Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Day and Night # 2
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Honestly speaking, I often wandered the streets at night.
Of course, that was back when I was in the Angmar Kingdom.
The reason I wandered around at night was to do bad things away from prying eyes.
Digging up info on nobles who opposed me and snapped at my heels, grasping their weaknesses—things like that. Stuff that absolutely couldn't be seen by others.
That kind of work was usually done in black clothes on secretive nights, down back alleys. Even meeting Lady Kalira the assassin had been in a shadowy back alley at night.
But even aside from that, the equation "wandering at night" = "doing bad things" had been ingrained in me for quite some time.
Before I became Theo Gospel—that is, back when I was just an ordinary human named Lee Seong-eum—I'd always felt this weird sense of immorality about wandering around after dark.
Maybe it came from the teachings at the orphanage and school.
—Don't slack off. Head home early.
No matter the place, teachers never liked students roaming late at night. So they'd push us to get back early.
That's why, up until middle school, I'd never stayed out past 10 p.m.
Then I became an adult. When I could hang out at internet cafes and saunas past midnight.
Or during my early days living alone as a college freshman, breathing in the dawn air while making solo trips to the twenty-four-hour convenience store—I'd get this strange thrill of deviance.
Like I was doing something naughty.
The guilty pleasure of breaking the rules.
Sure, someone might say, "What's the big deal about wandering at night?" But that's how I felt back then, at least.
Truth is, these days I don't get much of a kick out of nighttime strolls anymore. Probably just age and experience dulling the edge.
So why the hell am I droning on about this trivial bit of soul-searching? Because, hand-in-hand with Narmi on these night streets, I'd felt a rush of childhood nostalgia.
Narmi dragged me into a dim alley. She glanced around, then pried open a nearby manhole cover and pointed at the ladder leading down below.
"You wanna go first? Or should I?"
No telling what was down in the sewers. But Narmi didn't seem like she was trying to screw me over or lure me into a trap.
"I'll go first."
I mustered my courage and grabbed the ladder. Thump-thump-thump—I descended rung by rung in rhythm—when Narmi followed right after me.
That's when her voice came from above.
"Ah, don't look up! I'm in my school uniform skirt right now!"
"Gotcha."
Tap. Splosh.
My feet finally hit solid ground, and my shoe soles squelched against the unexpectedly damp, humid floor. Gross.
—Light.
I cast the most basic first-circle illumination spell. A glowing orb rose from my palm, lighting up the surroundings.
Pretty ordinary.
Just a standard sewer.
Rats squeaking away, piles of mystery trash and scrap metal dumped everywhere. That was my take. Angmar had tons of sewers like this back home.
The Black Robe Gang had holed up in them, pulling off all sorts of shady crap, so we'd been gearing up for a major purge. Wonder if Reinhardt took care of it.
Narmi hopped down then, smoothing out her skirt wrinkles with a couple pats.
"How's it feel? Not too bad? Kinda damp and moldy, though."
"It's tolerable. I can handle this much."
Truth be told, I was more surprised to see Narmi down here than myself. She was a Draco lady—someone who belonged amid flowers and dew, in beautiful gardens with butterflies fluttering about.
But then again, Narmi guarded graves and buried corpses. She was a necromancer brimming with talent for black magic and necromancy. Places like this underground tunnel suited her kind just fine.
"Stick close, then! There might be traps scattered around!"
"Understood."
* * *
I'd never known there was a dungeon-like underground waterway right beneath the Arc cathedral's main building.
Narmi, though, pressed ahead with confident steps, like she'd done this a hundred times. She moved with real expertise.
"This way!"
She was like an enthusiastic adventurer.
Tearing through Arc's underground sewers—sidestepping traps everywhere, smashing giant beasts like it was nothing. Had to admire her.
—Bone Spear.
Shwaaak!
A spear of bone coalesced at her fingertips and skewered a massive monster rat's torso clean through. Impressive didn't even cover it—it was downright scary.
Thud, thud.
I toed the carcass—rat as big around as my torso—and asked,
"Why the hell are these rats so huge?"
"No idea!"
"Right."
"Word is, it's some magic circle messing with them."
"A magic circle?"
"Something like growth acceleration magic. Supposedly there's one hidden somewhere in Arc, and any critters it affects balloon up like this."
Growth acceleration magic, huh.
Makes sense, now that I thought about it. Most monsters around Arc were freakishly oversized critters.
Everything from massive ants to helicopter-sized Hercules beetles, giant rats, cockroaches—you name it. If a magic circle was behind it, that tracked.
If there was really a spell like that, maybe even scrawny little half-fairies like me could grow taller.
182 cm Theo Gospel.
Damn, that'd be slick.
But the fantasy didn't last.
—Zuzuzu.
Flutter-flutter-flap.
A cockroach the size of my body came buzzing straight at me.
"Ugh, shit—scared the crap outta me!"
Caught off guard, I swore under my breath and plopped right on my ass. Narmi burst out giggling and offered me a hand.
"Scared of bugs, huh?"
"Not you, Lady Narmi?"
