33. Underground Sewer
She pulled her hood over her head and tucked a few pebbles into her pocket.
In the opposite pocket were a pencil and a notebook, along with other items needed to complete the request.
Her stomach was a bit upset, but before starting work, this much was just right.
Once she finished preparing, Sugar slipped out of the orphanage unnoticed. Now, she had become skilled at moving silently.
Her friends were probably all in dreamland, right?
Sugar herself wanted to stay sprawled out on the bed forever, but she could do that as much as she wanted once today was over.
She trotted along with lighter steps than usual, tap-tap-tap.
She knew the entrance to the underground sewer. It was tucked away in a corner of the bustling district. She could have used a manhole, but given the risk of monsters, it had been specially treated so it couldn't be opened by normal means.
Yet it's the phenomenon of monster numbers decreasing…
She occasionally took a day to do a “clean-up,” but even without doing that, the place was clean, which would make the lord's side suspicious.
Since the night patrol guard had to keep watch all night, they probably hired one or two people to send instead.
This world was strong in individual power anyway.
Still, she never imagined an eleven-year-old girl would be taking on this request. Of course, as long as she completed it, that was all that mattered.
When she reached the sewer entrance, Sugar pulled a key from her pocket. It was the key she had been told to hand over to whoever took this job. She had received it from the request office after it was stored safely, then handed it to the request broker uncle.
She quickly unlocked the lock before anyone could see, and slipped her small body inside.
Entry!
A smell that made her nose wrinkle hit her. Water dripped everywhere with plop-plop sounds. It was damp and pitch black, and she found it rather unpleasant.
Thanks to the faintly glowing magic stones embedded in the walls, she could at least make her way forward. Still, it was so dark she frowned and made a note.
For now, the entrance is weird… It's too dark. What if I add mana to my eyes?
She tried it anyway, thinking it would be even clearer. The outlines of objects became sharper, making it easier to distinguish.
…But it makes me tired too quickly.
Although it was clearer, her eyes quickly fatigued and she had to close them. She would have to get used to it with repeated use.
She put the notebook back in her pocket and continued forward.
Sugar's light footsteps echoed loudly through the sewer.
Just in case, she gripped a pebble in her hand and infused it with mana while walking. She could fire it at anything she found. She couldn't throw it, but she was confident in shooting.
She walked like that, on edge, for about ten minutes.
…Nothing here.
Nighttime. Just endless darkness and gloom made her yawn.
She was getting used to the smell, so it was tolerable.
“What, it says the number of individuals is decreasing…”
She muttered to herself and suddenly turned around.
Because she sensed a presence.
-tock. tock.
The sound of dripping water. Wet, slapping sounds where it hit the sewage.
She caught her breath and looked ahead again. It was the fork in the road.
She listened quietly to decide which way to go first, and heard distant boom-boom explosions.
Is that it?
It seemed to be coming from the right. In a place where only dripping water or monster howls should be heard, an explosion was out of place.
Could that be the cause of the decrease in numbers?
She immediately turned right and ran at full speed, ta-ta-tap. While running at full speed with mana infused, the sound suddenly stopped at some point.
Without explosions to cover her footsteps, she couldn't run anymore. Sugar clicked her tongue and took slow steps.
Because the sewers were so interconnected beneath the city, it was vast, so she had to walk much farther.
Signs began to appear.
Monster fragments that looked crushed and torn. They slithered through the sewage and floated downstream.
What's this…
She rolled up her sleeve and reached in to grab one, and it twitched.
Ugh.
She immediately threw it away and shook her hand. It made a squelch as it hit the floor.
By picking up speed on the strange phenomenon, she found a place that could be called a square. It was probably where narrow passages converged. In the center was the sewer, the walls, the floor, all filthy with monster traces.
If all of that were people, it would be a bloodbath.
Who did this…
Looking around, there were only monster corpses, no people or healthy monsters. Only traces of walls being gouged out by some force.
The being that had devastated the sewers this much had probably left the area by now.
For now, let's make a note.
After noting the phenomena she saw, Sugar crept into the square. Just in case, she also stilled the flow of mana.
Once she confirmed there was nothing unusual, she immediately bent down and picked up the monster fragments. They were for the request office submission. She placed them one by one into the bag she had prepared in advance.
Even though they're dead, they twitch, so it's gross…
If she took on jobs like this in the future, she would have to bring gloves or claws. Touching them with her bare hands was out of the question.
Muttering to herself, Sugar stood up.
“…”
And stopped right there.
