Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Demons
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Demons.
Viola.
Seeing her brought to mind a man from the rebel faction known as Rebellion.
The man called Nation.
Her family.
I looked at Viola.
Frizzy hair. Heavy dark circles. Hunched shoulders, as if shriveled.
-She's completely different from back then.
Rishiel squinted as she stared at her.
As Rishiel said, she had changed a lot from before. The confident, bold demeanor was gone.
"You... "
"...What? It's you?"
Viola's glaring eyes softened the moment she saw me. Now they were filled with goodwill.
"What brings you here?"
Her tone had changed too. From sharp barbs to something a bit gentler.
"A-Amazing, Yuseong! Y-You know Viola?"
Clara said, her eyes wide as saucers.
Just who the hell was this Viola lady?
"Why is she here?"
"H-Ha ha... J-Just passing by. On my way."
Clara stammered, fumbling for words.
Viola shot her a quick glance before turning back to me.
"So, what brings you here?"
"I left something with Durin, and he told me to come by today."
"Ah, you were the one coming today? Hurry up—Uncle Durin's waiting on that thing."
Viola pointed toward Durin's workshop. Then she crossed her arms and gave Clara a sneering look.
"And her?"
"H-Ha ha... W-We just ran into each other by chance... C-Can I tag along?"
"No way. You have any idea how many people pester Durin?"
"There you have it."
Truth be told, I had no desire to let her tag along anyway.
Having Viola shut her down so coldly actually made things easier for me.
While I was silently rooting for Viola, a door creaked open from inside, revealing two old men.
"See? The kid's here."
"Tch, a Sword King acting all flighty like this."
"Who cares about that? Welcome to the workshop anyway."
Volkan strode right over. His gaze lingered on Clara for a moment.
"Now that I think about it, don't you have way too many women around you?"
"Me?"
"Your build says you're not slacking on training, at least."
"If I did slack, you'd just use it as an excuse to grind me, right?"
"Do I look like that kinda guy to you? If so, you're dead wrong. Talent or no, I don't train anyone without the drive to grow."
"......"
Was it really okay for a guy who pretended not to take disciples to say stuff like that?
"Well, whatever. Looks like you're making good use of that new iron orb I made."
"Well......"
Truth be told, there had been plenty of times I'd wanted to ditch the damn thing. But every time I saw my stats tick up, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
'Though I do take it off on the sly when I'm sneaking around.'
Bound to restrict movement otherwise.
"So what are you doing here, old timer?"
"Me? Came here 'cause of the sword I busted this time."
"You busted a sword?"
I put on a shocked face.
Wasn't a Sword King supposed to, y'know, handle swords well?
"Opponent was a tough bastard."
"Gave me no end of grief. What kinda monster splits a blade clean in half?"
"I paid up accordingly."
"Tch, most of it went right back into fixing your sword."
Durin clicked his tongue and casually tossed me something gleaming black.
"Yours is done too."
Chak.
I caught what Durin had thrown with ease.
It looked like a bracelet, sort of.
No, it was a bracelet.
I slipped it onto my wrist.
"How's it work?"
"Channel some mana into the underside."
I did as Durin said and infused it with mana.
Something shot out from my wrist with a pew, slamming into the wall.
"O."
"O my ass. You wrecking my walls like it's nothing—are you insane?!"
"......"
He wasn't wrong, so I pulled a silver coin from my pocket and handed it over.
Durin grumbled as he snatched it up.
"Kid's loaded but cheap as hell."
"Can't be sure how long the big scores will last."
"And yet you're all about that gold."
"Who doesn't love gold?"
"Most greenhorn adventurers chase fame or power-ups. Hardly any are as money-hungry as you."
"Gee, thanks."
"Whatever. Don't pull that crap in my shop—now scram."
"Grumbling like you don't enjoy it. Wanted to check your work one more time, but... got business of my own."
"You got business?"
"This punk."
"Then guess we part ways here."
"We'll start with that smug lip curl. Anyway, I'm out."
Volkan thudded off.
Durin headed back inside.
'Felt a stare from over there.'
Clara watching me. Stung like hell.
I ignored it, strolled toward the scrap heap, cloaked my presence, and slipped away.
'...Gotta get tangled up with 'em soon enough.'
The master-servant bond between Celli and Clara.
Veronica and Clara's saintess showdown.
'...Wonder if I'll end up clashing with a Thief Hero candidate someday.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Back at the inn, Veronica shot me a smug look.
'What?'
I gave her a weird glance, and her lip twitched as she spoke.
"Talk a big game about hating it, but you couldn't turn down my offer after all. Men are all the same."
What the hell was she on about?
Did she think my chance run-in with Clara meant I'd taken her job?
