Chapter 5 - I Shouldn't Have Done That (5)

Was I feeling a bit sentimental because I thought of my parents for the first time in a while?

Still, filial piety is filial piety, and a quest is a quest. There were still six keepsakes left to find.

"Wait here."

I had scoured everywhere else, so the remaining six had to be in this area.

I searched the cave, focusing on the area where the child had been hanging. As a result, I was able to find bones hidden between the roots.

"M-Mom..."

During that process, the child recognized his mother's keepsake and cried... but there was nothing I could do. Nothing other than properly recovering her remains, at least.

Anyway, thirteen keepsakes. I found them all. I almost lost my eyeballs searching because they didn't provide object markers.

Those Deep Sea Pearl bastards. I admit they make good games, but didn't they neglect user convenience too much? I mean, I don't mind this either, though.

"Kid."

"Mom... Waahhh."

The child didn't look like he would move on his own, so I just picked him up with one hand and left the cave. True to a body that could easily swing a two-handed sword, carrying a single kid was a breeze.

「Purification│A space that has been demonized by a demon taking residence must undergo purification.

A demonized space can be purified by burning it with the holy power of a god or pure flames. Available purification methods vary depending on your class.

Demons will reappear in unpurified spaces.

Ensure that demons never appear in this land again.」

On another note, the system said purification was needed, so I took out an oil canister from my bag and thoroughly sprinkled oil around.

This was also a system from the original game, and since an oil canister was among the given starting items, I could do it easily.

Just as I was about to throw a lit torch onto the sprinkled oil, I suddenly remembered the dead ends of the branching paths.

'... Now that I think about it, I'd probably have to burn those places too to reach 100%.'

「Purification Progress 1%」

「Purification Progress 4%」

「Purification Progress 7%」

Reaching 100% purification progress wasn't a quest completion requirement, so it probably wouldn't matter much. Still, leaving it like this felt uncomfortable, so should I try it on my way out?

With that thought, I watched the purification progress slowly rise and headed outside for now. I started suffocating, probably because they even implemented oxygen depletion when burning things inside a cave.

It would have been fine if it just felt reasonably suffocating, but even the sensation of my lungs tightening and my heart pounding up to the bottom of my throat was specific.

Even though the pain level was set low, my chest felt heavy and unpleasant.

'As for me, I don't have any related trauma, but this seems like it'll be controversial for some people. Is this okay?'

I covered my mouth with my gauntlet and quickened my pace while coughing softly. Even if I was fine, I didn't know how the child would fare, so I had to hurry.

COUGH, COUGH.

"... Tsk."

As soon as I heard the child's coughing, I just broke into a run. Fortunately, my legs were faster than the smoke.

"Are you okay."

"... Yes."

I escaped the suffocating space in less than three minutes. I hadn't escaped the sewer, but rather reached a section where the smoke hadn't arrived yet.

And the rest was easy. Having learned that starting a fire would spell disaster, I didn't attempt purification anymore, and since it was a path I had already traversed, I could find my way without difficulty.

It was a great relief that I had a good memory for directions. I didn't realize it when I was advancing while taking care of the goblins, but the path was unusually twisted and long.

It felt like I ran for thirty minutes just to get out.

CLANG!

Still, having finally found the exit, I kicked open the iron grate door and exhaled. It smelled musty, but it was fresher than the air inside the sewer.

The setting sun pierced my eyes.

'Does that mean it took about two to three hours? I don't remember the time when I entered, but it seemed to have been daytime, and eight hours is one day in the game.'

To be fair, the time spent finding the way and beating demons to death was a bit long. On the contrary, considering the vastness of the sewer I explored, I also felt like barely any time had passed. I felt like I had been in there for about four or five hours.

I would have known exactly if they had provided a clock feature, so that was a bit of a shame.

"Kid."

"...?"

Anyway, I checked on the child in my hand. His blankly staring face was clearly visible through his grimy complexion.

Tears still seemed to be welling up in his eyes, but as long as he was alive, that was all that mattered.

