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Chapter 71
I blankly looked down at the sword in my hand.
“Ah…”
A filthy evil spirit was somehow attached to my lovely and beautiful sword.
“Hehe, bunga bunga! Shuk shuk! Bunga bunga! Shuk shuk!”
(TN: Sex noises.)
He spat out all kinds of obscene words in my head.
For some reason, I could still hear his voice over and over again even when I put the sword in its sheath or when I put it into my inventory.
Damn it! Was there any way…
While I racked my brain, he began to unravel his past that I had no interest in.
“…You’ve heard of it before, haven’t you? The fact that a dragon’s human polymorph is very beautiful.”
“In fact, that was why I had accepted the request to slay the dragon. The dwarfs said there was a very beautiful dragon.”
“But it turns out that Fafnir was a guy! I was swindled by those bastards!”
“Hu…Don’t you think it was too much? I can’t believe they played with a man’s pure heart. So at that time, all I could do was give up slaying the dragon and go home. If you were a man, you would understand how I feel, right?”
The foul-mouthed evil spirit spoke to me as if we were kindred.
However, I pretended not to hear and tried to ignore it.
Otherwise, there would be no end to this crazy spirit once I get caught up in his blabbering.
Let’s not react…Let’s not react…
Even if it was a little hard right now, enduring it was the only solution.
If I hold on a little longer, he’ll get tired and shut up.
But…
He was more tenacious than I had expected and continued to say what he wanted to say.
“But…Fafnir’s appearance was so beautiful. At that moment, I had a question in my head. Why not a guy? Regardless of gender, isn’t it fine as long as it’s pretty?”
“Don’t you think so? Anyway, as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.”
“Keu…But surprisingly, guys were pretty good too. How should I say this…Should I say it’s a delicacy that’s good if you eat it occasionally? Anyway, thanks to having broadened my horizon, my world became a little wider.”
“Ah, are you curious about what happened that night? Hehe…What? You want to hear it? Okay, then I’ll explain in detail how I had captured Fafnir.”
Continuous mental attacks.
Even though my mental strength was strengthened by all kinds of trolling and toxicity in online games, it was impossible to endure his appalling rambling.
In the end, I couldn’t resist and responded.
“…Can you shut up.”
“Oh! Are you answering me now?! I knew you would be interested in this story too!”
His nonchalant tone made me boil with anger.
It wasn’t good enough that it was a parasite attached to my sword, but it had to be gay too?
If this sword wasn’t an S-Grade item, I would have already thrown it in a furnace.
But as long as this damn evil spirit was attached to my weapon like an illegal tenant, in the end, there was nothing I could do at the moment.
Damn it…I had to bear with it for now.
Vowing to definitely get rid of him someday, I barely managed to suppress my annoyance.
“Huu…that’s enough nonsense. Tell me who you are and how you ended up in this situation.”
“Oh, that was very rude of me since we’ve just met. It’s been so long since I’ve met someone I can communicate with, so I had forgotten. Haha!”
“…”
“Ahem. My name is Siegfried, the Warrior who once upon a time saved the world by defeating the evil dragon, Fafnir.”
“…Warrior?”
This crazy guy was a Warrior? I was so speechless that I almost burst into laughter.
Could even dogs be called Warriors in the world he was from? Or did the word Warrior mean a lunatic in his world?
While I was thinking about such things, he suddenly began to talk out of the blue again.
“Come to think of it, you…?”
I wondered if he was going to start talking nonsense again, but the words that came out of his mouth were completely beyond my guess.
“Ahah. So it was like that. No wonder I felt a familiarity…You were born with the fate of a Warrior like me.”
?!
How the hell did he know that?
I had never told him about my Warrior skill.
“How did you know?”
Contrary to his previous frivolous manner, he spoke in a rather grave tone.
“I see…Judging from your reaction, it seems you already know that you are a Warrior. Then…have you passed your trials?”
“Trials…? What’s that?”
“By nature, a warrior grows through trials. So you best hurry and realize what your trials are.”
Come to think of it, similar words were written in the description of the Warrior skill. A Warrior grows through trials.
