Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 98: The Spirit Realm (3).

It felt like wandering through a vivid nightmare.

The chilling sensation on his skin made it hard for Allen to suppress the trembling that went down to his bones. It was an instinctive fear inherent to living beings.

The roads that people used to travel until recently were now deserted. Only various items scattered messily on the ground proved that there had once been a great commotion.

The people of the caravan trembled uncontrollably, wrapped in fear and unable to utter a word as they walked. They couldn’t distinguish if this were a dream or reality.

“Ordnung, is there really no one alive?”

Allen, who was exceptionally talented in such matters, asked the Blind Saintess with a glimmer of hope. Fortunately, she felt a faint presence of life.

“Oh wow, damn, that’s really fortunate…!”

Furball Geese, who seemed capable of defeating a monster with one hand, turned pale at the mention of spirits.

Itty Titty Swordsman wasn’t feeling any better. It reminded her of the time she was suffering from the Demonic Disease… It was a kind of trauma.

The group merely followed behind the leading Pinkette Saintess. Perhaps because the Spirit Realm was somewhat affected by reality, no wandering spirits were seen yet. It must be just around noon now. However, Allen couldn’t guarantee what transformation this place would undergo at night. After all, the game where you simply beat up any appearing spirits and reality were different matters.

With each cautious step, they heard a faint song coming from somewhere and hurried towards it. And then they arrived in front of a certain building.

Ah.

The building with a sun symbol drawn on its pointed spire was the only place in this Spirit Realm where the divine protection of the holy god reached… Precisely, the cathedral.

The song, faintly flowing through the fog, seemed to be a hymn. Perhaps the survivors were singing it to overcome their fear.

The group hurriedly headed towards the cathedral and creaked the door open. At the same moment, the desperately sung hymn was abruptly cut off as if it had hit a cliff. And then, hundreds of pairs of eyes poured towards them.

Inside the cathedral, from townspeople to merchant groups, mercenary bands, and all sorts of people were densely packed. It seemed these were the survivors who had lived through the tragedy.

As Allen’s group entered, a middle-aged noblewoman who was in a corner of the cathedral stood up. He instinctively recognized that she was the highest-ranking person here, and briskly walked toward her.

“I’m the Group Leader leading the Allen-Mercenary Group, Allen Dewise Pomwell.”

“I am the lord’s wife.”

The middle-aged noblewoman was the Baroness. And beside her were her grown children, but they could not match their mother’s spirit.

“How did you come here? Perhaps, are you a rescue party?”

A question filled with faint hope. However, Allen shook his head firmly.

“No. I was on my way to Malziel and stopped by here, then ended up coming to this place.”

“…Ah…”

Hope was instantly turned to ashes and crumbled away.

“But how did this happen, madam?”

“…I don’t know. No one knows why such a terrible thing has happened…”

“Where is the Baron?”

“I don’t know. I was just hurrying to escape with my children…”

It appeared that aside from the Baroness and her children’s escort knight, neither the Baron nor his mercenary group were visible. It seemed they were caught in an accident.

…No, perhaps this situation was related to the Baron.

The fact that the Baroness and her children had escaped, but the Baron and his mercenary group had not, raised a reasonable suspicion that they might be involved in this situation. Of course, in the current circumstances, it was pointless to blame anyone. The priority was to unite everyone’s strength and escape from this place.

Allen stepped back from the Baroness and called over the group leaders of the mercenary groups. There were three surviving mercenary groups. Of course, their survival was purely due to luck.

However, they were already out of motivation. No one had a solution to this situation. They could only wait for a rescue team from elsewhere. However, with both food and drinking water already depleted, it was nearly impossible to last even three or four more days, let alone a week. Otherwise, they would have to go out and search the buildings for food, but scavenging one or two houses was not enough to feed the hundreds of people here.

Already, countless children were whining about wanting water and being hungry. Not just the children, but adults were also suffering from thirst and hunger.

“How long has it been?”

“…About four days. We ran out of water and food two days ago.”

Looking at the mercenaries, they seemed to lack the strength to eat, just lying down and sleeping. Clearly, it seemed there was no good in delaying any longer.

Allen crossed his arms tightly and spoke in a clear tone to the powerless group leaders.

“Unfortunately, it might be difficult to wait for a rescue team. Even if they come, it would be after we’ve all died of starvation, or after being killed by the dead.”

The group leaders let out uncomfortable groans. He had brought up the reality they had been trying to ignore.

However, Allen did not stop. No, he could not stop. He needed their strength now.

“Do you all know where we are?”

“…It’s Amper, isn’t it?”

“Not the name of the city. You must have realized that this isn’t a normal reality.”

“Could this be a demonic curse?”

