Chapter 55: The saint wants slaves.

“You, with that face, you sure know how to act innocent, don’t you? Hey, this is unpaid labor, you know that? How can you treat me like a nobody while helping that shameless elf woman pay off her debt?”

The succubus is furious, clearly feeling wronged.

“You’re making a fuss just because you did a little manual labor.”

“Well, it’s because of this face that I can act innocent like that.”

If you’re upset, you should be as pretty as me.

“I’m pretty too, you know?”

Sure, whatever.

The succubus is pretty, but not as much as me.

She’s just a strange woman with pink hair and horns.

“Wait, what’s this? Could it be that you’re not strong enough to conquer the dungeon?”

Judging from the harpy’s reaction, it seems like it might be worth trying.

“Uh, that’s not it.”

If we’re just talking about overwhelming with damage, me and the Cheonma are more than enough.

“She’s just a tool to use when it’s convenient—mmph!”

I quickly cover the succubus’s mouth while pointing with my chin at the Cheonma, who’s standing in the back, sleeping.

We already have enough damage dealers with me and the Cheonma.

“We’ve got enough damage dealers, but I just want to make it easier to catch the monsters.”

“Hmm. If I flap my wings, I’ll just push the monsters away, so using the succubus to herd them wouldn’t mean much, would it?”

I imagined it for a moment.

The succubus lures the monsters in by seducing them, only for them to be blown away by the wind.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t work. Too bad. Hmm?”

Now that I think about it, monsters keep appearing even after you’ve conquered a floor in the tower, which gets annoying.

But did this harpy just push all the monsters away?

“Can you just come here through a portal?”

“No, to be exact, I took a portal to the front of the tower, then flew up to the 4th floor.”

“Hoohhh.”

So, she flew her way up to the 5th floor?

Some skeletons use bows, so how high does she have to fly to avoid getting caught by monsters?

“You’re thinking something strange again, aren’t you?”

The succubus poked me in the side with a sly look on her face.

Strange thoughts?

That’s harsh.

I only want one thing.

“No, I just thought it’d be nice if Harpy could give me a lift when she goes up and down the Tower of Destruction.”

“Nah, too much trouble. No way.”

“How about a hundred bucks for each trip?”

Isn’t a hundred thousand won plenty for taxi fare?

It’s money I couldn’t even imagine spending back when I was with Park Si-woo!

“A hundred? Why bother with that? Just set up a blueprint and install a portal, that’d be enough.”

But it wasn’t the harpy who answered me, it was the pixie.

“Oh. Is that possible?”

This is the first time I’ve heard of that.

“Yeah, you guys weren’t seriously thinking of setting up guards every time you go, were you? I get that you’re a returner, but you should know your information. There are crazy guys who make maps of conquered dungeons and use them to create portals. They’re super expensive, though.”

“The dwarf pixie is right. I don’t know much about the situation here, but if you can get a portal stone, that’d be better. I’m also tired of going up and down all the time.”

So, we don’t really need the harpy?

“Dungeon towers take more than a day or two to clear, like this Tower of Destruction. So, the first high-ranking guilds that enter the tower, or the hunters who follow them, make maps and create portal stones from them.”

I think I get what she’s saying.

“So, they sell something like ‘Portal stones for the 5th floor of such-and-such tower, as of today,’ to newbies?”

“Exactly. You catch on fast. If you hadn’t come to the Tower of Destruction today, there’d be a listing on the hunter trading board for a 5th-floor portal stone.”

Well, Koreans aren’t the type to pitch a tent here, so no way they’d fight through monsters from the 1st floor every day, going up and down.

“Then was the pixie making a map earlier?”

“Didn’t I tell you? We’re making a portal. The harpy’s right, though. You’ve got the exclusive portal stone for the Tower of Destruction, so only you can make it. That’s why I’m doing it for you. Some of those guys who rushed at you earlier probably were trying to make a portal stone too.”

“Oh. Really? You’re the best, pixie!”

I gently picked up the pixie.

She felt soft and smelled sweet like a baby.

Oh, this cutie.

She may act grumpy, but she’s even making a portal stone for me.

“Something about the way you say that sounds criminal. If a guy said that, he’d be in jail.”

“But I still want to use Harpy.”

“Why do you keep trying to use me?”

Because it’s fun.

Since the tower raid is boring, I figured I might as well have some fun.

“I don’t think you should be given a toy to play with,”

The succubus said, poking my forehead with her finger.

“Ah, come on. Why are you like this? Honestly, aren’t you curious? Everyone here except me is non-human, so it makes sense to be curious, right?”

“Didn’t you say something about being a goddess?”

“Yes.”

Even so, it’s only goddess this or goddess that.

I still consider myself human.

Though I’ve cut ties with my past self, I am human.

“So, you’re saying you’re a goddess? Then, show us the power of the almighty goddess.”

“I have the Staff of God.”

I said, pulling out my mace.

The succubus looked disgusted.

A mace is good enough to be considered the Staff of God, right?

Should I keep the harpy around?

“Well, I can’t do much for you, but if you have a portal stone ready, I can at least deliver chicken. How about that?”

“You’re going to deliver 30-year-old traditional chicken?”

