Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Never Even Landed a Casting Gig Back in Korea (4)
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Investigation Captain Elise's outpost.
One of the guards stepped inside and spoke to Elise.
"Captain. An explorer's here to see you."
"An explorer? As you can see, we're in the middle of something important, so have him wait and we'll—"
"He says you called for him. Should I tell him to wait anyway?"
Elise listened with a blank expression before asking.
"I called for him? Oh. Regin Petrichio, by any chance?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hm. Send him in."
"Understood."
The outpost entrance opened, and Regin stepped inside.
'…Just as I thought.'
Regin calmly scanned the room.
He had come in after telling the guard about his conversation with Elise.
Normally, he would've waited until the discussion inside ended, but there was something he needed to check.
'I couldn't believe it just from hearing voices outside…'
A man sat in front of Elise. His body was bound with rope.
Regin thought as he confirmed the man's face.
'The dwarf I talked to back then.'
It was the dwarf he had spoken with in front of the tower alongside Manannan.
Of course, the dwarf didn't seem to recognize Regin. Or rather, he looked completely out of it.
Regin had no idea what had happened, but from the looks of things, the investigation team had caught him.
He seemed unjustly nabbed, at any rate.
"Regin Petrichio. Perfect timing. I had some questions for you anyway."
Elise glanced back and forth between Regin and the dwarf before continuing.
"Have you ever seen this man before?"
"Pardon?"
"This guy's an explorer we missed during the inspections outside. Turns out he was here on the 4th floor."
"..."
"So we arrested him and were in the middle of interrogation."
"He was on the 4th floor?"
"Yeah."
This was a bit odd.
The dwarf had clearly entered the portal with them last time.
The investigation team said they hadn't checked him this time, which meant he definitely hadn't left the tower since then.
So why was this guy still stuck on the 4th floor?
A guy with at least 11th-floor strength, no less.
"He claims he stayed on the 4th floor looking for something. Who knows. According to our reports, a lycanthrope showed up here not long ago."
"That's right."
"If he's telling the truth… it means he holed up here until the lycanthrope went back to sleep after appearing."
"..."
"I can't buy that. Especially since he's lost his transit pass, which makes it even harder for me to let him go."
Regin got the picture now.
The investigation team arrived on the 4th floor to find the dwarf already there.
The issue was they couldn't believe there was a survivor in the lycanthrope's area.
And since the dwarf's identity couldn't be verified, they'd detained him for now.
'From Elise's perspective, he must look plenty suspicious. Hell, even I can't believe he stuck around on the 4th floor.'
Elise looked at Regin and continued.
"I think this guy's the type who ignored our controls and went ahead on his own. Nothing else explains it."
"..."
"Another possibility… maybe he used a back route."
The dwarf shook his head furiously.
"A back route…? I've never done anything that dirty in my life. I'd rather be seen as someone who broke the rules!"
"So you're admitting you went ahead without following protocol?"
"That's just how it is! I've never even thought about back routes!"
He had every reason to shout desperately.
Back routes was a term no DAT player or explorer could be ignorant of.
'In a way, it's a bigger violation of kingdom law than the black market.'
People who moved through portals created by magic instead of the ones inside the tower.
Such actions were known to harm the tower as a whole.
It was one area Regin knew little about too.
'Back routes… meaning black portals, which only dark wizards can open.'
You couldn't play as a dark wizard in DAT. Their class change path was completely blocked.
So he hadn't gathered much info.
But he did know that those who used back routes—dark wizards—were targets for the kingdom's purge.
"Regin Petrichio. Tell me. Reports say you were one of the two surviving mages when the last lycanthrope appeared… right?"
"Yes."
"Have you seen this explorer before? Or any circumstances that would let him survive on the 4th floor this long?"
Elise looked at Regin.
Asking if he'd seen the dwarf as a 4th-floor survivor back then.
She might not fully trust Regin's word, but she seemed to see it as a valuable reference.
Regin calmly took a moment to organize his thoughts.
'One word from me could make this dwarf innocent… or a rule-breaker or back-route criminal.'
Regin finished deliberating and spoke.
"I know this explorer."
"You do?"
"I remember talking with him when we entered the last portal."
A rare binary choice event after so long.
"He mentioned staying a long time on the 4th floor. So it's not a lie that he came last expedition and stayed."
Regin chose the dwarf.
He did wonder if the guy might be a back-route user.
' A dwarf teaming up with dark wizards? No way.'
His long experience and data from playing DAT told him so.
An high-floor explorer unjustly caught right in front of him.
In these cases, helping high-floor explorers usually paid off.
You could gain plenty in return.
"He said he was staying long on the 4th floor…? You sure?"
"Yes. Positive."
Even if he mixed in a little lie.
* * *
Elise fell into thought at Regin's words.
That's when the dwarf's eyes widened as he spoke.
"Wait, you're…!"
"Long time no see. You remember me, right?"
"Yeah! The mage standing in front of the tower with that elemental sorcerer buddy last time!!"
"That's right."
Only then did the dwarf recognize Regin and grasp the situation.
"Exactly! You remember too! I told you I'd be staying on the 4th floor!!"
That Regin was his one lifeline.
Regin nodded, holding back a wry chuckle at the dwarf's brazenness.
