Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Underground Sewer (2)
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[Sion, I looked into it, and Prifre's slums are a relatively recent development.]
[Huh? What do you mean by that?]
[Exactly what it sounds like. They became slums due to a sharp drop in security and the land nearby dying off.]
Honestly, there were quite a few things that didn't sit right with me.
The game definitely portrayed Prifre as a city with decent security.
If it had been a total mess like this, there's no way it could've been a tutorial area and starting point for newbies.
Unless it was a PVP holy site for hardcore veterans swimming in rotten sludge.
But the Prifre of now?
It was a place where a pickpocket like Cloe could strut down the street in broad daylight without anyone lifting a finger to stop her—a full-blown fantasy Gotham City.
Of course, I couldn't rule out the possibility that killing the Demon King faster than the original story timeline had caused these changes.
According to Lily's investigation, the slums arose from collapsed security and contaminated land.
The security breakdown stemmed from magical beasts rampaging, pulling all the troops that way.
The land contamination? Someone had tampered with the purification facilities, as we'd just confirmed.
The two incidents overlapped, turning the area into unlivable ground and causing a surge in crime, with people like Cloe turning to it.
"Hey, Lily, remember that reagent vial from the Magic Tower?"
[The one that purple-haired woman showed you?]
"Yeah."
The reagent vial Olivia had shown me at the Magic Tower contained magical beast skin tissue laced with high-level dark magic residue.
Coincidentally, dark magic included Corruption spells that directly opposed purification magic.
Was all this just coincidence?
Coincidences piling up like this were no longer coincidences.
Someone was likely using "coincidence" as a cover for some nasty sabotage.
"..Someone messing... with the beasts... probably messed... with this place too.."
[That's a plausible theory.]
If so, then both making the beasts ferocious and crippling the purification facilities were probably the work of one person.
[But why would someone with that kind of skill cause chaos in a backwater town like this?]
"Yeah, good point..."
I hadn't considered that far.
Glancing at Cloe, her expression was predictably grim.
Her hometown's land ruined, turned to wasteland, forcing her into crime—and the culprit might be someone else entirely. Who could keep their emotions in check?
Revenge. Those two words were probably burning bright in her mind.
'Ugh...'
Of course, it wasn't great news for me, either.
If negative emotions like revenge took hold, it raised the odds—even slightly—of her becoming a boss monster down the line.
'No helping it.'
"Um... this might come out of left field, but..."
"Yeah?"
"Cloe, your class is assassin, right?"
"...Yeah."
According to the speed-read How to Talk to Others I, to ease someone's emotions, start with praise to open their heart, then naturally bring up their field of expertise.
"Do you have a mentor or something? Your movements look so smooth..."
"...Used to—"
Commoner adventurers like Cloe usually couldn't afford a proper teacher.
So they passed down their hard-earned know-how and skills to their kids, forming the foundation of their futures.
Like a retired knight's son becoming a warrior, or a hunter's daughter turning archer.
I wondered if Cloe came from such a family. Her dagger work and agile moves seemed too polished for amateur.
Of course, I wasn't tone-deaf enough to blurt, "Were your mom or dad in an assassin guild?"
"..Nah, self-taught."
Guess it was just innate talent, as I'd suspected.
I was a bit curious how she'd ended up with the 'Half-Demon' trait, too.
"I see... Then, um... what do your parents do?"
Wondering if it was genetic, I asked—
"I'm an orphan."
...I'd stepped on a total landmine.
"Ah."
[Oof.]
What's Your Name? Ouch!
Achievement Condition: Inadvertently touch on someone's sore spot.
[SUCCESS]
Uh, well...
I hadn't meant for that.
...
Sion's efforts weren't in vain; Cloe managed to regain some composure.
More precisely, the rising tide of revenge in her turned to bubbling curiosity.
"Um—"
"...Yeah?"
Unable to hold back, Cloe asked Sion.
"Where'd you... learn magic..."
Her first question: where she learned magic.
But recalling Sion was from the Magic Tower, Cloe realized it was a dumb question.
"—No, I mean, how'd you end up learning it?"
The follow-up: why she learned magic at all.
Essentially, a question to learn more about Sion herself.
Cloe had never chatted privately with Sion before. More accurately, she'd deliberately avoided starting conversations.
