Chapter 84: Sewerage (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: Sewerage (5)
Thud.
As soon as the barbarian fell, scattering dust in the air, Amelia clenched her teeth and doubled over.
Is this the price of my carelessness?
Her ribs were broken. Her skin, covered in blood, was beyond hurt and just painful. It seemed her organs had also been damaged in some way.
I don't even know how long it's been since I've been in a situation like this.
Her body would recover on its own soon enough, but the pain she had long forgotten was all too vivid at the moment. If there was anything she was used to, she had prided herself on the fact that it was pain. She didn't know why the thought made her laugh. Regardless of this being the result of her arrogance, it was absurd to think that a three-month-old barbarian had been the one to put her in this situation.
He's a fascinating one.
She wasn't just thinking about his abilities, but his skill at reading situations, the boldness and determination he had to put his plans into action, and above all, his will to live.
She had a sudden thought. If we met again a little later down the line... the results may have been different.
Of course, in reality, that wasn't plausible. She had grown up being told she had the most special talent there was, and she had been in and out of the labyrinth for twenty years.
The fact that I've begun to think like that is a problem. That shows how dangerous he is.
Their first meeting had only been a month ago. In that time, he would have been able to enter the labyrinth only once. How had this barbarian transformed like this? The man who hadn't even been able to touch her before had managed to make this much progress since then.
Czzzzzz!
His body didn't die even after the head was completely blown off, and his flesh began to restore itself. Amelia slowly walked toward him.
Like Source of Darkness, there were several abilities whose effects allowed the user to overcome death, but that still didn't make a person invincible. Just look at this barbarian.
His head was completely destroyed, and he was now defenseless. He may have activated Eternal Life and been recovering quickly, but it took a tremendous amount of time to recover from an injury like this, and even that became impossible when soul power ran out. That meant she could kill him at any moment. But, without any hesitation, she put away her dagger and pulled out a potion.
It's clear that they haven't been sent by the royal family, so there's no need to kill them.
No matter what anyone said, she was not a ruthless killer.
***
There had been hints—voices coming from the front and back at the same time. If I had been smarter and calmer, I might have noticed the use of Self-Replication. If I had, Plans A and B would have been slightly altered, too.
Well, even still, the result would have been the same.
Feeling a strange sensation akin to a fragmented mind being stitched back together, I slowly opened my eyes.
"What a monstrous healing factor you have." The first thing I saw was that bitch. "One bottle of potion, and you're as good as new."
"Potion...?" I asked, voice cracking, and lifted my upper body. It was only then that I noticed my neck was very wet. It didn't all look like blood... Could it be that this woman poured a potion on me? "Why..."
"Why did I not kill you?"
I nodded. Well, I was glad I was still alive, but to be honest, I had been sure death was coming the moment I lost consciousness.
The woman studied me with an annoyed look in her eyes. "You...are still exactly the same as back then."
"What?"
"Why do you always charge at me whenever you see me? I never thought I'd say this, but don't people usually think to talk things over first?"
Well, I had nothing to say to that. That was all thanks to my habit of always assuming the worst. "As long as you were planning on killing me, I thought that was the only way," I answered calmly. While there was still the slightest chance before the paralysis poison spread even further, I decided I had to see the end of this battle.
The woman just let out a sharp sigh. "Why? I let you go last time, didn't I?" Her voice was still blunt, but at the same tim,e the tiniest bit upset.
But it was really me who should be upset. "You said so yourself: as long as I know about this place, you can't let me go." If she hadn't said that, Plan C, which had been begging for my life, would've remained Plan A instead.
Do you think I want to fight a monster like you?
"I believe I said I can't 'just' let you go."
To-may-to, to-mah-to. For some reason, she had been weirdly patient with me so far, so I decided to get bolder. "So, what are you going to do with me now?" I asked.
"I have no intention of killing you. So stop moving those hands of yours."
I stopped moving the arm that was sneakily sliding toward the mace and announced, "This is a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
"I didn't mean to surprise attack you with this. It's just—"
"You wanted to be prepared for when I change my mind?"
...Hmm, yeah, that. The best defense was a good offense.
When I neither confirmed nor denied this, the woman stared blankly at me as if to ask what kind of lunatic I was. "You really haven't changed at all," Amelia said, then spat on the floor. For a moment, I wondered if she was a thug, but when I looked closely, it was blood, not saliva. It seemed that the active defense I had launched before falling unconscious did do some damage.
