Episode 008
Thunder Spear.
As a fifth-tier lightning spell, piercing through an enemy’s armor was the bare minimum.
Unlike Fireball, which burned an entire area, it could designate a target and guide itself toward them… In other words, it was an anti-personnel spell.
Should I say, as expected of the Deputy Tower Master?
It certainly wasn’t a wrong judgment.
No, in a situation like this, there was probably nothing more efficient.
Even a slight graze could electrocute or paralyze the enemy,
allowing her to buy time or chain it into her next spell.
On top of that, she was skilled enough to deploy over a dozen spears at once.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred would surely click their tongues at the Deputy Tower Master’s mana.
After all, the lightning spears filling the room would inspire fear in those who saw them,
and deliver unavoidable death to an enemy.
Of course…
“Are you done now?”
That was only true when the levels matched.
“Wh-who exactly… are you? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing something so… terrible?”
Unlike when she tortured me in the solitary cell, she spoke in a thoroughly humbled tone as she backed away little by little.
Her fighting spirit had long since vanished.
The Deputy Tower Master trembled all over as she desperately tried to stop the blood flowing from her one remaining hand.
“You’re asking who I am?”
“Y-yes…! If you would graciously tell me that great name, unworthy as I am…”
She let out a squeal like a piglet right before being slaughtered and bowed her head at my feet.
Would’ve been nice if she’d acted like this from the start.
However,
I was also in a situation where I was drawing upon my Innate True Qi, so it was difficult to waste any more time.
“You don’t need to know.”
I lifted the bloodstained shackle once more and slowly approached the Deputy Tower Master.
“Cough, cough…! Pl-please, I beg you! What grudge could you possibly have against me…”
What grudge?
Was she saying that with a sane mind?
“…….”
As expected of a madwoman who offered children as sacrifices through human offerings, she looked up at me with an aggrieved expression, as if she were the victim.
Even if I hadn’t received the prologue quest, after what I’d suffered through in torture, I would have come to the Magic Tower at least once anyway.
Seeing her cry and beg so desperately she might as well have been rubbing her hands and feet together,
“Please… show me mercy…”
rather than pity, a wave of disgust rose in me instead.
There, I shook my head from side to side and spoke in a low voice.
“…Do you want to live that badly?”
There was no need to go out of my way to understand a lunatic’s thoughts.
I only had to get what I needed and leave.
“…Pardon? Yes, yes! Please, if you just spare my life, I’ll do anything, anything at all!”
Did she think this was an opportunity?
She threw off her half-broken glasses and bowed her head to the floor once again.
Again and again, and again…
The sight filled me with intense disgust,
but on the other hand, I could understand her attachment to life.
“…….”
“I’ll do anything… please.”
I’d been worried because she seemed like a woman with a strong sense of pride, but things were resolved faster than I expected.
If they don’t listen, consider whether you simply haven’t beaten them enough.
I stared at her in silence for a moment, then murmured in a low voice.
“Then open the treasure vault.”
“Th-the treasure vault…? There’s nothing like that in the Magic Tower…”
“I hope you make a wise decision this time.”
Cutting off the Deputy Tower Master, I leaned back leisurely in the chair.
I already know, so you’d better not spout nonsense.
“…….”
After falling into thought for a while, she soon clenched her fist and glared at me.
How unfortunate.
Was the beating not enough?
“Kh… Though I may be reduced to such a state, I still have my pride as Deputy Tower Master!”
Swoosh—
I raised my hand and drew a line from left to right.
“I don’t know who you are, but to hand over the treasure vault to a heretical bastard like— kek!”
A red line appeared across the Deputy Tower Master’s neck.
“Oh dear… Perhaps because I was locked up for so long, my hand is trembling.”
Bright red blood trickled from the line.
If the line had been carved even a little deeper,
surely…
“…….”
she would have realized.
That her head and body would be separated in an instant.
Well, if she intended to carry out her will, I wouldn’t stop her.
“What did you just say? Pride?”
She trembled all over and looked at me with a face drained white.
