Chapter 20: The story of how the party fell apart (5)

Chapter 20: The story of
how the party fell apart (5)

“Water.”

“Yes.
Master.”

I
told her I was thirsty, and she opened her canteen and politely
poured water into my mouth with both hands.

As
you can see, a full day had passed since she became my slave.

[Nam
Soo Jin LV.5]

[Free
Points: 5]

[Currently
owned slave: Denshi (LV.7)]

The
moment I took the leash from Grumpy, the status window changed.

Currently
owned slave Denshi. It was a sign that she was now mine.

I
don’t know how this was accomplished.

It
seemed far more reliable than the crude verbal agreements and tenuous
trust between explorers.

Although
she was only a barbarian 1 at first, eager to fuck me, she has now
become my faithful servant, realizing her place and position in the
world by controlling her troubled womb.

Indeed,
I was pleased to see that my manners training (physical) had worked
quite well.

“Clock.”

“It
is currently 23:11.”

“Sleep.”

“Here’s
your pillow.”

She
knelt down and patted her thigh.

My
mind is still racing with thoughts of anguish and gagging.

“Don’t
fuck with me, bitch, I’m going to bed, and you’re going to stay up.”

“Eh.
Just once for the slave’s job satisfaction. It’ll be nice and soft.”

“Huh.
Slavery is a job.”

“That’s
a very insensitive thing to say about slaves.”

“Is
that how you treated Deluna?”

“She’s
already dead, don’t you think it’s okay to treat her a little rough?”

“No,
that’s not what I meant⋯
ha. Never mind.”

“Hmph.”

I
felt a pain in my stomach as I looked at the sneaky grin. I felt like
I shouldn’t have accepted it.

‘⋯No,
but it’s the
right thing to do for the future.’

I
realized once again that I could trust no one in this labyrinthine
city.

Since
I took her in as a slave yesterday, I’ve gotten a vague idea of her
backstory.

Her
orphanhood, her slavery, her story.

I
need to know what happened to her before I can do anything, believe
it or not.

Her
expression was so sincere when she spoke that it didn’t seem like a
lie.

–
Brother. You seem to believe her, so I’ll go along with it, but she’s
a former slave hunter, so I have to be careful⋯.

-Hand.

–
Neng.

–
⋯Are
you okay? You didn’t hurt your head too badly when you got hit, did
you?

Jeremy,
who had been wary even after hearing the initial explanation, began
to worry about the dog as she knelt down and grabbed his hand at my
command.

At
least she’s earned my trust as a party member.

–
Deluna, my former master, is a mage who used to lead a party for an
outlaw clan called the Blurs. Her main responsibilities were slave
hunting and recruitment.

I’ve
since heard of all of Deluna’s misdeeds.

The
list of crimes was long, including looting, killing, and slave
hunting.

This
made it even more puzzling.

‘Deluna,
that bitch, sitting proudly in the Explorers’ Union.’

Fuck
the Explorers’ Union, those assholes.

I
thought they were cheap when they charged me 20 silver coins for an
identification plaque and didn’t even bother to check my ID.

–
Don’t worry, the Explorers’ Alliance building has a special sign
forbidding the ‘branded’ from entering.

Was
that stance their way of saying that the organization is more or less
accepting of criminals, as long as they aren’t branded?

‘Are
things so bad that they’re working with criminals, or are they just
incompetent at their jobs⋯?’

I
couldn’t tell at this point, but as a fledgling explorer, I hoped it
was the latter.

‘Maybe
they were just incompetent this time, but if the Explorers’ Alliance
is a criminal organization, I really have no answers⋯’

Assuming
the worst, I realized that I was lucky that the party hadn’t blown up
in the first place.

If
I had a criminal party member like Deluna, I could have gotten into a
worse situation with no answers.

I
nodded my head in ignorance at the idea of just matching party
members, but now I realize I’ll never be able to do that.

I
need someone I can trust, someone I can keep exploring with.

No
matter how careful I am, one wrong move and I’m done. That’s why it’s
dangerous.

There’s
a reason they say to always be wary of betrayal upon betrayal.

What
can you do to prevent it?

The
most fundamental way is to find a trusted party member but it’s also
the most difficult.

“⋯Why
do you suddenly look so piercing, is something wrong, do you want to
punch me, are you annoyed, do you want to hit me, I’m ready, you can
come anytime.”

In
that sense, the slave was a fairly efficient tool.

Once
you gave them an order, they wouldn’t stab you in the back.

They
can be a little unruly, but I never felt the need to suppress them
too much.

In
a rigid labyrinth, having this much of an atmosphere maker is a
positive mental health factor.

And
best of all.

“…!”

This
guy is definitely useful.

