Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Undress (1)
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In the darkness of the Underground Sewer, glowing red eyes suddenly appeared.
"Throw it now!"
"Yes!"
At Ian's command, Tanya hurled the orb. It shattered against the wall, spewing a burst of light that brightly illuminated the passageway.
As the darkness receded, the horde of rats lurking within was fully revealed.
These creatures, larger than rabbits, weren't ordinary rats—they were Scavengers, monsters that inhabited the Underground Sewer.
They were one of the main monsters active here, alongside slimes.
"Six... no, seven of them!"
Individually, they weren't particularly strong, but their hallmark was that you could never predict how many would swarm at once.
Sometimes only one or two would attack, while other times a pack of over ten would come charging. Constant vigilance was essential.
Seeing more rats than expected, Rin pulled another orb from her pouch.
Having fought alongside Ian numerous times, Rin could now gauge the appropriate response just by counting the enemies, even without his explicit orders.
"I'll use 'Frost Bomb'!"
The orb Rin threw flew straight toward the rat pack.
Thanks to her [Throwing] skill, which had recently reached B-rank, it landed perfectly in the center of the horde.
A pure white light erupted from the shattered orb, and every rat was caught in the wave of frost.
Their bodies froze over with hoarfrost, their movements stiffening rigidly.
"All hits landed! Both of you, go in!"
Rat packs like these could reduce mercenaries to the brink of death in an instant if not handled swiftly, but individually, they were weak.
They were tricky to hit due to their high evasion from sheer speed, but with their movements bound like this, their combat prowess was less than a goblin's.
"Let's go! Mika!"
"Right!"
Rin charged in first, swinging her sword at one rat, and Mika followed, attacking the others.
Unlike slimes, these foes were vulnerable to physical attacks, so with Rin joining in, the pack was quickly cleared.
"...Hoo."
After dealing with the Scavenger pack...
Rin wiped her sweat, scanned the surroundings warily for a moment, and once no more monsters approached, she lowered her sword and caught her breath with a weary expression.
How did they keep coming from everywhere?
No matter how much they patrolled, these rat packs endlessly reappeared.
And today, of all days, they'd already encountered two monster groups before lunch.
After the intense exertion, Rin suddenly felt a sharp pang of hunger.
Sensing that lunchtime had slipped by amid the fighting, she turned to Ian with a faintly hopeful look.
"Captain. Hasn't lunchtime passed already?"
Once they ate lunch and rested a bit, the day's work would be done. Nodding to herself, Rin subtly asked Ian.
Ian quietly opened his system window in response to Rin's question.
Schedule management was a core system of this game, so the current time could be checked easily from any UI.
[10:48 AM]
Confirming the time, Ian shook his head and replied.
"We've still got over an hour till lunch."
"N-No way..."
Stunned, Rin hung her head.
If he were a ruthless captain, she might suspect he was lying to squeeze more work out of them, but knowing Ian's impeccable sense of time, Rin was genuinely shocked and disappointed.
"...Then let's take a short break."
"Really?!"
Having checked the remaining patrol area and confirmed they had plenty of time left, Ian allowed a rest.
"Tanya. Water for me."
"Yeah, just a sec..."
As everyone settled down to rest, Tanya quickly set down her backpack and rummaged through her gear.
It wasn't just handing out water—replenishing consumables used in battle was also part of her job.
But in her haste, Tanya, still unfamiliar with organizing items, accidentally dropped one of her pouches on the ground.
The pouch spilled open, and the round orbs inside rolled across the sewer floor with a clattering sound.
"Ah..."
Panicking, Tanya tried to grab them, but several slipped from her grasp and rolled farther away down the slight slope.
"S-Sorry! I'll pick them up."
Tanya dashed after them, scooping up the orbs one by one from the floor.
Meanwhile, a few more evaded her hands and rolled even farther.
"Wait, Tanya. Going out like that is dangerous."
