Chapter – 09
The nest of the Walking Mushrooms.
Tay decided to call it the food storage.
Luring one of the creatures away and killing it was as easy as pie.
After that, all he had to do was cook it and eat it.
As for water, there was already purified water available.
At least here, he wouldn’t have to worry about starving or dying of thirst.
Having secured both food and drinking water, Tay began cautiously exploring the area.
As expected, he soon discovered that many different monsters inhabited the deeper parts of the sewer.
“Ratmen.”
He spotted eight Ratmen dragging along two corpses. One belonged to a goblin, while the other was unmistakably human.
“Will you avoid them?” Glashalavolias asked.
“No. I’m going to kill them.”
The Hunter System had returned. Was he really supposed to ignore monsters when he needed to level up?
There was no way he’d pass up an opportunity like this.
“Quite aggressive, aren’t you?” Glashalavolias remarked. “Even so, you should carefully judge how much mana you have left.”
“I learned Soul Drain. It’ll be fine.”
“Hmm… It certainly restores a fair amount of mana, but still… Be careful not to die. I have no desire to lose my contractor just yet.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Tay raised his staff.
The Ratmen were still a considerable distance away.
Since he’d approached from behind, none of them had noticed him yet.
Perfect.
“Curse of Agony.”
The moment Tay cast his dark spell, Glashalavolias began casting one as well.
As the imp’s Curse of Agony exploded among them, two Ratmen instantly screamed and collapsed onto the ground.
The remaining Ratmen shouted in panic, but before they could react, Tay cast Curse of Agony again.
A third Ratman shrieked in unbearable pain.
At that moment, the survivors finally noticed Tay.
“SKREEEE!”
Just as they prepared to charge in fury—
The imp’s black flame spell erupted.
Whoosh!
Dark fire clung to their bodies, continuously burning flesh.
A fourth Ratman was neutralized in an instant.
Only then did the remaining four realize the situation was hopeless.
But before they could flee, Mental Erosion took hold.
All four succumbed at once.
One repeatedly smashed its head against the wall.
Another curled into a trembling ball.
The others clawed at themselves, driven into madness.
Eight enemies had been rendered helpless in the blink of an eye.
“How lucky,” Tay muttered. “None of them entered Berserk Mode.”
He extended a hand.
“Soul Drain.”
A translucent soul was ripped from one of the dying Ratmen.
The creature immediately went limp, dead.
A Soul Fragment settled into Tay’s palm.
Everything afterward was simple.
He cast Soul Drain.
Walked over.
Then stabbed each Ratman to death with the Ratman Skull Staff.
Finishing off enemies whose minds had already collapsed, whose flesh was still roasting under black flames, or who were writhing in agony from Curse of Agony was ridiculously easy.
Within moments, all eight Ratmen were dead.
“How is your mana?” Glashalavolias asked.
“Completely restored.”
“Oh? Are humans truly that efficient?”
“Maybe.”
No…
This is probably thanks to the Hunter System, Tay thought to himself.
“Alright.”
“Let’s keep moving.”
He continued exploring every corner of the sewer.
The tunnels resembled a giant maze, but by leaving markers behind, he was somehow able to avoid getting completely lost.
There was only one problem.
He had absolutely no idea where he was going.
Still, one thing was certain.
He had to keep climbing upward.
Only then could he eventually reach the surface.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?”
“You know anything?”
“How should I know? Hey, Melissa! You’re a mage, aren’t you? Got any information?”
“My specialty is destruction magic. You know that already, so why are you asking?”
The meeting hall buzzed with loud conversations.
The guild masters of every major mercenary guild in Harundel had gathered together.
Blendal, master of the Black Spear Guild.
His nickname, Black Spear, came from the black aura he wielded.
Melissa, master of the Mage’s Sanctuary Guild.
A fifth-circle destruction mage.
Known by the nickname Red Witch, she was infamous for her fiery personality.
Heron, master of the Iron Wall Guild.
Nicknamed Iron Fortress, he was renowned for possessing a full suit of magically enchanted plate armor.
Every one of them was an accomplished expert.
In total, thirty-six mercenary guild masters had assembled.
Harundel was a massive commercial metropolis.
With a population exceeding two million, it ranked among the largest cities in the kingdom despite its medieval level of civilization.
Naturally, such a city was home to countless mercenary guilds.
As the room grew noisier than a marketplace, a knight entered.
Then several more followed behind him.
