The Price of Ignorance (5)
Sometimes, while playing a game, you come across maps or places where NPCs and monsters exist at the same time.
The ‘Slums’ from the original Legend of Heroes had been one of those spots. Pickpocket NPCs and humanoid monsters simply named “Pickpocket” shared the same space. Too few monsters to call it a proper hunting ground, yet too many aggressive mobs to treat it as a safe zone.
And the reason I’m bringing this up right now?
“Aaagh!”
“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.”
I just wanted to complain that, unlike the original, the remake version doesn’t float anything over their heads, so you can’t tell a mob from an NPC. For crying out loud.
I’d approached thinking he was an NPC and nearly got pickpocketed for my trouble.
“There are things the gods have forbidden. Theft is one of them.”
That also explained why the Inquisitor had worn such a sour—no, downright puckered—expression the entire way to the slums.
Our tightly wound Kimchi Dumpling clearly found it uncomfortable to meet people who had broken the word of her god.
“Shit, just my luck….”
The man who’d tried to slip a hand into his waistband only to get kicked in the shin and go sprawling spat out curses. The Inquisitor’s face turned ice-cold as she tightened her grip on her mace.
“Those who steal shall have their wrists—”
“That is far enough, Inquisitor.”
“Pardon?”
“Upholding doctrine and discipline is no sin, yet one must not do so at every single moment.”
“But that man is a sinner.”
“Sometimes mercy is also required, is it not?”
“…Mercy, you say.”
“Yes. Mercy.”
“…….”
Even after the Archmage’s words, the Inquisitor’s expression showed little comprehension. Her stubbornness was beginning to shine through that lack of understanding with perfect clarity.
Well, it wasn’t my problem to manage, so I didn’t care.
“I’ve heard pickpocketing has decreased around here lately. Is that true?”
Given that he’d tried to lift something, he was probably classified as a mob, but I tried conversation just in case. Unlike the original, where they were simply monsters, they might have been upgraded to hostile NPCs. Or this could be story content—catch him and it leads to interrogation, let him go and it becomes a pursuit.
If none of that applied, I’d just handle it according to the situation.
“W-what are you even saying?”
This uncooperative already?
“I will not ask twice.”
Judging by what the Inquisitor had been about to do, wrist amputation was apparently the local punishment for theft. Information obtained ought to be put to good use.
I drew my longsword without hesitation. Behind me the Archmage, who had been gently coaxing the Inquisitor, let out a strangled gasp, but that was none of my concern.
“Your wrist, or an answer.”
I planted my boot firmly on the pickpocket’s chest and shifted the tip of the blade from his throat to his wrist.
The rising sun painted the bob of his Adam’s apple in vivid detail.
“Hic! I-I don’t know! It’s true the territory’s gotten looser, but…!”
“Speak precisely. Why has it gotten looser?”
“A f-few of the pickpockets who used to run things cleared out of the district. Th-that’s why.”
“Their whereabouts.”
“I don’t know that. In this line of work, one or two guys disappearing is just Tuesday!”
∎ Speak with Pickpockets 1 / ?
∎ Speak with Beggars 0 / ?
How does this guy know so little? The moment I reached that conclusion, the counter ticked up by one.
The fact that the required number of people wasn’t fixed meant I just had to keep talking until I got the information I wanted.
It also meant I could extract intel even from someone I couldn’t tell was a mob or a hostile NPC.
“Is there anyone who would know more than you?”
Ah, I should ask that before leaving.
“W-Wang-gae might know. All the pickpockets in this district pay him protection money.”
“Location.”
“W-what?”
“Location.”
Nice. So I can ask that too? Regardless of whether the guy gave me the answer I wanted, the interrogation itself was fun.
I savored the thrill while questioning him in a cold voice that matched the concept. In other games you could only ask from given choices; here I could ask whatever I wanted, and that novelty was a genuine pleasure.
Of course, I still lacked the confidence that I’d asked more precisely than if the system had simply given me keywords.
“If I tell you that, I’m dead!”
“Then I will take your wrist.”
“Shit!”
The pickpocket NPC thrashed as if to resist, but the foot crushing his chest was stronger.
And because the enjoyment of interrogating an NPC while drunk on concept outweighed any guilt about cutting off someone else’s wrist, the blade moved without the slightest hesitation.
Unlike tongues, severing wrists didn’t bother me much—something that happened often enough while grinding monsters—so that made it even easier.
“Damn it, damn it damn it….”
Would a single slash cleanly sever it? But scraping the floor would dull the edge more.
Better to thrust. I raised the arm holding the sword high, intending to drive the tip straight through the center of the wrist and sever it in one go.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk, okay?!”
Just as I was about to bring the blade down, the NPC squeezed his eyes shut and finally surrendered.
Thunk!
I drove the sword into the ground right beside his wrist.
“Lead the way.”
“Fuck, first thing in the morning and I’m already this unlucky….”
Well, who told you to pick me as your opening customer of the day?
Shiiing.
