Chapter 87: Consider Death

The Saint is right.

Killing all 21 survivors, storing them in my inventory, and then going up is the most rational and efficient method.

I know that too. That it would be the most advantageous for survival. It’s just bitter that we have to kill these people who have barely survived with our own hands.

“Shouldn’t we ask for their opinions first? I agree that the third method is the most efficient, but… I think we should still ask for their opinions.”

Seven out of the 21 survivors are unconscious and can’t be asked for their opinion, but I think it’s right to ask the remaining 14 who can still move.

Even if they can be resurrected, there will surely be people who will find it difficult to bear the cost of resurrection. We should hear their opinions first.

They’re not animals, so it’s absurd to just slaughter them indiscriminately as if disposing of them.

“Well, we can’t force death on them. If I ask, it’s likely to cause backlash. You ask them, Porter.”

The Saint’s image is the worst, whether inside or outside the city.

While she’s hailed as a hero within the religious order, everywhere else, the Saint is treated as a madwoman.

She’s an object of fear and terror, with a very strong image of a crazy madwoman.

If such a Saint says, “You all need to die for us,” it would be difficult to persuade them.

So the Saint delegated the task of persuasion to me.

From now on, I have to ask those people to die for our convenience.

‘Sigh.’

I thought I just had to collect corpses.

The mission is becoming tighter and more difficult than I expected.

‘I knew it would go to hell, but there are too many variables than I thought.’

It’s not like I haven’t experienced labyrinth-style screwing over once or twice.

No matter how much we prepare, the labyrinth is a place where people die, so I was already aware that such abnormal situations would definitely occur.

So let’s not lament and just do the job.

As I went to where the adventurers were gathered, Rosie and Paramel were ladling out warm oatmeal from a pot and distributing it to the adventurers.

Before talking with the Saint, the adventurers had complained of extreme hunger and thirst, so we shared some of our food with them.

One might say what’s the point of feeding those we’re going to kill anyway, but that’s too inhumane a thought, so let’s refrain from it.

Even if they’re people we’re going to kill and take with us, if they say they’re dying of hunger right now, we should feed them, shouldn’t we?

Especially as a former Korean, I’m uncompromising when it comes to food. These are people who have been dragged away by heretic bastards and suffered all kinds of humiliation with bugs in their brains. I’m not so narrow-minded that I can’t provide them with a meal.

“Did your conversation with the Saint end well?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like a very good conclusion was reached.”

“What? Why is that?”

“The situation isn’t favorable. I’m thinking of adopting the most efficient and easiest method the Saint mentioned. But it just doesn’t feel right.”

“What kind of method is it that makes you feel that way?”

“Well…”

I told Rosie about the three methods I heard from the Saint.

“Ah… Certainly.. the third method seems to be the most effective one.”

“Right.”

“Yes. Since we have the elixir of resurrection. If you can make it up alive, Porter-nim, they will surely all be revived by the hands of the religious order.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“But it does feel unsettling. This is a matter of conscience. And above all, I wonder if they will agree.”

“That’s right.”

The cost of resurrection is quite expensive.

There will surely be those who would rather throw themselves into danger than pay for it.

Just because someone has a high adventurer rank doesn’t mean they have a lot of money.

There are many in Labyrinth City who spend their money recklessly on gambling, alcohol, and women.

To begin with, they’re people with no tomorrow, so isn’t that why they crawl into this gloomy labyrinth to make a living?

Anyway, it seems Rosie understood the Saint’s words too. She agreed that this is the easiest and most convenient method.

After hearing the agreement of Rosie, who seems to be the most personally mature among the inquisitors, not just the Saint who likes slaughter, I became a bit more convinced.

That the third method is ultimately the best solution given to us.

“Excuse me, adventurers. I have something to announce to you.”

At my words, the adventurers who were scooping up oatmeal all looked at me at once.

“Wh-what do you ha-have to an-announce?”

The adventurers’ speech had become very slurred, probably due to brain damage.

They’ll remain in that state until they receive proper healing. Moreover, seven of them are in a semi-comatose state.

“The truth is, we’re in a very poor condition right now. The oatmeal we distributed to you was taken from our own food supplies.”

“So, so what?”

“Before we deal with the heretics, we have to continue fighting while moving around the underground city. We’ll probably have to stay for more than a week. But in this mission… you all seem to be a big hindrance.”

At my words, the gathered adventurers started murmuring.

“So!? If we’re a hindrance.. you’re going to abandon us?”

“No. We’ve been looking for ways not to abandon you.”

It’s better not to explain the first method of protecting the adventurers and going to the exit, or the second method of leaving the adventurers in the central district and protecting them. We need to guide them to choose the third method.

