010 – The Spot on the Shoulder #5
Clank, clank—
Mr. Hammer’s footsteps were loud.
Clack—
Felix, too, couldn’t easily hide his presence because of the sounds made by his sword and gauntlets and such.
What about Hermit?
“Hoo, hoooh….”
“Hey, I told you, if you breathe like that, they’ll hear everything.”
“…Then what am I supposed to do? I’ve never tried breathing quietly before.”
This guy didn’t even know how to silence his own breathing in the first place.
In the end, I was the only one here who could walk quietly and stealthily.
“Yor, like you said, it’s true those Order bastards can’t see well and are sensitive to sound. If it’s quiet you, you might be able to do something without being caught, but… are you really going to be fine alone?”
“If it looks impossible, I can just come back halfway. Just tell me where I should go after I get the hat.”
“Fine. I’ll mark it all on the map for you.”
Mr. Hammer took out a handkerchief.
After dipping his finger in the blood of the octopus freaks, he drew circles here and there on the map.
“There’s only one entrance and exit around here, this one. The other one is underground, but the basement of this university is a seriously dangerous place, so even we don’t go there. Use it as a last resort if you really think you’re going to die.”
“Yes, sir! Then I’ll be off now. It’s just a head rolling around, so if I chase it quickly, I should catch up in no time.”
Hoo—
I lightly steadied my breathing and set off.
And only after I rounded the corner and everyone was out of sight did I speak softly.
“Ashibar. Are you there?”
【Kehehe, yes. If you wish to call upon Idols, a quiet place like this is best.】
Whoooosh—
Ashibar began approaching my side, his body wreathed in black mist.
He looked like a dwarf holding his own severed head.
Still surreal as ever.
“That skill you showed me back then, 「Black Feet」. I can buy it now too, right?”
【Yes, but I do not recommend it for the moment.】
“What, why not?”
【My blessed one. Someone like you can easily shake off these stupid seafood hosts and have room to spare. You do not particularly need 「Black Feet」.】
“You’re not bullshitting me, are you?”
【Kehehe, I am one who wishes to trade with you for a long time. Would such a being as I let you fall into a pit of these sticky tentacles? Not at all! Trust me!】
I felt this last time too, but talking with Ashibar felt like talking with a con artist.
Just as my suspicions were starting to rise for no reason, Ashibar laughed, kehehe—
【Still such a suspicious child. Good. Those who are suspicious survive long. Convincing you is my role. Give me the tentacles you have, and I shall give you 「Black Eyes」.】
“Black Eyes?”
【Eyes that allow you to see better even in darkness. Eyes that let you see things clearly in sunless basements and on nights when not even the stars shine. How about it? For now, this is better.】
Just hearing about it, it sounded good.
But I found it strange that the trade item was Aktopus tentacles.
“Are these tentacles expensive or something?”
【What use would anyone have for that trash? But I like them. I enjoy the chewy texture. Blessed one, remember that Idols like myself can trade not only for ether, but also according to our personal tastes.】
I held out about a hundred Aktopus tentacles I had gathered to Ashibar.
Then Ashibar lifted his severed head and spat—ptooey—into my eyes.
“Ugh, disgusting!”
Did I get scammed after all?
That was after I wiped the spit away with my sleeve.
Hwaaa—
When I opened my eyes, my world looked one shade brighter.
With this, maybe I really could do it.
“Still, couldn’t you hand over blessings in a slightly more gentlemanly way?”
So where do I need to go to find the hat?
As I thought that, my newly brightened eyes caught sight of bloodstains dragged across the floor.
It looked like blood flowing from One-Eye’s severed neck.
To think I’d already found such a precious clue. Lucky me.
If I hadn’t had Ashibar’s 「Black Eyes」, I might have just walked right past it.
It really was a good thing I’d gathered those tentacles!
Sssssss—
Ashibar scattered like smoke as he spoke.
【But bear this in mind, blessed one. Idols are fickle beings. One who calls upon an Idol empty-handed may surely have to pay the price—】
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind!”
# # #
The bloodstains led underground.
Hadn’t Mr. Hammer told me not to go underground?
Not that I was the type to listen to such warnings.
“Naglatan.”
“Walu walu—.”
“Narbada.”
Stairs and corridors leading underground.
Now and then, freaks babbling incomprehensible languages popped out.
But if I held my breath, stood on tiptoe, and crept along, they didn’t notice me following even right behind them.
At this rate, maybe I really didn’t need something like 「Black Feet」.
Rather, the important things were the shards of glass scattered here and there on the floor, traps with strings attached, and the like.
A corridor without a single torch lit.
If I hadn’t had eyes unusually bright in the dark, I wouldn’t have even dared walk around here.
‘Ashibar, I was going to complain because you didn’t tell me there’d be an additional fee every time I used the 「Star Key」. But I’ll let it slide this time.’
I threatened the unseen Ashibar in my mind.
After walking for quite a while like that, I saw a head wearing a pointed hat rolling around underground.
‘Found you, you thieving bastard!’
How dare you steal our mage’s hat?
All the precious stuff is in there.
Because of thieving bastards like you, even an upstanding person like me gets cursed at.
I crept toward him, more and more quietly, held my breath in silence…
“…….”
Swish—!
And snatched up the pointed hat on his head.
