My Demons - Chapter 39



Only Krnovel

My Villains Episode 039

10. 4th basement floor (4)

When the slime shriveled up in the flames turned into sticky charcoal.

The search seemed to be over, and it was almost time to eat, so I decided to take a break.

There was a staircase leading to the third floor nearby, so I went there.

As Mr. Luke and Arnal started a small fire near the landing, I helped Grania take off her armor.

Grania’s armor, hit by the slime’s acid, was melted here and there, and all the iron plates and rings had to be torn off.

Although it became a rag with tears and holes here and there – well, it saved my life, so I shouldn’t regret it.

Thinking like that, I took off the melted armor, and wow, a handful of the peeled skin came out sticking to the sleeve.

“Ugh, all the skin came off? Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Huh, of course it hurts.”

When water was sprinkled on her left arm, which had been hit by acid, Grania gritted her teeth and groaned.

Red swelling and white bubbles are all over my left arm – ugh, it looks like I’m going to vomit.

After wiping off the moisture with a bandage and applying ointment, I spoke in a reprimanding tone.

“Is this your first time seeing slime?”

“Well, where have you seen a guy from a dungeon? Ugh, can you please help me? Does it sting a little?”

“But why do you attack me so recklessly? “You almost died.”

“Whew, well, that’s right.”

…is that the end?

Grania answered succinctly, took out a leather canteen and took a gulp.

They don’t seem to care much about what I say.

“I thought you were a cautious person, but what the hell?

“Why is that?”

“•••Why did you do that? “I was just doing my job?”

“Nail?”

Grania answered my question with a frown as if asking something like that.

“Ellen, you’re a wizard, right? “It’s a precious body, so we need to protect it.”

“Did you not see me running? “I guess I’ll take care of it myself.”

“I hope you’ll do well and just keep sucking my fingers?”

“That’s not it.”

“Ugh, can you stop asking useless questions for now and just put a bandage on me?”

“•••okay.”

I was lost in thought for a moment as I wrapped the bandage from Grania’s shoulder.

As I was about to cross my muscular forearm and tie a knot at my scarred elbow, I suddenly opened my mouth.

“So, you did it to save Ellen?”

“It’s just work, whatever.”

It looked sad at first glance, but upon closer inspection, I looked into its sharp eyes and furrowed my brows. Because I didn’t understand.

“But Ellen hasn’t been very kind to you.”

“however? “What does that matter?”

“To put it bluntly, is it worth it for you to take the risk for Ellen? “He was always abrasive and, what should I say, angry or something like that.”

In response to my question, Grania slowly turned her head and looked at Ellen. Seeing that she was preoccupied with the guy tidying up the room, Grania shrugged her shoulders and answered in a low voice.

“To be honest, it wasn’t for Ellen.”

“then?”

“hmm. “If I really talk about value, should I say it was for my own value?”

“It’s your own value… .”

While tilting my head, I unwrapped a new bandage and began to wrap Grania’s lower arm.

Grania was wearing only a sleeveless sackcloth, with both shoulders and arms exposed. Her forearms were flexed to the point of being a mess, with her toned forearms, faded scars, and fresh burns.

“I am a mercenary. A person who works for someone else for money. And most of that work involves fighting enemies.”

Twenty-seven years old. The 27-year-olds I met during my time as Seungsu Kim were mainly job seekers or those just starting out in society.

It was an age that was thrown by the winds of the world, but still retained the innocence of youth.

“So my worth is…” It is decided when you step into danger, when you swing your sword at a powerful enemy, and when you raise a shield for your comrades behind you.”

Twenty-seven years old. Twenty-seven years in Middle World were enough years to create a seasoned mercenary with numerous scars etched all over his body.

Twenty-seven-year-old Grania had long since lost her sense of guilt about murder, and was a warrior with a strong heart who could wash away the death of a comrade in arms with a glass of cheap alcohol.

I asked the question again, hiding my clear sense of discomfort.

“Do we have to do that in the basement with no one watching?”

