Chapter 93: Discard Conscience and Take Advantage

The witch reached out her hand to my arm and touched the bracelet.

What she touched was not the Bracelet of Growth, but the “Ability Fixing Bracelet” given by Mabel. Wearing this increases the probability of gaining abilities of the same type as the ones I already have.

Mabel had connected this bracelet with my spatial pocket. To make it easier to gain space-related abilities.

-First, this.

‘What are you trying to do?’

-Mabel tried to develop your spatial pocket primarily. But that’s a mistake.

-You can learn space magic in other ways anytime.

-The important thing is to maximize the function of your spirit vision.

The witch placed great significance on my spirit vision.

She says it’s better to develop methods of handling souls rather than space magic.

-Soul abilities through spirit vision are in a somewhat different direction from necromancy.

-To deal with the malice of the labyrinth. You need more helpers.

-And the helpers you can get in the labyrinth are… only the souls of dead humans.

-Spirit vision will be the answer to that. So it’s better to connect spirit vision and the bracelet.

The bracelet that the witch’s hand brushed past looked no different from before.

But the engraving on the bracelet would have changed.

-If you wear that bracelet, 90 percent of the abilities you gain from now on will be fixed to strengthen your spirit vision. If you don’t like that, you can take off the bracelet.

‘Is strengthening the spirit vision the right thing to do?’

-That’s the best way to go down to the deepest part of the labyrinth, which could burst at any time, as quickly as possible.

-You can never reach the deepest part with just Shaka’s remnants left in your body.

‘Is it that serious?’

-Look at that giant over there.

The giant that came up from the 7th floor.

It turned the 5th floor into a mess all by itself.

-More than a dozen such giants roam around on the 7th floor.

-And there are monsters stronger than that too.

-Even on the 7th floor, giants are among the strong ones. But who knows what monsters exist in deeper places.

-It seems difficult to break through even the 7th floor with the power of a great warrior.

The witch’s words were certainly right.

Currently, the information I have is only up to the 7th floor.

Even Olivia didn’t remember perfectly about below that.

It means the unknown realm is approaching soon.

To begin with, even the adventurers of Labyrinth City only reach the 7th floor at most.

It was hard to know what the 8th floor would be like.

-The important thing is not for you to become strong alone.

-It’s about increasing the number of minions you can control using spirit vision.

‘Can I increase minions with spirit vision?’

-It’s possible. No, that’s probably one of the biggest functions of spirit vision in the first place.

The ability inherent in spirit vision.

-You’ve become able to see souls crumbling away in the labyrinth.

-And most of them are vengeful spirits of adventurers who died in evil.

Spirit vision reflects the vengeful spirits of adventurers.

It allows you to communicate with them and interfere with them.

Also, I could arbitrarily possess their souls in my body, or take them up and release them on the surface.

The witch says:

Are you just going to use this spirit vision, which can interfere in various ways, to merely save souls?

‘Don’t tell me…’

-Yes, what you’re thinking is correct.

You get rewards just for retrieving corpses.

But this is about saving vengeful spirits that can never escape the labyrinth otherwise.

-Will you grant them enlightenment for free?

At the witch’s question, I fell into deep thought.

‘You’re saying to use the souls of the dead, right?’

-Yes. Granting them enlightenment for free won’t be of much help on your journey.

‘Oh my…’

-They would have rotted for eons of years until they disappeared in the labyrinth anyway.

-It’s not much different if they suffer a bit more.

‘No, oh my.’

This crazy witch.

She introduced herself as the Saint’s enemy, but could she be a self-hating kind?

Her way of thinking is similar to the Saint’s? She might even be more vicious.

Unlike the Saint who simply likes killing people, the witch is saying to use them outright.

-Why are you treating me like a strange person? From my perspective, you’re not much better.

‘Me?’

-Yes. You, you thought about committing arson while eating a sandwich. Didn’t you? Aren’t you quite crazy too?

‘….’

She hit the nail on the head.

Yes, I had reached the thought that if I committed arson, I could quickly sweep away the heretics, remembering grave cleaning and cremation.

‘I see. Was I no different from them?’

-Yes. Humans are inherently evil. Rather, those who believe themselves to be good are more evil.

-And such goody-two-shoes thinking actually hinders the expansion of thought.

The witch sucked on her long pipe and blew out smoke.

Her eyes were hardened by life. What kind of hell did she go through to have such eyes?

The expression “hardened” seemed to fit perfectly.

-To think flexibly, you need to think beyond human limits.

-Not bound by morality or ethics. Only by not discriminating means and methods as a strong one can you reach the real answer.

‘So you’re saying I need to use souls to find the answer?’

-Yes. Strengthen your spirit vision and make contracts with souls. You have to promise them enlightenment and use them as much as you can until you can’t use them anymore.

‘It sounds like a complete slave contract.’

-It is actually a slave contract. Did you think this was some kind of equal contract?

-They’re already dead anyway. And they’re pitiful souls that would have disappeared in the labyrinth.

-No one will be angry if you use them for a few more years while promising them return.

-They should be grateful just for being taken up.

‘Strengthen the spirit vision and collect souls. Use them like slaves. I understand for now.’

-It’s the most efficient method with the least human casualties. Since you’re using those already dead, living people won’t have to die.

