Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Ch. 31 .｡.:✧ Cologne (1) ✧:.｡.
—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Yoo-jin: 0.87%]
[Known by a small number of people. Very low presence. Someone harbors strong emotions.]
“This is crazy…”
It was a big deal. The reputation score of ‘Yoo-jin’, which had been hovering in the hundredths of a percent, was already about to hit 1 percent.
Moreover, the additional explanation, ‘Someone harbors strong emotions’, made it clear. Jill had regained her memories from the previous rounds.
‘Which round is it? She shouldn’t remember all the rounds.’
I felt dizzy. It was obvious what the ‘strong emotions’ the reputation window spoke of were. Obsession, anger, and hatred.
If Jill had regained her memories, she must have realized that I had exploited and deceived her emotions. How would she take revenge on me if she caught me?
Jill was probably searching for me while happily pondering such questions.
‘She’s even scarier than the final boss…’
What’s the worst that could happen if the final boss caught me? Death would be the end of it.
But I couldn’t even imagine what would happen if Jill caught me. Jill’s pride, having graduated college at a young age and obtained multiple degrees, reached the sky.
I had played around with that Jill, so it wouldn’t be surprising no matter what form her revenge took.
-The shattered pillars of the cathedral. It is presumed that mana bombs were used.
I had a vague idea of why she had collapsed the cathedral in such an extreme way. It was a message to me.
To come out while she was still speaking nicely.
‘I’m still safe.’
And that meant Jill had completely failed to find me. With the saintess’s power, she could slap both cheeks of any decent archbishop.
Yet she couldn’t find me even with that power. It had to be that way. In this round, I had thoroughly hidden my real name while living.
The ‘small number’ who knew my real name were only Blin, myself, and Undecided. Even if she conducted a full investigation, it wouldn’t matter. I didn’t have any citizen ID.
Unless I directly ran into Jill, there was no way I would be discovered. I could sufficiently avoid her by being a little careful.
There was no point in worrying about it continuously, so I decided to stop and think about other things.
“Do you like it?”
“…Yeah.”
Looking to the side, I saw Undecided with her head bowed, not seeming to have any intention of lifting it. She was constantly fiddling with the ring on her right index finger.
The ring with a red mana stone embedded in it. The same ring was on my left index finger.
‘Tay. It’s also a problem if your skill is too good.’
It was a mana stone with a color too beautiful to be showing off like this. So in the end, I had to take measures to make it shine less by applying a transparent coating on the mana stone.
Thanks to that, it looked like an ordinary ring with a ruby gem on the outside.
“Do you like it that much?”
“…Yeah. Sparkly. Pretty.”
She had shown a lot of interest in mana stones for a while. When I made it into a ring and gave it to her, she had been caressing it all day.
I had long since given up on stopping her. If she likes it, what can I do?
“That’s worth more than your life. Keep it safe.”
“…Okay. I’ll treat it preciously.”
“If you’re about to die, make sure to at least save the ring before dying.”
“…Okay.”
Was she listening or not? She was too busy touching the ring, so her response was completely insincere.
I let out a deep sigh and looked out the window.
“We’re almost there.”
Before I knew it, the scenery outside the window had completely changed. The green fields had disappeared, and instead, vast wheat fields stretched out.
Just looking at it made me feel like I could smell a nutty aroma.
“…Wow.”
Even Undecided, who had been fixated on the ring, looked out the window and let out an exclamation. It was a slightly unfamiliar expression.
Until a few days ago, Undecided wouldn’t be surprised no matter what scenery she saw. But at some point, it seemed like some of her emotions had been revived, even if only partially.
‘This isn’t bad either.’
Although it became harder to treat her like an object, it felt okay to think of it as gaining a conversation partner.
I had felt a bit lonely going around with just a robot until now.
I hoped it would stay just like this. I wished no more unnecessary emotions or memories would be revived.
“Sigh.”
Well. My wishes were never granted anyway. How would the final round be any different?
I was used to always assuming the worst and moving accordingly, so I rarely got disappointed.
I could feel the train slowly applying the brakes. We must have arrived.
After passing the high castle walls visible outside the window, brick buildings were suddenly everywhere.
“The next stop is the Holy Kingdom’s capital, Cologne.”
