episode_0085

The carriage that departed from Kubeel made its way to the capital, Piphnel, passing through several small cities along the journey.

On the first day, Meruru, who was initially excited at the thought of her sister, wagged her tail in excitement but eventually grew tired and fell asleep.

Stopping at a city along the way, we rested at an inn, with Meruru alternating between dozing off and waking up multiple times.

Thanks to the experienced driver of the borrowed carriage, who had traveled to many cities, we were able to arrive in the capital of Piphnel smoothly without any major incidents.

I tipped the driver generously for his help and stepped off the carriage, taking in the sight of the capital city for the first time.

“Is this… the capital city of Piphnel…?”

Piphnel.

The capital of the kingdom and the largest city.

At its center stood the Piphnel Castle where the king resided, and the Central Church, the center of the seven sects.

The city was surrounded by inner and outer walls, creating a dual fortification around the metropolis.

Within the inner walls were the royal palace and the residences of high-ranking individuals in the kingdom.

The guild where adventurers operated was located inside the outer walls.

Although Bainar and Kubeel were not small cities, Piphnel was on a different scale altogether.

The streets were wide, with carriages moving through the city and people bustling on either side.

It felt like looking at the roads of a modern metropolis, divided into lanes for carriages and pedestrians.

Stores occupied entire three-story buildings, and the blacksmiths’ shops with multiple anvils and several blacksmiths working on weapons caught the attention of passing adventurers.

It was impressive to see fully armored knights patrolling the streets at every intersection.

Unlike other cities where vigilantes or small-scale guards managed security, here the knights patrolled directly.

“Is it really… possible that my sister is here?!”

Meruru, who was experiencing such a large city for the first time, couldn’t stop looking around in amazement.

“We need to go underground.”

“It’s incredible. Is the underground as vast as this?”

“I don’t know either. I haven’t been there.”

“I want to go see it quickly!”

Deciding to explore the city later, I immediately headed towards the slums of Piphnel.

Typically, in such large and extravagant cities, there was a stark contrast between the rich and the poor.

As we approached the entrance to the slums, the grand buildings disappeared, replaced by older and smaller structures.

The streets became too narrow for carriages to pass through, and as we reached the entrance to the slums, the atmosphere changed completely.

“Is the difference really this stark…?”

People’s living conditions are all similar.

Where there are well-off individuals, there are also those who are less fortunate.

As the scale grows, the distribution of wealth inevitably forms a pyramid shape, resulting in an increase in the number of impoverished individuals.

At the entrance to the slums, two knights stood guard, preventing outsiders from entering.

As I approached to enter, I was immediately stopped.

“Halt. This is a dangerous area, and outsiders are prohibited from passing through.”

The stern gaze of the knight behind the sturdy helmet conveyed a strict atmosphere with no room for negotiation.

By guarding the area in this manner, it seemed that even the residents of the slums were restricted from venturing out into the regular streets.

Although it was the same city, it seemed like a completely different city with boundaries drawn so distinctly.

Unable to resolve the situation with just words, I took out the Master’s delegation badge that Algot had given me from my pocket.

The delegation badge was proof that I was carrying out important guild tasks, so it should hold some weight here as well.

When I showed the badge, the knight examined the badge I offered with narrowed eyes and said, “Hm, someone who has come to do guild work. Looks like you’re also here to catch a criminal.”

“Well… something like that.”

I didn’t know much about criminals like the one he mentioned, but I played along with his statement that adventurers often visit the slums for such purposes.

“Is the companion next to you a party member? They seem to be a rare race, so be careful. If they offer you any strange drinks, do not accept them under any circumstances.”

“Understood.”

“And if by any chance it’s a life-or-death situation with a criminal, make sure to kill them and dispose of the body properly. Sometimes people only handle the task and neglect the body, leading to the spread of diseases.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Then you may pass. Make sure to guard your badge well, as you won’t be able to leave if you lose it.”

The knight who saw the Master’s delegation badge reminded me of the precautions in a much softer manner than before.

“Do not drink any strange beverages, and make sure to dispose of the bodies properly.”

Do adventurers mainly come here for such purposes?

“The slums of Pifnel were a dangerous place where various mid-level criminals roamed.

The kingdom was aware of this fact, but instead of cracking down on the slums and underground waterways, they decided it was better to manage and gather them in one place, leading to the current situation.”

As I stepped into the slums, the narration warned me.

Truly a place that could be considered the edge of the kingdom’s underworld.

Still, I wasn’t too worried.

Having received this much warning, all I had to do was be cautious.

If it was a place where I had to protect myself with the logic of strength, then I was confident now.

“Let’s see… behind the 13th pillar at the 2nd entrance to the Pifnel underground waterway…”

It seemed like there were multiple entrances to the waterway, but where was the 2nd entrance located?

