Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Evil Black Mages (1)
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We holed up in the workshop for a few days, just killing time.
The world outside was a total powder keg.
The Military Police in their blue uniforms were prowling the streets with glares that could freeze blood, and with the guild master gone, the adventurers had to watch their step.
"At least the adventurers seem to have bribed their way out with gems or something."
Sena's finger pointed at the gallery window.
"Yeah?"
From the looks of it, Mace had pulled some strings himself and sprung them after just two days. Guess those baron connections were real after all.
"Sigh. Anyway, let's go make some money."
That's when a bizarre scent hit our noses as we stepped out of the workshop.
"Sniff sniff... What the hell is that smell?"
Mani wrinkled her nose. It was the greasy, mouthwatering aroma of roasting meat.
"Coming from the plaza? Some kind of festival?"
Sena peered out the window, tilting her head.
"Let's check it out!"
Unable to resist our curiosity or our growling stomachs, we followed the scent to its source.
The plaza in front of City Hall was packed with people. The scene unfolding before us was dazzling.
"Whoa..."
"Meat!"
We all cheered in unison.
First up was a whole pig barbecue, golden fat dripping as it spun on the spit. Nearby, folks were filling tin mugs to the brim from massive oak barrels of beer.
"Come on, everyone! Eat your fill! This is Mayor Goldman's gift to all you fine citizens!"
"Hooray! Long live Mayor Goldman!"
People's faces were flushed with excitement.
"Reti! They say it's free!"
"Free?"
No way—the city was handing out pork and booze for nothing. The mayor had some agenda, sure, but...
First things first: chow down.
"Let's get in line!"
Soon enough, we had a hefty slab of meat on a bread plate and plopped down in a corner of the plaza.
Mmm, that salty, fatty goodness! I gnawed it clean to the bone in no time.
"...Tasty?"
A familiar low voice made me look up. Mace stood there in the shadows, arms crossed. His glare at the stage was pure disgust.
"Oh? Mister. You not eating?"
"You lot? I told you to stay put, and here you crawl out."
Mace clicked his tongue but didn't chase us off.
"What's all this about? Out of nowhere?"
"You can see for yourself. What show that old fox is putting on."
Right then, a blaring trumpet fanfare echoed through the plaza, and a middle-aged man in fancy clothes climbed onto the stage.
That's Mayor Goldman?
"Beloved citizens of Oakwood! Good day to you all!"
"Wooo!"
The mayor waved, and cheers erupted. He beamed like a saint, nodding warmly, then shifted to a grave, theatrical expression.
"Esteemed citizens! Over the past few days, our city has faced an unprecedented crisis. The rampage of uncontrolled armed thugs—the adventurers! Indiscriminate gunfire! Our peace, our families' safety, all threatened!"
The mayor's voice rose steadily.
"In my investigation of this incident... I uncovered something utterly shocking! Today, I reveal to you the ugly truth about the adventurers!"
At his gesture, guards hauled a large, thick wooden crate onto the stage.
"Uh...?"
Mace and I swallowed hard in unison.
"Not long ago! Necromancer 'adventurers' came to Oakwood! Right after, bizarre phenomena plagued the area! You all know the horrific rumors!"
The mayor pointed at the crate like it pained him to even look.
"Two days ago, our brave Oakwood guards captured the ringleader we'd tied up at the inn. And in their belongings... we found this!"
The guards pried open the lid and hoisted out a thin bundle.
Unfurled in the air, it was a flag emblazoned with a twisted spiral.
"Oh, Pantheon Temple, protect us! Behold!"
The flag gleamed unnaturally under the lights, its texture sending chills down the spine.
"What you see before you... is a flag made from human skin!"
Gasps of horror rippled through the crowd as people clapped hands over mouths.
"Kyaaah!"
"Human skin?!"
"Hearth Goddess, no!"
Terror spread like a plague across the plaza in an instant.
"What the...? Why's that bastard pulling this?"
Mace muttered, utterly baffled by the mayor's performance.
"Mace! That's it! That's the one!"
"The one what?"
"That's the flag we found!"
"What?! How the..."
As the guards torched the flag and tossed it aside, the mayor launched into a tirade.
"These barbaric thugs firing guns in the heart of the city! Necromancer adventurers wielding such horrors for evil magic, plotting around us! Adventurers always cause trouble, get drunk, start riots. They brawl in the streets! They even commit atrocities like this. Citizens, are we to stand by idly?"