Sion wasn't one to enjoy talking with others either, so they'd maintained a subtle distance, never once sharing small talk.
"Uh... well..."
But now, Cloe was suddenly closing that gap.
Because she wanted to know more about Sion, to understand her.
"Um... truth is... I don't really get along well with people..."
The usual Sion would've stepped back to preserve that distance.
She pathologically hated interacting with others. No way she'd let a "troublesome relationship" sprout.
"If I'm gonna go solo, I figured... I need to look after myself at least... so that's why I learned it."
But Sion didn't.
She'd already decided to form a priest-congregant bond with Cloe anyway, so she figured this much was fine—a concession.
Suddenly, Cloe snagged two titles: the Grand Archmage's first disciple, and the first person the Grand Archmage ever allowed a real conversation with.
"...Usually swordsmanship or something's more practical, right? Magic takes casting time...—oh, you probably don't need that."
"..Huh? What... do you mean?"
"Nothing. So, when did you start learning magic?"
"Um… about five years ago?"
As the two finally broke the ice and let conversation flow naturally—
[They look so friendly—it's nice, but Rion, you already know, right? Someone's tailing us.]
Interlopers crashed Sion's historic first chat.
...
Sion's group had come to the Prifre underground sewer to repair the purification facility.
Having identified the problem, Sion and Cloe sought the source of the corruption inhibiting the facility.
And trailing them—
"What the hell are those girls doing, going that deep?"
Two highly suspicious men were tailing them.
"Boss, let's just handle this ourselves here. Do we really gotta follow these bitches into this nauseating dump?"
"Shut it. If we jump the gun and botch it, we're both dead meat."
The reason these two were tailing Sion's group was simple.
A request had come in for them.
Assassin guilds rarely stirred in a small rural town like Prifre.
Who could've hated them that much to hire pros just to kill them?
The assassins felt a surge of curiosity, but guild rules forbade questioning requests, so they held it in.
"Pick up the pace—they're about to round the corner."
Their mission: tailing.
Guild assassins were already embedded throughout the sewers, and the two girls were walking right into the encirclement.
"What the—where'd the other one go?"
—Until just now, that is.
They'd both been there before the corner, but now only one was visible?
"Looking for me?"
The mystery resolved instantly.
'The tail's blown...!'
The assassins, exposed to Cloe, tried signaling the others.
Tail blown—assemble at the signal location immediately.
—Swish!
But Cloe's dagger didn't let them send it easily.
"Guh, you fucking bitch..!"
"Let's just take her ourselves!"
Desperate, the two assassins charged.
In a 2-on-1, they figured they'd overpower Cloe handily—but—
—Thrust!
"Gah..!"
—Slash!
"Gaaahk!"
Cloe's skill outclassed the two assassins by a wider margin than expected.
'What the fuck.. They said she was an easy grab last time...?'
Her raw strength and swordplay were nothing special.
But her speed dominated utterly.
Their attacks whiffed every time, while Cloe's counters started drawing blood.
'Can't just ignore that mage... gotta end this quick.'
"Boss!"
"Yeah, go for that."
The reason they were losing to Cloe? She was dodging everything.
But this wasn't open plains—it was tight sewers. Simultaneous attacks left no room to evade.
"Raaah!"
The assassins lunged together.
No space left to dodge, Cloe—
—Leap!
"What?!"
—shot straight up, vaulting over their heads.
'Dodging upward?!'
—Stab!
Landing, she pounced one assassin, landing a heavy blow.
"Gaaark!"
"Want more?"
1v2 flipped to 1v1 in a blink.
No chance in a fair fight against someone faster and more agile.
'Hostage...! Grab a hostage...!'
Sensing defeat, the assassin turned from Cloe and bolted for the mage girl.
'Crazy bitch didn't even bring a staff?'
Slower than Cloe, but not so slow he'd let a staffless mage finish casting.
The key was reaching her before Cloe intercepted...
"..?"
Fortune smiled: Cloe just stared blankly.
More like, with a "what's this idiot doing?" look.
Either way, it was his chance.
"Don't move! One step, and I slit her throat!"
Diving at the girl, he pressed his dagger to her neck and warned Cloe.
"Uh... um..."
The hostage(?) girl gave an awkward smile and spoke to him.
"Hello.. there..?"
Only then did the assassin sense something was off.