011 – A Special Reward #1
The woman I met underground.
Ms. Estelle said,
“If you read my book and came to me seeking instruction, then you’re my disciple. You may be proud. Taking on a disciple is a first for me, too. It’s an honor not just anyone can enjoy—.”
That sounded reasonable enough, in its own way.
Even if it had been utter nonsense, this was the sort of situation where it was better to play along.
Imagine if Ms. Estelle suddenly snapped and screamed.
All the octopus monsters in this building would come swarming here.
“In that case, Master, this disciple wishes to escape this place and return to the Wall, but I’m having trouble because I can’t find anything like an exit. Where should I go?”
“Good question. The magic circle drawn in front of me is an escape magic circle—. There are magic circles like this all over the university, and they activate from time to time.”
“Ooooh!”
“Stand on that magic circle and picture the place you came from. But to part with my disciple as soon as we meet… this master is so lonely. Will you come again next time—?”
To be honest, I don’t want to come again.
I was just swallowing those words back down when—
“If you come again, I’ll teach you magic.”
“Oh, really? Can I become a magician too?”
I imagined myself shooting lightning and spitting fire from my hands.
Just thinking about it felt amazing…!
“No. I can tell at a glance. You have no aptitude for magic.”
“Aw, then learning magic would be useless.”
Disappointment filled me in an instant.
I lost out for nothing by getting my hopes up.
“What’s the point of teaching a carp how to swim? Or teaching a pigeon how to fly? It only has meaning when you teach the cat hiding in the shade how to swim and how to fly.”
What is she talking about?
As I grew rapidly dizzy from the difficult explanation, Ms. Estelle laughed.
“If you learn magic from me, you may not become a magician, but you will learn how to deal with magicians. You can become a cat that hunts carp and catches pigeons—.”
Ooh.
Somehow, it sounded extremely convincing.
A learned person really does speak differently.
This must be why people study.
If I make it back safely, I should read more books too.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“It’s such a shame to part with the disciple I’ve finally met so soon.”
“Same here. I’m truly sorry to go!”
“I can’t very well make you live here for the rest of your life—. Then shall I give you homework until our next meeting? Read the fifth paragraph of the book I wrote in advance—.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
Step.
I stood on the magic circle and pictured the Wall’s strategy room.
Then letters appeared before my eyes.
「Will you return?」
Good.
The moment I simply accepted in my mind, I felt my body brushing past black mist.
At the same time, my legs trembled.
“I survived!”
It felt like I had shoved my head into a tiger’s mouth and barely made it out alive.
Why?
Because of Ms. Estelle!
Most things locked in prison are there for a reason.
Of course, there are people like me who unfairly ended up with fourteen prior convictions.
But I don’t think Ms. Estelle is like that.
Just how bad would she have to be for those cultist octopus fanatics to lock her up?
The fact that I met someone like that and still came back alive was a real miracle.
‘Who knows what would have happened if Ms. Estelle hadn’t been tied up.’
Honestly, I was terrified!
Thank goodness I escaped.
“But where is this?”
# # #
On top of the dark blue water that rose to my wrists, a single pitch-black full moon floated like a warped mirror.
There was no moonlight, no ripples, only an eerie silence filling the place.
“This isn’t the strategy room.”
The scenery reminded me of the riverside at night when I had run away from the guards’ pursuit.
As I was trying to guess where this place was, something approached me.
【Offer it. Ether.】
【Then I shall grant you. My blessing.】
To describe it simply, it was a giant snake.
An anaconda-sized one, like something out of a movie.
Except human arms sprouted from its head like deer antlers, and what looked like scales were human faces.
Could that even be called a snake?
A monster!
At a glance, it was so terrifying I thought I might piss myself, yet the giant snake approached me and bowed its head.
【Offer it. Ether.】
【Then I shall grant you.】
【The Serpent’s Blood.】
【My name.】
Still, this was a pattern I knew somewhat.
It felt like this when I made a deal with the idol Ashivar too, right?
The monster snake before my eyes was probably an idol as well.
‘Back then, after I killed a bunch of Nightlings and was returning to the strategy room, I met Ashivar. This time too, I’m meeting an idol when I’m trying to return to the strategy room.’
Are all idols this weird-looking?
Even the dwarf carrying a severed head looks normal compared to this giant snake in front of me.
“So, what does the blessing do?”
「Serpent’s Blood Lv.1」
「The blood flowing through your veins becomes toxic. Your resistance to poison also increases greatly.」
Ooh, this effect is no joke.
Increased resistance to poison.
In this world, quite a few people die after being stabbed with poison-coated blades.
Food poisoning is a frightening poison too.
If I gained resistance to things like that?
That alone would be worth it.
“How much?”
【Ten million Ether.】
What?
That’s fucking expensive.
“I don’t have that much.”
【Half of that?】
“I don’t have that either.”
Damn it.
This snake-like idol just showed up without knowing the state of my pockets.
Soon, the snake hissed,
【Then my name. For all the Ether you possess.】
The Ether I have in my bag totals two hundred thousand.
Of course, there is a little more in Hermit’s conical hat, but that’s not mine, so it’s out of the question.
Buying the name of the skeletal giant snake that appeared before me for two hundred thousand Ether?
Is it worth that much?
But…
If I think about it calmly, I received all sorts of help from the idol Ashivar today.
If I know its name, I might be able to receive help when I need it.
More than anything, what Ashivar said earlier bothered me.
