My Villains Episode 039
10. Around the time the slime shriveled by the flames on the 4th floor of the basement (4)
turned into sticky charcoal.
The search must have been over, and it was time to eat, so I declared a break.
There was a staircase leading to the third floor nearby, so I went there.
As Mr. Luke and Arnal lit a small fire near the landing, I helped Grania take off her armor.
Grania’s armor, which had been hit by the slime’s acidic liquid, was melted here and there, and all of the attached iron plates and rings had to be torn off.
It turned into rags with holes torn here and there- but thanks to something, I saved my life, so I shouldn’t regret it.
Thinking so, I took off the melted armor, but a handful of peeled skin stuck to my sleeve.
“Ugh, did your skin peel off? Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Oh, of course it hurts.”
When water was poured on the acid-stricken left arm, Grania gritted her teeth and groaned.
There are red swelling and white bubbles all over the left arm – it’s a visual that makes you want to vomit.
After wiping off the water with a bandage and applying ointment, I said in a reproachful tone.
“Is this your first time seeing slime?”
“Where have you seen a guy who comes out of a dungeon? Is it a little hot?”
“But why are you attacking so recklessly? You almost died.”
“Whoa- what is it?”
…is that the end?
After answering concisely, Grania took out a leather canteen and drank it down.
It seems that I don’t really care what I say.
“I thought you were cautious, but
why are you like that?”
“…why did you do that? Did you just do my job?”
“Nail?”
To my question, Grania answered with a frown as if she was asking something like that.
“Are you Ellen a wizard? It’s a precious body, so I need to protect it.”
“Didn’t you see I was running? Do you know how to protect it?”
“You believe that you will do well and keep sucking my finger?”
“That’s not the case”
“Ugh, now I’m going to stop asking useless questions, can you put a bandage on me?”
“…okay.”
I wrapped the bandage around Grania’s shoulder and thought for a moment.
As I passed through my well-muscled forearm and tied a knot at the scarred elbow, I abruptly opened my mouth.
“So you did it to save Ellen?”
“It’s just a job.”
At first glance, he looked sad, but upon closer inspection, I furrowed my brow slightly as I peered into his sharp eyes. because I didn’t understand.
“But Ellen hasn’t been very kind to you- well.”
“however? What does that matter?”
“To put it bluntly, is it worth the risk for Ellen? You always acted harshly, and there were things like going, you know?”
At my question, Grania slightly turned her head to look at Ellen. Grania, who confirmed that he was preoccupied with tidying up his bag, shrugged his shoulders and answered in a small voice.
“To be honest, it wasn’t for Ellen.”
“then?”
“hmm. If I had to say about value – should I say that it was for my own value?”
“It’s my own value…”
I tilted my head and started wrapping Grania’s chest with a new bandage.
Grania, wearing only a sleeveless linen garment, had her shoulders and arms exposed. Her forearms were almost messed up, with toned forearms, blurred scars and newly burned burns.
“I am a mercenary. A person who works for other people for money. And most of that work is fighting the enemy.”
twenty seven years old The twenty-seven people I met when I was Kim Seung-soo were mostly job seekers or newcomers to society.
It was the age of being thrown into the waves of the world, yet still retaining the innocence of youth.
“So my worth… is determined when I step out into danger, when I swing my sword at a formidable foe, when I raise a shield for my comrades behind me.”
twenty seven years old Twenty-seven years in Middle World was enough time to create a skilled mercenary with numerous scars all over his body.
Twenty-seven-year-old Grania was a warrior with a strong heart who had long since felt guilty about murder and would wash away the death of a comrade with a glass of cheap alcohol.
I asked the question again, hiding a clear sense of incongruity.
“Do I have to do that even in the basement where no one is watching?”
“Why is no one watching? There are you, Mr. Luke and Mr. Ellen, as well as Arnal.”
“It is, but.”
“Even if no one was there, nothing would change. I’m the leader of a mercenary troupe. I can’t do anything embarrassing.”
There were so many things in Grania’s dark brown eyes that said that. It was hard to describe, but if I had to explain it- well, it seemed like a lot of pride.
In the Middle World, mercenaries on a small scale were often equated with thieves or robbers. It was Grania who couldn’t have known that, but she seemed to have a sense of calling to her job.
When I first saw Grania, I wondered how she was acting as the leader of the gang despite her small physique of about half of 160 – she’s quite large for a woman in this world.
At that time, I thought I was just looking at Grania’s excellent fighting skills.
But looking at it now, it seems that even if Grania’s martial arts were poor, she would have been the leader.
After tying the end of the bandage, I kept my mouth shut.
More than when I fell asleep in a bed filled with straw, more than when I drank lukewarm, thick beer, more than when I wore strange-looking pants, this world felt unfamiliar to me.
The dinner that followed was quite satisfactory.
Pies made with smoked pork and boiled crocodile eggs and oats, and even beer mixed with water. It was quite hearty for a meal in the sewer.
This generous meal was possible thanks to two factors.
The first was that the money received as a down payment was a considerable amount – I received five gold coins – and the second was that the number of people increased and I was able to pack quite a lot of supplies.
Anyway, with my stomach full, I was examining the copy of the blueprint given to me by the captain of the guard.
” hey.”
“huh?”
I looked up and saw Ellen, who was squatting nearby, staring at me.
“What were you talking about?”
“what?”
“What did you talk about with the old maid?”
…It’s starting again.
I glanced around, but no one seemed to hear him.
It was because Ellen and I were properly separated from the rest.
That’s why they’re apart – Ellen sits down because she doesn’t want to mix with other people. I was worried about that guy, so I sat down next to him.
I put the map on my lap and brushed my bangs.