As expected, that was the response. Honestly, there was no other way to think about it, unless one was Allen, who had already mastered [Guild Master].

“No. This is the Spirit Realm. The world of souls. Someone opened the gate to the Spirit Realm but didn’t close it, so the entire city is under its influence. And that’s why things have turned out this way.”

“By Spirit Realm, do you mean like hell?”

“Well, it’s similar.”

Allen unfolded his arms and put his hands behind his back, waiting a bit until their confusion somewhat subsided.

“Given that this is the Spirit Realm, it’s difficult to expect any rescue from outside. Even if help comes, as I mentioned earlier, we would all be dead by then. So, shouldn’t we do something?”

“Then what are you saying we should do?! We just found out this is the Spirit Realm!”

As the burly group leader raised his voice, anxious glances were directed their way.

Good. This is it.

There’s nothing as effective as crowd psychology in taking control of the atmosphere. So, he decided to use it.

“Fortunately… there is a way out.”

As he scanned the surroundings, he said it with force. Then, a glimmer of hope began to emerge in the faces that had been filled with despair. As the city dwellers gathered around them, the Baroness also moved with difficulty towards them.

Everyone saw Allen as a savior. The same was true for the other mercenaries. They wanted to live through this hell.

“We just need to close the gate to the Spirit Realm again. Then we can return to the present world.”

Oh…

Everyone let out a hopeful exclamation. However, though the words were spoken easily, the leaders, who had been through countless tough situations, instinctively realized that accomplishing that was by no means easy.

“How can we close it?”

“There must be a gate to the Spirit Realm somewhere in the city. There should be an object that acts as a medium near it, and if we destroy that, it should do the trick.”

“…Is it really as simple as you make it sound?”

Of course, Allen shook his head. If it were simple, he wouldn’t have tried to persuade them like this in the first place.

“They won’t just stand by and watch. The entity guarding the gate… There will undoubtedly be significant sacrifices, and we might even fail. But are we going to just stay here without trying anything? If there’s even a slim chance of survival through a narrow gap, we should try to squeeze through. At least, I have no intention of just sitting here and dying.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If you’re scared, I won’t force you to come. I can hardly save my own life in such a place, let alone take care of someone else’s.”

He cleverly mixed in provocation as well. For mercenaries, the word fear was somewhat like a panic button.

“…Hmm. It doesn’t mean I’m scared!”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re going to die anyway.”

The Group Leader, who had been listening quietly, muttered as if talking to himself.

“Right, we have to do it. What choice do we even have now…? As Group Leader Allen said, we’re going to die anyway…”

A gamble with high risk. However, because only the last stake was left, they had no choice but to bet one way or another.

As soon as it seemed they had roughly made up their minds, Allen shouted as if to show off, deliberately trying to provoke them.

“Only those with courage can join me! Is there anyone who can?”

Allen walked up to the group leaders one by one, extending his hand as if to ask for a handshake. As if to say, if you’re ready, take this hand.

The three group leaders exchanged brief glances. Then, all three of them firmly grasped and shook the hand that Group Leader Allen extended in turn.

“…If dying this way or that way is all the same, we might as well do something!”

“Now that we have a way, of course, we’ll do it.”

“We will follow your words.”

Filled with hope of surviving, the townspeople erupted in cheers and applause. Those with a fainter heart even burst into tears.

The Baroness also unusually bowed her head slightly towards the four mercenary group leaders.

“Please, save this city, everyone…!”

Allen’s group distributed all the food and water they had to the other mercenaries. Of course, it was difficult to fully satisfy the hunger and thirst of the more than twenty of them, but still, they had to fill their stomachs with at least a little to muster some strength.

Staying here any longer wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. Allen planned to ride on this momentum and move forward.

Before departing, Group Leader Allen took one last brief moment for maintenance and rest. He gave each of his team members a warm hug, inspecting their equipment.

“Let’s stay strong.”

Then, it was Natasha’s turn. The Itty Titty Swordsman nestled into Allen’s embrace. He hugged her much longer than the others… as if he knew she was currently struggling with trauma.

“If you’re having a hard time, tell me anytime. Don’t suffer in silence. You and I have a special relationship. My arms are always open to you. Come if you’re in pain. Come anytime. Got it?”

His gentle voice spread warmth inside her like a soothing balm. He also blessed her head with a kiss.

Allen looked at Natasha with a warm gaze for a long while before moving on to the next thing. She pretended as if nothing happened and looked down at the sword she was sharpening with a whetstone, dropping her gaze abruptly. However, his gentle whisper and warm gaze remained in her head, refusing to fade away.

…Affection disguised as deep friendship suddenly swooped in like that, shaking her heart before disappearing.