The direction Tanya had run was the unpatrolled front ahead.
She knew better than to venture into unexplored territory first, but in her panic over potentially losing expensive orbs due to her mistake, she'd moved on instinct.
Finally gathering the last orb with a sigh of relief...
That's when Tanya heard a strange liquid sound—not the sewer water, but something viscous oozing nearby.
A sticky, slimy squelching echoed from a narrow side passage off the main tunnel.
"Ah..."
From her experience, Tanya knew this was the sound a slime made right before attacking.
Turning her head, she spotted the hidden slime quivering as it prepared to leap.
Should she dodge? Block it? Or use the emergency tool from her pouch?
It's expensive. Is it okay to use it on something like this?
Before she could decide, the slime lunged at her.
"Tanya!"
Ian, noticing first, rushed over and yanked the frozen Tanya toward him.
As Ian pulled her in and shielded her, the slime leaped at them both.
Fortunately, it bounced off Ian's thick cloak, but the impact from the fast-flying slime made Ian stumble and miss his step.
"Ah...!"
Tanya reached out in panic, but she couldn't grab him, and Ian's body plunged into the sewer below.
A splash echoed as Ian vanished underwater.
"Captain!"
Desperate voices called from afar.
Then, another splash.
Rin had jumped in after Ian.
In the blink of an eye, both Ian and Rin were gone, leaving only Tanya and Mika in the passage.
As Ian and Rin were swept away by the current out of sight, the panicked gazes of Mika and Tanya met.
"We have to chase them!"
"Wait, Tanya."
Tanya snapped out of it and tried to follow, but Mika hugged her tight to stop her.
The direction they'd gone was still unpatrolled territory.
"If monsters show up, we can't handle them alone."
"Then what, just stand here...!"
Tanya started to snap back at Mika's words.
...But Mika was right.
Rushing after them recklessly wouldn't change the fact that they couldn't do anything.
Besides, Tanya herself was useless in a fight anyway.
Tanya finally stopped trying to chase them and lowered her head in defeat.
Glancing around anxiously, she spotted a few items dropped where Ian had been resting.
Realizing what they were, a flash of inspiration struck her.
"The map...!"
Tanya unfolded Ian's map and frantically located their current position.
Ian's map detailed every passage type and name, even the sewer's flow direction.
"From C-5 now... if they floated this way."
Comparing it to the patrol route, Tanya pinpointed where the two had likely been carried.
Following the current's direction, she found the endpoint.
Sewer Reservoir 3.
"Mika! Let's go get help!"
Grabbing the map, Tanya stood up.
Regaining his senses underwater, Ian realized he was being swept away by the current, rapidly distancing himself from the group.
He tried to think of something useful from his emergency items, but before that, he felt someone grab hold of him.
Soon, Ian's body was pulled to the surface.
"Rin?"
"Hold on tight!"
Rin swam through the water, clutching Ian firmly.
She tried climbing the walls several times, but they were slick with moss, and her hands kept slipping. In the end, she and Ian were carried deeper into the Underground Sewer.
Finally reaching a spot where the current slowed, the two barely managed to crawl out onto dry ground.
"Haa... Captain. You okay?"
"Yeah... I think so."
Rin and Ian crawled up and gasped for air raggedly.
Their waterlogged clothes clung to their skin like shackles, and the chill of the wet fabric allowed the Underground Sewer's biting cold to seep deep into their bodies.
Rin, about to check on Ian, snapped to attention as shivering overtook her from the cold.
"We need to get these clothes off first."
"Huh? Wait..."
"You'll die if we don't!"
Ian tried to stop her in panic, but this wasn't the time for such concerns.
Embarrassment could wait.
Left to his own devices, Ian would stubbornly try to tough it out without undressing.
Grabbing Ian, Rin forcibly stripped off his soaked, clinging clothes.
Soon after came the sound of Rin shedding her own wet garments.