My Villains Episode 043
12. Night of Fireflies⑴
Taking a step forward, I cut off Grania’s regret and said.
“The right is north. There is a sea in the south, so let’s go north.”
Grania and the rest of her colleagues showed puzzled expressions at my determined tone.
After making eye contact with Arnal for a moment, Grania shrugged and asked me.
“The right side is north? How do you know?”
“just.”
“… just?”
“huh. I have a good sense of direction.”
It was very difficult to make a clear course through the winding passage.
Well, if you had only one compass, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but in this world, half a compass is a considerable treasure.
Of course, it was something we didn’t have, and Grania, who knew this, narrowed her eyebrows.
“…Are you kidding me?”
“What is the joke? It’s not like that right now.”
The reason I pointed to the right was simple.
it was in the game
But I didn’t make excuses or grounds for every phrase. It was because it seemed to me that it would be better to just go out brazenly than to say things I couldn’t understand.
In their eyes, I’m a mysterious (?) warrior who handles hematology, so I think I’m going to skip it.
I added a comment with a calm expression.
“Everyone doesn’t know which side it is anyway, right? It’s better to check it out when you have time to think about it.”
“I don’t think it’s something to think about so simply…”
Arnal, who was scratching his head while Grania murmured, moved and looked at the crypt opened in both directions.
After staring into the darkness, he took a few steps into the crypt, got down on one knee, and touched and sniffed the soil.
Arnal, who had been looking both ways, opened his mouth with a worried expression.
“Ugh. It looks like the right one is right.”
“why?”
“I don’t know if it feels that way because I
heard you say it…” Arnal stood up and said that while shaking off the dirt on his hands.
“I think the soil on the right has less moisture. The one on the left is subtle, but slopes downward.”
“I’m sure Phoenix’s intuition isn’t entirely wrong.”
Perhaps thanks to Arnal’s words, the suspicions on the faces of his colleagues were alleviated.
Ellen, who was next to me, looked up at my face, tilted her head, and murmured.
“I’ve heard that dealing with hematology will increase your spirit… but I think you’re a bit harsh.”
“…huh? Are you serious?”
“You know in advance what you can’t possibly know. Can you call this inspiration?”
…gmm I was too complacent.
Deep blue eyes shimmering along the torches stared up at me. Sensing his prying gaze, I pretended to be calm and smiled.
“I was good at taking pictures since I was a kid.”
“I don’t think it’s to the extent of filming… I thought it was a bit strange even a few days ago. You knew Poison’s identity just by looking at his face. How do you know the face of an assassin that even the chief of the city’s guard doesn’t know?”
Ugh I see. Didn’t you tell the captain of the guard that you recognized Poison’s identity after hearing the conversation between Poison and his subordinates?
Of course, it was a lie that did not work for Ellen, who was present at the scene.
“Uh, that’s- after seeing his body movements and the use of poisoned weapons,”
Ellen narrowed her brows and asked the question again while I was talking nonsense.
“Come to think of it, the secret passage is like that too. As soon as you came to this city, you said to go outside through the secret passage in the sewer, right? It was just a story floating around like a ghost story among the residents, but you were sure there was a secret passage.”
“Oh that…”
From the look on the damn guy’s face, I was half convinced that I was hiding something.
“Actually… I just hit it. If I show a long-winded appearance, you might not trust me.”
“Hmm.”
While he was giving a suspicious look, Grania abruptly intervened between us.
“wait for a sec. Now, it doesn’t seem to matter whether Phoenix is a gambler or a prophet. Time is slowly getting late, so deciding whether to move or not…
It was a polite way of speaking, but Ellen was sarcastic as if her sarcasm was offended.
“Ha, are you telling me not to waste my time unnecessarily? What are you?”
“…No, I mean that.”
“Then shut up and get crushed. Don’t talk recklessly, ah!”
Before he could even finish talking, my outstretched hand grabbed Ellen’s cheek in an instant. Then, the startled guy began to scream while pinching his cheek.
“Ahhh, what a shame!”
“Grania is the one who saved you twice. Did you speak nicely?”
“Let go! Ahh!”
When I let go after brushing the ball a few times, Ellen covered her cheek and gnashed her teeth.
“madam…!”
He clenched his fists for a moment and shook them, but he didn’t kick me in the shin. It seemed that I couldn’t find a corner to hit because my armament had become quite strong.
Ellen bit her lower lip and screamed loudly.
“It hurts! I told you not to do this!”
“You decided not to say that.”
“I didn’t even say an old virgin, so why!”
“…No old maid? Maybe that’s for me.” Leaving behind Grania, who was muttering with a shocked expression, I spoke in a stern voice.
“Is it okay if I don’t use that word? You have to be careful with the way you speak.”
“Ha how? Are you asking me to cringe as if I were serving my master?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Did you forget what you promised?”
At my question, Ellen kept her mouth shut. Then, as he turned his head around, I scolded him, swallowing a laugh.
“I am not blaming you. Can you see that it’s getting better little by little? I know you are working
hard.”
“I’d like to give you more compliments, but I have to hurry now. I’ll explain what you’re curious about later, so let’s move on.”
“…Wow, do you think your praise is anything?”
He fixed his rucksack while babbling. Her lips were pouting, but the slight drooping of her eyes seemed to relieve her mood a little.
“Now then, let’s move.”
As I was clapping my hands and looking back at my colleagues, Luke suddenly caught my eye.
Mr. Luke, who was creating deep wrinkles between his eyebrows as if he was thinking about something, smiled brightly when our eyes met. Then he nodded his head slightly, as if he was complimenting him on a job well done.
Hmm. I have a strange feeling.
After entering the passage on the right at the fork in the road, it wasn’t long before my colleagues
realized that my ‘gut’ was correct.
