Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Old Sewer (5)
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1.
Consciousness was tossed into a black sea.
A deep, black sea.
A space where nothing was possible except drifting like a trash bag.
"Aaah, fuck..."
Sedric had died again. Shortened to Sedric Dead.
The first time he came here, it had been truly shitty, scary, and heartbreaking.
But now, he visited so often it felt like his own bedroom.
"Ha, new technique... I awakened it... Sunming... I sliced him..."
Now Death Verdict could cut not just living beings but objects too!
It might even be an S-rank spell capable of slicing lightning!
And the backlash from using such badass magic was what killed him!!!
The promising hidden stash of slush funds he'd been desperately hunting for was right in front of him.
Sunming had even cleaned the place spotless, so all he had to do was rummage around comfortably.
But Sunming's punch had smashed his side, forcing a retry.
"Life fucking sucks."
As he lamented that.
He felt someone sucking him in with a spotlight.
It was this weird sensation he couldn't quite describe.
His sinking consciousness, pulled by a wire, was forcibly dragged back to the surface.
At the same time.
Dull pain spread through his numb body.
Especially around his elbow and side.
His once-clear mind grew murky, muddier than sludge.
"H-Hold on just a bit... Master... Ugh...! Why, why are you so heavy!"
Someone grabbing his ankle and dragging him along.
His back scraping against the ground.
Amid the messed-up timeline and thoughts.
Sion's voice filtered through intermittently.
"Bear with the pain."
What?
-Crunch!
Fuck!!!! What the hell! What did she do!!!
It hurts! It fucking hurts!!!
He tried to grab Poksoon's cheeks and make her stop this brutal act.
But it felt like he was lying in recovery after full-body anesthesia.
Not a single finger moved at his command.
Consciousness connected in fits and starts, plunging into deep, heavy sleep over and over.
A warm glow enveloped his body.
And amid it all, Sion's voice came through sporadically.
"Aww, there you go. Good boy."
"Wake up quick. Once you're up, you owe this concubine some glutinous rice cakes as tribute."
"Personally, I prefer mochi that's been out for about three hours over fresh ones. That unique chewiness is the best."
He couldn't fully comprehend it.
"...Uuu, this concubine doesn't want to be alone anymore..."
He recognized the sentences, but decoding them felt impossible.
"...Body temperature keeps..."
"Haa, just this once. Don't get any funny ideas."
"Ugh, so cold."
"...Huh? What's this? Something's in the way... Eek?!"
"Th-This is... No way...?"
Sometimes, warm heat came from beside him.
How much time passed like that.
"Gasp!!!"
His eyes snapped open.
Filling his vision was an unfamiliar ceiling.
A cramped back room.
Musty mold smell.
Dim lighting from a lamp with mushrooms picked from a mushroom farm.
Ah.
The con artist couple's secret warehouse.
He was lying in the center, covered by an old blanket.
His Nietzsche-level brilliant brain instantly assessed the situation upon awakening.
"Huuuuum!!! Sedric is back!"
Good job! You amazing guy!
You dragged me all the way here!
"Whoa, that was seriously dangerous this time."
From dying a few times, he knew: it felt like he'd gotten a foot soak in the River Jordan.
One slip and he'd have been dead for good; his body had been utterly wrecked.
"Thanks, Blazing Life."
Grateful to the relic that super-saved him with its special trait.
As he brushed back his sweat-soaked hair, he sensed something off.
"Hm?"
His body didn't hurt at all.
This arm, which he'd casually moved like always, had definitely been crumbling like a cookie...
Now it moved perfectly at his will.
And from his side came not pain, but something strangely warm and squishy...
-Flutter
He lifted the blanket.
Finally grasping his full condition.
He was completely naked.
And clinging to his side, drooling on his stomach, was Sion—also naturally naked.
"Mmm... Turn off the light..."
Blinded by the lifted blanket, Sion sleepily opened her eyes.
"...Huh?"
Even so, her vampire eyes glowed red in the dark, meeting his.
"Kyaaaa!!!"
"Kyaaaa!!!"
They screamed together.
2.
"You beast... Taking advantage while I was unconscious... Sob sob, I'm defiled now. Can't get married anymore..."
"Hoo... I've never felt such rage in my life."
Dressing haphazardly, Sion pressed her hand to her side with a dumbfounded look.
"I told you it was to keep your body temperature up!"
"Liar! You were groping me!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Think I wanted to call myself your concubine?!"
"So you didn't grope me?!"
"............It just brushed against you! Do you think this concubine is some pervert like you?!"
What.
"You really groped me?!"
"Shut up shut up shut up...!"
Yeah.
He admitted picking at it.
It was embarrassing and awkward.
His chest was ticklish, and he was weak to that stuff.
Anyway.
As you can see, he survived unscathed. Thanks to Sion.
She'd dragged his half-dead body from the sedimentation tank here.
And nursed him for a full day to barely save his life.
"But how?"
No surgery room in this shithole sewer.
He'd been one breath from death.
Yet not a bruise remained; he was perfectly healed.
"This concubine is a True Ancestor, after all. Even without my full power, you think I couldn't handle this?"
Sion had sucked five blood packs from her lunchbox, converted them to life force.
And cast healing magic on half-dead Sedric.
Sion was that rare healer commodity.
"Hey. Wait a sec."
Thinking it over, he tilted his head.
"Why do you have so many secrets?"
Come to think of it, she mentioned the slush funds late.
And never said she could do healing magic.