I climbed up the riverbank and slowly retraced my steps. I was told to come report at the guild, so it was time to head to the guild.

"Mr. Knight."

Then, for a moment. The child, having caught his breath, called out to me with a sniffle.

"Mom will be happy by God's side, right?"

It was a question with a fixed answer.

"Yeah."

I arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.

* * *

"Ah, Adventurer? What brings... who is that child?"

Maybe because it was evening, the guild was more boisterous than before. However, since the cause was mostly tavern patrons, the counter itself was a bit idle.

Thanks to that, finding Official Izren was very easy. The same went for reporting to her and handing off the child.

"Take him."

I pushed the child toward her as she came out to the outside of the counter.

Unless you had the muscle strength to hold a two-hander with both hands, I thought it would be a difficult weight for an ordinary person to carry, but the official caught and held the child just fine.

'Amazing. Even the real-life me would probably stagger if I caught that kid.'

"This child is..."

"A worker's child. Said he went into the sewer to find his parent, but hear the details from the kid."

It was a harsh thing to do to the child, but honestly, I hadn't heard much either. I just gave a rough summary.

"Excuse me?!"

Naturally, the official freaked out and looked back at the child she was holding. The child was just tightly hugging his mother's keepsake that I had handed him, his mouth clamped shut.

"I-I understand for now. We will take custody of the child."

「❖ That Which Defiles the Sewer

∎ Eliminate demons 71 / ??

∎ Bonus: Find keepsakes 13 / 13

∎ Bonus: Recover traces of dead adventurers 10 / ??

」

The moment the official said that, one quest condition was cleared. The rest would probably be cleared once I reported them.

"Where should I put the recovered keepsakes?"

"Ah, did you bring back the keepsakes as well? You can just set them down over here for now."

The official handed the child over to a fellow staff member and guided me toward the counter. Seeing her hand pointing to a desk that was neither as wide as a bank's nor too narrow, it seemed she wanted me to put everything up there.

CLATTER!

I didn't decline and poured out the keepsakes. The workers' keepsakes were accessories or clothing, and the adventurers' traces were all adventurer tags, so there would be no confusing them.

"Y-You brought quite a lot."

'Of course. Unless it was a completely unplayable situation, how could I ignore a side mission? Sure, the one giving off a scumbag impression who'd ignore others' plights was me, though.'

I frowned and looked down at the official. The official gulped and quickly checked the keepsakes.

"By any chance, are these the belongings of all 13 deceased workers?"

"What else does it look like, then?"

When I reacted irritably regardless of my inner thoughts, the official flinched.

"N-No, it's nothing. We will first deliver these keepsakes to the clients and confirm their identities. And as for these adventurer tags..."

She was at a loss for words. The bloodstained bronze tags were sifted through at her fingertips.

"... On behalf of the guild, I offer my words of gratitude."

Her slightly choked-up voice sounded unusually human, making me feel strange. I had consistently wished for realistic NPCs, but now that such NPCs were provided, I guess you could say it felt a bit uncomfortable.

'I feel like Skynet might actually be born at this rate. Of course, it's fun, so I'm going to keep playing!'

"Is this all for your hunting today?"

"...?"

'What is she talking about. Why would a player stop hunting.'

"Ah... Are you going back to the sewer? But taking a short rest might also..."

"I don't understand your meaning. Why should I go back to the sewer?"

'Hmm. Is it perhaps because of the purification? But going back in there to do it myself is a bit...'

"Do I have to do the purification too?"

"Don't you have to... hunt the demons...? Excuse me? Purification?"

I frowned, recalling the purification progress that had capped off at 43%.

I wouldn't mind taking on the purification if I could use something like a purification stone, but a Demon Knight could only purify with fire. I might suffocate to death while purifying. I wanted to avoid that if possible.

"Um, I'm just asking just in case... Did you take care of all the demons?"

That was a somewhat out-of-the-blue question. The corners of my eyes shot up.

"Then, why did you think I was standing right here."

"To bring the child... back?"

'If I had found the kid in the middle, I probably would have done that, but... wait, so does she think I gave up halfway because I found the kid?'