‘That sounds good.’

-Yes, how good it is. No need to kill unnecessary people and make them debtors with the elixir of resurrection. Since you’re recycling people who were already dead. No food costs and even cost reduction. This is really a good thing.

As I listened, the witch’s words seemed to make sense.

After all, it’s my fate to crawl to the deepest part of the labyrinth and re-seal it before it bursts.

So if I’m going in anyway, it’s better to go in with dead people rather than people who will die.

It was truly an eco-friendly way of conquering the labyrinth.

-But if you take in all sorts of riffraff, your soul will crumble.

‘I guess so. Just today…’

The vengeful spirits of adventurers inside me had screamed in pain due to the giant’s roar and the heretics’ curses. I almost lost my mind and nearly died then.

If the witch hadn’t suppressed their wailing, I would have stopped in my tracks and died trampled under the feet of fleeing heretics and dungeon trolls.

-You need to be selective in accepting them. Use the weak souls roughly. Pick out the elites and make them into elite troops. How about it? Becoming a collector of vengeful spirits.

‘A collector of vengeful spirits…’

My dream was to be a slave collector.

How did I end up becoming a collector of vengeful spirits?

Or is this? Is this also a form of slave collection in a way?

The only difference is whether they’re alive or dead.

If I make slave contracts and use them as I please, isn’t that actually slavery?

Wait? Rather than buying weak slaves who can’t even roll in dungeons for expensive prices.

Isn’t it much cheaper to just pick up elite souls while wandering the labyrinth and make unfair contracts with them?

Moreover, since these aren’t people resurrected with the elixir of resurrection, even the religious order can’t interfere.

Isn’t this an opportunity to legally obtain free slaves (private soldiers)?

My conscience, thinking I might be desecrating the dead, clashed with my desire to borrow their power.

Then I realized that this worry itself was meaningless.

‘Conscience? Conscience, huh.’

Conscience, you say.

It’s funny that I’m even worrying about conscience in this situation.

I must have gotten full lately.

Did I get soft because I’m making a lot of money?

Now that I’m living comfortably, am I trying to live with a conscience too?

Am I in a position to weigh my shallow conscience against survival?

‘The labyrinth is about to burst, fuck conscience.’

I must have lost my mind for a moment, becoming a full pig due to the comfort given by the spatial pocket.

Volunteer work and I were never a good combination to begin with.

Yuria, Moira, and Miss Leah must have made me too dull. Their care and warmth raised my humanity too much.

I didn’t live caring about others this much in the first place.

Yes, the witch is right.

I can’t grant enlightenment for free. It’s give and take.

If there’s something given, there should be something received.

-Have you sorted out your thoughts?

‘Yes. I just resolved to use them actively.’

-Right. There’s no need to go round and round a path you can easily take for the sake of moral superiority and righteousness.

I nodded at the witch’s words.

How many people live keeping their conscience in Labyrinth City in the first place?

If I can use vengeful spirits, I’ll use them to the fullest.

-Now then, next is the method to strengthen your spirit vision immediately. What I’m going to tell you now is how to adapt to mana within the labyrinth.

‘What? Is that even possible?’

-It’s possible. Think about it carefully. Mana adaptation only occurs in places without mana.

-Then, if you could artificially create a space without mana in the labyrinth?

‘Don’t tell me…’

-You can adapt to mana. But this requires magic knowledge at the level of a Magic Tower Master and an enormous amount of formula study.

No matter how long it takes, I must learn it no matter what. Being able to level up within the labyrinth? That means I can get stronger in real-time while going down the labyrinth.

If this method becomes known, it would surely bring innovation to Labyrinth City. There would be no need to go up for mana adaptation; you could adapt to mana and gain abilities right away inside the labyrinth.

‘How long would it take for me to learn that technique?’

-Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t learn it with your brain.

‘What?’

-I said you can’t learn it.

The witch stated firmly.

No, can’t learn it? Then why did she brag about the technique?

Is this some high-level trolling?

-You can’t learn it, but I can make it so you can use it.

‘How?’

-That bracelet of yours. Hold it out.

This time the witch told me to hold out the Bracelet of Growth.

When I held out the bracelet, she fed something into it.

-If you feed your blood into the bracelet and meditate, it will temporarily block the surrounding mana.

She says if the person wearing the bracelet feeds their blood into it and meditates, it will temporarily block the surrounding mana.

A new function was added to the Bracelet of Growth.

-That’s all I can do for now. My power is running out…

Soon the witch’s form became blurry.

Then as the effect of the homecoming herb wore off, my spirit vision dissipated.

My head ached slightly. Everything I had been seeing until just now felt like a dream.

I heard too much information, and two of my accessories were modified by the witch.

I’m not sure if the situation has improved or not. The witch’s help was certainly welcome, but thinking that another great cataclysm would soon occur and the labyrinth would become even more crazy made me want to cry.

“Porter-ssi! What are you doing there!”

“Ah. That. It’s nothing.”

Rosie called me.

The Saint says she’s finished recovering her holy power.

We had to decide our next destination.

Whether to escape from the labyrinth, or stay and continue the mission.

Or hunt the giant that has settled in the garden district.

Either way, we had to leave the central district to escape the labyrinth alive.