The guild masters immediately fell silent.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
A beautiful young woman entered, her full plate armor echoing throughout the chamber.
Simply looking at her inspired both awe and intimidation.
She walked to the seat of honor and sat down.
The elderly knight standing behind her spoke in a commanding voice.
“Everyone, rise.
His Excellency, the rightful ruler and legitimate lord of Harundel, Marquis Harundel, has graced us with his presence.
Show the proper respect.”
Scrape!
All thirty-six guild masters instantly stood.
Then, without hesitation, each knelt on one knee and bowed deeply.
“We pay our respects to His Excellency, the Lord of Harundel!”
“Thank you for receiving me,” the marquis said. “You may all be seated.”
The ruler of Harundel.
More precisely, the woman whose full name was Grimoire Arcane Spell Elfin Harundel.
She was the sovereign of the great commercial city of Harundel and the vast marquisate surrounding it.
Although she appeared to be no more than twenty years old, both her ability to govern and her personal martial strength ranked among the finest in the kingdom.
No one had expected someone of her stature to personally attend a meeting of mercenary guild masters.
Why is the Marquis here…?
Damn… Is the sewer incident even more serious than we thought?
The disturbance only started recently. Surely she didn’t come here just to reprimand us…?
What in the world is happening?
The guild masters had gathered to discuss the strange changes occurring beneath Harundel.
Very few of the mercenaries who had entered the ancient sewer had returned alive.
Those who survived all reported the same thing.
The sewer had transformed into something resembling a dungeon.
Keeping the monster population under control within the sewer was the mercenary guilds’ foremost duty.
If they failed that responsibility, the Harundel Marquis family—the very house that allowed them to operate within the city—would not forgive them.
“It seems my presence has surprised all of you,” the marquis said.
Silence settled over the room.
“You have all fulfilled your contractual duty of preventing the sewer’s monster population from overflowing. I have no complaints regarding your performance.”
She paused.
“So then… you’re wondering why I came here today, aren’t you?”
Her gaze shifted.
“Delpan.”
Among all the guilds of Harundel, one stood above the rest.
The Burning Sword Guild.
Its master, Delpan Pakion, possessed strength on par with a senior knight.
Originally a wandering knight, he had settled in Harundel and built one of the city’s most powerful mercenary organizations from the ground up.
Since wandering knights lived lives not all that different from mercenaries, it wasn’t an unusual career path.
Still, a knight was a knight.
He technically held the lowest rank of nobility.
“Your Excellency,” Delpan said respectfully, “may I ask what brings you personally to our strategy meeting?”
“It is both a grave matter… and, at the same time, perhaps not.”
“Some fool has activated the Grand Purification at the core of the sewer.”
“…Grand Purification?”
“Ivan.”
“Allow me to explain,” the elderly knight said as he stepped forward.
He was Ivan Terpart, captain of the Harundel family’s knight order and himself a high-ranking knight.
“You all know that the underground sewer beneath Harundel is the remnant of an ancient ruin.”
He continued.
The ancient sewer had originally been constructed to purify water and supply the city with clean drinking water.
Its operation depended upon ancient magic and technology that modern civilization could neither understand nor reproduce.
No one even dared tamper with it.
However, certain fragments of knowledge about the ruins had been passed down through generations of the Harundel family.
One of them was Grand Purification.
Whenever excessive filth accumulated, or major structural damage occurred within the sewer, Grand Purification would activate automatically.
Its purpose was to cleanse all contamination and repair any damaged sections.
During this process, the city’s water supply would temporarily cease.
No one inside the sewer would be able to escape.
The duration varied from one activation to another.
But until Grand Purification was complete, entry into—or exit from—the sewer was impossible.
And there was another problem.
While Grand Purification was active…
The maintenance golems responsible for preserving the ancient sewer would classify every living creature inside as vermin.
Their orders were simple.
Exterminate them all.
“Th-Then… what about our guild members who are still inside?” someone asked anxiously.
“They will most likely all die.”
Ivan’s answer was calm and immediate.
The guild masters were horrified.
All of them?
Some fell into despair.
Some grimaced bitterly.
Others secretly sighed in relief.
Each guild’s reaction depended on how many members they had sent into the sewer.
At that moment, the marquis spoke once more.
“That is merely the basic information.”
“The reason I came here is not because of something so trivial.”
Every eye in the room turned toward her.
The possible deaths of countless mercenaries…
And she had just called it trivial.