Squelch. Squelch. Because of the sound of something crawling.
Slithering, twitching.
The bag at her waist also moved in time with the sound.
As if it had a single will.
A chill ran down her spine.
Looking around, every limb was twitching. They were crawling in unison toward one direction.
Sugar swallowed hard and prepared herself mentally.
First, what did she have to do?
“Note…”
She would complete the assigned task clearly.
Since it was her last mission, she would see it through to the end.
After recording the current phenomena wildly in the notebook, what was the next thing to do?
Run like a dog—!!
She ran as fast as she could.
Unfortunately, the gathering point was in the direction of the entrance. She glanced back and saw a giant approaching.
She decided to run inside and turn, so she ran wildly.
She didn't know what had happened. The pieces that should have been dead were gathered in one place and became such a large entity. Did the monsters that lived here have such properties?
While pondering, she turned around and found herself right behind it.
GUWOOOOOO!!
She quickly ducked her head when it swung its fist. It was fortunate that she was small at that moment.
Immediately after, she infused mana into her legs and jumped almost like a leap, gung-jung.
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
Why was the body so big but the speed so fast? She glanced sideways and saw it sliding through the sewage. With that acceleration, it seemed to get faster and faster.
If she kept running like this, she would tire herself out.
Fortunately, she saw a small passage ahead and immediately threw her body into it. It was too small for this size.
After catching her breath, the monster that had shrunk in size but lengthened in front and back pushed its body in.
“Oh! Saint-nim!”
She was a devout believer today. She didn't need to believe it.
“Oh Almighty Gabianto, protect us with your light,” she mumbled while running, and when her breath caught, she spat out a curse, “Damn it!” and closed her mouth.
After all, if one prayer could solve everything, there would be no heretics left.
Ahead was dark. It felt like a blocked path, and her heart sank, but looking closely, someone was standing there.
“Get out of the way!!”
The person in front had nothing to do with the explosion sound. She didn't even have the luxury to think that.
I have to run, so get out of the way. She only managed to squeeze out those words with all her strength.
But she heard a familiar voice.
“…Sugar?”
Why are you here…
It was the voice of a friend she knew too well. Sugar stopped running and grabbed Ryly's wrist.
“What the… why are you suddenly…”
“No time to talk! Just run!”
Sugar wanted to ask why he was here, but that could be sorted out later after calming down and talking.
Ryly looked confused, but seeing the thing chasing from behind, he immediately prepared his stance.
They started running again.
While running, he looked around fiercely.
“Hey, wait… this direction…”
“Out of breath! Just run!”
Ryly gritted his teeth. To Sugar, who was running ahead, that didn't look like it.
She was just out of breath and thinking she had to escape.
But that wouldn't last long either.
The end of the passage. They had reached a dead end.
“What! Why is there no way!”
“That's what I said…”
Ryly, who had a good grasp of the sewer's layout, muttered.
When she turned around, the slimy giant monster was puffing up its body and approaching.
It moved slowly but then sped up and closed in with a stride.
It clenched its fist as if about to swing, made a slimy sound, and exuded intimidation as it approached.
It was taller than Sugar by quite a bit, so she had to look up to see its face.
A real monster.
This was the first time she had actually seen one. Creatures like giant cave rats were on a completely different level.
Sugar took a deep breath.
Glancing sideways, her young friend was standing next to her. Looking ahead again, the giant monster was approaching. It was scary because it looked like it would crush her with its huge body and kill her with its roar.
Still.
“Hoo…”
She steadied her breathing and simply stared straight ahead.
Only firm resolve remained in her heart.
The giant swung its fist toward the two of them.
That small gap.
A moment of opportunity.
The instant Ryly reached out as if to grab something.
Then, twitching, the instant he froze looking at Sugar.
Sugar, who had been staring blankly at the giant, immediately took action.
She released all the mana in her body.
She pushed Ryly away with her right hand and blocked with her left arm.
-thud!!
A dull pain made her dizzy.
Her small body couldn't withstand the shock and flew away, hitting the wall with a loud sound.
It hurt. Her arm and spine hurt too much, so her senses dulled instead.
When it hurt too much, her head worked calmly.
Just as she was thinking how amazing that was, she heard her name called faintly.
Through her hazy eyes, she saw her friend running with a distorted expression.
All she could think was, Idiot. I should have just run away.
What to do. She had to save that friend. She had to send that friend into the sunlight even if she herself didn't make it.
She tried to do something, but her body had no strength.
She just kept repeating it endlessly as her consciousness faded.