"...W-Women are supposed to have secrets."
"What a sneaky one."
Sion averted her gaze.
Well, a bit annoying, but understandable.
He and Sion hadn't built that level of trust yet.
From her perspective, it was natural.
He hadn't opened up everything to her either.
"Got any more secrets?"
"No!"
"Really? Nothing?"
"No!"
Shaking her head vigorously in denial, but when he poked her side, fresh rage boiled up and she fumed.
"Shouldn't have saved you! If I'd known you'd be so ungrateful, I'd have left you! Pay treatment fees with glutinous rice cakes! Hand them over!"
Maybe exaggerated anger to cover her own slip-up—a clever ploy.
She seemed dumb but was sneakily sharp.
Still, he had to address it.
"Listen, Poksoon. If I hadn't super-awakened, you'd be dead right there. I got hurt protecting you. Right?"
"Eek!"
"We're even on one life debt each. So no glutinous rice cake tribute spree. Got it?"
"Uuuu!!!"
Sion grumbled sulkily about glutinous rice cakes.
"Next time, I absolutely won't save you!"
Her bristling nape in full fury.
How could a nape look so pissed?
Amazed.
You cute little rascal.
Buy her some glutinous rice cakes on the way out.
3.
So he and Sion began searching the sedimentation tank.
Sunming had cleaned it spotless, no janitors left—perfect treasure hunt, no interruptions.
Still, an unbelievably vast space for underground.
Like treasure hunting in a basketball arena (seats included).
-Thud thud thud
First, sift through garbage piles for anything.
Then use a nearby crowbar to tap walls and floors, checking for hollow spots.
"Hey, don't half-ass it—search thoroughly!"
"I am!"
Three hours work, ten-minute break. Four rounds.
Result...
"Don't fuck with me!!!! Shit!!!"
Utterly disappointing. Nada.
Not a single useful item or clue. Clean miss, no regrets.
"Poksoon, let's head back."
"Can't we search a bit more?"
"I want to, but it's probably not here anyway."
"Uuu..."
By genre logic, it should be here.
After all that hardship, beating the boss guarding the reward room.
But the world doesn't follow genre logic.
If it did, Sedric would now have.
The jealous princess and haughty saint on either side, going "Aah~ This is troubling~."
Dangerous to think high costs guarantee success.
Perfect mindset for tanking investments.
-Grind grind
"M-Master's scary. Stop that... You wanted to come here, right? This concubine never recommended it!"
Grinding his teeth to dust on the way home.
Steps heavy yet light.
Including the day comatose, 50 hours wasted in this old sewer.
Emptiness mixed with joy at escaping this shithole.
Go home, give Arbel her meds, boil hot water for a shower.
"Poksoon, you like booze?"
"Booze? Of course! Love it!"
"Wanna have a drink when we get home?"
"What's up? You were busy like the world was ending tomorrow."
"Need to recharge sometimes. My treat."
"This concubine wants glutinous rice cakes for snacks."
That damn glutinous rice cake.
Always likes the expensive stuff.
"Wanna play a drinking game? Win, and you get glutinous rice cakes."
"What? What's a drinking game?"
"Games you play while drinking. Lots of fun ones. I'll teach you."
"Fine, you're on! This concubine loves entertainment too!"
Then.
-Splash splash
A weird sound narrowed his eyes.
Peeking around the corner, beyond the thick iron bars.
A janitor leisurely swimming in the wastewater.
Using a trident to collect trash, netting it up.
"What're you looking at? No... R-Run...!"
"It's fine. Iron bars in the way anyway."
Old sewer rule.
"What sinks is the sewer's"—didn't apply to janitors?
"Master, let's go home quick."
As said, safe behind thick bars.
Pretend not to see and head home.
"Hold up. Need to think."
But something nagged at him.
Desperately racking his brain for what he missed.
Sedimentation tank, True Ancestor's slush funds.
Janitor corpses scattered in the tank.
"Let's go back for a sec."
He turned back toward the tank.
-Rumble!!!
Still dumping wastewater like it'd eaten wild grapes, booming.
Black lake from colorful sewage.
First, he picked up Sunming's lower half.
"Hup."
Tossed it into the black lake.
-Splash!
As the lower body splashed in.
-Whip!
Black tentacles wrapped it, dragging to the depths instantly.
Blood on the surface diluted and vanished.
Clean predation.
Rule one: "What sinks is the sewer's"—still valid.
"......"
Stroking his chin, staring.
Weird.
Rules absolute.
Sinks = devoured.
But what was that earlier?
Janitor swimming calmly beyond bars—no tentacles, no digestion.
"Why's it exempt?"
Local monster?
"Good job, check the janitor corpses."
"What crazy errand now?"
"Buy you glutinous rice cakes for snacks. Prioritize less damaged ones."
"Leave it to this concubine!"
One hypothesis in mind, more tests.
-Splash! Splash! Splash!
Sunming's hammer pushes dead janitor corpses into the black lake one by one.
Severely damaged wetsuit, mildly, almost none—in order.
Result.
More wetsuit damage = faster tentacle reaction and devour.
Less damage = slower response.
Finally, one dead from organ rupture, wetsuit intact externally.
"...98. 99. 100."
No reaction from sewage.
"Oho. This gimmick?"
Now he got it.
The fixer couple's treasured wetsuits hidden in the treasure room.
Reason for treating them like sacred relics!
"Time to breathe and love dive!!!"
Grab the wetsuits now!