"I've whipped up gu poison a few times! Cemeteries are crawling with centipedes and corpse locusts and stuff. Bugs don't faze me. My big sis hates 'em, though."
Gu poison? I vaguely recalled reading about it in a book once.
Lock venomous insects in a jar, let 'em slaughter and devour each other—the survivor becomes a living curse.
"What'd you do with it?"
"Still raising 'em at the villa! Sis can't stand it. But get a good look—they're kinda cute. Wanna see sometime? Super chill personalities."
"Uh, sure."
Shivers.
So there I was, wondering why Narmi had dragged me into this bug-ridden hellhole, when a soft, bright glow started seeping into view.
"Almost there!"
Narmi picked up the pace.
I hustled to keep up, and suddenly—fwoosh—a blaze of light hit my face. After the long underground gloom, it was so blinding I couldn't help but wince.
"Pretty cool, right?"
Narmi beamed like a bright moon and pointed into the air.
Her slender finger revealed glowing stones mounted all over the place—and below them, people bustling every which way.
—Fresh clown mushrooms straight from the dungeon! Top quality!
—Boss kill drop: cursed longsword from the chest. No appraisal yet. Make an offer!
Their voices buzzed everywhere, noisy as hell but full of life—nice to see. That's when it clicked what this place was.
An underground market.
I'd heard in passing that Arc had a thriving black market where heroes traded gear. This was it.
"Never imagined a spot like this under the cathedral."
I was genuinely impressed, and Narmi flashed a toothy grin.
"Bright light casts deep shadows, y'know. The church folks probably know all about it. They just look the other way."
Even that uptight church turning a blind eye to an illegal market.
But I got the logic.
Markets like this pop up no matter what. Crack down too hard, and they burrow deeper underground, splinter into uncontrollable fragments.
Better to herd 'em into one spot and keep tabs.
Sure enough, knights, heroes, and soldiers with holy crosses pinned to their epaulets patrolled the area—church oversight in action.
They blended in like customers, but their eyes screamed overseers more than shoppers.
Anyway.
Who knew a place like this existed.
"Only open at night, too. Bet Sis Mirna's never set foot here."
"Yeah, Lady Mirna's not the type."
Mirna was stricter about church doctrine than Narmi.
She'd probably take one look and huff, "What an irreverent hole. Skulking in the dark like rats, whispering away...!"
Which meant Narmi's faith ran a bit shallower.
And by extension, that ironclad chastity Mirna held so dear? Narmi had way less of it. Relatively open-minded, you could say.
Might be my shot to score some points with her.
That's when I spotted a stall piled high with random junk—and manning it was a nymph with short-cropped blond bob hair.
"Goldnoi?"
It hit me: the tomb-raiding nymph who'd sold me a high-tier spell at the fairy night market. Treasure Nymph Goldnoi, if I remembered right.
The blond nymph scowled.
"Goldnoi? Don't you dare lump me in with that con artist nymph...! I'm Merchandise Nymph Dojinoi...! Gonna save up my coins real hard and head to the moon someday...!"
Merchandise Nymph? Dojinoi? What the hell.
Nymphs.
He locked eyes with me.
"Ahh, you're a nymph too? A male fairy—gotta be a half-fairy, y'know...! Special discount for a fellow nymph brother...!"
Discounts, huh.
I checked out his wares. Broken glass shards, crumpled tin cans—total junk—along with mystery daggers, someone's gold tooth, rings, you name it.
What snagged my eye, though, was an earring. Silver, about the size of a nail. Boomerang-shaped at first glance, but really a crescent moon.
Dojinoi caught my stare and pounced.
"Sharp eye, y'know...! This earring? Blessed by the moon goddess herself—top-shelf stuff...! Pure platinum to boot...! No allergies, guaranteed...!"
Moon goddess?
Far as I knew, the Arc church revered the god of light and salt. One true god. Moon goddess sounded like some pagan heretic deity.
Item you'd only find in a black market like this. Right then, text popped up in my vision.
「Moonlight Earring: Sparkles softly under moonlight. No fancy effects, but women love it. Slight charm stat boost.」
So the "moon goddess blessing" was bullshit, but it was magically enchanted somehow.
"Cute, like a little crescent moon. Perfect size—adorbs."
Narmi was hooked.
Dojinoi grinned like a sleaze.
"Buy now and get a painless piercing needle... topical numbing cream... all free service, y'know...! Deal like this? Exclusive to right here, right now, with Dojinoi...!"
"So, price?"
Dojinoi whipped out an abacus from god-knows-where and clacked away. No clue what math he was doing, but he threw out a jaw-dropper.
"Straight-up pair? One million coin...!"
A million-coin earring. Hard to tell if that was steep or a steal. Cheap for women's jewelry? Pricey for studs?
"I'll take it!"
Narmi chirped right up. A fat stack of bills changed hands. Deal done, neat as you please.
I ventured,
"Shouldn't we shop around a bit?"
"Nope, I love these. Never tried earrings before, though. How's it work? Gotta pierce the ears and all. What if it hurts...?"
Her ruby-red gaze flicked straight to me.
"Theo, wanna do it for me?"