“Why is no one watching? “You are there, Luke, Ellen, and even Arnal.”

“Yes, but.”

“Even if no one was there, nothing would change. I am the leader of a mercenary group. “You can’t do something embarrassing.”

There were many things contained in Grania’s dark brown eyes as she spoke like that. It was hard to describe, but if I had to explain it – well, it seemed like a point of pride.

In Middle World, small-scale mercenaries were often equated with thieves or robbers. There was no way Grania didn’t know that, but she seemed to have a sense of calling to her job.

When I first saw Grania, I wondered how she was able to act as the leader of the gang despite her small physique, which was about half of 160 cm (though she was rather tall for a woman in this world).

At that time, I thought it was just based on Grania’s excellent fighting skills.

But now I see that even if Grania’s martial arts skills were poor, she would have been a leader.

After tying the end of the bandage and finishing it appropriately, I closed my mouth.

This world felt stranger than when I fell asleep in a bed filled with straw, than when I drank lukewarm, thick beer, or when I wore strange-looking pants.

The dinner that followed was quite satisfying.

Smoked pork, boiled crocodile eggs, oat pies, figs, and even beer mixed with water. It was quite a generous meal for a meal in a sewer.

The reason we were able to eat such a generous meal was thanks to two factors.

The first was that the money received as a start-up fee was quite a large sum – five gold coins were received – and the second was that the number of people increased and we were able to take care of quite a lot of supplies.

Anyway, thanks to that, I was satisfied and was looking at the copy of the blueprint handed to me by the guard captain.

” hey.”

“huh?”

When I looked up, Ellen, who was squatting nearby, was staring at me.

“What did you talk about?”

“what?”

“What did you talk about with the old maid?”

•.•Here we go again.

I glanced around, and it seemed like no one had heard what he said.

This is because Ellen and I were reasonably far away from the rest.

That’s why they were separated – Ellen sat separately because she didn’t want to mix with other people. I was worried about that guy, so I sat down nearby.

I put the map down on my lap and brushed my bangs.

“Can’t you just call me by my name? Do you really have to call me an unpleasant title like grandpa or old maid?”

“If you don’t want to talk, just say no, why bother?”

“•••Phew.”

Let’s be patient. Because I don’t want to cause trouble by nagging you for no reason. Instead, if you go up to the ground, I will definitely scold you.

When I let out a sigh with mixed feelings, Ellen flinched for a moment and began to look at me out of the corner of her eye.

It’s clear that I know what I did wrong.

That’s what makes me even more upset. If you’re going to get noticed after doing it, why not do it in the first place?

Swallowing the words welling up in my throat, I opened my mouth calmly.

“I just said thank you.”

“what?”

“The one who stepped forward earlier, and the one who fought at the inn the day before yesterday.”

“Why are you thankful for that?”

Ellen had a puzzled expression on her face, as if she genuinely didn’t know.

Ugh, I keep sighing.

“It was because of you both times.”

“because of me?”

“okay. You got hurt trying to catch the slime running at you. Her armor was damaged too. Is that all? The other day, Anton was seriously injured while fighting a group of bandits at the inn. I could have run away, but I stayed when I found out you were on the second floor. “Of course I should be grateful.”

Ellen sneered as if she couldn’t understand what I said.

“Ha, I’m a wizard. “I can clean up the slime without any help.”

“what the. “This is the guy who was running away trembling.”

“Wow, you’re shaking! It’s just… I was just confused for a moment. “If he attacked me, I would too.”

“Yes, yes. Slime, what did you do?

Maybe. But what about the day before yesterday? “If it weren’t for Rania, you would have died.”

Ellen pursed her lips at my firm words. She shrugged her shoulders as if I was teasing him. Ellen pursed her lips for a moment and then spoke.

“B-but why are you saying thank you for that? “It’s my job.”

“Because you would never say that. In the first place, you’ve never even had a proper conversation with Grania, have you?” “•••That’s right, but.” The guy closed his mouth again and lowered his eyes. He seemed to be looking for something to say.

