## Chapter 109 – Cultists of the Underground Waterway
“Come in,” she said.
I swallowed hard and slowly stepped inside. The interior was unlit, as dark as the waterway itself. Perhaps it was filled with the darkness of the abyss.
Was she asleep after all? Just as I had that thought, the door suddenly slammed shut.
—*Creak, bang.*
…It seems to be an automatic door.
“H-hello?” I called out softly to the shop owner, and a light flared on.
“Ah.”
It was a crimson light, reflecting her tastes. The closest comparison would be the color scheme of a dated jazz club. The sudden light made me squint. After a moment to adjust, I opened my eyes to see Risha there.
“Welcome.”
She sat on a scarlet sofa, legs crossed. Just as I was about to be captivated by her pale legs, I noticed she was wearing only a see-through black negligee, just as I had seen before.
…This is one hundred percent “just woke up.”
Look at that disheveled hair. What the hell was I thinking? Unsure where to look, I lowered my gaze and said in a trembling voice, feeling anxious about committing a great discourtesy.
“Ah… Witch. H-have you been well? I-I hope I didn’t anger you by coming at such an hour…”
“The hours when the moon is up are my hours. You haven’t been discourteous, so raise your head. It’s alright.”
Since she said it was alright, I lifted my head.
“…Huh?”
And I was a little surprised.
I had assumed she would have quickly changed her clothes as before, but Risha was still dressed in a way that was a little awkward to show to a strange man.
The negligee draped over her pale skin revealed the inside… I thought I could see a certain pinkish hue between her meager chest and crossed legs that shouldn’t be seen.
I lowered my eyes appropriately.
Looking at it would be a crime.
And despite saying it was alright, she looked very tired.
With her disheveled silver hair and fierce red eyes, I had become the bowing man.
“Is something the matter?”
“Yes? Ah, no. It’s nothing. There’s no problem… I’m just a little sorry…”
“Huhu, didn’t I say it was alright?”
Risha slowly tilted her neck from side to side, as if stretching, and crossed her legs the other way. For a moment, it looked like she wasn’t wearing any underwear. The very seductive pose caused my embarrassed feelings to rise to the top of my head.
What is this sexy disaster?
“Well… You’ve brought something interesting again today. Come, sit here.”
“Ah, yes.”
As instructed, I approached her and sat on the sofa opposite her.
I had always been greeted at the table in front, so this was the first time I had come so deep into the store. The sofa was plush. Was it as luxurious as it looked? The soft cushions enveloped my lower body, and I felt sleepiness creeping in.
“Here, this is it.”
After hesitating a little, I took the dagger from my chest and placed it on the glass table. It was the dagger with a strange pattern that I had taken after killing the apparent leader of the cultists.
The blue-honed blade suggested that its purpose was not merely decorative.
“Hmm… A dagger used in rituals. It doesn’t contain magic, but I feel a unique and very pleasant energy… It’s a good item. I like the embossed pattern. Did you come to sell this?”
Risha picked up the dagger and examined it slowly. It was as if she was “reading” the strangely writhing pattern.
“Yes… I happened to acquire it, and I couldn’t help but think of you, Witch. So, I shamelessly came to visit at this hour.”
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Yes?”
“Hahahaha, I’m just kidding… Now, then.”
She put the dagger back down, rested her arm on the armrest of the sofa, propped up her chin, and said to me,
“Won’t you explain the history of this item?”
“The history?”
“Yes, when, where, and how you obtained it. Explain it in detail.”
“Yes… Well…”
As she said, I began to explain, exaggerating as much as possible. It was similar to what I had explained to the senior pastor of the Brass Celestial Angels earlier.
Regardless of who the person in front of me was, I needed to inflate the story to increase the value of the item. That was the true duty of an adventurer. It was like a job where you sold stories along with items. Strangely enough, as I started gesturing and flapping my gums, the fear began to disappear as if washed away.
I talked excitedly. Risha listened to my story with great interest. After a few minutes, she took a sip of the black tea that had appeared out of nowhere and said,
“Hahahaha, you’re like a canary.”
Risha chuckled and crossed her legs again. The way she crossed them very slowly was a blatant gesture that seemed to be seducing me. I became very troubled every time her legs moved.
What is this?
“Well… Then… Hmm?”
I wasn’t some abominable pervert who got excited by that kind of figure, and I felt a great sense of guilt at seeing the bare skin of an elder, so I lowered my gaze again. This plush sofa felt like a bed of thorns.
“I’ve been noticing you avoiding my gaze since earlier.”
“That’s…”
“Will you look me in the eye?”
Mustering my courage, I lifted my head and looked into Risha’s eyes. Red eyes. I focused on her eyes to shake off the gaze that kept trying to wander down.
“You seem strangely restless. What could be making you anxious?”
“No, it’s not that I’m anxious… It’s just…”
“Just?”
“Your attire… I didn’t know where to look. That’s all.”
I decided to say what had been bothering me. Naturally, my throat was dry, so I drank the black tea in front of me.
“My attire?”
She feigned surprise, as if she hadn’t expected it, and pulled down the chest part of her negligee, stretching it out. The faint smile on her face seemed to indicate that her true nature was that of a bad-tempered witch.
Maybe she was enjoying my discomfort.
I’m sorry.
It was my fault.
“Huhu, it seems it was worth not changing. Now, tell me. Exactly what part is bothering you?”
I couldn’t open my mouth. How could I say that I was embarrassed to face her because her skin was all see-through?
