Chapter 23 – Floor 4. The Criminal Knight

Having found the Radiant Asymmetric Polyhedron, I continued exploring Floor 4 to meet the criminal knight.

Occasional corpses of dead enemies.

Worn and corroded equipment, and signs of used consumables.

Evidence that a group of criminals had passed through was visible everywhere, making me finally realize that Dave’s words were true.

A clear anomaly that couldn’t be seen in D.D.

There was much to learn from the knight, the leader of this group of criminals.

‘Honestly, I don’t think he’ll know much…’

At best, he was just a criminal with a former knight background, so I didn’t expect to hear the truth about the DunGal Pack.

I was merely curious whether a criminal would autonomously think, judge others, and decide to be hostile or friendly.

After all, even Severa and Dave, the only ones I’d properly spoken with in this dungeon, were unconditionally hostile when first met, just like in D.D.

If Dave successfully made contact with the criminal knight again and told him about me, wouldn’t our relationship be neutral, if not friendly?

This needed verification.

‘I’m also curious if the relationship changes from not killing and conversing persist until the next encounter.’

If the basic relationship couldn’t be changed, even if Dave went to the criminal knight, he’d attack me outright.

Even now that D.D. had become reality, I still didn’t trust criminals.

More precisely, I didn’t trust the dungeon.

There was absolutely nothing to gain from trusting this utterly evil, demonic place that might be setting any kind of trap, waiting for me to fall in.

As I walked, sorting through these complicated thoughts, I realized I’d mapped nearly 80% of Floor 4.

And then came a nauseating stench.

A bloody smell like rusted iron mixed with the terrible odor of sewage.

Unlike the upper floors, the water flow was quite fast and in the opposite direction, so the water in the sewer wasn’t visibly stained red, but the scent of death was definitely present.

‘Any presence…’

Shiver—

With a sensation that sent chills down my spine, my buttocks clenched tight.

Heeding that instinctive warning, I immediately twisted my waist and swung my arm wide, wielding my axe toward my back.

At the edge of my vision, stretching like a panorama, was a person in plate armor and a blade gleaming coldly in the darkness.

The assailant targeting my back seemed startled that I had reacted, judging by his expression.

CLANG!!!

As metal struck metal, small sparks flew with an ear-piercing noise, briefly pushing back the darkness before disappearing.

With a tingling sensation in my arm from the impact of blocking the sword, I pushed back the ambusher.

“You bastard..!”

“Hmph!”

Though it appeared to be made of low-grade iron, plate armor was still plate armor—despite my forceful kick that made him stumble back a few steps, he seemed to take no damage.

“Who are you? This is the second time this has happened, and I’m really not in the mood.”

The ambusher just silently stared at me through the gap in his helmet without answering.

It was annoying.

This was clearly the criminal knight Dave had mentioned.

Whether he had received concentrated equipment or not, he was wrapped in a Tier 3 plate armor set, and the sword he held looked at least Tier 2, if not Tier 3.

‘Lucky bastard. If he’s a mini-boss, that would be convenient.’

If an orthodox melee fighter had obtained that kind of setup in the sewer area, they would have been doing backflips on their way to slice up the alligator.

However, due to the characteristic of enemies being unable to level up and having low coefficients, their actual specs would be much lower than a player’s, despite good items.

That’s probably why they were stopped by the Wanderer, which wasn’t even in its second phase.

“…”

The silence lengthened.

I narrowed my eyes, clicked my tongue, and prepared to bring down my axe while timing when to summon Severa.

‘Right. In the end, he’s not a real person, just an enemy. This time I’ll kill him.’

No matter how human-like he appeared, he was originally just a bunch of pixels.

Now I’m certain—

“Hmm. As the blacksmith Dave said, you seem amateurish, but you have basic skills.”

“What?”

Shing—

With those words, the criminal knight arbitrarily sheathed his sword and removed his helmet, which had only revealed his eyes, exposing his bare face.

He was a man with bold features and a solemn gaze who could pass for a handsome middle-aged man with just a bit of grooming, though he looked like he’d been through a lot, as he wasn’t well-maintained.

“I am Albert, formerly a knight of House Graven from White Chamber. I apologize for attacking you without warning. I wanted to test your skills.”

“Seriously, you fucking criminals. You think stabbing an innocent person in the back and apologizing solves everything…”

“I won’t ask for your forgiveness. I don’t expect it either. I simply want to fight together against the danger ahead with someone who has skill.”

Seeing Albert’s shameless behavior after being so brazen, I lost the will to get any angrier.

In my experience, getting angry at such people only makes them think “whatever” and infuriates me more, so continuing to shout would only be my loss.

“Sigh…”

“I assume you know the general story from the blacksmith Dave.”

Should I consider this guy human?

***

The criminal knight, Albert, took me to a room I hadn’t yet mapped to continue our conversation.