“Walu walu walu walu walu walu walu—.”
But.
Contrary to my expectation that he would cause a huge commotion, he only babbled words I couldn’t understand.
When I glanced at him, his already vicious-looking face had melted into something like limp seafood, no longer human.
Ugh, fuck. Is this what happens if you stay in this university too long?
As expected, street thieves and universities really don’t go together.
Whatever the case, I obtained the hat.
‘Now I just need to get to the exit.’
Flutter—
I unfolded the map.
A problem occurred.
‘What the hell is this?’
Was it because of the humid, damp environment?
The handkerchief map had blurred all over the place, and I couldn’t tell at all where the entrance and exit markings were.
I was fucked.
A chill ran down my spine.
Just a moment ago, I’d thought this basement was hot.
Now it felt like the temperature had dropped cold in an instant.
‘Get a grip. The exit should definitely be somewhere around here.’
Fortunately, the basement wasn’t very large in structure.
It was full of thick iron doors, as if it had been used as a prison, but whether that was misfortune or fortune, I had deep ties with prisons, so I was able to move through the underground facility both familiarly and stealthily.
‘Underground prisons usually have ventilation ducts. Ones you can crawl through like this.’
As I crawled through the ventilation duct, a closed iron door came into view.
Unlike the other cells, which were empty and open, this was the only closed door.
Suddenly, a creed I’d heard on the streets came to mind.
—There is a reason for what is closed.
Beyond it, there are usually precious things.
So I carefully approached the iron bars and shoved my lockpick into the keyhole.
「Would you like to disable the lock?」
「Cost: 1,000 ether」
「Success Rate: Less than 1%」
Click—
I heard the sound of the lock opening.
It said the success rate was less than 1%, yet I’d succeeded in one try twice now.
‘Lucky me.’
Soon, a room surrounded by pitch-black stone walls appeared before my eyes.
And on its floor, I could see a round circle glowing with a strange drawing, woooom—
‘I’ve seen that somewhere before.’
I took a book out of my bag.
It was the book Hermit had shown me, called 「The Key to Magic and Prayer」.
As I was flipping through the book I had seen last night—
“Well, what do we have here. A handsome fellow with all his arms and legs intact came looking for me.”
Flinch—!
Only then did I realize there was someone in the corner of the room.
An octopus monster!?
I hurriedly tried to draw my dagger, then hesitated when I saw the chains—clatter—that bound her hands and legs.
A person whose arms and legs were chained to the wall.
Her face was wrapped in bandages, and compared to her gaunt body, her chest was large.
‘A woman.’
Damn it, what a sad creature a man is.
Even in this situation, my eyes went to her chest.
This is all because I have no experience with women.
Would it get better if I got used to women?
In the pitch-black darkness.
I felt as if the woman was looking straight at me.
Soon, she swept her gaze down from my head and looked at the book.
“Oh my. That’s my book. Did you perhaps come seeking my teachings?”
“…Your book?”
“Yes. I’m Estelle, the author of that book, 「The Key to Magic and Prayer」.”
What the hell, is this for real or bullshit?
Then my 「Black Eyes」 caught sight of her shoulder exposed through her rag-like clothes.
I could see a star-shaped white spot.
“Oh, oooh?”
I opened the book here and there and examined the illustration of the naked woman spreading her arms and legs in the shape of the character 大.
A star-shaped white spot on the left shoulder.
“Oooooh?”
“So, what teaching did you seek from me to come all the way down to the basement of this sinister building? I hope it isn’t an ordinary question. You’re a brave hero who defeated that golem and made it all the way here, after all.”
“Golem?”
“Yes, the monster guarding the upper floor. The university’s sentry. The boss monster.”
“Ah, that thing!”
“Hmmm—?”
The woman’s eyes gleamed strangely in the darkness.
Damn it!
Only then did I realize the fatal habit I had.
It was that I found it hard to lie in front of pretty women.
The bigger a woman’s chest, the more honest I seemed to become!
“From the look of it, you came all the way here without defeating the golem. You weren’t a hero, but a thief. Interesting—.”
Thieves are cockroaches.
When women see a thief hiding in the dark, they scream as if they’ve seen a cockroach, grab a slipper, and beat him like crazy.
I wondered if the woman before me, Estelle, would scream too. If that happened, things would get complicated in all sorts of ways, so I was gripping the handle of my dagger tightly when—
“Did you perhaps read the book I hid somewhere in this university, 「Shadow Stepping」?”
“The one that reduces footstep sounds?”
“Yes.”
I had wondered why there was a thief-type skill book in a magic university.
So the woman before me had hidden it.
“Somewhere in this university is a jewel I want. But the Pope’s sentries were so vicious that I needed to walk very, very quietly. That’s why I went through so much trouble to obtain that book.”
“Isn’t there no point in a mage reading a thief skill book?”
“Yes, that really turned out to be true. And that’s why I got locked up like this. I was so bored I thought I’d die. Then you came along, and now I can’t tell you how fun this is.”
I knew because I’d been locked in prison often too.
When you’re trapped in a pitch-black solitary cell, sometimes killing time alone is more painful than getting beaten.
“In that case, my disciple. Are you finished with your questions?”
Wait.
What? Disciple?
“…When did I become your disciple, Ms. Estelle?”