The silver lining was that Regin was pretty brazen himself.
Otherwise, how could he have fooled Manannan and Nuada so thoroughly until now?
"I remember. I was puzzled why you'd stay on the 4th floor of all places, so it stuck with me even more clearly."
"…R-Right, that's how it was!"
"We were on our first climb then… Seeing you, we were shocked. We envied you as someone strong enough to stay long on the 4th floor."
The dwarf nodded eagerly in agreement.
He knew agreeing with Regin boosted his survival odds.
"I'll buy that you two know each other."
Elise watched for a long while before nodding.
"You knew he was with the elemental sorcerer group without being told. Yeah, you've definitely met before."
"Yes…!"
"Then one question. Why the hell were you staying on the 4th floor?"
The dwarf brightened and looked at Elise.
He seemed to think his story would finally get through.
He was about to answer with the brightest face yet.
"I was here looking for a rab…."
"The uncle said he dropped something on the 4th floor."
Regin cut in quickly and continued.
"You know he even lost his transit pass. He seems like the type to lose stuff left and right, so it's not weird."
"…Is that true?"
Regin shot the dwarf a sharp glare.
Truth be told, he'd flinched the moment "rabbit" slipped from the dwarf's mouth.
He couldn't be sure, but his instincts screamed it.
'Please, for the love of…'
Don't tell the truth.
Otherwise, things would go exactly how Elise wanted.
Regin glared, hoping the dwarf got the hint.
"…Yes. That's right. It was something essential for climbing the tower, so I had no choice but to stay."
Luckily, the dwarf caught on. His voice trembled as he answered, and Elise pressed on immediately.
"How'd you survive when the lycanthrope showed? Could you take it on alone?"
"…Got lucky."
"Lucky?"
"It ran off in the opposite direction from where I was active. I was near this entry portal… and the lycanthrope headed toward the 5th-floor portal, probably chasing prey."
This was something Regin had wondered too.
He got why the dwarf stayed long on the 4th floor. But how'd he hold out?
'Because Manannan and I pulled the aggro?'
That made sense.
If he'd hunkered down on the opposite side, he could've dodged the lycanthrope.
"I see."
Elise finished mulling it over and looked at the guard.
"Untie him. His story's consistent and doesn't contradict the testimony, so I'll believe it."
"…Th-Thank you!"
"But since he lost his transit pass, we can't verify his identity. So I'll add one condition."
Good outcome.
From Regin's view, he'd earned a life-debt from an 11th-floor-caliber dwarf. Profitable wrap-up.
That's what he was thinking.
Elise's lips curved slightly as she looked at Regin.
"Regin Petrichio. You'll vouch for this man's identity during this climb. That alright?"
"Pardon?"
"You said you knew him. And I'm taking your word for it."
"..."
"His identity's unconfirmed, so I'm putting you temporarily in charge. Meaning you're responsible for everything he does this climb."
He'd thought it was going too smoothly.
Elise was asking if Regin could take responsibility for the dwarf's actions.
Headache-inducing question for Regin.
'…No way that dwarf's a back-route user. And now I kinda get why he stayed on the 4th floor.'
The big problem was he couldn't be certain of that assumption.
The guy could commit crimes the moment he's freed, dragging Regin down too.
Lives were on the line, so Regin tensed and sorted his thoughts.
"I'll take responsibility."
"Really?"
He reached a quick conclusion.
Worth the gamble.
Someone might ask why risk your life protecting others.
'It's not like I have to risk my life?'
Regin continued, looking at the dwarf's bewildered face.
"I'll vouch for him this climb. In exchange… lend me a Cord of Promise."
"A Cord of Promise?"
"Yes."
If Flexis's pendant was like a walkie-talkie, the Cord of Promise was a kind of tracker.
"Then I'll take responsibility by keeping an eye on him."
Help me so I can actually be responsible.
"The moment the cord breaks, I'll report straight to you, Captain. Use me as his watcher."
'Why do I have to take all the responsibility?'
Compromising at watcher level lets both sides test the waters.
"Sounds good. I'll have a Cord of Promise prepared."
Right. Investigation teams would have spares. Regin's lips twitched upward.
* * *
Whirr—
The guard brought the Cord of Promise and wrapped it once around Regin and the dwarf each.
The thread, like fishing line, glowed upon contact with their bodies before vanishing.
'From here, it's magically linked.'
Pretty advanced magic made it tricky to craft, but the kingdom used it plenty.
Nothing beat it for tracking criminals.
"You're free to go now. Thanks for cooperating."
After confirming the cord was securely linked, Elise told them.
Regin and the dwarf gave light bows and left the outpost.
"Thanks…! Truly, thank you!"
The moment they were outside, the dwarf thanked Regin with a face on the verge of tears.
"Let's talk somewhere else for a bit."
Thanks were nice.
But that couldn't be the end of it.
Once a bit away from the outpost, Regin continued.
"Was the reason you stayed on the 4th floor to enter the Rabbit Hole?"
"…!!"
The dwarf's eyes shook.
Regin's guess was spot on.
The hidden stage on the 4th floor. Entry difficulty several times higher than the 1st floor's.
"If so, let's go in together."
That would more than cover the life-debt.