Chapter 33: The Underground Waterway

Ｒｅａ​ｄ ｏ​ｎ ＫａｔＲｅａｄｉ​ｎｇ​Ｃａｆｅ

With her hood pulled up and a few pebbles tucked into her pocket, Sugar was ready.

In the other pocket, she carried a pencil and a memo pad, along with other items necessary for completing the request. Her stomach was slightly empty, but that was just the right state before starting work.

After finishing her preparations, Sugar sneaked out of the orphanage. She had become quite skilled at moving silently by now.

All her friends must be in dreamland by now, right?

Sugar, too, wanted to stay sprawled on her bed, but after today, she could do that to her heart’s content.

With lighter steps than usual, she ran—tap, tap—toward her destination.

She knew where the entrance to the underground waterway was. It was located in a secluded area of the bustling district. While it was possible to enter through a manhole, special measures had been taken to prevent monster invasions, so ordinary methods wouldn’t open it.

‘But with the strange phenomenon of the monster population decreasing…’

Although occasional “clean-up operations” were conducted, the fact that the area remained clean without such efforts must have puzzled the city officials.

Perhaps they decided it was better to hire a few people to investigate rather than burden the busy night patrol guards.

In this world, individual combat prowess was strong, after all.

Still, they probably never imagined an 11-year-old girl would take on this request. But as long as the job was done, it didn’t matter.

Arriving at the waterway entrance, Sugar pulled out a key from her pocket. It was the key given to those who took on this task. The request office had kept it safe before handing it over to the broker, who then passed it to Sugar.

Making sure no one was watching, she quickly unlocked the padlock and slipped her small body inside.

‘Entry!’

A foul smell hit her nose, almost making it twist. The sound of water droplets falling—plop, plop—echoed around. The place was damp, dark, and eerily unsettling.

Thanks to the faintly glowing magic stones sporadically embedded in the walls, she could at least move forward. Still, it was too dark, so she frowned and took notes.

‘The entrance seems fine… but it’s too dark. What if I infuse my eyes with magic?’

She tried it, hoping to see better, and it did help. The outlines of objects became clearer, making it easier to distinguish things.

‘…But I get tired too quickly.’

While her vision improved, the strain on her eyes increased rapidly, forcing her to close them soon after. She’d have to get used to it by practicing occasionally.

Putting the memo pad back in her pocket, she moved forward.

The sound of Sugar’s light footsteps echoed loudly in the waterway.

Just in case, she held a pebble in her hand, infused it with magic, and walked cautiously. If she found anything, she could fire it immediately. She couldn’t levitate things well, but she was confident in her ability to shoot.

After about 10 minutes of walking in tension.

‘…There’s nothing here.’

Nighttime. The endless repetition of darkness and gloom made her yawn involuntarily.

She had somewhat gotten used to the smell, so it was bearable.

“Well, the population did decrease…”

…

Muttering to herself, she suddenly turned around.

She had sensed something for a moment.

-Plop. Plop.

The sound of dripping water. The splashing sound as it hit the sewage.

Catching her breath, she looked ahead again. Before she knew it, she had reached a fork in the path.

Wondering which way to go, she quietly listened. In the distance, she heard faint—boom, boom—explosive sounds.

‘That way?’

It seemed to be coming from the right. In a place where only the sound of dripping water or monster cries should be heard, the explosive sounds were too out of place.

Could that be the reason for the decrease in the monster population?

She immediately turned right and picked up her pace, running—tatat-tat. Infusing her body with magic, she ran at full speed until the sounds suddenly stopped.

Without the explosive noises to mask her footsteps, she couldn’t run anymore. Clicking her tongue, Sugar slowed down and walked cautiously.

The underground waterway, a maze of interconnected paths, was vast, so she had to walk for quite a while longer.

Gradually, traces began to appear.

Fragments of monsters, crushed or torn apart, floated in the sewage.

‘What the…’

Rolling up her sleeve, she reached in and picked up one of the fragments. It squirmed in her hand.

Ugh.

She immediately threw it away and shook her hand. The fragment landed with a squelch.

Intrigued by the strange phenomenon, she picked up her pace and soon arrived at a place that could be described as a plaza. It was where the narrow passages converged. The center of the waterway, the walls, and the floor were all stained with the remnants of monsters.

If those had all been people, it would have been a bloodbath.

‘Who did this…’

Looking around, she saw only monster corpses. No people or intact monsters were in sight. Only traces of something powerful smashing into the walls remained.

Whatever had devastated this part of the waterway seemed to have already left.

First, she needed to take notes.

Sugar jotted down what she saw and cautiously stepped into the plaza. Just in case, she suppressed her magical energy, making it as quiet as possible.

Confirming that there was no immediate danger, she bent down and started collecting monster fragments. They were for submission to the request office. She placed them one by one into the bag she had prepared.

‘Even dead, they’re squirming… This is disgusting…’

If she took on jobs like this in the future, she’d need to bring gloves or tongs. Handling them bare-handed was unbearable.