“I-I must have lost my mind… This will never happen again, so…”
“Good.”
“I’m sorry… Please, mercy…”
Stop scheming.
The result won’t change anyway.
As for me, I simply wanted to use this time a little more effectively.
“Lead the way.”
“Have you perhaps found the entrance to the treasure vault…? Information that is top secret even within the Magic Tower…”
The Deputy Tower Master gaped in shock, as if asking how on earth I knew.
“…Hoo.”
When I let out a small sigh,
“I-I won’t say anything unnecessary…”
the Deputy Tower Master flinched and jumped to her feet.
“…Just follow quietly.”
“Yes.”
“You know, don’t you? All you need to do is open the entrance.”
“…….”
Because the treasure vault could only be used by one person at a time.
If two people entered at the same time, it would be quite the spectacle.
“If you intend to screw me over, feel free to try.”
“…….”
Beasts only listen when they’re beaten.
It was important to warn them before they did something stupid.
“As long as you can take responsibility.”
Perhaps the warning worked, because the beast lowered her head with a haggard face.
“…Yes.”
After placing the Deputy Tower Master at the entrance, I stepped into the treasure vault without hesitation.
She was still useful for now.
Let’s endure it a little longer.
************
How much time had passed?
Creak—
Ruuuumble!
With a massive roar, a narrow staircase once again appeared between the marble floor.
“You came out quickly.”
“Can’t get to the center of the treasure vault… as expected?”
“I-I apologize, but… as Deputy Tower Master, this is my limit…”
“…….”
It was as expected, so I wasn’t particularly surprised. I was merely a little annoyed that I lacked power right now.
If I had fully mastered martial arts, I would have cut through the barrier and gone in.
A pity.
She bowed her head, letting out a relieved sigh with an uneasy expression.
“…But are you really satisfied with just that?”
“…….”
What Tanas brought out was nothing more than a single bottle, one sheet of parchment, and odds and ends like a black ribbon.
Of course she would be puzzled.
After all, I had entered the treasure vault and not even taken a single common artifact.
Within the treasure vault the Magic Tower was so proud of slept dozens of magical artifacts.
However…
‘Why would I invite trouble when all of them have tracking magic placed on them?’
Of course, the strongest items were in the deepest part,
so I hadn’t been able to approach them this time, but in any case, they were items important only to mages.
I had taken everything I needed.
“…Did you bring out an Elixir?”
I held the bottle emitting a faint five-colored glow in my hand and let out a small sigh.
“Yes.”
Elixir.
A legendary panacea said to perfectly heal all wounds.
I simply wasn’t happy with the number of Elixirs.
Originally, there should have been seven, but there was only one.
‘It must be because I came too early.’
It was unfortunate, but I had no choice but to be satisfied.
The treasure vault was originally a place you could only enter around the midgame…
‘Hm…?’
At that moment,
I sensed something strange and looked around.
“…What is it?”
I glanced once at the Deputy Tower Master as she approached, pretending to be friendly, and let out another sigh.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.
Anyone would want to live.
It was only natural to struggle.
“Do you think you can kill me with something like this?”
As if dumbfounded, I pointed at the floor and turned my head.
Flame magic hidden beneath the ground.
Was it Fire Trap?
Sure enough, her face turned as white as a sheet.
“…How on earth?”
With heat like this, there was no way I wouldn’t notice.
“…….”
“I-I apologize… I must have gone mad for a moment and committed an unforgivable act against you, Hero…”
Enough.
I had expected it.
“Write it.”
I glanced at her and tossed a single sheet of old parchment at her feet.
It was an item I had brought from inside the treasure vault.
“I’ll do anything, so please show mercy just once… What is this?”
“You asked me to spare you, didn’t you? Then write.”
Sign it.
Then I’ll spare you without fail.
Let’s not pretend we don’t know when we both know.
The Deputy Tower Master stared at the old parchment with a deathly pale expression, as though she had received a death sentence.
“A Contract of the Defeated… Wouldn’t my self be sealed!”