If nothing else, my experience with Claudia had given me the impression that women like this would hate it if I mentioned their age. As I hesitated, Risha kept urging me.
“Why are you doing this? Just tell me like you did a moment ago.”
“I-I’m sorry, that skin…”
“You’ve become so docile, you’re completely different from a moment ago. Huhu.”
Risha cut me off.
“Well, shall we stop teasing you? The children outside are your friends, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are.”
“Hmm… One of them…”
She closed her eyes as if deep in thought and made a hand seal. It was a gesture of using some kind of magic.
“You can go back now. Is that enough for the dagger?”
Somehow, I had silver coins in my hand. Was it the effect of the magic from earlier? When I counted them, there were 10 silver. That was a large sum that could be divided into 2 silver and 50 coppers per person. Joy swept over me in an instant, and I was about to jump on the spot, but I decided to restrain myself for now.
I slowly got up, watching Risha’s expression. She said to me,
“Will you come again next time?”
“Of course!”
I answered energetically. I would have plenty of reasons to come in the future.
“…Come alone next time.”
Risha smiled and said in a somewhat forceful tone.
“Yes? Alone?”
“Yes, be sure to come alone. Then.”
As soon as she closed her mouth, I was outside the door. I don’t know why she told me to come alone, but there would be another opportunity someday. Risha’s shop was the best place to go when dealing with magical things.
“Hey, you guys, I’m out. I got 10 silver.”
—*Snore, wheeze…*
I saw that Copsen and Maria were both leaning against the wall, fast asleep. Only Claudia was standing there, waiting. She came up to me when she saw me.
“That took a while, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it took a while. You look tired. Are you alright?”
“Yeah. For now. We’re going back anyway… But you didn’t sell the wands?”
Claudia said. In an instant, I felt my heart sink and I groped around my waist. The two wands I had hung there were still there.
Ah, damn it.
I forgot.
“…I forgot.”
“You idiot. Are you going back in now?”
“No, later.”
It’s a bit much to go in again.
I’ll have a chance to go again anyway.
—*Clap!*
I clapped my hands to wake up Copsen and Maria. The way they rubbed their eyes as they woke up looked so carefree. Damn, someone went inside with a pounding heart.
“Ugh, I dozed off for a bit.”
“Yawwwn…”
“Wake up, you guys. Take out your change. We need to divide it into 2 silver and 50 coppers each.”
“Oh, a decent haul.”
“Was one dagger that expensive?”
The reaction was good.
Even without the wand money, it was like earning 3 silver for a day’s work.
Looking at the profit alone, it felt like I had become a D-class adventurer.
“Well, she liked it and gave me a high price.”
I don’t know the actual value, though.
Since I received all 10 silver in silver coins, it was difficult to give change, but fortunately, they carried enough change with them. After giving them the money, we left the alley.
“Let’s part ways here.”
“See you next time.”
“Yeah, it was nice seeing you all after a long time. See you again.”
Maria waved her hand and disappeared, followed by Copsen disappearing in the opposite direction. When it was just the two of us, Claudia groaned and hugged me.
“Huuu, I’m tired, Katt. Let’s go back quickly. I used too much power today. Suddenly twenty gargoyles, I can’t deal with that in my right mind. It’s useless to kill them anyway, those things.”
The way she chattered as soon as the others left was so cute that I decided to gather all the strength in my body. With that gathered strength, I suddenly picked up Claudia.
“Hap!”
“Kya, kyaak?!”
It was the princess carry. I lifted Claudia up as she was.
“You said you were tired, so this is the only way to carry you.”
“Eh, ah. Th-that’s, um, j-just a moment.”
Ignoring her as she covered her face in embarrassment, I walked out into the darkness. I planned to carry her as long as my stamina would last. It was already at its limit from the start, though.
“Ahem, nice atmosphere. Shall we sing a song, then?”
“Ka-Katt?”
The rising moons were very beautiful.
The dawn air was cold.
This must be the weight of earning a living. People always have to get their hands dirty to live. Living is accumulating karma, so I decided to sing a song with the moon as my spotlight.
“Shall we go to Jong! No!”
Of course, the song I sang was “Compass” by Seol Undo.
“It’s, it’s night! It’s night! Stop it!”
“It’s okay. This is a slum. No one will say anything even if we shout however we want.”
“That’s not the problem!”
“Shall we go to Myeong! Dong!”
“Stop it!”
Claudia’s scream continued. I had accumulated a lot of resentment in the slums, so I deliberately sang even louder. Those shitty bastards didn’t deserve to sleep. This was just intentional noise pollution. Banga, banga, noise pollution.
I’m standing on the corner of Euljiro Street.
I’m standing on the corner of Euljiro Street.
“Claudia, I can’t listen anymore.”
My song ended just as we were about to leave the slums.
At the same time, I completely ran out of strength and put Claudia down. Her face was flushed red enough to be seen even in the darkness. I grinned and wrapped my arms around her waist, and she shook her head as if she couldn’t help it and entrusted herself to me.
By the time we arrived at the lodging, it was faintly bright, a sign that morning was coming.
This isn’t some Saemaul City, is it real that I’m working 24 hours?
As soon as we entered the room and washed up, sunlight poured in. I’ll have to spend today sleeping. I can wake up in the afternoon and go to the guild. I can get the quest reward then. Claudia fell asleep as soon as she lay down next to me, probably because she was so tired.
