Chapter 150 – Trap – 2
Broken tables and scary men lying around.
I felt bitter at the sight of not being able to escape the mess no matter how well I packaged it.
“You made the right decision.”
Throwing a bottle and breaking the leader’s head wasn’t a very good choice.
Some of them couldn’t accept the reality and attacked, but others ran away at high speed.
“Haa…”
A sigh escapes me naturally as I feel the same way about the mess that comes into view.
It would have been okay if it had been handled cleanly, but there was a high probability that information would leak from those who ran away.
If so, it was obvious that it would fall into the ears of criminal groups operating secretly in the underground city.
“But fortunately, their true identity is hidden, so I guess we should take comfort in the fact that things don’t escalate any further.”
Since I’m hiding my identity with an artifact, I don’t have to worry about being discovered that I’m a warrior.
Unless you know the identity of this side, there is a possibility that it may be dismissed as a simple disturbance.
Of course, it was inevitable that vigilance would increase, but the plan was not yet ruined.
Ikeik-
When I went back up the stairs I came down and went out, I couldn’t find the guys who had run away, not even the man who was soliciting customers.
Only traces of trees scattered around that had been used as temporary platforms showed that they had run away.
“Look.”
While I was considering whether to go back to the inn and consult with Agnes, I heard the voice of an old man.
When I turned my head in the direction of the sound, there was a gloomy-looking old man looking up at me.
“···”
An old man in an underground city.
It is not easy for an ordinary old man to live in this place, a den of criminals.
In fact, it is close to impossible for an old man to survive here with an honest heart.
Moreover, his extremely gloomy atmosphere stimulated caution.
“Hey, are you deaf? On the outside, it looks fine.”
An unpleasant voice mixed with the old man’s characteristic whistling sound is heard in my ears again.
Naturally, there is no respect for the elderly here.
On the contrary, what if they attack an easy-going old man?
That meant that the old man in front of me was not ordinary.
“I can hear it.”
“Giggle… I guess I managed to survive by going down.”
The old man moved his eyes up and down with a strange smile.
A physiological feeling of disgust welled up at the sight, as if a rat living in a gutter was crawling on my skin.
We only exchanged one word, but I felt uncomfortable for the first time in my life.
The feeling of being irritated was so strange that I couldn’t explain it.
“I just need someone like you. Can you help me a little?”
At that moment, two thoughts passed through my mind.
Trap or invitation.
However, it was too blatant to lead someone who had just made a mess into a trap again.
“Unfortunately, I’m busy, so that might be a bit difficult.”
“It looks like I came here for a purpose. Wouldn’t it be trouble if it were found out that I made a fuss?”
His cloudy eyes were full of confidence.
It is rare to find someone who has enough money and enough power to fall into a trap.
Usually, nobles and merchants who came to these places hired escorts.
Therefore, even if you do not know the exact identity, it would not have been difficult to infer the approximate identity.
“If it’s a threat, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Especially to the person who just made a mess.”
When he faced the skillful and mean gaze head-on, the corners of his mouth went up to the point where it almost seemed like he was torn apart.
“Kkeukkeuk… It only takes a moment. Just for a moment.”
“People who say things like that are usually scammers.”
“If you help me just a little bit, I will help you achieve your desired goal. If you want to get ahead, wouldn’t it be better to benefit from each other?”
It was clear that the old man thought of me as a dispatched knight.
Considering that there were knights like Agnes who came looking for information, his judgment was sharp.
In fact, it almost fits.
But that didn’t mean we could suddenly hold hands.
“Besides, I have a rough idea of why you came here.”
“Hmm… If you can guess that, I might be able to help you.”
Despite the sour response, the old man continued his speech leisurely.
“Perhaps the reason you came here is because of those who appeared recently.”
For a moment, I was shocked by the old man’s sharp reasoning.
Just by guessing that it was a knight, he was reaching a surprisingly accurate conclusion.
“What is the basis for thinking so?”
“Well… There was no special incident, so I just thought that was the only thing that would warrant dispatching a knight from the country. Unless the old queen suddenly wants to clean up criminals.”
“I guess you didn’t age in vain.”
The old man in front of me suddenly felt like a shrewd old monster.
He calmly looked around and saw that people who appeared to be bodyguards were watching closely so that they could rush in at any time.
“I’m having a hard time with those guys too. I think we can handle it easily if we join hands…”
“I can roughly understand what it is about.”
“So… What is the answer? “Young man.”
Since he had already been caught, it was pointless to investigate on his own.
I was reluctant to join hands with a not-so-nice person, but the best way to achieve my goal quickly was to cooperate with him.
“We have the same goals, so there’s no need to go far.”
“He’s quite a communicative friend. I thought all knights were just stubborn guys.”
The old man chuckled with a wrinkled face.
“I’m fully prepared to hit those guys. Besides, if a force like you joins in, the damage on our side will be minimal. “Follow me this way.”
He gestured lightly and began to walk ahead.
A thought briefly crossed my mind whether I should consult Agnes, but my instinctive annoyance told me there was no need.
The original purpose was simple investigation, but now that things have turned out like this, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to subdue them.
‘Why don’t we just say we subdued them while investigating? That way, you will be able to enjoy sightseeing leisurely in the future.’
As I followed the old man while thinking leisurely, I was able to personally realize why Agnes had said that the underground city was complicated.
Numerous secret passages that even people living here may not know about.
After walking and walking for a while, we arrived at a hidden door that was difficult to recognize.
“This is where my men are gathered.”
A stone door so worn that it is difficult to tell whether it is a naturally made handle.
It may have been an ordinary axis in a complex underground city, but the air flowing inside was not like that.
“Haaa…”
“What’s going on?”
The old man looked at me with a puzzled look for a moment, but his cold instincts did not see the value in answering.
The strong smell of blood flowing out from the tightly closed door.
Ordinary people might not be able to sense it, but their sense of smell, heightened by mana, accurately told them that it was the smell of human blood.
The smell of blood coming from an almost completely sealed door meant that there was a sea of blood inside the door.
‘I got hit before I could even do anything.’
Judging from the old man’s reaction, the one who suffered was the old man’s subordinate.
And given the circumstances, it was simple to know who the people who attacked the old man’s men were.
An opponent that not even seasoned criminals with deep roots in the underground city can handle.
If it was this clear, it was almost certain that a nobleman was behind it.
“Then say hello. My subordinate… “
The old man opened the door but stopped in the middle, as if frozen.
As expected, a terrible tragedy unfolded in the spacious space.
The corpses rolling around carelessly proved how many subordinates the old man had.
But that was in the past, and now it could only be known by the presence of a corpse.
“It’s later than expected.”
A voice that is profound yet somehow distorted.
No matter who heard it, it was not a sound that could have come from human vocal cords.
The being with his entire body wrapped in cloth slowly turned around and revealed his face.
“Hmm… Work is becoming a lot more bothersome than I expected.”
Appearance as if a turtle and a human were forcibly combined.
For a moment, it reminded me of the turtle character I saw as a child, but the face was too grotesque to return to the world of childhood.
The guy, who I could tell was a monster at a glance, stared at me with calm eyes.
“I don’t need to explain why I’m here.”
“It seems like I have a bad connection with the Demon King.”
The sound of the sword being pulled from its scabbard echoed clearly in the surroundings.
The guy took a fighting stance, aiming the two swords in his rugged, thick hands.