The crowd shouted back at the mayor's plea.
"No!"
"We have to stop it!"
"We can't let adventurers run wild!"
Seizing the moment, the mayor made his declaration.
"Exactly! We cannot stand by!"
Thrusting his hand skyward, Mayor Goldman bellowed.
"To prevent such tragedies! I will establish a verified system to reclaim resources from righteous, vetted adventurers—not those violent, unverified riffraff! And the vast profits from the dungeons will go not to those evildoers, but..."
The mayor paused dramatically.
"...as dividends to all you Oakwood citizens! We'll all get rich. Help me make it happen! Long live His Majesty the King! Long live the Winster Kingdom!"
The mayor's fiery proclamation.
That word—"dividends"—lit eyes across the plaza.
"Wooooh!"
"Long live Oakwood! Long live His Majesty! Long live Mayor Goldman!"
Citizens clinked mugs, chanting Goldman's name.
"Damn it... Not in league with the necromancers? What the hell's going on?"
Mace scratched his head, dumbfounded.
[Apostle. Look behind the platform!]
Rodentia's whisper hit me out of nowhere.
Behind the platform?
I scrambled up onto the fountain ledge, standing on tiptoes to peer past the mayor.
Four men stood there like bodyguards. Plain robes that could pass for city hall clerks or mage tower wizards.
They blended into the background like set dressing—at first glance, unnoticeable.
[Faint, but... I sense it on the wind!]
Rodentia declared with conviction.
[From those guys... the foul mana stench from the forest! The same shit smell from the guild master's office!]
"Hold on, so those guys? What about the necromancers? The elf lady!"
[No! That pointy-eared bitch has no luck, but... the smell's definitely different! Those guys reek worse! If my divine power were stronger, I'd have spotted them right away...]
I tugged at Mace's sleeve.
"Mister."
Mace looked down at me with a scowl.
"What's up, Reti?"
"Found them."
I nodded subtly toward the gray robes lurking in the shadows behind the stage and whispered.
"That's them. The ones who took the guild master. See?"
We dragged Mace into a thinning alley and explained everything.
"So, not the necromancers, but those guys from earlier—the real culprits messing with black magic?"
"Yes! Hard to explain in detail, but... I can smell mana!"
Mace shook his head like it was absurd.
"Sounds crazy. Our party's Alisa definitely sensed malice on-site. Said it matched the necromancers' mana signature. Alisa graduated top of her magic academy class. She wouldn't be wrong."
"No, it's similar but more toxic, something else entirely. Too close, so easy to mix up."
"Smell, huh..."
Mace furrowed his brow, torn between his silver-rank experience and a ratkin's senses.
"Then why arrest the necromancers who were minding their own business? Frame them if that's the case?"
"That's what's fishy."
I took a deep breath and started piecing together the jumbled puzzle in my head.
"Mister, remember the inn a few days back? The mayor's secretary meeting that elf lady."
"Yeah. We saw them meet and talk!"
"Saw them meet, but not what they said."
Mace shut his mouth at my point.
"We assumed they were in cahoots just 'cause they met. But what if the necromancer leader was telling the truth? Said she turned down a business deal."
Mace's eyes widened a bit.
"No way. Really?"
"Just a hypothesis. Okay, suppose the mayor tried recruiting the necromancers 'cause he needed them? He talked about sending vetted adventurers only."
"He did."
"But they refused. From his view, they rejected him and knew too much about black magic—might expose his own mages."
I pointed toward the plaza. Cheers for the mayor's speech still echoed.
"So he tied them to the adventurer riots and got rid of them. The real source of trouble... those gray-robe guys behind him. They smell just like that flag."
"Hah..."
Mace sighed, gazing at the sky.
"Hold up, say you're right. Why'd the mayor hire black mages? What's his endgame?"
Mace's question left me stumped. I shut my mouth.
That's the problem. I don't know their motive.
It's all guesswork. The key puzzle piece to fill that gap? I don't have it.
"No clue. Why the mayor's hiring black mages for this, or why kidnap the guild master gramps..."
Mace raked a hand through his hair roughly.
"Damn it, it's all speculation. Worse, the mayor's already won the crowd. Shout 'those guys are the real bad guys!' and no one buys it! No proof."
I met Mace's eyes squarely.
"Then we find out why. Starting now."
"How?"
"Investigate. Find the guild master too."
I crossed my arms proudly.
"Told you, right? I can smell mana."