Resurrection ultimately costs money, and money sometimes clouds people’s judgment.

Above all, the fundamental fear of death might stimulate their hearts and make them not want to choose the third option.

Yes, the important point here is to leave only the third option and force them to make a binary choice between dying or being abandoned.

I don’t feel good about it either, and I know this is clearly a bad thing, but there was no other way.

The labyrinth is cruel.

For our smooth survival, we must force their deaths.

We have to package it in a way that they don’t realize they’re being forced as much as possible. That was the best we could do.

“So, so… to go up.. we have to die?”

“Taking corpses up is the most effective and efficient method. Or would you like to join us in hunting heretics? However, if you choose that method, we can’t guarantee your safety. Can you survive on your own and follow us?”

If they don’t want to go into the spatial pocket and want to follow us.

They have to accept the penalty of possibly dying and having their corpses damaged, preventing resurrection.

“Why, why do we have to follow you..”

“Because if you don’t follow us, you’ll be captured by the heretics again. Then bugs will be planted in your heads once more.”

“Ah…”

If they don’t want to go into the spatial pocket, it would be safest to follow us and help with heretic hunting.

The moment they start searching for a transfer stone to escape on their own, they’ll fall prey to the heretics again. This time, they probably won’t be able to survive like before. They won’t be able to resurrect either.

“As far as we can tell. The entire underground city has already fallen into the hands of the heretics. As you saw earlier, they freely control the native species and have made the entire city their territory. No matter where you go, they’re lurking. We should assume that all transfer stones in the underground city have fallen into the heretics’ hands.”

“Damn… damn it…”

“I.. I don’t have money.. How am I supposed to afford the resurrection cost..”

“With your level of skill, you should be able to quickly pay off your debts by becoming affiliated with the religious order. You won’t fall into slavery… please consider death.”

“…”

“Fuck… fuck this shitty labyrinth… fucking hell…”

“Hueuk….”

Those who had enough money to afford the resurrection cost seriously considered death.

However, those who couldn’t afford the resurrection cost were frustrated, and some even burst into tears.

By becoming affiliated with the religious order and working hard, they can pay off their debts without becoming slaves.

However, until the debt is fully paid, there’s almost no personal freedom, and all earnings are taken by the religious order.

In this case, for people with families, they might not be able to send any money home for several years.

Someone supporting sick elderly parents might despair at life itself, struggling with the debt given by the religious order.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll be happy just because you survive.

Of course, I think it’s still better than dying, but people’s thoughts vary greatly depending on their situation and circumstances.

“Please make your choice before you finish your meal.”

With those words, I turned around.

I feel like it wasn’t something to say while people were eating, but it had to be said.

‘Let’s plant some beans.’

I informed the Saint that I had relayed the message. Now the choice is up to the adventurers. Since I’ve roughly finished what I needed to do, now I should plant some vine beans in the central district.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, I’m planting beans.”

While I was looking for a suitable place to plant the vine beans, Sasaro approached.

“Beans?”

“Yes. They grow by eating mana. When they grow, they automatically intercept monsters that enter a certain area.”

“There are such beans?”

“I received them from an alchemist I know.”

“Huh. That’s quite interesting.”

Sasaro, being an old man, was very interested in farming and crops.

“I’d like to retire and go back to farming soon too.”

“Retire, you say?”

“Yes. I think it’s not quite right to keep going in and out of the labyrinth at this age. I felt it this time. My body isn’t like it used to be. I should retire soon.”

“Uh..”

That line feels ominous.

This is a death flag, isn’t it?

“Um, well. Sasaro-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

Sasaro has already said, “I’ll retire after this fight is over.”

Let’s pray for his soul. It felt like I might get caught up in it if I tried to retrieve the flag.

‘Beans. Let’s just plant the beans.’

Let’s focus and plant the beans.

First, I made a small cut on the tip of my finger and smeared it on the vine bean. Then I set adventurers as an exclusion from attack targets.

The method wasn’t difficult. I just had to inject the concept of ‘adventurer’ I had in mind into the vine bean along with the blood.

This way, it will automatically attack and absorb beings that are judged not to be adventurers, namely monsters. I hope heretics are included in the category of monsters.

After finishing the command input, I planted the bean under the stone floor of the central district.

It didn’t grow dramatically like the giant bean in Jack and the Beanstalk.

It will grow slowly, absorbing mana.

I planted one seed.

Four seeds remain.

If I go around planting them in each district, I’ll complete Raphanel’s mission.

I wonder how many survivors will follow us on this perilous mission.

If more than half of those 21 people follow…

‘I’ll have to prepare monster meat.’

Securing food will become important.

We’ll have to chew even tough wolf meat.

There’s no delicious rabbit meat from the breeding grounds here.