"...Did you not take a potion?"
"It's because of my body type."
"I see." That brief explanation was not enough, but I held my tongue. Some essences inflicted a penalty when mixed with potions.
Anyway, back to the main point of the story. "Barbarian, take this." She pulled out something like a magic pellet from her clothes. It was dark-colored and looked like something a cat would throw up.
"What... is this?"
"It's a medicine made by an alchemist in Noark. If you take it, it will erase your memory of the last hour."
"Erase... my memory? Then why didn't you give me this when we met in the Land of the Dead?"
"It's not something that can easily be obtained. If they hadn't given this to me just in case, I wouldn't have it on me, either."
So it was a rare item. But that led to another question. This wasn't something someone in my situation should be saying right now, but... "It would be much easier for you to just kill me. Why would you willingly choose such a troublesome method?"
"Why did I not kill you?"
I nodded. Well, I was glad I was still alive, but to be honest, I had been sure death was coming the moment I lost consciousness.
The woman studied me with an annoyed look in her eyes. "You...are still exactly the same as back then."
"What?"
"Why do you always charge at me whenever you see me? I never thought I'd say this, but don't people usually think to talk things over first?"
Well, I had nothing to say to that. That was all thanks to my habit of always assuming the worst. "As long as you were planning on killing me, I thought that was the only way," I answered calmly. While there was still the slightest chance before the paralysis poison spread even further, I decided I had to see the end of this battle.
The woman just let out a sharp sigh. "Why? I let you go last time, didn't I?" Her voice was still blunt, but at the same tim,e the tiniest bit upset.
But it was really me who should be upset. "You said so yourself: as long as I know about this place, you can't let me go." If she hadn't said that, Plan C, which had been begging for my life, would've remained Plan A instead.
Do you think I want to fight a monster like you?
"I believe I said I can't 'just' let you go."
To-may-to, to-mah-to. For some reason, she had been weirdly patient with me so far, so I decided to get bolder. "So, what are you going to do with me now?" I asked.
"I have no intention of killing you. So stop moving those hands of yours."
I stopped moving the arm that was sneakily sliding toward the mace and announced, "This is a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
"I didn't mean to surprise attack you with this. It's just—"
"You wanted to be prepared for when I change my mind?"
...Hmm, yeah, that. The best defense was a good offense.
When I neither confirmed nor denied this, the woman stared blankly at me as if to ask what kind of lunatic I was. "You really haven't changed at all," Amelia said, then spat on the floor. For a moment, I wondered if she was a thug, but when I looked closely, it was blood, not saliva. It seemed that the active defense I had launched before falling unconscious did do some damage.
"...Did you not take a potion?"
"It's because of my body type."
"I see." That brief explanation was not enough, but I held my tongue. Some essences inflicted a penalty when mixed with potions.
Anyway, back to the main point of the story. "Barbarian, take this." She pulled out something like a magic pellet from her clothes. It was dark-colored and looked like something a cat would throw up.
"What... is this?"
"It's a medicine made by an alchemist in Noark. If you take it, it will erase your memory of the last hour."
"Erase... my memory? Then why didn't you give me this when we met in the Land of the Dead?"
"It's not something that can easily be obtained. If they hadn't given this to me just in case, I wouldn't have it on me, either."
So it was a rare item. But that led to another question. This wasn't something someone in my situation should be saying right now, but... "It would be much easier for you to just kill me. Why would you willingly choose such a troublesome method?"
They say there is nothing more precious than human life, but that only applied in my home world. Here, there were countless things more valuable than human life. For example, aboveground, many people still lost their lives just because they could not pay their taxes.
But despite all that, she'll use a rare consumable like this just to keep us alive?
"There must be some reason," I said confidently.
"...What makes you think that?"
"If you killed the five of us, our equipment alone would be worth tens of millions of stones."
At my astute observation, Amelia remained silent for a while. I thought it was because I had hit the nail on the head. However, the words that followed the silence were unexpected. "What exactly do you think of me?"
"That's..."
As I was contemplating whether or not I should answer honestly, she cut me off. "You don't have to say it. I think I know already." It looked like she felt a little guilty about that, too, but I guess she didn't want to make any excuses. "Whatever. Whatever it is, think however you want. It changes nothing."
