## Chapter 105 – Cultists of the Underground Waterway
Money is important.
It’s best to earn it when you can.
Even if a job is a little dangerous, if a big reward is promised, adventurers are the kind of people who jump in without looking back.
They always risk their lives, feeding their swords with the blood of monsters to earn a penny or two. That’s why no amount of danger can extinguish the flames of their greed.
I, who know the value of money very well, wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.
To me, money was like a lifeline that could extend my survival in this world, and having lived this way for nearly three years, that way of thinking had long become my most fundamental criterion for judgment.
Well, things have been changing little by little thanks to Claudie, but the obsessive attachment to money that was ingrained in my heart under the supreme goals of “survival” and “return” was not something that could be easily shaken off.
You have to seize opportunities.
Even if there are adversities, you have to overcome them and seize the opportunities.
Money in the unit of ‘Silver’ is a very big deal. It’s not for nothing that I didn’t kill that pickpocket girl last time. I let her off because she gave me a hefty settlement of 5 silver. Of course, I tried to kill her because she stole 5 silver.
From what I saw, even if we exclude the quest reward of 50 coppers per day, we could easily make about 2 silver per person just by selling the wands. That’s the value of just two wands, what if there’s more? What if there’s something even more expensive?
Then it wasn’t the kind of opportunity I could pass up.
Of course, you could say that I’m walking into my own grave with my eyes on the money.
But judging from the power of these two bastards, it didn’t seem ‘that’ dangerous. They seem to be mages because they use magic, but they didn’t seem to have mastered ‘Memorize,’ which is basically used by mages of Wenia’s level.
Memorize is a kind of mental slot that stores spells, allowing you to use magic immediately without casting.
That’s why high-level mages are scary. If a spell is loaded into Memorize, they can literally fire magic bullets with just a thought, like a ‘pistol’ or ‘rifle.’
Then people like me can never stand a chance. We can’t even save our lives. People can’t survive against a gun.
Why the hell did I get my ass kicked by Wenia all those days? Because she was a powerful mage capable of Memorize. To beat Wenia, my speed of action needed to be faster than Wenia’s speed of perception, but that was impossible for me. No, it would be impossible for most people.
But those cultists held up their wands and chanted spells, they didn’t immediately use magic using Memorize. That means they’re low-level mages. Of course, they might have done that because they were caught off guard by the sudden attack, but then that’s no different from saying they’re inexperienced noobs. Either way, it was worth a try.
What, I’m a person who can think too, you know.
I’m saying this because I saw a chance of winning from those few clues.
“…That’s what I mean. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I roughly summarized those words and preached them to Copson and Meria. Actually, Mr. Merman’s opinion didn’t matter at all. Claudie would follow my opinion anyway, and if I could just persuade Copson and Meria, we could go down to the underground again.
“Hmm… that’s right. I guess it’s better to go down.”
“Just trust my shield. You saw it last time, right? Curse magic doesn’t work on it.”
“Really? If you guys say so, let’s go down.”
The two of them agreed so easily.
We prepared to go down again. We stripped the corpses of their robes, cut off their heads, and threw them into the water. And since it was determined that the enemies were underground anyway, we decided to hide the sacks in a suitable corner. We could pick them up when we went up.
“Ah, no! Didn’t you say we should go up! The quest is over! All the undead are gone! So let’s go up now!”
Of course, Merman protested.
I grabbed his shoulder, who was getting excited.
“No. Even so, we are adventurers of faith and trust. We can’t possibly abandon a job we’ve taken on. Frankly, isn’t our mission only completed when we’ve taken care of all the undead that might be down there?”
“I, I said it’s okay!”
I didn’t know that his flexible working style would hold him back at times like this. Anyway, I continued. It would be very easy to persuade him if I just brought up this topic.
“I’ll give Mr. Merman a share too. Huh? Let’s go together? We’ll give you a cut from our share if you come with us. No, isn’t it obvious since you’re guiding us? Mr. Merman, you should get some pocket money too, right?”
Merman hesitated when I brought up money. That’s right. It’s all about the money! You have to earn money! Merman instantly became docile at the sound of getting a share. I gave him a few more words of praise as he pondered, and his expression soon changed.
He’s a person too.
“Hmm… then I’ll run away as soon as it gets dangerous. Then I’ll follow you guys down.”
“That’s exactly it! No, we’re people too, so of course we’ll run if we see things going to shit. We’re earning money to live, so if it looks like we’re going to die, we have to run without looking back, yeah. Don’t worry! I value my life as much as Mr. Merman does!”
“…I understand.”
Mr. Merman nodded, and so we went down to the 4th underground floor again. It was a really excellent choice to bring enough oil. Even so, if we didn’t have oil, we wouldn’t be able to light up the darkness, so we would have had to go back up.
“Katt, you’re really good at talking, aren’t you?”
“Why are you suddenly saying something embarrassing?”
Claudie said to me as we were going down the stairs again.
“I once told you that you have both intelligence and savagery, right?”
“Uh… that was a while ago. It’s embarrassing to hear it again like this.”
“Honestly, lately it seems like you only had savagery, but seeing you like this, I can feel your intelligence again, I’m really happy. How nice would it be if you stopped doing stupid things and only showed this side of you.”