The current capital of the Holy Kingdom. Cologne.
A city destined to lose its function as the capital once the development of Hameln is completed.
At a glance, it was evident that Cologne was a quite old city.
With a deep history and tradition, it was perfect as a capital.
However, as the Holy Kingdom began to expand, Cologne quickly reached its limit.
The population kept growing, but since it was a city originally settled within the castle walls, expansion was impossible.
As a result, the population density kept increasing, and problems started popping up here and there.
Just the fact that all those vast wheat fields were to feed a single city said it all.
“Let’s go. We’re in a huge hurry right now.”
“…Okay.”
As soon as we got off the train, I grabbed Undecided’s hand and hurried our steps. The rings clashed together, getting in the way.
The reason we came here was none other than this. A dungeon had appeared in the middle of Cologne, and it had been designated as a black star dungeon, of all things.
So all the renowned mercenary groups had given up and fled.
The flustered mayor of Cologne belatedly put up a reward and began recruiting people to defeat the dungeon.
The reward the mayor put up was none other than a pearl necklace. The dungeon was insanely dangerous, but the reward was like this, so no one accepted the challenge.
‘But it’s a hidden item I must obtain.’
I absolutely needed that pearl necklace. To be more precise, one of the pearls on the necklace was the hidden item.
In the game setting, it was probably described as a storage device containing information about the weaknesses of all monsters in the world.
I didn’t care about that measly setting, but what mattered was that if I obtained that hidden item, I would gain the trait ‘Weak Point’.
It was a trait that made the weaknesses of all monsters visible to me. To me, who had memorized the weaknesses of most small fry monsters, it had been a useless trait until now.
But now that I had decided to challenge the conquest of the final boss, it was an essential trait I couldn’t do without to know the weaknesses of the final boss, whose face I didn’t even know.
‘Just in case, let’s get it a little early.’
In the previous rounds, I had come to this place much later, but this time, I came about two months early.
I knew it was a dungeon that no one could beat even if left alone for a long time, but I was afraid the reward might change due to the butterfly effect.
It was such an important trait that I hurried to obtain it.
“Phew. It’s a proper chicken coop.”
Walking through the city, I kept frowning.
The buildings crammed together like a chicken coop gave a more desolate feeling than modern apartments.
Moreover, there seemed to be a strangely unpleasant smell.
This was the state of the district where nobles lived, not the slums.
“Don’t make a single sound. Just stick close to me.”
“…Okay.”
After walking for a while, we reached the city hall building.
Not only was it large, but the ivy-covered walls proved its history, making it quite majestic.
“I’m here in response to the request.”
“Please follow me.”
They must be in a hurry. Without any special procedures, we were immediately guided inside.
“Mayor. Someone has come in response to the request.”
“Let them in.”
“Yes.”
Creak.
As the door opened, the interior of the suffocating office was revealed. Thick stacks of documents piled on a large desk.
And sitting in the middle was a bespectacled human man. He lifted his head to look at me, and his face lit up.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lawrence Briam.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Count.”
“What count. Mayor… No. That’s burdensome too. Just call me Lawrence.”
Lawrence waved his hand dismissively as he spoke. As expected, he still disliked formalities.
He was a peculiar nobleman who insisted on wearing a plain shirt instead of fancy ceremonial attire despite being a count.
“Let’s do that. Lawrence. Is it alright if I don’t reveal my name?”
“That’s fine. I’m not interested anyway. Hahaha.”
Lawrence laughed heartily as he expressed his honest feelings. It was no exaggeration to say that the smooth operation of the overpopulated city of Cologne (at least on the surface) was entirely thanks to Lawrence.
After he took the position of mayor, he shattered all unnecessary administrative procedures and established a system that solely pursued efficiency.
He employed commoners if they were capable and pushed through work while ignoring the etiquette of nobles.
He had many enemies due to that bulldozer-like personality, but it didn’t matter since his support base was already solid.
The entire massive city of Cologne was his sphere of influence, so what was there to fear?
“You must be tired from the long journey, so you should rest first.”
“No. It’s alright. You seem to be in a hurry, so please tell me about the dungeon first.”
“You’re straightforward. I like it.”
We both had personalities that liked being straightforward.