"Hehe, normally I wouldn't give you the time of day, but I've changed my mind."
"It ain't like that."
"This body's... What? Oh, I get it. Sure, whatever you say."
Veronica sashayed upstairs, clearly pleased.
"...?"
Why was she heading up? Had she booked a room nearby?
"...Hehe."
As I pondered, a creepy chuckle reached my ears.
It was the Execution Princess, Lucia.
"Long time no see."
"Y-Yeah."
"Picked up another girl in the meantime?"
"Nothing like that with her."
I didn't have that kind of relationship with any woman here to begin with.
The one who'd almost crossed that line was...
'Lucia.'
She was the one showing me unconditional favor.
Ermé saw me as her most trusted comrade, but Lucia was obsessed.
'Not sure I can call it love.'
More like possessiveness.
"So, what's up?"
"Do I need a reason to talk to you?"
"Well, no......"
"Just wanted to see how you were holding up. You haven't been hitting the labyrinth lately."
"Ah, prepping to clear the fifth floor."
"...That's some insane growth rate. Still, don't push too hard. The labyrinth might buy you time, but... its abyss has its eyes on you too."
The labyrinth's abyss?
Loaded words.
But I could tell Lucia was giving me advice.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
With that, I headed upstairs to the inn. Not my room—Ermé's.
Knock knock.
"Come on in!"
Ermé's bright voice.
I stepped inside to find her hair wrapped in a towel, fresh from drying it.
"In the middle of washing up? I can come back."
"Nah, I'm all done anyway."
Ermé approached with a grin.
"So? Kinda thrilling, right?"
"W-Wow, s-so thri-lling."
"...You suck at acting. Fine."
She huffed and plopped down on the bed.
"Anyway, shall we get down to business?"
We'd talked about Clara and Celli before.
Celli was a demon—or so it seemed—and loyal to Clara.
Tonight was about settling that.
"What about Celli?"
"I can save the real Celli."
Ermé met my eyes.
"Is this Celli girl even alive?"
"Yeah, probably. Can't say for sure, but she should be right now."
"Then—"
"Can you kill the demon disguised as Celli?"
"I'll give it a shot."
I recalled the demon hanging around Clara.
It was blatantly weaker than me.
Just like the real Celli might be—frail body, but packing serious mana.
'...Best bet is to snipe it in one shot.'
The issue was where the real Celli was.
"The fake's definitely heading to that orphanage we scoped out at night."
"Yeah?"
"And why tonight? They make contact on these waxing crescent nights."
"So my job is—"
"Yep. The moment the fake makes contact tonight, take it out."
"That's one brutal gig."
"You'll do it, right?"
"Of course."
"But heads up—demons are usually stronger than adventurers at the same level."
"Won't make that much difference."
"Nah, because the second you hit contact... another one's gonna show."
Yeah, that was the problem.
'...Handing it to me means it should be something I can handle.'
But what if it wasn't?
Level 4, maybe manageable. Anything higher, and I'd be struggling no matter what.
"Demons are weak to light attributes anyway, so you should be fine."
"Demons weak to light?"
"Yeah. Your purple lightning... it's not exactly 'light,' but lightning's one of the symbols of purification. Must be a pain to wield, though."
Her words left me puzzled.
'Pain to wield?'
-Obviously. Lightning's the second-fastest attribute, with massive destructive power. Rare and tricky to handle as a result.
But it didn't feel that way to me.
Felt more like I just couldn't control my mana properly yet.
'Something's off.'
That's when it hit me—I was familiar with this purple power.
'Gives me a bad vibe.'
Anyway, we wrapped up the talk there and headed to our rooms to prep.
For the demon fight, I checked my gear.
'Synthesis would be ideal.'
Too bad I couldn't merge Whisper of the Wind with the Blood-Soaked Dagger yet.
Proficiency still too low.
But I had a hunch it'd click soon enough.
Throwing daggers were another story. I synthesized a batch, whipped up some poisons.
'Night's falling fast.'
Twilight hues filtered through the window.
I grabbed my weapons.
Stepped outside and spotted Ermé.
"Hehe, it worked?"
I smirked at her grin.
'She bolted out the second I stood up—what's that about.'
As I thought that, Ermé held out a plain white mask.
"...?"
"Obviously, we can't let them spot us on this op."
Obviously.
Turning demons into enemies was one thing—Clara might turn too.
Veronica was the church's saintess for now.
But Ermé insisted there was a hidden one. Veronica was just a stand-in.
So yeah, identities hidden.
'Gotta wear this?'
I knew I had to, but...
"......"
I slipped on the mask without a word.
And felt... weird.
Like an itch inside.
Honestly...
...it was pretty damn embarrassing.