That idols don’t only hold goodwill toward the blessed.
If I meet one and don’t make any kind of deal, how would I know it won’t harm me?
So it would be best to buy even the name of this strange giant snake.
However, all the Ether I have?
Isn’t that a bit too expensive?
“How about one hundred thousand Ether to purchase your name? In exchange, I’ll gather Ether later and definitely buy that blood or whatever.”
Is negotiation possible even with idols?
I wondered if perhaps I had done something unnecessary, but—
The skeletal giant snake nodded.
【My name is. Derjurak.】
“Derjurak, is it?”
【Palabradike】
“Palabradi… Der, Pala… um….”
【Sabranik—.】
“…Wait, hold on. May I just call you Sab?”
Craaaack!
The terrifying bone serpent opened its mouth wide.
Was it trying to eat me for shortening its name however I pleased?
“Sab is too shortened, right? I’ll call you Sabranik.”
But?
Seeing as it continued to hold its mouth open, it seemed to want something.
“Ah.”
I took a bundle of Ether out of my bag.
And when I threw one hundred thousand Ether into the snake’s mouth, the snake shuddered its tail with a ssssss.
【—Death to the traitor emperors—.】
“Excuse me?”
Who’s dying?
Soon, the black night and mist surrounding me began to clear.
Then the round table of the strategy room appeared before my eyes.
“Oh!”
I’m back!
At the same time, the slightly reduced weight of my bag made my mood plunge.
The severed-headed dwarf Ashivar had given me both a blessing and his name for one hundred thousand Ether.
Sabranik had only told me its name, and that was it.
I don’t know whether Ashivar was generous with his spending.
Or whether Sabranik is a cheapskate.
But?
I decided to bring out the mindset I had acquired after living on the streets for a long time.
Radical positivity.
“Maybe Sabranik is an incredible idol, right? Seeing as it sells a blessing for ten million Ether, it might be a big shot whose name is written in that Complete Collection of Idols book.”
Once I thought of it that way, it all made sense in various ways.
Of course, I’d have to ask Hermit to know the details.
Thinking they might have returned first, I wandered around the Wall’s facilities.
But Hermit, Hammer, and Felix didn’t seem to have come back yet.
# # #
Only after several hours passed did bright light shine in the strategy room.
As I approached the strategy room while reading a boring book, loud voices reached my ears.
“I told you we shouldn’t have sent him alone!”
“What else were we supposed to do? If we followed him, we would all have died meaningless deaths.”
“He might still be alive.”
“Why did you all come out so late?”
“…Huh…?”
“…Ha….”
“What…!?”
The people who had been talking at once came to a halt.
Only then was I able to examine their faces. They were covered in wounds here and there, and their armor was full of dents, scratches, and filthy bodily fluids, making them look just like beggars.
“Why do you all look like that?”
“You little braaaaat! What the hell happened?!”
Boooom!
Mr. Hammer’s shout rang out from under his helmet like a loudspeaker.
“We! Thought! You! Couldn’t get out! So until nightfall! We fought those heretic bastards to our absolute limit while waiting for you! You, youuuuu little bastard, how did you get out before us?!”
Mr. Hammer, Felix, and Hermit said they had waited for me in front of the exit.
Even though I had already come out through the underground long ago.
“You bastard, did you even take a bath in the meantime? You smell nice too!”
“What happened was—.”
Chatter, chatter.
I explained the whole story as best I could to my party members, who seemed to want an explanation.
“That’s what happened. Here’s your conical hat.”
“Ah, my hat!”
Hermit hurriedly accepted the hat in my hand.
Seeing that, Felix squatted down on the floor.
“You escaped through the underground. Seeing as you really brought the hat, it doesn’t seem like a lie. Haa…. Then why exactly were we fighting those heretic bastards for five hours….”
“Felix, cheer up! In the end, we all made it back alive, we got the hat, and we earned more Ether on the side, so isn’t that enough? That aside, our Yor really has a talent for lifting people up and dropping them down!”
Mr. Hammer pulled me into a tight embrace and lifted me up and down wildly.
I had finally washed, but now the tentacle monsters’ bodily fluids got on me again, so it felt awful.
Now I have to wash again!
“You met Estelle in the underground prison?”
Hermit asked me after I finally came back down to the floor.
Maybe his emotional reunion time with his conical hat was over.
“If that woman really was Estelle, then you were lucky. She’s a first-class wanted criminal who fled beyond the Wall into the nightlands. No one knows how many people she’s killed. You could have been murdered too if you made one wrong move.”
At Hermit’s words, a chill ran through me for no reason.
So I had been talking with a human slaughterer.
I’d thought so.
It’s not like just anyone would be locked in a terrifying underground prison guarded by monsters!
As relief washed over me in many ways, my legs trembled.
Then one fact appeared in my mind.
“Hermit, on the way back, I made another deal with a different idol. I wanted to ask if it might be a famous idol this time. Its name was—.”
“Now, now, now, we’ll talk later. First, let’s settle the accounts! The accounts! Hurry up and settle! Wash! Eat! Sleep! I’m so sticky I could die!”
Mr. Hammer forcefully pushed us toward the bonfire room.
On the way, he added, as if making a grand decision,
“By the way, you know the settlement money we’ll get this time from the skill book? I’m thinking of just giving my entire share to Yor. I think our party’s stability will increase only if Yor levels up.”
They’re giving all the money to me?
Then how high will my level rise?
It felt like I had to be at least level 10 to finally pull my own weight!