Grumbling, Sugar stood up.

“…”

And then, she froze.

Squish, squish. The sound of something crawling.

Squelch, squirm.

The bag tied to her waist also began to move in sync with the sounds.

As if it had a will of its own.

A chill ran down her spine.

Looking around, she saw all the flesh fragments squirming, moving in unison toward one direction.

Gulping, Sugar prepared herself.

First, what was the most important thing to do?

“Take notes…”

She had to do her job properly.

Since this was her last task, she wanted to end it on a high note.

After swiftly recording the current situation in her memo pad, the next thing to do was…

‘Run like hell—!!’

She ran as fast as she could.

The focal point where those things were gathering happened to be toward the entrance. When she glanced back, a giant the size of a house was approaching.

She decided to run deeper inside first and then change direction.

She had no idea what was going on. How could pieces that were supposed to be dead come together to form such a massive entity? Did the monsters living here have such a trait?

As she pondered this, she glanced back and saw the giant closing in.

–Groooar!!

It swung its fist, and she quickly ducked. Being short was a real blessing at times like this.

Immediately after, she infused her legs with magic and leaped forward, bounding like a rabbit.

“Aaaah!!”

Why is it so fast despite its size? From the corner of her eye, she saw it sliding through the sewage as if gliding. The acceleration made it seem even faster.

If she kept running like this, she knew she’d tire out.

Just then, she spotted a narrow passage ahead and hurled herself toward it. It’s too small for the giant to follow, right?

As she caught her breath, the monster, now smaller in height but elongated in length, squeezed its way in.

“Oh, Saint!”

Today, she was a devout believer. There was no reason not to believe.

“Oh mighty Gabriel, protect me with your light,” she muttered as she ran, but soon ran out of breath and cursed, “Damn it!” before clamping her mouth shut.

Well, if a single prayer could solve everything, there’d be no heretics left.

Ahead, it was dark. Her heart sank, thinking it might be a dead end, but then she saw someone standing there.

“Move!!”

Whether the person ahead was the source of the explosions or not didn’t matter. She didn’t even have the luxury to think about it.

She needed to escape, so they had to move. She poured all her energy into her voice, squeezing it out like a desperate plea.

But then she heard a familiar voice.

“…Sugar?”

Why are you coming from there…?

It was the voice of a friend she knew all too well. Sugar stopped running and grabbed Riley’s wrist.

“What… Why are you here all of a sudden…”

“No time to explain! Just run!”

Sugar wanted to ask why he was here too, but that could wait until they were safe.

Riley looked bewildered, but when he saw what was chasing them, he immediately got into position.

The running began again.

As they ran, Riley frantically scanned their surroundings.

“Hey, wait… This direction…”

“Out of breath! Just run!”

Riley gritted his teeth. Sugar, running ahead, didn’t notice his expression.

She was just out of breath, focused on escaping.

But that too came to an end.

The end of the passage. They had reached a dead end.

“What! Why is there no way out?!”

“I told you…”

Riley, who knew the underground waterway’s layout well, muttered.

Turning around, they saw the slimy giant monster swelling as it approached.

It moved slowly at first, then picked up speed, closing in step by step.

It clenched its fist, ready to swing, making squelching sounds as it exuded an overwhelming presence.

It was so tall that Sugar had to crane her neck to look up at it.

A real monster.

This was the first time she’d seen something like this. Creatures like the giant ground squirrels were child’s play compared to this.

Sugar took a deep breath.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her young friend standing beside her. Ahead, the giant monster was closing in. Its massive frame made her feel like she’d be crushed, too scared to even scream.

Even so.

“Hoo…”

She steadied her breathing and stared straight ahead.

Her heart was filled with nothing but resolve.

The giant swung its fist toward the two.

In that brief moment.

As Riley reached for something, his hand trembling.

Then, as he froze, glancing at Sugar.

Sugar, who had been staring intently at the giant, immediately acted.

She unleashed her magic explosively, spreading it throughout her body.

With her right hand, she pushed Riley away, and with her left arm, she shielded herself.

-Thud!!

A dull pain made her head spin.

Her small body couldn’t withstand the impact and was sent flying, crashing into the wall with a loud bang.

It hurt. Her arm, her spine—everything hurt so much that her senses began to dull.

When it hurts too much, your mind strangely becomes calm.

She found it oddly fascinating.

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she faintly heard her name being called.

Through her blurry vision, she saw her friend running toward her with a distorted expression.

All she could think was, Idiot. You should’ve just run.

What could she do? She had to save him. Even if she didn’t make it, he had to see the sunlight again.

She struggled to move, but her body wouldn’t obey.

All she could do was repeat the thought endlessly as her consciousness faded away.

Translator Note

4 chapters today, 2 right now and 2 at the regularly scheduled times. I was convinced in the Kat discord if you too want to try and convince me to update faster then JOIN NOW