[Denshi
Lv.7]

[Stamina:(2)
Strength:(4) Agility:(9+0) Wisdom:(1+0) Finesse:(1)]

[Blessings
and Curses currently possessed by Denshi: 1]

[◆
Blessing of the
Wind]

–
Extremely developed sense of hearing. Greatly increases your affinity
with wind spirits.

–
Dexterity +15 Wisdom +5 when maximum conditions are met (0 Wind
Spirits collected to date)

Her
ears perked up and she poked her head out of the goblin wall.

“⋯
Ugh. Seven, maybe eight goblins⋯?
Coming from the back.”

About
twenty seconds after she said that, goblins came into my perceptual
range with the Great Helm.

Eight,
to be exact. Pretty accurate, too.

Twenty
seconds was a long time in the Labyrinth.

I
don’t need to tell you how much you can turn the tables in your favor
if you have that time to know their numbers and locations and have
time to prepare.

‘From
our very first meeting, she naturally formed a goblin wall. Turns out
it was possible because of her keen hearing?’

Come
to think of it, it was inside the goblin wall that I was almost raped
by Grumpy.

I
gripped my axe for a moment, remembering the past.

***

With
enough power and preparation we easily took out eight goblins without
the slightest injury.

“Die!
Die, you sons of bitches!”

-Poof!
Poof!

Jeremy’s
eyes widened at the sight of the goblin, and he thrashed its corpse.

“⋯That
guy seems to have a weird head.”

“Maybe
you should be friends. I think you’d get along well.”

“What
are you talking about⋯!”

Me
and Grumpy watched the scene and picked off the goblin’s ears and put
them in our backpacks.

Since
we came from the depths of the first floor, we didn’t settle down and
hunt in one place, but we had accumulated quite a few goblin ears.

“⋯⋯”

I
saw a human ear buried in the goblin ears.

Quietly,
I tugged at the ear, revealing a human head.

[Deluna
LV. 10]

[Blessings
and Curses currently possessed by Deluna: 2]

[◆
Blessing of the
Dull Wizard]

–
You gain additional wisdom at the level of a Dull Wizard.

Good
news. The status window has been extended to corpses.

[◆
Curse of the 98261st Puppet]

–
Deluna has become the 98261st puppet.

Bad
news. Her curse has a really bad phrase on it. Holy shit.
Ninety-thousand? How is that possible?

‘Puppet⋯’

When
I was in an orphanage, I often had the opportunity to watch puppet
shows.

I
used to think it was quite fascinating to see people who were paid to
perform tie threads on their fingers and connect them to puppets, and
with a wave of their hand, multiple puppets would move and perform
different actions.

–
Do you know who’s on top of me, huh?!

I
remembered Deluna’s words as she flailed about on the verge of death.

Suddenly,
I realized that Deluna’s head didn’t look like a human head, but
rather a mannequin’s or doll’s head.

“You’re
a bitch, how big is the Blurs Clan?”

“The
work they do is dirty and the scale is not that big. At best, it can
barely compete with mid-sized clans…?”

98261st
is a number that would never come from a mid-sized clan.

“Then
this one⋯”

I
was about to ask her if she knew anything about Deluna’s curse,
since she was her former owner, but I quickly shut my mouth.

‘I’m
the only one with a status window.’

Normally,
the only way to determine a blessing or curse in this world is to
borrow the power of the temple.

It’s
said that highly gifted explorers or veteran explorers can
intuitively know their blessings and curses, but that’s only for the
gifted few.

The
overwhelming majority of normal explorers will stop by the temple
every time they enter or leave the Labyrinth, and will spend money to
see what blessings and curses they have earned.

Depending
on which blessing or curse you receive, the rest of your life could
be changed in an instant.

Anyway,
the important thing to know now is that no one can see the blessings
or curses of others except the temple itself.

If
they ask, “How do you know that?!” I have nothing to say to
that.

‘Let’s
just keep the ⋯status
window a
secret.’

There’s
no point in bragging about my powers. It’s an ability that’s ripe for
abuse and exploitation.

‘I
only need to use it for my own needs.’

“Me?
What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

I
swallowed hard and stuffed Deluna’s head back into my backpack.

***

“The
escape portal!!!”

Jeremy,
now a beggar, cheered as he saw the white light in the distance.

We
had made it safely to the escape portal after two more days of
traveling and battling slave hunters.

The
original purpose of the party was to stay in the area and hunt
goblins.

When
the party broke up, the immediate goal was to survive, but with the
leveling of Jeremy and the addition of Grumpy, the party was somewhat
strengthened.

It
was tempting to go back to the original goal of hunting.

“⋯Anya’s
decay rate is faster than I thought.”