“Can’t I just call you by my first name? Do I really have to use unpleasant titles like Grandpa or Old Maid?”
“If you don’t want to say it, why do you say no?”
“…Whoa.”
be patient Because I don’t want to cause trouble by nagging. Instead, if you go up to the ground, I will definitely give you a scolding.
When I let out a sigh of mixed feelings, Ellen flinched for a moment and began to look at me with a sidelong glance.
It is clear that I know what I did wrong.
Because that’s what makes me more angry. If you’re going to keep an eye on it, can’t you just not do it from the beginning?
Swallowing the words that filled my throat, I opened my mouth with a calm expression.
“I just said thank you.”
“what?”
“The one you stepped forward earlier and the one you fought at the inn the day before yesterday.”
“Why are you thankful for that?”
Ellen had a puzzled expression on her face as if she really didn’t know.
Hey, I keep sighing.
“It’s because of you both times.”
“because of me?”
“okay. You got hurt trying to catch the slime that was running at you. The armor was also damaged. Is that all? Anton was seriously injured in a fight with bandits at an inn. I could have ruined it, but I knew you were on the second floor and stayed. Of course you should be grateful.”
Even at my words, Ellen smiled as if she couldn’t understand.
“Hey, I’m a wizard. I can clean up the slime without any help.”
“what the. This is the guy who ran away trembling.”
“You shiver! It’s just… I was embarrassed for a moment. If he jumped at me too”
“Yes yes. I don’t know how Slime did it
. But what about the day before yesterday? If it wasn’t for that Rania, you would have died?”
At my firm words, Ellen kept her mouth shut. When I shrugged as if I was teasing him, Ellen pursed her lips for a moment before speaking.
“But why do you say thank you for that? It’s my job.”
“Because you would never say anything like that. You never properly talked to Grania in the first place, did you?” “…Yeah, but.” The boy closed his mouth again and lowered his eyes. I was looking for something to say.
“Don’t uselessly try to hold on to the horse’s tail.”
“When will I”
“A horsetail again. thank you Just say that.”
Ellen didn’t answer anything… but considering her usual words and actions, she must have accepted this.
“okay. If you’re grateful, say something nice as usual. I wouldn’t even want to have a nice conversation with other people.” “huh? I’m worried about you. I’m afraid you’ll get hit by a knife if you keep acting like that.”
As I spoke softly, the crouching guy buried his face in his knees and murmured.
“Why are you suddenly hit with a knife?”
“That’s what it says. So, be careful now. Especially, old maids and grandpas are forbidden to say what you say?” Ellen was silent for a moment with her eyes down.
“…okay. I’ll be careful.”
When he finally said that, he nodded slightly.
For some reason, I felt a sense of pride and smiled silently.
“Well then… how much time has passed?”
At my question, Ellen took out something that looked like a transparent conch shell from her sling bag. It was a magic hourglass.
Well, it didn’t have a particularly great effect because it was a magic hourglass. If mana was blown into it, it was about the extent of flowing sand in a constant direction no matter which direction it was turned over.
Thanks to its simple but useful effects and portability due to its small size, it is said that the wizards of La Palais Palace have it all.
Ellen answered while examining the markings on the hourglass.
“It’s just- it’s been twelve hours.”
“Twelve hours.”
It’s ambiguous.
The sewage system of the ancient empire was a facility that had existed since a very long time ago.
During that time, proper management was not carried out, so the deeper you go, the more often the wall collapses or water leaks.
The problem arose here.
This is because the hidden stairs leading directly to the secret passage from the 4th floor of the sewer had already collapsed.
In the end, in order to access the secret passage, there was no choice but to find a way through the naturally created crypt.
Fortunately, it was the fact that if you only entered the crypt, you would be able to specify the direction of the secret passage using the blueprint.
So… First we have to find a way to the crypt, and then find a way to the secret passage in the crypt. oh my butt hurts
After thinking for a while, I looked back at my colleagues sitting around me and said,
“Once the surroundings have been roughly cleaned up, there is no other way but to find the crypt… but the situation in the city isn’t very relaxed, so you’d better hurry.”
good. Everyone seems to have no disagreements.
“Mr. Luke. Didn’t you say you’ve been in a crypt?”
“Right. To be precise, it
didn’t go in, but it was left out.”
According to Mr. Luke, he went down to the sewers with the townsfolk about two weeks ago.
After twists and turns, Luke’s party reached the 4th floor of the sewer system, but the floor suddenly collapsed and they fell into a spacious cavity.
Most of them drowned or were eaten by monsters, but thanks to luck, only Mr. Luke managed to escape and climbed up.
“When I passed by earlier, I saw that there was a pile of dirt where it collapsed. I don’t know why, but digging that hole again would be dangerous. Besides, falling into a cavity full of groundwater is not very wise.”
“That’s right.”
As I quietly nodded, Arnal, who had been fiddling with the arrow feathers, shrugged and said,
“In the end, is there no other way than to scrape the floor one by one?”
“…I guess so.”
Of course, it wasn’t just hunting the rat man while searching the 4th floor until now. I looked for holes that could lead underground, such as small cracks or cracks, but nothing came of it.
How to do it. It seems stupid to search blindly, but is there really no way?
I had some discussions, but no useful opinions came out.
“What can I do? Let’s find a way down.”
“Isn’t it going up to the ground? We need to reorganize.”
When Ellen expressed her dissatisfaction close to whining, I calmly told her.
“I don’t think we can afford that. We still have enough supplies, so let’s search for it with the intention of camping for the day.”
Ellen pursed her lips for a moment, but as everyone nodded their heads as if they were determined to this extent, they kept their mouths shut.
It’s good that we gathered opinions without any conflict…
Hmmm, I think I’m going to have a hard time.