Until now, I thought it was just an abstract metaphor, but was there really something called a ‘trial’ that existed?
If so, where the hell would I find it?
I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it seemed the meaning was similar to a job quest.
That was to say, it was another chance to grow stronger!
I asked him with anticipation.
“Then, where can I go to do it?”
“I don’t know about that. Isn’t the Warrior of this world you and not me?”
“…”
“Can’t you feel anything? I had a strong feeling from the beginning, even if no one taught me. It’s actually my first time meeting a Warrior other than myself, so I’m not sure in this regard.”
I thought he could help me, but he really didn’t know.
“Tsk.”
He shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place if he didn’t know. For no reason he made me look forward to it, and then told me to figure it out on my own.
My mind that was about to give him a favorable evaluation simmered down.
He, after all, was a useless evil spirit attached to my sword.
“Hm…Instead, I’d love to tell you a story.”
“Huu…What is it?”
I let out a sigh and asked him.
It would be a waste to throw away this beautiful piece of art, so I decided I would get a proper sword and synthesize the options away if he talked nonsense again this time.
Soon, he spoke in an even more serious tone.
“A Warrior is an existence who changes the fate of the world.”
“So you can say that this world is a stage just for you.”
“But be careful. This world xxxxxxxxxxxxx…”
An unintelligible and strange voice.
The words that came into my head were interfered with by noises like a radio out of frequency.
This…?
As if he had realized that his voice had changed, he suddenly stopped talking.
“Keuk…as expected, it’s impossible to convey this.”
He spat out after having returned to normal.
I didn’t know the exact reason, but it seemed Siegfried was under some sort of restriction.
Soon, he spoke in an exhausted voice.
“Huu… I don’t think I can continue like this anymore.”
“Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I talked a lot, but it’s hard to hold out anymore…We’ll continue the rest of the story next time.”
“Wait! Finish what you were saying!”
“Hehe…Don’t worry. If I have another chance…I’ll make sure to tell you the story of the hot night with Fafnir that you wanted to hear.”
He didn’t say anything else after that.
Even when I put mana into the sword and called him, no answer came back.
“Damn it!”
He seemed to have really disappeared.
When I wanted him to shut up, he spoke to his heart’s content, but when something important was about to come up, he uselessly fell asleep.
My annoyance was rising again.
“Huu…”
He was indeed a man without an ounce of likeability.
The vague words that he had left behind made my mind uneasy.
Trials…
It was a concept I didn’t even hear in the first round. What the hell was the existence called Warrior?
Until now, I thought it was just a good growth skill, but perhaps there were a lot more hidden secrets to this ‘Warrior’ than I had thought.
I’ll have to look more into this matter.
“Huu…”
If it was this world’s content, I thought I had discovered most of them in the first round, but recently, it seemed things I didn’t know about were popping up one after another.
Was this really a good thing, or was it a bad thing?
To be honest, for now, I couldn’t make a good judgment.
But for the time being, I was fortunate that I didn’t have to listen to the guy’s obnoxious voice.
As I thought as such,
“Kyaaak!”
On the other side of the deserted platform came a cry of someone in pain.
It was the place where the dwarf had been taken to be interrogated by Elizabeth a moment ago.
Huu…right. Rather than the Warrior, it was time to solve the Challenge.
Putting what I had heard a moment ago in the back of my mind, I walked slowly to the place where the interrogation was taking place.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Hiiik!”
The dwarf shuffled back with her butt on the ground.
And in front of her was Elizabeth, who stood with the Love Whip I had lended her.
While I was troubled with the evil spirit matter, perhaps because Elizabeth had taught the dwarf well, but once she tasted the whip, her arrogance was quickly patched up and she had become obedient.
“We know you’re making the drug. What the hell is that drug, really?”
Trembling, the dwarf answered.
“I-I don’t know…”
“What? You don’t know…? It looks like you still haven’t come to your senses.”
“W-wait! I-I really don’t know too much.”
“What does that mean?”
“There’s a red stone over there, and if you dissolve it in water…”
“Red stone?”
