Ch.412Heading Toward the Drug Den

The hazy moon in the sky flickered dimly, and even the starlight was obscured by clouds and shadows, making the night streets pitch black.

The city under curfew was submerged in deep silence as if the daytime vitality had been a lie, with only gloomy-faced church members wandering about.

And even they were few in number.

“The moonlight is particularly dark tonight…”

“It seems Lord Menes is walking through dreams.”

The voices of Paladins grew closer.

Are they coming this way? I should hide myself.

“Patrolling on nights like this is eerie. Don’t you feel like monsters might jump out from the alleys?”

“Surely not. At most we’d find some drug addicts, wouldn’t we?”

I pulled my hood down deeper over my head and hid against the inside wall of the alley, avoiding any sign of my presence.

Though the Archbishop had given me documents to show if discovered by church members, he also said it would be best not to be caught at all.

Sticking to the wall as if I were part of it, I held my breath waiting for them to pass. Soon enough, the voices of the Paladins began to fade away.

I started walking through the night alleys again, being careful not to make any noise.

Heading toward the slums where the drug den was located.

—-

The reason I was searching for a drug den in the dead of night was not, of course, to experience the latest drug that supposedly makes you feel like you’ve ascended to heaven after just one try.

I’d have to be insane to do drugs.

Rather, I was here to do quite the opposite.

I moved between alleys, avoiding the gaze of Paladins and Priests as I approached the slum area.

In my mind, I recalled my negotiation with the Archbishop from earlier today.

A few hours ago, when confronted about the drug den problem, Archbishop Gwinel, contrary to my expectation that he would make excuses or deny it, sighed with a gloomy face.

Well, that’s not to say he didn’t make excuses.

The Archbishop was indeed aware of the fact that drug addicts were increasing in Holon’s slum area, and of the seriousness of the situation.

Surprisingly, it seems he had even tried to eradicate the problem.

“The issue is that it’s in the slums. We can’t even determine how many people live there, and hiding places are abundant. If we deploy large forces, they completely empty the entire alley, and even when we send a few Paladins to investigate, we can never find their suppliers.”

I’m not sure how much of his words I could trust, but it seems the Archbishop had his own difficulties.

He tried to eradicate it but failed, he says.

“And even if we round up all the addicts sprawled around, within days a similar number of new addicts appear… The church’s prison has long been filled with those addicted to drugs.”

“Couldn’t you just treat them and release them? No matter how addictive the drug is, if you use the miracle of purification…”

They should be able to cleanse the addictive substances from the body.

“That’s not nearly enough. Even after removing the drug components and releasing them, they crawl back to the drug dens, unable to forget the sensation they experienced. It’s not the body but the mind itself that has been tainted by the drug.”

“Hmm… seems like a stronger drug than I thought.”

So even if you completely eliminate the addictive components and restore their sanity, they voluntarily go back to get addicted again?

If the drug is that powerful, there’s practically no way to treat those who are addicted.

“It’s a new type of drug called LSD. Its exact name is ‘Walk of Lucid Blood’… It gives the user intense hallucinations and endless pleasure. According to someone who still had their reason intact… ahem. Though blasphemous, they described having hallucinations of sleeping with thirty goddesses.”

“…Indeed, that is blasphemous. The name of the drug is also pagan. ‘Walk of Blood,’ really. So, were there any other clues from that person?”

If there had been any clues, I could have started an investigation based on them.

At the very least, I could have found out who sold the drug to him.

“Well… the priest in charge of the interrogation, upon hearing that description, lost control of his anger and tore out the man’s eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, then cut him into dozens of pieces.”

…Somehow I expected that.

I’ve never seen a cleric in this world who wasn’t brutal.

They’re all just potential butchers hiding savage violence and chilling cruelty behind benevolent smiles.

Except for our Lena.

Anyway, Archbishop Gwinel, arguing that he had indeed tried to eradicate the drugs, asked if I could help him while we were on the subject.

He said that whenever they sent Paladins, the dealers would vanish like ghosts, making it impossible to catch them, but perhaps I, as an outsider, might have a chance.