When two such guys gathered, work proceeded at a dizzying pace.
“The dungeon appeared two months ago in the sewers of Cologne. Countless mercenary groups flocked to Cologne.
The city didn’t promise any separate rewards, but since the honor of saving the largest city in the Holy Kingdom would follow, conquest attempts were very active.”
Lawrence took out a stack of documents from the cabinet and poured them out in front of me.
The contents of each mercenary group’s challenge to the dungeon were recorded in detail.
Not only did they make a map based on the grasped structure of the dungeon, but also the types and spawn points of monsters. It was detailed to the point of being excessive.
Lawrence was probably the only one who would create such systematic dungeon records.
Looking at it this way, he seemed like a cold and blunt man, but that wasn’t entirely the case. Lawrence was also famous for being a passionate lover.
‘The letters he wrote to his deceased wife alone numbered in the hundreds, right?’
Lawrence had a heartbreaking backstory. He had a wife who died of illness, and he deeply regretted not treating her well while she was alive, missing her terribly.
There was also an interpretation that he was pushing himself to overwork in order to forget that pain.
“All the records are there, so take a look and decide.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether to challenge it or not.”
“…”
Lawrence had already put on his glasses again and was sitting at his desk, continuing his work. As if he had no expectations for me at all.
He probably thought I would give up right away and leave.
-Encountered 3 orcs. 2 dead. 1 seriously injured.
-6 lizardmen ambushed from the water. 3 dead.
-Explosion trap. 1 dead. 1 seriously injured.
After all, the records were full of gruesome stories. To the point where there were fewer people who returned alive after challenging it.
If it were my old self, I might have been terrified after seeing this.
“I’m done roughly looking it over. Please guide me to the dungeon entrance.”
“What?”
But I had already conquered this dungeon before. Although it was tricky, it was on the easy side compared to the top-tier dungeons.
Now that my Mana Control had risen to level 4, it would be a piece of cake for me.
“You can read, right?”
“That’s a rude question to ask.”
“I apologize. It’s just that the only people who challenged the dungeon after seeing that were illiterate. I will personally guide you to the dungeon.”
Lawrence abruptly stood up and set out to guide me. As expected, I liked his straightforwardness.
“I was planning to raise the reward if no challengers appeared. This worked out well.”
“Haha. I’m quite satisfied with the necklace.”
“Pardon? What necklace…”
Lawrence tilted his head with a puzzled expression, and at that moment,
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
As we turned the corner, we ran into a woman right in front of us. Was she Lawrence’s secretary? But her clothes were quite fancy for that.
“Cornelia. What is it?”
“Ah. Darling…”
The woman hesitated for a moment, then immediately lowered her gaze to the floor upon seeing Lawrence. Cornelia. Darling.
The combination of those two words in my head caused confusion. Lawrence’s wife was supposed to be dead…?
‘Right. I arrived two months early.’
Only then did I realize. Cornelia Briam, who had been dead whenever I came to Cologne in previous rounds.
Lawrence’s deceased wife was alive at this point in time.
It felt strange, as if a dead person had come back to life.
“Say hello. This person is the one challenging the dungeon conquest this time.”
“Th-thank you…”
“What’s there to thank? Everyone comes for the reward.”
Cornelia bowed her head to express her gratitude. At that moment, Undecided, whose eyes had been gleaming, suddenly pointed at Cornelia.
Startled, I grabbed Undecided’s hand and pulled it down.
“…Sparkly.”
“How dare this child be rude to the Countess.”
“It’s alright. Maybe she was referring to this?”
Cornelia seemed flustered for a moment, then smiled and took out a necklace from inside her collar to show it. It was a necklace full of pearls.
The moment I saw it, my thoughts froze.
“…Sparkly. Pretty.”
“Thank you, little miss.”
There was no doubt. That pearl necklace was the one that granted the trait ‘Weak Point’. But then the story becomes very strange.
‘Offering his deceased wife’s necklace as a reward…?’
A lover who couldn’t forget his dead wife and wrote hundreds of letters to her would hand over his wife’s keepsake to a complete stranger?
It didn’t make sense.
I had the illusion that the air was rapidly turning cold.
Lawrence’s smile, which I had only felt was refreshing, started to seem a bit creepy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