."

"You're finally ba... Oh? Are those deer?"

'Ah, I guess you couldn't call us completely empty-handed. Since we caught both of the deer we found.'

"If you know, then please give me a hand..."

For reference, it was DeB who carried the deer back. It wasn't that I didn't want to help, but he must have never even considered the idea of me carrying a deer, so he took both of them himself.

DeB had been taking every loss upon himself since earlier, but I didn't bother correcting him. Muhaha.

"Please hand them over here."

"My goodness, two whole deer..."

The village chief and her son hurried to take the deer, and DeB immediately collapsed. Both of them were slightly small in size, perhaps because they were young, but weight was weight. It was understandable that he was exhausted.

"I'm definitely going to have muscle aches tomorrow. I'm telling you, I definitely will..."

DeB sprawled out on a chair like wet laundry.

Since he had used his hood as a sack to drag the deer, his face was clearly exposed under the light in the room. His face, which had been hidden by the hood until now, was younger than expected. Or perhaps, boyish.

"What? What are you staring at? Have you never seen a person's face before?"

"No... I was just surprised because you are younger than I expected."

"Hmph. Are you groveling over just carrying two deer? How weak."

"Hey. Do you think I'm some superhuman like you?"

'I thought he would be in his late twenties because of his beard, but looking at his soft face, it wouldn't be strange if he was the same age as the Inquisitor.'

'Of course, it's not impossible that DeB just has a baby face... but seeing him bicker with the Inquisitor, their mental age is at least around the same.'

"The results."

*'However, my concept doesn't care how old DeB is!' * I steered the topic, which was about to veer off track, back onto its original trajectory.

Only then did the Archmage and the Inquisitor react.

"The waves were too rough, so we could not investigate properly. How was it on your end?"

"Did you perhaps discover anything?"

'If I had found anything, I would've dragged it here immediately.'

I simply crumpled my brow. Since I hadn't found anything either, I refrained from condemning them as incompetent.

"It seems your side is much the same."

The Archmage interpreted our silence in that way. She was exactly right.

"Then what do we do? Do we just waste time like this?"

"That would not do. I am told the waves are calmer at dawn. Therefore, we have decided to go out again at daybreak."

"Heh."

"If we still find nothing even then, we will have to head to the city."

At that point, she spoke to me.

"Save your stamina."

Her gaze rested on the mother and son dressing the deer outside the building.

"The Inquisitor said she saw the Sea Dragon amidst the waves."

"Pardon?"

'Was she being considerate so they wouldn't hear, since the Sea Dragon is an object of faith to them? What a sweet person.'

'But why did you do that to me? Triggering my chain PTSD is still a bit much, you know?'

"I might have mistaken the waves or the storm... but to my eyes, it was definitely a dragon. A long, slender body and fins that were clearly visible even through the gloomy sky... Only a dragon possesses those."

Meanwhile, having received a glance from the Archmage, the Inquisitor calmly explained.

"However... the way it looked, it was as if it was fighting something, or perhaps going on a rampage. It did not seem to be in a normal state."

At her words, DeB ultimately sprang up. It seemed he was so shocked he even forgot his fatigue.

"It is extremely rare for the Sea Dragon to come down to the nearby waters like this. Furthermore, if something truly did happen to the Sea Dragon as the Inquisitor saw..."

"... No way."

"We might have to exterminate whatever is troubling the Sea Dragon, or in the worst case, we might have to face the Sea Dragon itself."

DeB ended up grabbing his head.

"There's no way that's possible!"

His remark from a deeply human perspective was a bonus.

"A dragon hunt, is it."

'However, surprise doesn't suit me.'

"Why are you so calm, Sir Knight?!"

I let DeB's shock go in one ear and out the other.

Rather, I was a bit excited.

'Because if it's a dragon, I'll be able to get some expensive materials or equipment or things like that!'