'Did they program it to show this reaction if the clear time is fast? But I don't think my clear time was fast.'

"... This is extremely unpleasant. Are you looking down on me?"

When I scowled fiercely, the official frantically shook her head.

"No, I wasn't looking down on you. I apologize, Adventurer. Then, has the elimination of all demons, excluding the purification, been completed?"

"Yeah."

"... Then I will contact the client right away."

I had been slightly worried, but fortunately, it seemed I didn't need to purify everything myself. It would have been troublesome if purifying was also a completion requirement. That was lucky.

「❖ That Which Defiles the Sewer

∎ Talk to the client」

The quest also updated, adding to my certainty. The sewer quest was really over.

* * *

「Adventurer's Guild│At the Adventurer's Guild, you can do various things such as accept commissions, report, and receive rewards.

At the tavern inside the guild, you can enjoy cheap food and drinks, though they will be less tasty. However, if you are lucky, you might be able to obtain useful information.」

While waiting for the client, I looked into the guild's various systems and even finished eating dinner.

The messenger of the NPC who commissioned me arrived right around the time I finished my meal.

"This is the payment for the commission. And... we will cover the brokerage fee on your behalf."

Since a higher-up of the trading company called for me, I had no choice but to head over there. In exchange, or perhaps as compensation, they even paid the brokerage fee.

Even if it wasn't because I came all the way here, I figured recovering all the workers' keepsakes might have influenced it. Honestly, being summoned around was only a grievance to me; NPCs were naturally unapologetic about working players to the bone.

"Will that be fine, Official?"

"I can accommodate that level of convenience as much as you need."

"Then, here you go. The promised 400,000 Gal."

More importantly, this amount—I checked it when writing the contract, but was this really for real? I was surprised by the unit back then, but now that I had a rough idea of market prices, it was even more unbelievable.

It wasn't an amount they should give just for completing one tutorial.

"Confirmed."

The moment I pushed the gold coins into my inventory, I barely suppressed my trembling heart as I admired the rising currency display at the bottom. I couldn't help it.

In most games, or rather, even in the original 'Legend of Heroes', completing a quest only rewarded an amount in the hundreds or thousands. In severe cases, they wouldn't even give that, instead brushing you off with a piece of cheap gear or a few consumables.

That was because you could earn more from looting while walking along the road or hunting mobs than you could from quests.

However, the remake was different. It seemed these guys made it so you could only earn money through quests instead of earning it by hunting mobs. Otherwise, there was no way they would give money in the hundreds of thousands.

"As for the loot obtained from the demons..."

'No, wait. I didn't know because I had only properly checked the combat and defense sides and looked less at the life-skill side earlier, but there is a 'Butchering' life skill.'

It was a skill that allowed you to obtain loot from the corpses of beasts or demons. If I leveled it up, I might be able to earn money just by hunting, not through quests.

Though I doubted if that would actually let me earn more than this.

"Not interested."

Did that mean I regretted leveling up Close-Quarters Martial Arts? Not at all. Considering my concept's nasty temper, it didn't seem like I would ever harvest loot from goblins anyway.

On the other hand, Close-Quarters Martial Arts, as well as the Parry I leveled up afterward, were put to very good use. Even if I had known about the existence of Butchering, I would have leveled these up first.

"Such pocket change obtained from mere bugs."

I struck a firm pose and rejected the additional reward. It wasn't that I didn't feel it was a waste, but roleplaying a concept meant you had to overcome all of that.

I could assert that there wasn't a single hint of regret lingering in my answer.

"Is the work finished with this?"

With my legs crossed, arms folded, and head slightly bowed. I asked in what was known as a badass pose. The middle-aged NPC cautiously answered, "Y-Yes."

BA-BA-BAM!

The quest completion BGM rang in my ears.

"Then there's no reason for me to stay any longer."

'Oh, man. My expression almost broke. Why did they set the quest completion BGM so loud? If I don't lower it, I'll end up having a heart attack later.'

"I'll be going now."

I stood up from my seat, soothing my pounding heart. I didn't bother pushing in the chair that got pushed back in the process.