In any case, I had extracted the promise. I sheathed the longsword and lifted my foot. Of course I didn’t relax my guard; if he ran, I would catch him immediately.
“He is a thief.”
Watching all this, the Inquisitor could no longer hold back and spoke up.
“Not my concern.”
To me it truly wasn’t important. His attempt to steal my belongings was annoying, sure, but finding any demon’s tail that might exist (for the concept’s sake) took priority, didn’t it?
“And if you don’t want me testing how quickly this blade can pierce you, abandon any foolish ideas.”
That didn’t mean the annoyance was completely gone, so I warned the pickpocket as well.
“I… I got it.”
I’d only tested him on a hunch, but had he really been about to bolt? I narrowed my eyes at the pickpocket, who flinched while half-rising.
From the look of him, the moment we entered an alley he’d ignore the warning and run again. There wasn’t much more I could do here. Ah, tracking magic?
But asking for it myself felt a bit awkward. We still needed to keep a certain distance—just people walking the same road, from different groups.
“Archmage. What if you cast that magic?”
“…The tracking spell, you mean?”
“Yes. He might flee.”
After catching the demon contractor, I’d considered dumping unspent skill points into tracking.
But the Inquisitor beat me to it. She hadn’t read my mind, of course; she simply disliked the pickpocket enough to set the condition herself.
Or it was just story railroad.
“What?”
“…I am not certain this is right.”
At the mention of tracking magic the NPC leapt in shock, while the Archmage let out a soft sigh.
“I have placed a tracking spell upon him. Even should he flee, we will be able to find him.”
Yet in the end he did not refuse.
Her staff waved once, and a brand was stamped onto the pickpocket NPC. He panicked and tried to wipe it away, but magic could not be erased by physical force.
“Move.”
“Sh…it.”
“What the hell are you crawling back—”
With the reliable chain of magic locked around him, the pickpocket led us to Wang-gae with a face of pure resignation.
“Y-you! Who the hell are you?!”
An NPC far too plump for a thief jolted up from his seat in terror. Judging by the build and the food scattered around him, the man was living high off the land as a manager.
“What the hell did you bring—”
“That depends on the answers you give.”
“Guh.”
How much he was skimming didn’t interest me, so I simply switched that concern off. Instead I kicked the protruding belly hard. He’d just snatched up a dagger from the table, after all.
“Not a very friendly way to say hello, I must say.”
“If you dislike my methods, turn around right now and handle it your own way.”
The Archmage seemed to be developing doubts about the character of his traveling companions. But my concept had always been like this. Heh. Roleplaying is the best.
“Words can be short, yet sentences may still be long.”
I kicked the fallen man’s hand aside, sending the dagger skittering away, and drew the knife I had ready in my own coat.
Experience spinning a balisong combined with the system’s correction, and even a fixed-blade knife spun smoothly across my fingers.
“W-what do you wish to ask?”
Somehow the so-called boss had less guts than the underling he ordered around.
Still, when they got this scared, interrogation became easy. I calmly and slowly asked everything I wanted to know.
The results were both pitiful and somewhat useful.
“W-what is the purpose of asking me this? The Inquisitor of Heresy should know better. She took them to the temple for the sake of reformation.”
“…What did you just say?”
The quality might have been poor, but at least I had the next direction to go, so that much was fine.
“Swear it to the gods! Are you certain they were taken to the temple?”
The Inquisitor who had suddenly cut in pressed him angrily. The overlap of her concept’s speech and temper grated a little, but reminding myself it was reserved for criminals made it bearable.
“Y-yes… I can swear it. Not a single word I have spoken contains a lie.”
“For how long?”
“I-I only properly noticed from about a month ago… but I suspect it started even earlier….”
“…Blasphemy!”
And the Inquisitor spat fire.
“Reformation of criminals is permitted only during the periods authorized by the Great Temple! Yet to volunteer reformation of your own accord outside those periods—!”
…That was a surprisingly petty reason to be upset. I’d thought there would be something far more suspicious.
“…Is that truly the important part?”
“Then what could possibly be more important than this?!”
I left the white lion—the mage—who had somehow grown even paler, and the Inquisitor behind me and looked down steadily at Wang-gae.
“They’ve been taking people for a month.”
“Y-yes.”
“When they take people, do they take many at once?”
“N-no… the kids said only one or two were taken quietly each time.”
Wang-gae glanced around cautiously as he spoke.
“Just like… the way human traffickers quietly snatch people. Ah, not that they actually did that! How could the temple ever do such a thing? It was just a comparison….”
Whoa. Even without my memories of the original, this was dead obvious. The plot was so transparent I was almost getting solemn about it. Luckily the game systems were entertaining enough that I didn’t mind.
“What did you just—”
“Was the taking of people done regularly?”
Before the Inquisitor could snarl further in rage, a stern voice cut in first. It was the Archmage, face grave.
“Y-yes. Two or three times a week, at set hours, the Inquisitors of Heresy patrol. We’ve even restricted everyone from going out during those times.”
