episode_0023

I decided to rebuild the clan building with the money Grace gave me.

Of course, it wouldn’t be as big as before, but a two-story building that felt like a small inn.

Trying to find a house this time, I realized why so many new clans were coming to District 11.

Compared to the popular District 7 or District 1, the housing prices in District 11 are almost half.

So, even if the security isn’t great, they have no choice but to come here.

That’s why, unlike other districts, District 11 is said to have a high proportion of low-floor explorers.

It takes 1 to 2 months for the building to be constructed.

Faster than I thought. I don’t know how they build it, but perhaps with magic? The strength of the laborers would also be incomparable to modern times.

And so, while waiting to move in, I diligently live each day.

My routine is as follows.

After waking up in the morning, I do physical training with Kailak and Hans.

Of course, it’s not easy, but perhaps because I’m drinking the blood potion, my stamina is gradually improving.

After the physical training is finished, I head to the library to read books to accumulate knowledge.

There isn’t much information allowed to the general public, but still, in terms of learning common sense, it wasn’t bad.

After reading for a while, I stop by the guild to check if there are any suitable requests or meet Rain to talk about various things.

Rain, befitting a guild receptionist, has a great deal of information, so she was always helpful.

Later in the evening, I have a meal at a suitable inn and listen to the stories of the explorers.

Thanks to that, I heard various interesting news.

Like rumors about me spreading.

Stories like why the Imperial Family is doing nothing when a black magic user caused a disturbance on the 2nd floor.

Besides that, I also hear tips for the 3rd or 4th floor from an explorer I became friends with while drinking, and we exchange stories about what happened on the 2nd floor.

After that, I return to my room, do some simple exercises, and then go to bed.

A truly thrifty day.

Anyway, there’s no reason to enter the dungeon until the next dungeon reset, as I can’t pass through the 2nd floor.

But those days end today.

Everyone gathered at the guild to plan for re-entering the dungeon in accordance with the dungeon reset day.

Grace and Luca, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

And Kailak and Hans, whom I saw every day.

As we were all gathered, planning what to do on the 3rd floor, Rain approached.

“Mr. Ivan, a personal request has come in.”

“A personal request, huh…”

Ever since I made a name for myself in the Dungeon City, I occasionally receive personal requests like this.

The content was varied.

Things for the personal satisfaction of a noble, such as “Please tell me the story of what happened on the 2nd floor of the dungeon.” (Of course, I did that one).

Or “Please bring back a specific material from the 3rd floor,” and so on. There were truly many miscellaneous things.

But other than explaining the story to the noble two days ago, I hadn’t accepted any because nothing particularly appealed to me.

Rain also knew that I refused most things, so she wouldn’t have accepted it unless it came from a truly significant place.

Where on earth did this request come from?

“It came from the [Holy Land].”

I quickly snatched the documents Rain was holding.

To recruit priests, I need to build rapport with the Ariel Church in the Holy Land.

“…What does it say?”

Luca peeked over my shoulder, checking with me.

“It says to escort one of the Sisters to another village.”

“…Something’s strange? How many Holy Knights are there in the Holy Land?”

As Luca said, the Ariel Church is a religious order that follows the chief deity, encompassing the entire continent. Naturally, it’s a vacuum cleaner that sucks in overflowing talents whenever it wants, including Sisters and Holy Knights.

Is there a reason they would specifically ask a low-floor mage like me?

Of course, I did get promoted this time, so I gained one more line [on my status].

While I was building various hypotheses, I heard a sound.

Crunch, crunch.

Grace was chewing on greens with a rotten expression.

I heard that she can only eat vegetables, no matter what.

I still remember her expressing her frustration, saying how elves eat meat well, but the Elf-transformation card can’t eat meat and is forced to become a vegetarian.

Swallowing the greens, Grace seemed to have an idea. She touched her chin and said,

“Maybe it’s because of the black magic users’ riot that happened on the 2nd floor? I heard this time that the Imperial Family and the religious order are secretly eliminating the black magic users.”

“That makes sense. If they openly announced that they were subjugating black magic users, everyone would run away.”

“So it’s probably right to think there’s a shortage of personnel. But perhaps this time, they have a specific request for Mr. Ivan?”

“That’s probably it? They asked me to come alone.”

“Go ahead and go. If you get on the bad side of the Ariel Church, you might have to leave not just the Dungeon City, but the continent.”

“Then we’ll postpone the dungeon for later.”

That was the story a few days ago.

And now, again.

I am currently traveling by carriage with Aria, a Sister of the Ariel Church.

It was my first time outside the Dungeon City, so I was a little nervous, but thankfully, nothing special happened.

The road was also better paved than expected, so the ride wasn’t bad.

However, even if it’s not a far distance, traveling for several days is a bit tiring.

There’s a reason they say it’s much better to enter the dungeon than to go on requests outside the Dungeon City.

Just looking at the scenery outside boredom only lasts a day or two.

It’s really boring.

If only Kailak were here, I could have at least passed the time listening to stories about the Barbarian village.

The Holy Knight sitting opposite me is stiff and doesn’t even answer, so I don’t even have the motivation to talk.

Thump.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

It was still a long way from reaching the destination.

Wondering if something was wrong, I pulled back the curtain covering the carriage window and looked outside.