Inside, criminals with not a single part of them unharmed were wrapping bandages with hollow eyes.

‘Seven? Fewer than I expected.’

If there were close to twenty people, doesn’t that mean more than half died to the Wanderer?

Despite the difference in specs, twenty criminal-level enemies should have been able to defeat even a mini-boss like the Wanderer.

Especially with Albert, wrapped in Tier 3 equipment.

As I scanned the room with these doubts, I noticed Dave lying in a corner, tied up tightly with rope and beaten to a pulp.

I thought he might be dead, but looking closely, his chest was rising and falling, so he seemed to be alive.

Albert, perhaps sensing my gaze on Dave, began to explain what sounded like an excuse.

“He deserves to die for fleeing during battle without any discussion, but if I really killed him, it would be difficult to talk with you. If he had been there, one more might have survived.”

At Albert’s statement blaming Dave, the hatred of responsibility seemed to ignite again, as criminals who had lost everything from fingers to entire legs glared at Dave, who couldn’t even open his eyes from swelling.

‘Barbaric bastards.’

Their skill at shifting blame after getting themselves beaten up was truly artistic.

“Hmm… Is that so… munch munch…”

“You don’t approve?”

Albert, who asked without any change in expression as if devoid of emotion, sat down in front of the bonfire.

“Do I not approve? Well… I was just thinking ‘criminals will be criminals,’ I guess.”

“This bastard…!”

Some criminals, including one with an angry-looking face, seemed triggered by my words and stood up abruptly, but I paid them no attention.

Honestly, except for the criminal knight Albert, they were all just Criminal #3,765,181 with nothing special about them.

“I don’t know and don’t care whether you were a knight from some noble family or not. In the end, you’re just an idiot who got kicked out for causing trouble, so why are you putting on airs?”

“Hmm…”

At this remark, even the composed one’s pride seemed wounded, as his eyebrows twitched.

“You all got your asses handed to you because you couldn’t catch one woman, and now you’re shifting blame. How nice to see.”

“…She wasn’t an ordinary woman, but a monster that absorbed the magic of the sewers. Despite lacking intelligence, she had the skills of a high-ranking knight. If I had my original equipment…”

The criminal knight made excuses.

That it wasn’t that we, or rather I, was weak, but that the Wanderer was extraordinary.

And even the ugly excuse that he could win if he had his original equipment.

Setting aside the first impression that could make him this century’s best friend for trying to stab my back as soon as we met, the rich emotions were evident in his facial muscles that twitched slightly, unable to maintain a composed expression.

“As if.”

The atmosphere was sinking not just into a quagmire but straight into the abyss.

“It would be too much for someone of your skill.”

“Why? Do I look easy because I can’t use a sword and have a scrawny body?”

In reality, fighting together would be a great help. Nevertheless, I mocked the criminal knight.

Snap—

I snapped my fingers.

“Wh-what…! A specter! It followed us all the way here?!”

“Eeek! P-please spare me! Please spare me, I have siblings waiting for me…”

“Move aside! Everyone move!”

As the eerie red glow appeared, the criminals scattered in panic, crawling on all fours, each trying to escape.

Only Albert and the unconscious Dave remained in place, though even Albert looked startled, eyes wide open and hand on the sword at his waist.

He was clearly showing signs of wariness. And wariness is an action born from fear.

‘It works for sure.’

I made a mental note to give Severa a kiss when we were alone.

She’d probably hate it.

“You ambush a summoner, fail to win, and then strut around saying you’re strong—did you think that would work, idiot?”

Indeed, gaining the upper hand before negotiations was supremely effective.

Even Albert, who still seemed to think he was a knight despite being exiled to the underground sewers, bent to my will as he watched me cautiously.

‘I’ll consider you human for now.’

Though they showed diverse reactions, it still seemed too early to determine whether they were truly data made of 0s and 1s.

So I wouldn’t kill them.

“Then do you plan to face that woman alone? It seems difficult even for someone as strong as you.”

To be honest, I didn’t think I’d lose if I challenged the Wanderer as is.

However, as Albert said, the second phase would be quite burdensome.

“You too need to pass through there to get out of these sewers—”

“I could probably break through alone, but I’ll accept your request for joint combat. However, I want something in return.”

Though this was my first time encountering an event like cooperating with a group of criminals to take down the Wanderer, it was an excellent reinforcement for me, who needed to aim for a short decisive battle.

Still, since it was Albert and his criminal group who were struggling with the Wanderer, I could extract something from them.

“…So what do you want? As you can see, we don’t have much to give right now.”

The words “If you’re willing to give something, you could take off that plate armor and offer it” rose to my throat, but I didn’t say them.

Although armor is important, its value diminishes for me, who can put onaholes in the front line in case of emergency.

What I wanted was…

“You were a knight, right? Teach me how to use a sword.”

I’ll need it in the future.