Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Liudira Village
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 16
"Alright, good luck, then!"
Mori, disguised as Troa, trotted up to us and muttered.
"Hee hee... Aren't they total idiots?"
I'd expected lax security, but not to this extent.
"Watch your mouth, Mori."
"Bill, how can humans be so simple? They put way too much faith in the rules they made themselves. As if this flimsy pass means anything."
I didn't really agree with Mori. Expecting capital-level security in a remote outpost like this was laughable to begin with.
"You shouldn't underestimate them too much. Lady Lucifer instructed us that there can't be even a speck of error in serving Lord Faust."
"I know, I know. I'm just excited because it's been so long since I went out. Loosen up and have some fun yourself."
"I don't have the luxury."
Right. We weren't here to play.
"Lord Faust, the village seems unusually quiet."
"It's the usual atmosphere. It's just a rural backwater village."
"I see. Even so, it's been a while since I've seen so many humans swarming around."
"...Do you like humans?"
"Quite the opposite. I despise and loathe them. If it weren't for this mission, I'd wipe them all out right now..."
Humans had piled up immense karma while conquering most of the Solaria Continent. And dark elves were among the victims of that karma.
Which meant not just demons hated them on this continent.
"Find us a place to stay."
"Yes."
"Bill, that place looks good."
At a glance, we looked like a classic trio of adventurers—but one was a demon, and the other two were classified as monsters.
Creeeak...
"You're with those two from earlier? Upstairs."
Nod.
Bill and Mori waited by the door.
"Stay downstairs. I'll call you in a bit."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Swish...
After they went down, I fiddled idly with the table in the room.
I'd asked for a room with a table for talking, and they'd grasped it perfectly and found a suitable one.
'They've got a good head for business.'
Bill, that is.
Mori was worryingly carefree.
'Well, that's just the doppelganger's nature.'
Anyway.
Before talking with those two downstairs, I needed to sort out my thoughts and tasks.
There were three main reasons for coming to Liudira, the village closest to the dungeon.
First, to lay the groundwork for intelligence operations.
After clearing the first episode, unlike my predictions, no messages appeared except for the dungeon defense ones.
'No episode guide showed up.'
In the mobile game Remegaton, users could press a button to start adventurers invading.
Even though it was from the defensive side, the decision rested with the user, the dungeon's master.
'But reality is different.'
Adventurers attack the dungeon at unpredictable times and in unpredictable numbers. I realized this right after the first raid. That shifts the initiative to them.
'Can't have that. Absolutely not.'
The initiative must always be mine, Faust's.
In that sense, jumping straight into building an intelligence network as soon as the espionage function unlocked was only natural.
'For now, I have to gather intel directly.'
The system isn't perfect.
That means things could veer off in directions I don't know, or crises could hit from unexpected places.
Without Mori the doppelganger and Bill the dark elf assassin, I might have come here alone.
Bill's disguise skills were impeccable. In the blink of an eye, he'd changed my hair and eyebrows from black to blond.
With the demons' signature black hair, even a pass wouldn't have gotten us through the gate.
To blend into human society, we have to look like them, talk like them, act like them. Could the greenskins I left in the dungeon pass through that lax gate? No way.
Anyway.
The basics of espionage are information gathering and manipulation. Sounds fancy, but for it to really work, we need to get past the game's early stages.
'In the early game, it's just collecting gossip or spreading bad rumors in the village.'
But we can't afford to relax. The biggest difference between game and reality might be that my efforts can multiply results infinitely.
That's why I sent out one of the dungeon's rare 4-star monsters for defense duty.
"Mori, come up."
Wherever they were, they'd hear me.
Knock knock...
"May I come in?"
"Yeah."
Creeeak...
"Is there a reason you called me separately?"
Swish...
I pushed over the parchment I'd been doodling on atop the table.
"Hmm?"
"Your mission. Take control of this place, by any means necessary."
"A simple map and a group name."
"Drifters. Half bandits, half vagrants. Not much skill, but they'll fill the hands and ears we need. If you use your wits, it should be easy."
"......"
...Huh?
The reaction's a bit off?
...Got it.
Defiance, huh.
"Hmm... How do you even know this information? Mind if I ask?"
Flippant attitude.
How to handle this, hmm.
'Oh, right, that.'
One of Faust's abilities seemed perfect for this. The issue was how to use it... but it wasn't as hard as I thought. It flowed out naturally, like something I already knew.
Swoooo...
Gooo...
"Ugh..."
Quit the dramatics.
"...Mori."
"...Yes."
"From this moment, I forbid all your doubts."
Crack...
Whether from the pressure or not, Mori slammed his head on the floor and barely answered.
"Yes... U-understood."
"Contact goes through Bill."
Swish...
I handed over another parchment.
