Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: It Seems Good Though
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Floating gently.
A golden orb that rose from the stone tablet.
It looked just like a small sun.
The golden orb soon flew toward me as if shooting.
And then.
Whoosh!
It penetrated through my chest and entered me.
I felt my entire body becoming warm.
To the extent that I couldn't feel the cold air of the underground at all.
General Skill: Golden Spear (Mythic Class Exclusive) - Summons a high-temperature golden spear that can melt even evil souls and throws it as a javelin.
Faint letters appeared before my eyes for a moment and then disappeared.
And naturally, I came to know how I could handle this power.
This was definitely an upgraded skill superior to the Silver Spear.
I already knew what the Silver Spear ability was like.
'It was written as "Blesses the spear you're holding with silver blessing that can melt even evil souls and throws it as a javelin."'
There was a difference from the description itself.
The Golden Spear skill seemed to be able to summon even without an existing spear.
On the other hand, the Silver Spear skill required carrying javelin weapons.
And the color was golden for mine.
That one was silver.
Come to think of it, there had been such a scene.
'In the stone tablet drawing, the golem's exterior was painted in silver, and the part that seemed to be the core was painted in gold.'
I had thought it was just showing the location of the core, but who would have known there was such hidden meaning.
However...
That wasn't the important thing.
'Exclusive class skill...!'
Unlike unique skills, general skills usually had lower value in most cases.
In the original work, most of them were simply learned from NPCs.
Although there was an inheritance system, there weren't that many cases where it was actually utilized.
Naturally so.
Wouldn't it be unfair if too many skills could only be used by specific players?
The reality was that they were distributed to only a very few as what could be called special privileges.
Anyway, because of that, there weren't many occasions to be happy about obtaining general skills.
Except for specific class-exclusive skills like now.
'But... my class is... mythic? What is this again?'
Looking at what I had learned, it seemed right that my class was a mythic class, but...
Paogat's growth was weapon proficiency.
However, the direction of growth also varied depending on what class used what weapon.
For example, even a rogue class could use daggers or could use axes.
Of course, nobody used it because a rogue using an axe was extremely inefficient.
Usually, it was typical to know the class when selecting a character in the first place.
But my case was a bit unusual.
'I received a unique skill that uses swords, so I naturally thought I was a mercenary class, but...'
My thinking had been too naive.
Yes, looking back now, it was like that.
'It was strange from the start that a mercenary class generally had... infinite unique skills. The passive was different too.'
But even so, I never thought I would become such an unheard-of class.
Probably even if I went back to that time, I wouldn't have thought of it.
'Hmm. But for now... it seems good though?'
The bad news was that I didn't know anything about this class.
The good news was that it didn't seem to be a minor class at least.
When thought upon thought kept chaining together.
Baron Romhadi asked.
"The first inheritor... this is my first experience like this. I've learned spear techniques before, but I've never experienced this feeling of textbook illustrations being engraved in my head. How curious. Was it the same for you?"
"Hmm."
I roughly nodded, but I was a bit different.
Letters had appeared like the screen I used to see in games.
'Hmm. Does each person learn in the way they're familiar with?'
Well.
If a textbook appeared to me like Baron Romhadi... I probably would have had trouble learning it properly instead.
After realizing that, it seemed like quite a convenient system.
That aside.
How did they figure out that I had yielded?
'Is there some kind of hidden camera installed?'
I unconsciously looked up at the ceiling, but there was no way such a thing would be visible.
What principle was it?
There was no way to know.
'Ancient technology... how amazing.'
Ancient magic seemed to be more cutting-edge than expected.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When we defeated the golem, a path that hadn't been visible before appeared on one wall.
Since there was no other path, we headed there.
Fortunately, that path was connected to a dried well in one corner of Rezeta.
'Baron Romhadi must have come out this way in the original work too.'
Baron Romhadi crouched low and gestured.
"This way! There's someone trustworthy who can hide us."
We followed him somewhere.
And finally arrived at a mansion.
Knock knock knock.
At the knocking sound Baron Romhadi made, someone peeked their head out from inside.
It was a middle-aged woman with short hair tied tightly back.
"Baron... Romhadi?"
"That's right, Nerdin, my friend. Could we impose on you for a while?"
At that question, she glanced outside briefly and then opened the door.
"Come in quickly!"
"Thank you."
We temporarily hid there and caught our breath a bit.
She offered us water.
"How did you escape? From that underground prison."
"It was thanks to these people here. They are holy knights of the Order."
"Holy knights, you say. Is, is that really true?"
"That's right! These people have already noticed Carcus's change too."
"As expected. That bastard. He was definitely strange. But since the holy knights agree, there's no room for doubt."
Baron Romhadi introduced her to us.
"This is Merdin. She's not now, but she served as the city's defense captain in the past."
"I'm Rohan."
"I'm Holy Knight Diaz."
Merdin nodded.
"Nice to meet you. Thank you for helping us like this."
We had escaped and caught our breath for now, but...
The problem still remained.
I turned to Baron Romhadi and continued speaking.
"Are you certain that bastard Carcus's body has turned into a lump of poison? And that if we kill him, he'll self-destruct while spreading poison enough to massacre the city?"
"It's hard to believe, but... it's information our person obtained at the cost of their life. The friend who found that out died... yet still managed to pass on the intelligence safely. Frankly speaking, there's no way to confirm it additionally now. We can only move believing it's true."
I frowned.
"Hmm. If there's a demon with such power behind him, it'll be difficult to move carelessly."