“Yep. I can support you that much, but you’ll still have to pay for it, including the delivery fee.”

She sure knows how to make it sound like support while charging for everything.

She talks like a true merchant.

The harpy is definitely a chicken shop owner’s daughter.

And honestly…

“Having chicken every day doesn’t sound so bad.”

It’s not like I’ll gain weight with this body.

“And the pixie eats well too.”

“She’s still growing.”

“Do you really think she’s growing at the age of sixty?”

Isn’t that more pitiful?

Growing at sixty?

Well, of course, she’s from a small race.

She’s a pixie, after all.

But from my perspective, whether as a Korean or a hero born in this world, she just looks like a young girl to me.

Besides…

“No sixty-year-old elder would be licking a lollipop like that.”

And she was licking it so happily.

“Actually, at the age where they’re drooling on walls, maybe they would.”

That was the succubus’s comment.

I guess if she were old enough to have dementia, it could be possible.

“I don’t have dementia!”

“She does seem a little pitiful.”

“I’m not making a map! If I do make a portal, I’ll just make one that sends you somewhere else!”

It would be a problem if she didn’t make the map.

I stopped teasing her and gave her another candy.

The pixie ate it happily.

Her affection for me must’ve gone up, right?

***

The harpy only made the chicken deal and then woke up the Cheonma to move up to the 6th floor.

There was a dungeon description here as well.

[In the past, a king of a certain nation destroyed a dam to flood a village under the pretext that its people had conspired with monsters. After the Demon King won the war between humans and monsters, he resurrected the victims of the flooded village, renaming it the Village of the Dead. If you wish to open the door, find the true history.]

A flooded Village of the Dead.

I’ve heard of this before.

This is a story from the hero’s world.

“What’s this about now?”

“They’re talking about a flooded Village of the Dead.”

I explained to the current members the ancient script describing the dungeon.

“The Village of the Dead?”

“Yes. I’ve seen this place as a historical site before. But since it was a village from the ancient mythological era, it felt more like a legend. There weren’t many ruins, so people just assumed it was a civilization built by people from that era in this region.”

Maria the mage showed a lot of interest, but I wasn’t too concerned.

Looking at the village, it seemed perfectly fine on the surface.

The wooden structures were either decaying or built in an ancient style, which archaeologists would probably love.

So, they say there are ghosts here.

“Did that Demon King move the entire thing here?”

“Yes, it seems that way.”

“They said to ‘find the true history.’ What could that mean?”

If it’s the “true” history, does that mean it’s been distorted somehow?

The Demon King sure has strange hobbies.

Is he relying on knowledge since brute force isn’t enough?

“Is he telling us to play archaeologist or something?”

“We might have to look for some kind of records.”

“They’re probably just like the skeletons below, right?”

“No, I think they might be different.”

I pointed to the floating figures of ragged women in the sky.

They were ghosts holding something like scythes.

Just by looking, they seemed to be ancient wraiths.

“What the heck? I’ve never seen wraiths like those before. And why are they all women?”

“Because the men were dragged off and enslaved, and the women were drowned with the village under the charge of being succubi.”

That’s how it was recorded in history.

I never imagined it was true, but it seems their grudge turned them into ghosts like these.

The blue color is probably from having drowned.

“How tragic. But why are there so many ghosts?”

“They were likely consumed by resentment and became spirits. Considering the Demon King is involved, it might just be some kind of copy-paste.”

That seems like the most likely explanation.

“For now, let’s go. You, start making the map from the back, and you, start luring the mobs.”

“Are you crazy? Does it look like that will work on them?”

Judging by their appearance, it does seem unlikely.

They are pure ghosts, after all.

These strange spirits are circling us in the air like they’re hunting for prey.

“Just give it a try.”

The succubus approached the scythe-wielding ghosts and started performing her seductive dance.

Oddly, the ghosts began to get angry.

Their bodies started glowing red.

“KYAAAAA!”

“Their bodies turned red?”

“Normally, when blue ghosts turn red, there’s only one reason. They’re going berserk.”

“What?”

There is a saying that a succubus’s charm works even on women, but will it work in this situation?

Can it work on ghosts filled with such intense hatred?

“Isn’t it strange for a succubus’s charm to work on women in the first place?”

As I suspected, the blue ghosts turned red and charged at the succubus.

Hm, they’re definitely different from normal wraiths.

Regular wraiths absorb souls, but these ones seem to attack solely with their scythes.

Proof of that is that the succubus is still fine.

“KIEEEEEEK!”

“KYYYAAAA!”

The ghosts started swinging their scythes wildly as they rushed toward the succubus.

“It looks like luring them won’t work.”

“How about we just charge in and take them down?”

“That would be dangerous. Besides, I’ve never encountered these before, so I don’t know what abilities they have.”

We lack information.

And ancient wraiths at that.

Handling orcs was one thing, but I have no idea how to deal with ancient wraiths.

I’m not all-powerful, after all.

My body may be based on that of a goddess, but I have my limits.

It’s like they say: ‘Know your enemy and yourself, and you’ll be victorious in a hundred battles.’

“Hm, true. But isn’t the succubus in trouble? She might die.”

“Well, maybe, but…”

We’ve already set up a respawn field, so it should be fine, right?