A two-meter bipedal white lion only needed to harden his expression a little to look terrifying. The NPC trembled violently as he confirmed it. The Archmage’s face twisted fiercely in an instant.
“Surely… they are offering sacrifices to a demon…?”
From that testimony alone she could already sketch the worst-case scenario. Well, I was thinking along similar lines.
“What are you saying? Sacrifices?!”
“…It is merely a hypothesis. However….”
“The Order would never do such a thing!”
Thud.
Anyway, I shoved the dagger I was still holding back into its sheath inside my coat.
“Few words are more useless than ‘they would never.’”
“……!”
For the record, that line came not purely from concept but from my own life experience. There really is nothing less trustworthy than the phrase “that could never happen.”
Still, concept had to be maintained, so I murmured while stroking my right arm. The sound of someone sucking in a breath behind me was deeply satisfying.
“Does anyone know where they were taken?”
“I-I don’t know….”
That was the answer I got while speaking as if ice itself had possessed me. Seriously, what does this bastard actually know? Well, quests are all like this.
“I-I know!”
At that moment someone shouted from behind. It was the pickpocket who had guided us here.
I’d expected him to bolt the second he could, so it was a little surprising he was still waiting. Story railroading, after all?
“Technically I don’t know myself, I just know someone who might… but looking at the way demons are involved, this is important, right?”
The fellow who had drawn our gazes stammered for a second yet still spoke firmly. His first impression had been garbage, but I was starting to like him.
Creak, creak.
I turned my back on Wang-gae and walked toward him. With every step the old wooden floor made an eerie sound that only deepened the atmosphere.
The guy who had mustered the courage to shout now stepped backward and gulped.
“W-what?”
Had I laid it on too thick? But that was the con.cept.
“Lead the way.”
“…Follow me.”
I followed him. The twisted alleys welcomed me once more.
“Let us go, Inquisitor.”
“…Yes.”
Naturally the Archmage and Inquisitor trailed after me as well.
“The place I’m taking you is the roughest back alley even around here.”
After we had passed one or two alleys, the pickpocket NPC suddenly spoke to me. The unexpected action nearly made me miss it.
“So… be careful not to draw your sword there. The people there are super jumpy. Especially that Heresy Inquisitor! They hate temple people like crazy, so make sure you warn her.”
The advice was welcome, but the latter half wasn’t something he should be telling me. Still, the Archmage seemed to have heard, so it would probably be fine.
“I would never associate with the likes of thieves—”
“Inquisitor.”
See?
“Don’t do anything stupid that gets me killed too! Got it? I-I’m only helping because this seems important to everyone!”
More than that, this pickpocket was turning out to have a bit of a tsundere streak. He was rude as hell, but he reminded me of my cute younger cousin.
“Even if things go poorly, I will let you live, so stop complaining and guide us.”
“Hmph, acting all proud of your skills. Unless you’re a knight or something, you won’t survive.”
Is that so. Funny you should mention that—I used to be one.
I furrowed my brow at the pickpocket, who for some reason had started chattering nonstop. Honestly I wouldn’t have minded listening to the chatter, but the concept hated noise. I had to show my displeasure like this so I wouldn’t break character.
Rustle.
“From here on, be careful. Whatever you do, don’t draw your—”
The moment we entered a certain alley he was guiding us through, my hand reflexively settled on the hilt of my sword.
Hostile entities are present within a 20 m radius.
“Shit, what are you doing?! I said don’t draw!”
“If you want me to keep this sheathed, then tell them. Have them put away the blades they are holding first.”
Good thing I had raised Detection by a rank. Not only had the radius increased, the nearest target even got a marker that only I could see, showing its exact position.
“What?”
“Come out.”
I counted the clearly visible marker and the faint breaths I could hear if I strained my ears, casting my gaze one by one.
“…Are they here?”
Apparently neither the Archmage nor the Inquisitor could hear those breaths.
I could let the healer Inquisitor slide, but wasn’t an Archmage supposed to be good at sensing? Profession aside, he was a Shagi. Shouldn’t his ears be better?
“Shall I come to you instead?”
And even after I gave them the hint, why weren’t they coming out?
“…Hah.”
Just as I was about to reach into my coat to throw a dagger or something, someone rose on the roof of a shanty.
It was the closest hostile target—a figure whose deeply drawn hood revealed a pair of dark-green cat ears popping out.
Animal ears, yet a human face below. That made the race most likely Cueoty. A Shagi would have had an animalistic lower face as well.
“I’ve heard stories about guys like you before.”
And if that shape felt somehow familiar… it was probably just my imagination.
“Two-toned hair. Gauntlet on only one arm. Right eye covered.”
Probably not.
After all, Cueoty with dark-green fur and an unkempt beard jutting from the chin weren’t exactly common thieves.
Especially when you added that lazy, insolent way of speaking.
“You’re the Demon Knight, aren’t you?”
That one was almost certainly the representative character of the thief job class.