"That doesn't seem to be the case though. According to the intelligence, the demon that gave Carcus that strange ability is presumed to be a low-level demon that can only exert power by using humans. Probably because it doesn't have enough power to do anything alone, it seems to have lured Carcus in to use him."
"And Carcus fell for that trick?"
"That's right. He was always a greedy person. Like a demon, it must have targeted that greed. Anyway, the immediate big obstacle is that bastard Carcus. If we can just get rid of him, we should be able to dispose of the demon relatively easily."
"If we move quickly before that demon can make other minions, that is."
"...We have to succeed before that happens."
Merdin added an explanation to Baron Romhadi's words.
"For reference, according to intelligence, Carcus can also self-destruct on his own will. You holy knights could request a religious trial, but... since immediate judgment is difficult, there's also the possibility that he might self-destruct before the religious trial even begins. So that's also a concerning part."
I answered her words.
"Immediate judgment is possible."
"Pardon?"
To Merdin who didn't understand what I meant, Diaz answered.
"Sir Rohan is a member of the Seven Knights and also holds the position of Inquisitor. Since he's been judged as a demon, immediate judgment is entirely possible."
At that, Baron Romhadi and Merdin's eyes widened.
"The, the Seven Knights?"
"An Inquisitor... is it possible to hold both positions?"
"Sir Rohan is the first. There wasn't anyone before, and it won't be easy in the future either."
"Haha..."
"Amazing."
However, I couldn't smile.
Even so, nothing would be solved.
"Even if we conduct immediate judgment. Even if we cut off his neck, the city being massacred remains the same. Am I wrong?"
"......"
"......"
Baron Romhadi and Merdin nodded slightly and couldn't say anything.
Not being able to kill that bastard Carcus was apparently the biggest obstacle.
For a long while, no one could open their mouth.
Everyone must have been thinking the same thing.
It felt like we had reached a complete dead end.
It seemed like no method could be seen at all.
Then.
Baron Romhadi carefully reopened the conversation.
"Even if he tries to kill himself, he'd need to be conscious, wouldn't he?"
Looking around at the seated group, he continued to share his thoughts.
"What if, I mean, what if. If we knock him unconscious, then drag him outside the city and kill him?"
Oh ho.
It was definitely a feasible idea.
'As expected.'
In the end, Baron Romhadi was the one to provide the answer.
There were slight differences, but the future I knew was correct.
When everyone made agreeing faces, Baron Romhadi showed a determined look.
"If we can just knock him unconscious, I'll personally drag him outside the city. If you just keep his subordinates at bay, it should be entirely possible."
At his words, Merdin offered a different opinion.
"That won't do. The Baron must lead this city. If Count Moden is also already dead as we know... this city will be like losing its head. Then demons can easily slip in again anytime. The leader must firmly guard their position for everything to return to normal."
"Merdin. I've already lost many close friends. There's no one left to ask such things of."
"I'll go!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Merdin answered.
Hearing those words, I remembered.
'That's right... there seemed to be a memorial stone commemorating Merdin in the middle of the city...'
It seemed this city survived thanks to her sacrifice.
Of course, Baron Romhadi immediately objected.
"That cannot be. This is a burden I must bear."
"Are you absolutely confident that you can knock that person unconscious without killing them?"
"......"
"I know that you've learned spear techniques to some extent too, Baron. But you're still lacking in such delicate techniques. On the contrary, I can do it. If I strangle them just enough not to die and drag them along, it's possible. You wouldn't doubt the skills of someone who was a defense captain, would you?"
"Sir Merdin..."
"The herb merchants' trade is all blocked now, so there's no way to obtain poisonous herbs either... there's no method. Knocking someone unconscious precisely without killing them isn't that easy."
I listened to their conversation while retracing my memories.
Merdin, who only appeared by name in the original work.
But now that it had become reality, the weight of that name felt completely different.
'So this is how Merdin made her sacrifice.'
It was truly a noble sacrifice.
Baron Romhadi bit his lips tightly.
As she said, there was no... way to knock Carcus unconscious and send him outside the village.
He had to make a decision.
Would he abandon someone he truly cherished and save the rest?
Or would they all die together like this?
Finally, Baron Romhadi closed his eyes tightly and made his decision.
"Merdin... I'm placing another great burden on you."
"Baron. Please don't say such things. Wasn't I originally the defense captain of this city? I'm just doing what I should do. You don't need to feel guilty."
"I'm sorry... for being someone without any power."
"Baron, you are a strong person. I know that better than anyone."
The final conversation between the two people passed before my eyes.
Beside us, Diaz was silently shedding tears.
But... I didn't particularly feel like crying.
Not because my emotions had dried up.
It was because a different solution occurred to me.
The Ring of Black Thunder.
'Didn't this have a status effect?'
It did.
Definitely.
'If I control my strength just this much... with the feeling of applying a CC effect...'
Crackle...
It seemed doable?
I raised my head and looked at Baron Romhadi.
He tilted his head when our eyes met.
"Do you have something to say?"
"No. Let me just stand up for a moment."
"What do you mean..."
Before his answer was finished, I suddenly aimed for his chin and threw a left jab by surprise.
Thump, crack!
Thud.
Baron Romhadi was knocked unconscious all too easily.
He was someone who had learned spear techniques to some extent, so he had a good physique... but he went down in just one hit.
The stun had properly landed.
'If the effect is this much.'
I was confident I could knock Carcus unconscious too.
I waved my left hand around for show.
"I'm a stun gun fan, you see."