The dwarf explained what she knew in detail.
Next to me was Elizabeth holding the whip, so I didn’t think she would lie.
Anyway, as she had explained, more and more red stones would pour out as construction of this subway progressed in the past.
“Hmm…I want to see it with my own eyes. Can you tell me where it is?”
“Th-that’s…”
Perhaps it was a trade secret, but she faltered for a moment and hesitated to answer.
But the moment she saw the whip waving in Elizabeth’s hand, she gave up her hesitation and spat out the information.
So, according to what she said, we entered the deeper parts of the subway station.
Going down an underground path, it was a dark area where you couldn’t even see an inch ahead.
I took a lantern out of my inventory and walked carefully step by step. A cold chill ran down my spine as I felt a bad premonition.
The strange and humid breeze created a loud whistling sound underground.
I had felt it when I first came through the security shutter but it was a very damp and ominous atmosphere.
The unpleasant feeling grew stronger and stronger the further I went inside.
As expected…there was something at this end.
After walking for some time, I was able to reach the subway passage, where neglected construction equipment was scattered everywhere.
“I-it’s here.”
The dwarf said timidly.
“Hmm…?”
At her words, I looked around, but let alone the red stone, I couldn’t see anything.
It was just a heavy gray.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“It’ll come out soon if you wait…maybe.”
As soon as her words fell, I heard a strange sound from somewhere.
Squeak, squeak!
A high-pitched sound unique to a rodent.
Then, in the dark, bright red eyes began to shine one by one.
Soon rats the size of a large dog wandered out of the shadow.
I could hear the squeaky voices of those guys in my ears.
“Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry…”
“Human…I want to eat.”
The mutant rats gradually closed in on us.
I could understand what they were saying, so I felt like the noise was doubled.
“This is what you meant?”
“Y-yes.”
I fired my skill at the group of rats.
< Wind Cutter >
The mana that was compressed to the limit flew away and cut everything in its path.
Swiik–
Countless rats were killed in just one attack.
Where the bodies of half-cut rats had fallen neatly, those who had survived rushed at the corpses to eat.
And because of that, I was able to clean up the rest easily. In less than a minute, the space surrounded by gray dust was stained with dark red blood.
The dwarf next to me stared blankly at the sight.
“The red stone I got is something that comes from time to time when I kill these guys here. It’s mainly in their stomach.”
“Oh…? Is that so?”
If so, it was necessary to check it out.
I took advantage of the dwarf’s carelessness and used Marionette on her.
Immediately, I could feel the invisible threads connected to her body.
“Y-yes…W-wait, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to check what you just said.”
“B-but why my body…”
“The rats over there look a little dirty. What if I catch a disease?”
“Keuaak! D-don’t! No!”
I moved her body to search the dead rats. A rotten stench came from all directions.
And sure enough, as she had said, there was a glowing red stone in one of the corpses.
Was this it…?
“Heuk…I’m going to throw up.”
Ignoring the dwarf, I checked the stone.
And…
“?!”
The moment I held the stone that was taken from one of the corpses, an information window appeared.
< Contaminated Crystal >
Classification: Material
Grade: E
Description: A crystal contaminated by the curse of a certain Evil God.
Although it was E-Grade, it was still classified as an item.
What should I think about this? The ominous feeling was growing stronger and stronger.
As expected…there was something here.
Ignoring the dwarf who was trying to stop me, I walked forward.
My heart beat faster and faster with each step I took.
And then…
When I arrived in front of a tent where construction had stopped, I realized why I had been having the ominous feeling.
Boundary…
In the underground corner of the slums, there was such a high-level boundary?
It was against common sense.
What the hell was here for there to be a boundary like this…?
The moment I had such a question, suddenly a new message popped up in front of me.
Ding–!
[Challenge – Evil God’s Resurrection]
Condition: Stop the resurrection of the Evil God Angra Mainyu.
Time: Unlimited.
Reward: 1x Unknown.
“…Huh?”
And there…
Was the name of a transcendent who once upon a time had caused the near extinction of humanity.
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