Embarrassed, I covered my face with both hands. Claudie grabbed my arm and pulled it towards her. The small laughter I heard in my ear tickled my heart.
“Whew, you guys are getting along well? Having a lover is good after all. I’m kind of jealous. I admire the fact that you support each other.”
“I agree, Meria.”
Meria whistled and said, and Copson lowered his voice and said to Meria.
“Copson, you’re lowering your voice again.”
“No, damn it! This barbarian! You said that again!”
“Don’t lower your voice, you bastard.”
Copson, enraged, asked Meria directly this time.
“Meria. Did I lower my voice?”
“Yeah, you did. You’re still lowering it now.”
“…That doesn’t make sense.”
And so we reached the 4th underground floor. It was time to get our minds right from here on out. This time, it was no different from going to start a fight, so I naturally became tense. We had entered the enemy’s lair.
I organized my mind like that of a looter. Without any compromise, I will catch and kill the cultists who are hiding here for money and steal their wands. Let’s swing the sword without hesitation. Copson and Meria also had similar looks in their eyes.
ㅡThump, thump.
ㅡThump, thump.
“Let’s make less noise.”
“This is as quiet as it gets.”
Even though we tried to reduce the noise, it still seemed loud. We covered the lantern to suppress the light and walked through the darkness. There was no point in getting caught first, so we moved as slowly and carefully as possible.
Turn the corner, turn the corner. We went deeper that way. Thankfully, we asked Mr. Merman, who had been here once, to record the path.
ㅡSwish.
“What, what kind of structure is this?”
“I don’t know either.”
Water was pouring down like a waterfall in the huge underground cavity. Is this really the sewer that is responsible for transporting water to the city? I didn’t have that kind of professional knowledge, but this seemed like a slightly strange form.
We passed through that slightly majestic area.
Was it a space that could be called a maze? We didn’t see any undead or giant bats, but I kept thinking about the ossuary I saw last time. Orcotta Catacombs. That place felt similar to here now.
“…I hear footsteps. Stop.”
Human radar, no, half-elf radar Claudie said quietly. At that, we immediately stopped walking and completely covered the light of the lantern with our cloaks.
There are other cultists after all. Even if I don’t know well, not much time has passed since I killed those two, so there’s a possibility that they haven’t noticed our presence yet.
Of course, even though we cleaned up the corpses, there were still bloodstains left, so if they passed by there, they might have noticed… Or maybe the ones who saw us and ran away in the first place… I stopped speculating. I still don’t have enough information.
I still have to think about what’s in front of me now.
“…SuGar? YaieDat.”
“DoDo… Hunst. Ua, Hunstes…Yaie…”
As before, I stuck to the wall and held my breath, and as expected, I heard words that I couldn’t understand. I decided not to worry about interpreting them anymore. Anyway, are they a duo again like before? Are they standing guard? These speculations are also useless.
All I can know now is,
If we kill those two, we’ll get two wands and the enemy’s total strength will be -4.
We checked each other’s faces and nodded at the same time. It was an inhumane signal to ambush and kill them when they got close.
“…Dat.”
After a moment of tense time, the guys finally showed themselves. They were walking leisurely while chatting, and their eyes widened when they saw us hiding in the darkness. They still had black eyes.
“Meow!”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
I pretended to be a cat and stabbed them with my sword as I charged in. The long blade of the bastard sword tore through the cultist’s abdomen and pierced through. Before the surprised guy could do anything, my knee struck his groin.
“Gyaaaaaaaack!!!”
It was the death throes itself.
As if singing the despair of life, his scream erupted.
No matter how much of a cultist he is, tears come out when his balls are broken.
He dropped the wand and collapsed. I snatched the falling wand in mid-air and rolled out of the scene.
“Gus-Tar Ya!!!”
The other guy couldn’t handle us either. He tried to struggle, but it was useless.
“YiYaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!”
The two, who were not prepared for battle at all, fell helplessly to our ambush. Ambush + preemptive strike was the perfect winning strategy itself. Non-combat personnel who are not prepared have no choice but to have their lives taken away.
“That was easy. But I got two wands.”
“Hehehe, I’m glad we came down again. Very good.”
Copson and Meria slit the throats of the fallen cultists to make sure they were dead. Amazingly, they easily got two wands. It felt like a murderous robbery, but we no longer had a guilty conscience.
The damn Indian triangle curse turned us into monsters.
“Judging from their attitude, it seems they haven’t noticed our intrusion yet.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it. Hehehe, if they knew we were here, they wouldn’t be walking around so leisurely.”
Copson, who had cleaned up the corpses appropriately, pointed out a pretty sharp point.
As he said, if these bastards knew we were here, they would have been preparing for battle or something. Well, it’s not like they have good means of communication, so it’s possible that only these guys don’t know and the other guys do.
Still, we killed four, so the enemy’s strength has taken a big hit.
“Hmm… that seems right. Then things will be easier in the future, right?”
Meria said. Certainly, if the enemy doesn’t know about us, things couldn’t be easier. Even Merman, who was scared, seemed a little less tense because things were going so easily.
“Then where do we go now…”
As I was thinking about which direction to go, Claudie grabbed my hand.
“Why don’t we go where he came from?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Hey guys, let’s go in that direction!”
We went deeper.