I wasn’t particularly confident in investigative work, but since he promised to put in a good word with the Cardinal if I could just catch the drug dealer’s trail, I had no choice but to accept.

Lacy, who had returned from talking with the Archbishop of the Church of Ausrine, also thought it was a good opportunity.

“Although our schedule will be slightly delayed, if we can gain the favor of the Church of Menes through this, it would be a fortunate turn of events.”

I thought the Crusaders here might be able to help, but unfortunately, they hadn’t begun their investigation yet.

Well, it hasn’t been long since Lacy gave the order.

At most, they’re probably still refining their infiltration plans.

For that reason, I found myself heading toward the drug den under the cover of night.

And alone at that.

The thing is, even I had to admit that among our group, I was the only one suitable for this kind of work.

Nigel and Vels were too rigid to be suitable for infiltration, and Lilliez was too weak to be trusted.

Rather than investigating, she’d probably end up being captured by those guys, forced to take drugs, and moaning “Sooo gooood!” while being violated.

Leonore was also unsuitable for infiltration missions.

She exuded such noble dignity even when standing still that she would attract too much attention.

Demian and Millia were out of the question from the start.

In my view, that lunatic Demian would probably lick the drugs out of curiosity.

Maybe because he doesn’t understand emotions, his way of thinking is completely different from normal people.

And if I sent Millia, the entire slum would turn into a sea of blood before we even got to the drugs.

In her eyes, this place probably looks like a kobold den.

In the end, I had to leave all the others to guard Lacy and set out alone with my robe pulled down.

We have five Masters, yet none of them are useful. Bunch of guys who can only swing swords.

Actually, if I think about it, I’m much better at swordplay than they are.

These guys are practically stealing their wages.

—-

Setting aside my joking thoughts, I finally entered the slums after walking for a while.

It was much darker and several times more gloomy than other places. The stench was also terrible.

‘The air here is incredibly dirty. And that smell. It’s amazing people can live in a place like this. Did they remove their noses or something?’

I complained as I took out Asha’s purification device from my pocket and covered my nose and mouth.

The stench of garbage, vomit, rotting corpses, and decaying soon-to-be corpses was strong enough to permeate beyond the alley.

[Indeed. Worse than a slave den. But a fitting place for drug-infested vermin to rot.]

Hersella also clicked her tongue in disgust and sneered.

Fortunately, once I wore Asha’s purification device like a mask, fresh air began to flow into my lungs with a faint mechanical sound.

At times like this, I can’t help but feel grateful for dwarven technology.

I entered the alley leading deeper into the slums while wearing the purification device.

Carefully avoiding the filth scattered on the ground.

I could tolerate garbage or blood, but stepping on half-decayed vomit or feces left on the street would be unbearably disgusting.

Those Paladin bastards—I wonder if they didn’t find the suppliers not because they couldn’t, but because they didn’t want to go deeper inside and only searched the outskirts?

—-

After walking through the complex and dirty alleys for about three minutes, things other than garbage started to appear.

“Uuugh…”

Or maybe this counts as garbage too.

Drug addicts were leaning against the streets, drooling and muttering nonsense in their intoxicated state.

Although there was a curfew, it made sense they didn’t bother following it since priests wouldn’t patrol as far as these slums.

To begin with, I’m not even sure if these guys have homes to spend the night in.

Probably not, I’d guess.

I glanced at them briefly before carefully moving on, making sure not to touch them.

Just looking at those stains all over their pants was disgusting enough.

“Hnnng… Lady Imela, Lady Saulite… there…!”

Crazy bastards.

As the Archbishop had said, men with bulging crotches were uttering words that would get them torn into two hundred pieces if priests heard them.

Those guys are headed for hell.

Though they’re practically in hell already.

The deeper I went into the alley, the more addicts I encountered.

Some were completely out of their minds on drugs, but among them were those who seemed to have regained some sanity, perhaps because their drugs had worn off.

“A woman alone at this hour? Must be desperate?”

“Hehehe, if you want drugs, come over here and spread your legs. After a few rounds, I might share some of mine with you.”

These kinds of guys.

I approached them with my head lowered, smirking slightly.