Amelia bent over and forcibly opened my mouth, then shoved the pellet down my throat.
The medicine quickly dissolved, leaving nothing to even throw up later.
Whoosh!
It felt like something was burning in my mind. It was a different kind of sensation from pain. "...Hey, are you sure this just erases memories?"
"If it doesn't, do you have any other options anyway?" I didn't really have much to say about that. Noticing my silence, she smirked. "I haven't heard of any side effects. So rest assured, Barbarian."
Well, in that case... To be honest, I was not relieved at all, but I closed my eyes.
Just then, Amelia opened her mouth like she'd remembered something. "Oh, so what was the other thing?"
"Huh? Other thing?"
"The two ways to make someone angry."
Oh, that. "It's..."
I blacked out right after that.
[Blessing of Lethe permeated your soul.]
[Your soul cannot be blessed. The blessing permeating your soul has been removed.]
***
When I woke up, I was in the sewers. My stripped equipment was scattered all around, and it was the same for the others.
Thud.
Using my hands as support, I slowly raised my filthy body from the floor. As I was getting my gear back on, my teammates came to their senses one by one. They all looked confused.
"Uh, is this the sewer...?"
"W-What is this? We should be chasing after that evil villainess right now!"
"Video recorder! If we check the video recorder... Damn it, it's broken!"
The bitch's words must have been true because the others didn't remember a thing. It seemed like their last memory was of following Hans E to his hideout.
...Why am I completely fine?
Even though my memory recall was a little slow right now, I could clearly remember what had happened before I lost consciousness. Why?
Wait, so what happened to that bitch?
Belatedly, Elisa came to mind, and I came back to my senses.
...Could it be that Amelia revived her and took her back with her?
Right now, at least, I didn't see Elisa anywhere. Damn, if I had known this was going to happen, I would've just killed her back then.
"Everyone, look over there!"
"Huh? It's that woman."
What? I immediately turned my head to see a woman lying a short distance away. Blonde hair covered in filth, a cute head that made me want to smash it in... It had to be Elisa.
Hikurod rushed to check her pulse. "Sh-she's dead!" This added to the confusion.
"W-We've been cursed. Why is it that we can't remember a thing, and that woman is dead?"
"D-Dwalkie, maybe the monster you talked about rrreally appeared!"
They made all sorts of speculations in bewildered tones. But Brown, who had managed to maintain his composure, came up with a plausible hypothesis. "...I think it was all this woman's doing."
"What? Elisa?"
"Maybe we found her after chasing her down, and we probably won." Brown pointed to Elisa's limbs as a basis for his claim. He probably thought nothing but my mace could possibly have crushed her arms and legs so precisely.
Soon, Dwalkie also noticed traces of Paralysis Poison on the corpse and solidified this hypothesis. "C-Come to think of it, I can sense traces of my magic coming from this woman."
Now, one question remained for them. "Then why can't we rrremember anything?"
"If my theory is correct, we would have tried to take her back to the city alive. However... perhaps she came to her senses and played a trick on us."
This was quite a compelling theory. If I had lost my memory too, I probably would've analyzed the situation the same way.
"Definitely... it might be possible with a little-known ability from an evil god."
"Hahaha! But considering she's dead, it seems like we did a good job!"
"...Bjorrrn, what do you think?"
"Well..." I thought it over for a while. The conclusion they had come to and agreed upon was quite far off from the truth I remembered, but there was no need to tell them that. "I think Rotmiller is right." If it became known that I hadn't lost my memory, there was no telling when that bitch would pay me another visit.
"Let's get out of here and visit the temple. Something might have happened to our bodies besides the memory loss."
At Brown's concerned suggestion, everyone quickly prepared to leave. I quit my pondering. Something hidden beneath the sewers, huh? A secret part of this world that I didn't know about. I'd be lying if I said my curiosity wasn't stirring as a long-time player of this game, but...
Let's never set foot in the sewers again.
My life was more important than curiosity.
They say there is nothing more precious than human life, but that only applied in my home world. Here, there were countless things more valuable than human life. For example, aboveground, many people still lost their lives just because they could not pay their taxes.
But despite all that, she'll use a rare consumable like this just to keep us alive?
"There must be some reason," I said confidently.
"...What makes you think that?"
"If you killed the five of us, our equipment alone would be worth tens of millions of stones."