We chatted more with Mace before heading back to the workshop.
"Mace totally looks down on us 'cause we're small!"
Mani grumbled nonstop while honing Sena's shortsword.
He'd accepted my proposal, but hammered home: "If you spot suspects, don't fight—run! Tell us the spot, and our party'll smash their skulls!"
Mani clearly hated being babied.
"Mani, Mace has a point. We need prep."
"Prep?"
At Mani's question, Sena pulled something shiny from her bosom.
"What we're doing now is a holy war against evil! For a holy war, we need spiritual armament."
We soon learned what "spiritual armament" meant.
Once geared up, we followed Sena to the Hearth Goddess cathedral on Oakwood's outskirts.
"Welcome, sister!"
An old priest greeted Sena warmly after seeing her token.
"The city's aura feels off lately. During prayers, I sense something deeper, darker, stickier. Be careful, sister."
"You're right, brother! Actually, that's why I have a favor to ask..."
Soon after, Sena emerged from the inner sanctum with two vials.
"What's that?"
"Holy water and holy oil! Holy water purifies the unclean; holy oil burns evil. Perfect against black magic!"
Sena's haul was top-tier consumables.
Coat arrows and bolts in this, and we'd land critical hits.
Weapons sorted—now armor.
[Apostle! We'll make it bigger, more heroic!]
Mani and I hunkered down in the workshop, carving spirit wood. We made three more Lord Rodentia statues.
The finished ones showed Rodentia with fist thrust triumphantly skyward.
[Perfect! Apostle Reti!]
Rodentia beamed at them.
[The brave rat unbroken by any oppression! My will, unbowed by the black cat goddess's torments! Our apostle has artistic talent too! Splendid!]
We grabbed the statues and holy oil, then began our hunt.
"Chit-chit!"
Two days of scouting the city with horned rats in the lead.
We caught the scent again at the sewer entrance from our first slime quest.
"Chit!"
The horned rat twitched its nose, shaking wildly ahead.
[Here. It's overpowering.]
Rodentia sniffed.
As we crept through the labyrinthine sewers...
Ahead, faint light and voices leaked through iron bars.
"...the promised balance."
A familiar voice. The mayor's secretary.
He handed a fat coin pouch to a gray-robed man.
"The mayor wants a stronger justification for the dungeon development corporation. Keep the overflow controlled—just enough."
"Don't worry. We'll manage it perfectly."
The robed man smirked, pocketing the cash.
After the secretary left, three black mages remained behind the bars.
"Tch, what a tight-ass! Barking orders like he knows his place!"
"Patience. Once the ritual's done, this whole city becomes our sacrifice."
We held our breath, listening.
"Speaking of, how's Balthazar?"
"Still down. Wound won't heal. That holy power!"
They meant the lead mage Mani's ballista had blasted in Pinehill Forest.
"Why? We prepped for the Pantheon Temple's power before coming!"
"Those rat brats' crossbow... not ordinary. The power, sure, but..."
Terror laced the black mage's voice.
"It carried an unheard-of alien divinity. Completely different signature! Nullified our barriers and talismans."
Yes!
I cheered inwardly.
Our Lord's power was beyond their expectations.
"Those rat kids delayed the outer monster overflow plan. Had to recover the flag... The mayor's hounding us for results."
"And the guild master geezer?"
"Stash him in the underground prison for now. Mayor's hesitant to kill him. Says he'll negotiate later."
The guild master was alive.
That vital intel didn't last— their next words froze us.
"And that bald silver-rank, White Skull leader. He's trouble."
"...Mace, was it?"
"Yeah. Stirring shit in reality and that... adventurer gallery on the slate? Mayor wants him gone. Says he's a threat to the plan."
"What? Silver badges! All mana users, armed too! Tough. Head-on is suicide!"
The black mages whispered.
"Then set a trap."
"Trap?"
"Lure 'em in and lock 'em down. Leak info that evidence they want is deep in the dungeon, abandoned mine section."
"Good. Strong but dumb—they'll bite and walk right in."
"Do it tonight! When he shows, collapse the entrance, feed him to the overflow."
As they cackled evilly, we retreated swiftly.
"Goddess preserve us! Those bastards plan to trigger an artificial overflow!"
Sena's face twisted in rare fury. Her round ears and tail trembled visibly.
"And trap the White Skull party."
Time to warn them.
We slipped out of the sewer undetected.
Now it was our turn to dunk on those guys.