“……?!”

The carriage stopped in front of a small village.

People were walking around in that village.

People who were completely dyed black.

Kwooooh.

Making strange noises, unable to control their bodies like zombies, dragging their feet as they walked.

They were walking towards the carriage we were in.

*Swish!*

I quickly got out of the carriage.

My job was to escort this religious order’s carriage anyway.

『Combat Start. Draw 3 cards.』

『Energy 4/4』

[Strike(1)] [Strike(1)] [Flash(0)]

My hand was completely awful.

But now, it’s different.

Two relics help me.

[Cat’s Hand] – The first card played is enhanced.

[Auto Defense Golem] – At the start of combat, summon a small golem that protects for 1 minute.

First, a small golem popped out as a subspace opened beside me.

Its height is about 1m. It’s a golem with two arms and two legs, just like a human.

A blue magic stone is embedded in the center, emitting light, and its face is square, giving it a sense of cuteness.

It might look like a mascot golem, but you shouldn’t underestimate it just because it’s small.

Wah-da-da-da-da!!

The golem quickly ran and charged towards the black villagers.

It automatically performs a preemptive strike towards enemies near me.

It might seem strange for something named ‘Defense Golem’.

But traditionally, the best defense is offense, so I just went with it.

Boom!!!

The golem strongly pushed back the villagers who had turned black.

Strong power despite its small size.

That power tore the black-dyed human in half.

『[Butcher’s Gauntlet] consumes blood.』

『Energy increases by 1, and draw 1 card.』

『Energy increases by 1, and draw 1 card…』

[Strike(1)] [Strike(1)] [Flash(0)] [Ice Arrow(1)] [Fireball(1)] [Shield(1)] [Electrocution(2)] [Force Field(2)]

Draws are constantly being pulled.

First, I set up a [Force Field] to block the approaching villagers.

*Crunch, crunch!*

Watching the villagers haphazardly banging on the force field, I threw 2 cards.

[Strike]

[Strike]

Boom!! Boom!!!

The fragile bodies of the villagers shattering.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight.

[Electrocution]

*Bzzt!!!*

The villagers were instantly incapacitated.

I launched a [Fireball] towards them, gathered together.

*Whoosh!!!*

Watching the villagers burning, I continued to use the cards being drawn.

[Vortex]

*Swishhhhhh!!!*

Strong wind blades sliced the entire bodies of the villagers stuck to the force field.

Gradually expanding the range, it struck down all surrounding enemies.

*Ding!*

*Ding!*

Ignoring the continuously popping up status window, I read the mana.

“……”

Now, there are no people left in this village.

As expected of a small village, there aren’t even 50 people in one village.

『Check card rewards.』

[Sinkhole(2)] – Creates a hole in the ground.

[Flame Sword(2)] – Obtain a Flame Sword for 3 turns.

[Hail(3)] – Causes hail to fall.

As expected of an Elementalist deck, the descriptions are simple and clear.

Since I got the boss relic and have enough energy, I thought it would be good to pick a 3-cost attack card, so I chose [Hail(3)].

The cards returned to the deck.

Watching the golem disappear, I turned to go back to the carriage.

“Our Chief Deity is truly too much.”

Aria, the Sister, was beside me somehow.

With blonde hair and slightly violet eyes, she was praying towards the dead villagers.

I didn’t sense her presence at all.

Could she be much stronger than I thought?

If so, why did they specifically hire me?

Questions kept piling up.

There hadn’t been a single fight coming here until now.

In such a situation, is it a coincidence that a carriage just happened to pass by a village attacked by black magic users, not bandits or monsters?

Especially a carriage carrying Holy Knights and a Sister.

“……Mr. Ivan.”

Aria suddenly approached and looked up at me intently, saying,

“I can feel the presence of black magic users. Would you perhaps help?”

At her words, I spread my mana to read the black mana, but it wasn’t visible except for a little residue in the village buildings.

She seems to be hiding something.

“My personal request is to escort the Sister to Gate Village, isn’t it?”

“Ah, yes. That’s here.”

The name of this village I saw when entering wasn’t Gate, I thought.

It’s a bit awkward to go out and check because there are 4 Holy Knights standing firm.

“Surely, as a child of the Chief Deity, you’re not going to just pass by this injustice, are you?”

“……Yes.”

It was a sound argument, so I had nothing to say.

Since the status window saying I felt killing intent hasn’t popped up, it seems they don’t have hostility.

What on earth is she thinking?

“Then, please follow me.”

I followed behind the Sister, who walked ahead to such an extent that it didn’t feel like I was escorting her at all.

The place we eventually arrived at was the ruins of a collapsed tower nearby.

A spooky place that people in the Middle Ages would never even consider entering.

After moving aside the old bookcase inside, a passage appeared.

“……?!!”

I immediately felt black mana.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt it.

All four Holy Knights and the Sister had hardened expressions.

“Let’s go in.”

Following the Sister’s command, 2 Holy Knights entered first, followed by me and the Sister.

The position was the Sister and the mage in the center of the four Holy Knights.

A position that seemed to protect me and the Sister.

But it was also a position that surrounded me from all sides.

“……”

Feeling uneasy, with my hand on my deck,

I passed through the passage and gradually descended into the darkness.