It was because the slight slope gradually became steeper and became an obvious uphill road, and a faint wind brushed my ears.
In addition to that, the salty smell of the sea began to sting my nose, covering the smell of damp water and earth. It was clear that the outside was getting closer.
But… Come to think of it, going out is not the end. I have to find reinforcements to avoid the siege of the magicians, but I don’t know if this will be as easy as I expected.
It was getting late, so I had to start thinking about camping…
Fourteen hours had already passed since I left the inn at dawn.
He was bound to get tired, but perhaps thanks to the conviction that he was getting closer to his goal, his colleagues were still exerting themselves.
Ellen, whose face was covered in sweat, climbed uphill without stopping.
Was it because he awakened the spell this time and his stats rose a bit? Or maybe it’s because the load is light. Anyway, he was walking surprisingly well.
As I looked around at my colleagues, I heard a voice whisper in my ear.
“Everyone stop for a moment.” When I stopped and signaled, the group following me stopped. Then, when he found me listening, he held his breath as if he was used to it.
One of the basic stats, ‘Agility’, represents reflexes, dexterity, and the like.
Currently, my agility level reaches 20 points, which is beyond the limits of a criminal.
As a result, my hearing was also at an extraordinary level, and my colleagues also knew this, so they kept their eyes fixed on me and kept silent.
“Exit. There are guards.”
” how much?”
“I hear two voices—maybe more. I’ll check it out first wait here.”
Having said that, I left Arnal with the torch and walked cautiously.
As I climbed the curved crypt, my voice gradually became clearer, and finally, around a narrow corner, I saw an exit through which faint moonlight streamed in.
“…At that time, 15 of them rode out and rode out, and all of them were wearing shiny armor. The articles are clear.” “You said there were less than two hundred people?
Will you be our opponent?”
“I hear there are guys like ‘The Shouting Tide’ and Ankir, too? If you look at it lightly, you will get a serious nose injury.”
“Ankyr? ‘Giant’ Ankyr? I was lucky to be stuck there, but guarding the exit were two men holding torches.
The one wearing a leather skullcap was wearing a thick knife like a butcher’s, and the one wearing a hood was holding a short spear.
At first glance, the two guys who looked like thieves were preoccupied with chatting among themselves.
As I watched their movements, I heard several snoring sounds.
Well, I think there are at least ten of them. It seems they’ve set up camp to guard the exit.
I cautiously stepped back and informed my colleagues of the situation.
When the bandits said it seemed like they had set up a camp, the party froze for a moment.
However, it was already expected to some extent, so it was not a big surprise.
Mr. Luke groaned as he rubbed his darkened chin.
“Hmm. It’s very difficult because you don’t know the situation outside.”
“I might get stuck in the narrow terrain.”
When Grania agreed with Mr. Luke’s words and expressed concern, Arnal shrugged as if there was something wrong.
“I can shoot and kill one guy without even knowing a mouse or a bird. I don’t think there’ll be any problem if Ellen takes care of the other one.”
“After that?”
“Well, just run out and deal with the rest of them.”
Grania, who had been silently listening to the conversation, raised her hand.
“Wait a minute. Why do you speak naturally like this? Did you forget that we decided to retreat if the exit was blocked?”
“Everybody is sleeping. This is enough to do.”
“It’s still dangerous. Besides the guys guarding the exit, there might be other vigils… Also, Mr. Ellen’s magic isn’t very quiet. There must be some who break it
.”
“That’s how much you have to bear. If you’re in a hurry, you can scare them away and drive them away.”
Upon receiving Arnal’s chin, Mr. Luke smiled bitterly and said it would be difficult.
“It won’t last that long against people. If you have a pulpit, the level of surprising you for a while is the limit.”
“It’s a pity, but that’s enough-”
“Besides, the screams drawn from the abyss spread quite far. The sound is also a sound, but all kinds of beasts will run rampant and wake up the whole night. That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
I took a glass bottle out of my pocket and showed it to the party who were having a conversation.
“How about using this?”
“That?”
What I took out was the ‘potion of invisibility’ I got from Thorvald, ‘Fast Foot’.
It’s a pity to quickly spend the long-awaited treasure… but if I save it, will it be anything but shit? let’s just write
Ellen, who was alone in deep thought, nodded slowly and murmured.
“…Yes, if it was invisibility, the answer might come.”
“Do you have any good ideas?”
“huh. wait a minute.”
After saying that, Ellen took out some rags and a glass bottle from her backpack. The vial contained a dark greenish, viscous liquid.
Having been attached to him all the time, I was able to recognize the identity of the glass bottle without difficulty.
“Paralysis poison? Where are you going to use it now?”
“We have to poison them.”
“Poisoning? Wake up the sleeping ones and feed them?”
At my question, Ellen put on green leather gloves and frowned.
“Stop talking nonsense and wait.”
Having said that, he held up a vial of paralyzing poison and chanted a small incantation.
“In-fridge dando imbre……
With a low incantation, cold air radiated from the hand wearing alchemy gloves, and water droplets began to adhere to the glass bottle.
Right before the dew clinging to the glass bottle froze to white, Ellen carefully opened the lid. Then, the cooled contents were poured into the overlapping cloth to filter out the lumpy materials.
After squeezing out the ingredients a couple more times, he wraps the remaining lump, the size of a finger joint, in a newly drawn cloth and hands it to me.
“ruler. If I had a bit of spare time, it would be nice to dry it and turn it into powder… It’s a makeshift solution, so I can’t help it.”
“…What is this? What to do?”
“You really don’t have a lot of teeth, do you?”
Seeing my confused expression, Ellen shrugged her shoulders, crossed her arms, and began to explain.