“Don’t try to talk nonsense.”

“When did I,”

“Another horsetail. Thank you, right? “Just tell me that.”

Ellen didn’t respond at all, but considering her usual words and actions, she must have agreed to this.

“okay. If you appreciate something, say something nice on a regular basis. “Because I don’t want you to have a proper conversation with other people.” “huh? It’s because I’m worried. “I’m afraid you’ll get stabbed if you keep acting like that.”

When I gently admonished him, the guy who was squatting buried his face in his knees and muttered.

“Why did I get stabbed all of a sudden?”

“That’s what it says. Anyway, be careful now. In particular, what an old maid and an old man say is prohibited?” Ellen was silent for a moment with her eyes downcast.

“•••okay. “I’ll be careful.”

Finally, he said that and nodded slightly.

I felt strange for some reason and smiled without saying a word.

“Okay then… … “How much time has passed?”

In response to my question, Ellen took out an object that looked like a transparent conch shell from her sling bag. It was a magic hourglass.

Well, the magic hourglass didn’t really have a great effect. When mana was blown into it, sand flowed out in one direction no matter which way it was turned.

It is said that it is an item that all wizards at La Palais Palace have, thanks to its simple but useful effect and its small size for portability.

Ellen answered while examining the scales engraved on the hourglass.

“It’s just been twelve hours.”

“Twelve hours.”

It’s ambiguous.

The sewer system of the ancient empire was a facility that had existed for a very long time.

Proper maintenance was not carried out during those years, so the deeper you went, the more often the walls collapsed or water leaked.

The problem occurred here.

This is because the hidden staircase leading directly to the secret passage from the 4th floor of the sewer had already collapsed.

In the end, in order to access the secret passage, there was no choice but to search through the naturally created crypt and find the way.

The good news was that if you only entered the crypt, you could use the blueprint to specify the direction of the secret passage.

then… First, you have to find the way to the crypt, and then find the way to the secret passage in the crypt. Ugh, what a pain in the ass.

After thinking for a moment, I looked back at my colleagues sitting around me and said,

“First of all, the surrounding area has been roughly cleared, so there is no other way than to find the crypt… The situation in the city is not very leisurely, so it would be better to hurry.”

good. It seems like everyone has no disagreement.

“Mr. Luke. “You said you’ve been in a crypt before, right?”

“That’s right. To be precise, what went into it

“No, it’s missing.”

According to Mr. Luke, he went to the sewer with some people from his neighborhood about two weeks ago.

After many twists and turns, Luke’s group reached the 4th floor of the sewer, but the floor suddenly collapsed and they fell into a large cavity.

It is said that most of them drowned or were eaten by monsters, but thanks to some luck, Luke managed to escape and climb up.

“I was passing by earlier and saw a pile of dirt where it had collapsed. I don’t know why, but it would be dangerous to dig that hole again. Besides, falling into a cavity full of groundwater is not a very wise move.”

“That’s right.”

When I nodded quietly, Arnal, who was fiddling with the feather of his arrow, shrugged his shoulders and said.

“In the end, is there no other way than to scratch the floor one by one?”

“•••I think so.”

Of course, the search on the 4th floor so far wasn’t just about hunting down ratmen. He searched for holes that could lead underground, such as small cracks or cracks, but without much success.

How do I do it? It seems foolish to search blindly, but is there really no way?

We had some meetings, but no useful opinions were obtained.

“Well, I can’t help it. “Let’s find a way down.”

“You’re not going up to the ground? “We need to reorganize.”

When Ellen expressed her dissatisfaction, which bordered on complaining, I gave Tyler a calm voice.

“I don’t think we can afford that. “We still have enough supplies, so let’s search with the intention of camping out for the day.”

Ellen pursed her lips for a moment, but she kept her mouth shut as everyone nodded calmly, as if they had made up their minds to this extent.

It’s good that opinions were gathered without any conflict…

Hmm, it seems like I’m going to have a hard time.