Since
the attachment head of Girlfriend Head Collector Goblin Slayer Jeremy
was about to rot, we decided to leave the Labyrinth.

“Can
we go to the second floor on our next trip to the labyrinth?”

We
got here pretty smoothly, considering that shit happened twice.

“Please
look forward to it. The second floor is my home. From there, traps
will appear, so I will be much more useful.”

Rather
than being subtle about it, she made her skills known.

I
was just going to do it. After all, the party’s progress through the
Labyrinth had certainly accelerated since she’d joined.

“Okay.
Good job.”

“⋯⋯”

As
I congratulated her on her efforts, she suddenly stopped dead in her
tracks and fell silent.

-Pow!

I
tugged on the leash and her body twitched.

“Come
on, come on. Let’s go.”

“⋯⋯⋯Neee⋯”

As
I stood in front of the escape portal, my voice strangely slurred and
my pace slowed, I had a question.

“Do
you count as part of the party?”

“Probably,
since there are parties that often bring slaves to the Labyrinth⋯”

“Why?”

“Well,
for relieving sexual desire⋯
to use as bait⋯
quite a bit.”

Come
to think of it, the last beastman party I met had a slave in the
back, too. That’s what they use him for.

“Hold
my hand.”

“⋯⋯”

“Yes,
sir. Brother.”

Grumpy
and Jeremy took my hands.

Just
like last time, and this time, every time I enter and exit the
Labyrinth, I have a strange realization.

It’s
like a reminder of how fucked up this world is.

Monsters
suck, and explorers suck even more but it doesn’t matter.

I
just have to be strong enough to deal with the shit that comes my
way.

‘The
harvest wasn’t bad, though.’

Goods
and armor from the slave hunters, bounties for killing criminals that
I don’t know if I’ll ever get, pay for killing goblins, and most of
all.

‘Two
party members.’

A
man and a woman.

‘Although
one is a goblin slayer with a dead girlfriend and the other is a
perverted masochist slave ranger with sensitive ears⋯’

At
least I’ve found allies I can at least trust.

Woooowwww-.

We
stepped through the portal and left the labyrinth.

It’s
been a shitty ride together…I’ll see you next week, Labyrinth.

***

An
uncomfortable feeling passed through my body.

I
open my eyes to the unfamiliar, yet welcome, sight of Labyrinth City.

I
checked my body, but nothing seemed out of place.

I
didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. I checked my status, and
there were no new blessings or curses.

I
was a little disappointed since a good blessing would help me grow
stronger faster.

I
checked my party members and was relieved that they hadn’t been
cursed.

“Uhhhh…”

Grumpy
bewildered voice is heard. The blessing count in her status window
has increased to 2.

Grumpy
has been blessed on this trip through the Labyrinth but her gaze
wasn’t on herself. Rather, her stunned gaze was directed to my right.

To
my right was Jeremy.

A
strange sense of foreboding swept over me.

‘Some
curses can turn you into a monster or make you completely insane.’

I’d
heard stories in the taverns of people who’d been cursed and gone mad
and committed massacres as soon as they’d left the labyrinth.

I
squeezed Jeremy’s hand first.

A
human hand, for one thing. It was not a monster’s hand. Even with my
perceptions, Jeremy was in human form.

‘Is
it the latter?’

But
a case of mental insanity shouldn’t be immediately obvious⋯
so why was Grumpy so surprised?

I
glanced to my right, ready to draw my axe in foreboding.

“⋯?
Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something wrong
with me⋯?”

“Nu,
who are you?”

“What?
It’s me, big brother, did you really forget me in such a short
time?!”

The
guy shouted, pointing at himself with a shocked face.

His
voice was thin and high-pitched. It wasn’t a low voice to begin with,
but now it was almost a woman’s voice.

It
was natural for a woman’s voice to come from a woman’s throat.

[Jeremy
(♀)
LV.2]

[Blessings
and curses currently held by Jeremy: 1]

[◆
Blessing of male rejection, female acceptance] NEW!!!

– All
females were once males. They shed their male skin and transform into
females.

–
You must dress as a female, and your armor will change to fit the
female form.

–
Leveling up efficiency is proportional to the size of the lost
manhood.

–
Losing 2 cm of phallus increases leveling efficiency by 20%.

His
body is now female.

“⋯?”

Jeremy
(♀)
suddenly realized something was wrong, and her gaze dropped
to her feet.

She
probably couldn’t see the floor because of her breasts.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯ah.”

He-no,
she-opened her mouth briefly, then her eyes rolled back in her head
and she fainted. She hadn’t survived the trauma.

I
looked at Jeremy, who would now live her life as a female, and
thought.

‘Is
this a blessing or a curse?’

Two
party members, one male and one female, became two females.