"You won't hear from me for a while. Basic rules of conduct are written there."
Gulp...
"Don't disappoint me."
"Yes! Then..."
"Go."
Creeeak...
I trusted Mori to handle the job. He's a 4-star monster, after all. He might grovel before Faust, but a 4-star isn't ordinary.
"Speaking of which..."
I examined the power that had brought the cheeky Mori to his knees.
[Faust's Strength: Confirming the quality of a ruler.]
[Faust can unleash overwhelming presence using his innate demonic power.]
[Tip: Faust can use a ruler's majesty at key moments to gain advantages in negotiations and governance.]
Truth be told, this "ruler's quality" was controversial among players because it was very passive in the game.
'It was just for dialogue choices or affinity grinding. Hard to feel the effect.'
Actual use proved otherwise.
'Not bad? Looks like it has more uses than I thought.'
So, one reason for coming here was settled.
'Now for the second.'
The second reason for Liudira tied into a problem I'd been pondering lately.
'Magic stone and material supplies are running dry.'
Differences between game and reality showed everywhere. Remegaton's early concept was Faust, aiming for Demon King, running a dungeon and steadily crushing adventurer parties to grow.
Users could melt fatigue right after logging in and send invaders.
'But not in reality.'
Endless adventurer parties pouring into the dungeon was game-only.
Most who enter die. Naturally, someone will question nearby events, and dozens of parties getting shredded would've been stopped long ago.
If fewer parties come than in the game? Resource intake drops.
'...Ending up in a harsher spot than free-to-play.'
Hence the magic stone shortage. Need alternative sourcing.
Thud...
What I'd just set on the table was part of the gear left by the wiped-out Troa party. Only small, light items.
Souvenirs, so to speak.
One method I'd eyed to fill the magic stone gap was this.
Stolen goods.
Useless trash to me stuck in the dungeon, but different for humans. Expensive gems or secretly pocketed emergency funds would fetch high prices in human society.
"Bill."
"You called."
"Come in."
"Very well."
Creeeak...
Like before, I slid a parchment across the table.
"A name."
"Find this person. Liudira's fence. Mostly cheap stuff, but for now, we go through him."
"If it's dealing with humans... won't our identities get exposed?"
"Only until we can act independently. Soon..."
"Soon...?"
"...You'll know when the time comes."
"Understood."
Unlike Mori, Bill obeyed without question. I gave him the same conduct rules as Mori, then sent him off.
These two would handle it fine without worry.
"Now then... time to check the last reason for visiting Liudira."
* * *
I acted like it was something grand, but unlike the others, this one was personal.
The verification wasn't hard either.
"Wahahaha! So that old geezer got taken out by Karl Kurso?"
"Hey, keep it down."
"Who's gonna hear us here? Right, buddy?"
The drunken lout needlessly addressed me, sitting nearby.
"Ignore me."
"See? It's fine."
"Ahem... Anyway, it's true. Karl Kurso showed up in Ludein."
......Sure?
The man who'd been laughing turned serious at the name's repeat.
"Why would I lie? That vicious killer's one twisted bastard."
"He... gouged the eyes with something sharp..."
"Yeah, that's what they say."
"That scum... What a world. Wait... then maybe here too..."
"Even so, does that guy have time for that? Ludein's pretty far from here. Even the capital's sending people for the manhunt."
"True, a notorious killer like that wouldn't hit this backwater..."
Creeeak...
Drunkards' talk drifted to my ears as I left.
"See? He was uncomfortable."
"Urgh... Was he really?"
Whooo...
The night wind was cold.
The beer was murky, with a bitter barley tang.
It tasted bad.
That's what I decided.
I didn't have the mental leeway to enjoy myself here.
Another reason for coming: to check how much freedom Faust had.
"For now... no major restrictions."
If external activity is unrestricted, I could abandon the dungeon and hide for survival.
'If only this heart condition were solved.'
After a brush with death, I'd barely survived by resonating with the abandoned dungeon core of Rotten Roots.
Now that things had gone this far, the dungeon was Faust, and Faust was the dungeon.
Protecting it was an absolute principle.
'Activity so far... limited to around Liudira.'
Remegaton's Faust wasn't that free.
As a demon, before episodes ramped up, "free activity" meant nearby villages at best.
Plus, symptoms worsened farther from the core, so caution was key.
Well, untested, but maybe I could push to a nearby city if careful...
'Assuming identity stays hidden.'
Single events could trigger too, so not worth deep thought.
Same in Remegaton. Users overdoing espionage triggered pursuit squads or identity-reveal events.
Back then... it glossed over with a near-death rescue and respawn in the dungeon, but in reality? Dead for sure...
"Well, for now... focus on the most important task."
The last and most crucial reason for espionage in Liudira.
'Karl Kurso.'
Investigating Episode 1's final boss.