At my astute observation, Amelia remained silent for a while. I thought it was because I had hit the nail on the head. However, the words that followed the silence were unexpected. "What exactly do you think of me?"
"That's..."
As I was contemplating whether or not I should answer honestly, she cut me off. "You don't have to say it. I think I know already." It looked like she felt a little guilty about that, too, but I guess she didn't want to make any excuses. "Whatever. Whatever it is, think however you want. It changes nothing."
Amelia bent over and forcibly opened my mouth, then shoved the pellet down my throat.
The medicine quickly dissolved, leaving nothing to even throw up later.
Whoosh!
It felt like something was burning in my mind. It was a different kind of sensation from pain. "...Hey, are you sure this just erases memories?"
"If it doesn't, do you have any other options anyway?" I didn't really have much to say about that. Noticing my silence, she smirked. "I haven't heard of any side effects. So rest assured, Barbarian."
Well, in that case... To be honest, I was not relieved at all, but I closed my eyes.
Just then, Amelia opened her mouth like she'd remembered something. "Oh, so what was the other thing?"
"Huh? Other thing?"
"The two ways to make someone angry."
Oh, that. "It's..."
I blacked out right after that.
[Blessing of Lethe permeated your soul.]
[Your soul cannot be blessed. The blessing permeating your soul has been removed.]
***
When I woke up, I was in the sewers. My stripped equipment was scattered all around, and it was the same for the others.
Thud.
Using my hands as support, I slowly raised my filthy body from the floor. As I was getting my gear back on, my teammates came to their senses one by one. They all looked confused.
"Uh, is this the sewer...?"
"W-What is this? We should be chasing after that evil villainess right now!"
"Video recorder! If we check the video recorder... Damn it, it's broken!"
The bitch's words must have been true because the others didn't remember a thing. It seemed like their last memory was of following Hans E to his hideout.
...Why am I completely fine?
Even though my memory recall was a little slow right now, I could clearly remember what had happened before I lost consciousness. Why?
Wait, so what happened to that bitch?
Belatedly, Elisa came to mind, and I came back to my senses.
...Could it be that Amelia revived her and took her back with her?
Right now, at least, I didn't see Elisa anywhere. Damn, if I had known this was going to happen, I would've just killed her back then.
"Everyone, look over there!"
"Huh? It's that woman."
What? I immediately turned my head to see a woman lying a short distance away. Blonde hair covered in filth, a cute head that made me want to smash it in... It had to be Elisa.
Hikurod rushed to check her pulse. "Sh-she's dead!" This added to the confusion.
"W-We've been cursed. Why is it that we can't remember a thing, and that woman is dead?"
"D-Dwalkie, maybe the monster you talked about rrreally appeared!"
They made all sorts of speculations in bewildered tones. But Brown, who had managed to maintain his composure, came up with a plausible hypothesis. "...I think it was all this woman's doing."
"What? Elisa?"
"Maybe we found her after chasing her down, and we probably won." Brown pointed to Elisa's limbs as a basis for his claim. He probably thought nothing but my mace could possibly have crushed her arms and legs so precisely.
Soon, Dwalkie also noticed traces of Paralysis Poison on the corpse and solidified this hypothesis. "C-Come to think of it, I can sense traces of my magic coming from this woman."
Now, one question remained for them. "Then why can't we rrremember anything?"
"If my theory is correct, we would have tried to take her back to the city alive. However... perhaps she came to her senses and played a trick on us."
This was quite a compelling theory. If I had lost my memory too, I probably would've analyzed the situation the same way.
"Definitely... it might be possible with a little-known ability from an evil god."
"Hahaha! But considering she's dead, it seems like we did a good job!"
"...Bjorrrn, what do you think?"
"Well..." I thought it over for a while. The conclusion they had come to and agreed upon was quite far off from the truth I remembered, but there was no need to tell them that. "I think Rotmiller is right." If it became known that I hadn't lost my memory, there was no telling when that bitch would pay me another visit.
"Let's get out of here and visit the temple. Something might have happened to our bodies besides the memory loss."
At Brown's concerned suggestion, everyone quickly prepared to leave. I quit my pondering. Something hidden beneath the sewers, huh? A secret part of this world that I didn't know about. I'd be lying if I said my curiosity wasn't stirring as a long-time player of this game, but...
Let's never set foot in the sewers again.
My life was more important than curiosity.