The streets were overflowing with debris and trash.

There were beggars lighting fires on collapsed building ruins and sleeping haphazardly nearby.

“Hey, you! Do you want to die?”

“Hand it over! Give it to me!”

Two beggars with dirty faces were swearing at each other and fighting with punches.

The narrow alleyways twisted like a maze, emitting a strange stench.

“…Is my sister really in a place like this…?”

Meruru seemed somewhat shocked by the dreadful surroundings, clinging to me with an anxious look as she asked.

Even I couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the thought of my sister being in such a place, but I had nothing to say.

Due to the nature of the place being a forbidden location like the demon sanctuary, we had no choice but to come to the underworld.

I could only hope that the demon sanctuary was well protected and not influenced by such dreadful surroundings.

As we wandered through the slums in search of the entrance to the waterway, an old woman in tattered robes slowly approached us.

“You… you don’t seem to be from around here… do you have something you’re looking for?”

The old woman was hunched over, with deep wrinkles on her face.

But she smiled gently and spoke in a kind tone, making her a very pleasant grandmotherly figure.

Since it seemed like everyone around here would cause trouble if approached, we had no one else to ask, so I was relieved to have someone to inquire with.

“We’re looking for the entrance to the 2nd entrance of the waterway.”

“Ho ho ho… is that so… if you turn around that alley and go straight to the left, there’s a ladder leading underground.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“My, isn’t this place a bit dreary? But people still live here… It seems like you’re here for work, so I hope you finish safely and leave. It’s fate that we met like this, so please have a little something to eat before you go.”

The handsome old man put his hand into his pocket and pulled out two small cookies.

They were crispy and looked quite delicious, shaped like stars.

To suddenly offer food like this…

It seemed too suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

The old man’s face, which had seemed pleasant just a moment ago, now looked somehow different.

Even after being warned to be careful, who would accept food from someone in a place like this without hesitation?

“It’s okay. I’m not very hungry.”

“Just take it. I baked them myself.”

“No, thank you. Let’s go, Meruru.”

As Meruru firmly refused and started to head towards the underground waterway, she suddenly snatched the cookies and stuffed them into her mouth without a moment’s hesitation.

“If you don’t eat it, I’ll eat both!”

“Hey! You fool…”

“Hehe… Is it tasty?”

The old man smiled at Meruru.

Crunch, crunch.

She ate the cookie without even knowing what was in it.

…Was it my fault for not warning Meruru more firmly?

The old man who gave her the cookie laughed and disappeared down the alley, and I checked on Meruru’s condition.

“Meruru, are you okay? Do you feel strange at all?”

“Huh? Why are you asking? It was delicious. Even if I wanted to eat more now, it’s too late.”

“It’s not that… sigh…”

What if there had been poison in it?

Well, I couldn’t undo what had already happened, and thankfully Meruru seemed fine.

Was it really just a cookie… If so, that’s a relief…

Putting my worried thoughts aside, I followed the alley as the old man had instructed, and there was a ladder leading down into what seemed like an underground sewer.

The entrance to the underground sewer was clear.

“Meruru… are you really okay?”

Before going down into the underground sewer, I checked on Meruru’s condition once again.

It was because that cookie seemed suspicious no matter how I thought about it.

Meruru looked surprised by my words and promised not to do it again.

“Alright, let’s go down. I’ll go first, so be careful coming down.”

Then I slowly descended the ladder leading to the underground sewer.

Meruru followed right behind me, climbing down the ladder.

“Yunoa could have let Meruru go down first, but she chose to go down first herself.

Was it intentional to create a situation where she could see Meruru’s lower body?

She couldn’t help but think that he was still the same pervert.

Unfounded criticism from the sudden narration as we descended the ladder.

No, I didn’t go down first with that intention.

I wasn’t even looking up in the first place.

I thought it would be safer for me to go down first because I didn’t know what might be below the ladder.

But as I thought that, I unconsciously looked up and saw Meruru.

She wasn’t wearing a skirt, so it wasn’t like I could see anything revealing, but her full tail and the outline of her buttocks were clearly visible.

Wait, I didn’t look because I wanted to.

It was just because the narration was saying unnecessary things that I unconsciously looked up.

I definitely didn’t go down first with that intention.

Damn narration…

As I thought that, it happened.

“…Huh?”

Meruru, who was slowly coming down the ladder, suddenly seemed off.

Was there a problem?

“Meruru! Hey! Can you hear me?”

Feeling a sense of foreboding, I shouted at Meruru to stop her from descending along with me.

But in the next moment, Meruru weakly let go of the ladder, smashed my face with her buttocks, and plummeted down.