“Ten years.”
“…….”
“I’ll release you after ten years.”
“Ugh…”
‘She’s pointlessly stalling.’
It would be dangerous to draw on my Innate True Qi any further.
At best, I had one more use.
If I drew on it two more times, I would undoubtedly die.
It was difficult to survive barehanded in an unfamiliar world like this.
Even if I had knowledge, I didn’t know what variables might appear.
On top of that, the Demon King’s army invading was only a matter of time. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to flee.
I had to awaken magic, acquire divine power, or train my martial arts again as quickly as possible.
‘I have to collect every hidden trophy.’
In order to survive, this wasn’t the time to be picky about my methods.
Therefore, what I needed was an information source.
Unlike in the game, I couldn’t know the heroes’ locations every time.
Someone at the Deputy Tower Master’s level should be useful.
How much time had passed?
After hesitating for a long while, she slowly raised her head.
“Have you decided?”
“I’ll do it… Ah!”
No sooner had she answered than the Deputy Tower Master dropped the parchment.
Right in front of my feet, of all places.
“…….”
It was far too unnatural, but surely she wasn’t still trying to do something stupid—
Boooooom!!
With a tremendous roar, pillars of fire rose from all directions.
“Ahahahahahaha! This is the Magic Tower! There’s no need to fight when I can simply transfer you somewhere else!”
At the same time she activated Fire Trap, she had opened a transfer portal above where the Hero stood!
She had set the coordinates as far away as possible, so he might have fallen somewhere near the border, or the United Kingdom… If she was lucky, perhaps even into the desert!
“Anywhere is fine.”
One thing was certain: he wouldn’t be able to return in a short period of time.
She would receive a severe reprimand from the Tower Master for using the portal as she pleased, but so what?
Since she had preserved her life, it was a cheap price to pay.
“Now, if I just recover my research materials and run away too…”
At that moment,
feeling a chill, she turned around…
and what did she see?
“Is this your answer?”
The white-haired Hero was staring at her with an expressionless face.
“…Eh?”
“…….”
The Deputy Tower Master flinched in shock and quickly lowered her head, but—
“H-Hero… I’ll never, never do it ag—”
Pshhk—
When I swung the shackle to the left, blood spurted into the air with a chilling sound.
Unfortunately, the Deputy Tower Master was unable to finish her sentence.
Roll, roll…
Thud.
Because her body and head had been separated.
“There is no second time.”
Even after going through all that, she still hadn’t come to her senses.
Was she an idiot?
Ding!
++
[You have completed the quest ‘Purification of the Magic Tower.’]
=Chain Quest (3/3) Complete=
You have magnificently taken your first step as a Hero.
▶You have completed the entire prologue.
▷You may proceed with the main quest.
[‘Qualification of a Hero’ has been activated.]
[The ‘Inventory’ function has been activated.]
[You can now use ‘Divine Artifacts.’]
[You can enter Extra Dungeons…]
++
“…….”
A blue window far too familiar.
As expected.
I had completed the quest that the Sword Hero, originally the player, was supposed to clear.
That was probably what ‘Qualification of a Hero’ meant.
Of course, what bothered me even more was those words.
++
[Calculating…]
▶Extreme Mode in progress.
[Reward item grade UP!}
[Calculating…]
▶Quest completed without equipping a ‘Divine Artifact’-grade weapon.
[Reward item grade UP!}
[Calculating…]
▶Quest completed with a party of four members or fewer.
[Reward item grade UP!}
*
*
*
[Reward calculation has ended.]
++
‘I’m not even hoping for something like the Positive Rifle. If only a top-tier magic sword comes out…’
The white light slowly faded, and something settled onto my hand.
“……!”
I was astonished.
‘How could something like this…!’
No.
I had no choice but to be astonished.
‘It makes no sense.’
I looked at the reward resting on my palm and was left speechless.
“…….”
It was like a fruit…
or perhaps like a smooth stone…
A small bead with no particular features.
And for good reason.
“What… is this?”
Because it was an item I had never seen before.
##