"Then I will also take my leave."

The official also prepared to leave, following after me.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

It was right then that the sound of someone running without hesitation was heard from the outer hallway. The urgency transmitted through the walls all the way to me.

"What is it?"

I opened the door and stepped aside. Soon, someone entered the room in a manner perfectly suited for the modifier 'crashing'. The official stepped back in surprise.

"E-Elder!"

"Are you a foal with its asshole on fire? What is it!"

Look at the old man's way of speaking. Suppressing the urge to let out a small smile of fondness, I observed the situation. I was a little fuzzy on the details, but this was also a main quest.

Even without my memories of the original game, my years of gaming experience were telling me that this smelled like a quest.

"It's a distress call! A flare went up nearby! It's a flare belonging to our trading company!"

"What!?"

Just as I thought.

"We informed the castle guards, but they said it would be difficult to head out due to the time, and their movements are too sluggish...!"

"Those bastards don't do any work even after gorging themselves on all that money!"

The old man shouted thunderously, the veins in his neck bulging. Truly, he was an old man who could easily live to be two hundred.

"Send our boys immediately!"

Right around then, the elderly NPC's gaze tangled with mine.

"You! You go too!"

"... Do not command me."

There was no way this temper would produce a good reaction after hearing a one-sided command. It might have been different if demons had been mentioned, but it wasn't even certain who was attacking, was it?

Concluding my interpretation with that, I scrunched up my face to protect my pride first.

"So you're saying you don't want to?"

"I have no reason to listen to your commands."

"Urgh, so are you going to refuse!"

But completely refusing was also a bit much. I wouldn't have anything to do even if I refused, anyway.

I glanced at the official. The official happened to be looking at me too.

"Given the urgency of the matter, we can postpone drafting the contract."

"... You'll have to pay a fair wage."

"If it's that, I'll pay you handsomely!"

"The contract is formed. Lead the way."

'Shall we go save them right away, then? But where is the location? I needed to know that to go kill the attackers or whatever.'

「❖ People in Danger

∎ Optional: Meet up with the mercenaries

∎ Move to the battle location

∎ Eliminate the attackers 0 / ??

∎ Bonus: Number of survivors ?? / ??」

Opening the quest window just in case turned out to be quite helpful. It seemed quests were generated even without drafting a contract.

I checked the updated quest and gauged the location. Thanks to having a world map even if there was no minimap, checking the location itself wasn't difficult.

It was just inconvenient to walk around while keeping the world map constantly open.

"Put him on a horse and send him off immediately!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Fortunately, the messenger tagged along as a guide.

"Together with the mercenaries—."

"Unnecessary."

It was a tutorial; would I really need to drag mercenaries along? There was no need to endure such a bothersome task.

「❖ People in Danger

∎ Optional: Meet up with the mercenaries

∎ Move to the battle location

∎ Eliminate the attackers 0 / ??

∎ Bonus: Number of survivors ?? / ??」

Because the number of survivors in that bonus quest bothered me immensely.

Although the numbers weren't displayed, my long-honed intuition told me this looked like a time attack. Unless going with the mercenaries was mandatory, it seemed right to go ahead first.

"B-But it will be dangerous."

"... Did you just discuss danger with me?"

It was an early-game quest, so there was no way it would be dangerous. I was more worried about the NPCs' necks. Considering the time it would take to get there, even leaving immediately might not be enough.

"Just let him go!"

The old man intervened then.

"If he wiped out the sewer by himself, he probably won't die even if he goes first!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

It was unexpected help. The messenger immediately guided me to the stables.

"You can ride this one!"

The horse provided looked quite large and sturdy. However, horses were a frequently appearing means of transportation in games, so I immediately got on its back instead of being scared.

To begin with, there was even a horse-racing simulator among the games I had played. It was a game highly praised for its horse riding being reality itself.

Thanks to that, I was now intimately familiar with horseback riding.

"Hyah!"

The horse's stick-like legs crushed the mud as it began to gallop away, its hooves pounding against the ground.