Self-Harming Crazy Bubbly Magician

“Yeah, so that’s how it is.”

The baldy flicked his eyes around, signaling to the hooded guy. This was starting to piss me off. It’s not like they’re advertising that they’re going to kill me.

Overall, it was clumsy, like they were rookies.

“Magician-nim! Anything you wanna buy?”

Dori dori.

I shook my head without a word.

Kleang wore a slightly disappointed expression, smacked his lips, and then disappeared. What the fuck did I just see? Why did he smack his lips? Even I, who transcends perception, found it hard to guess.

“Hey, magician.”

“?”

“You’ve been quiet since earlier, is this your first time?”

The reason I’m quiet is because I’m not interested in the story. So, I basically keep my mouth shut. One bad thing is that there are quite a few people who take my silence as ‘ignoring’ them. The trio I met in the alley was like that…

And the baldy in front of me was like that too.

When I replied as if I was barely listening, the baldy’s face turned red and he said in an agitated voice.

“…Are you ignoring me because I’m an inspector?”

“Haa….”

My head started to hurt.

“That’s why these magician bastards are… If they cast magic in a weird place later, right away… No, it’s nothing. Yeah. Keuheu.”

What the fuck, that’s creepy.

When I ignored him again, the baldy was just talking to himself. The baldy’s face turned even redder, to the point of being as red as a carrot. His hands trembled.

When I didn’t react, the baldy took the hooded guy and sat at a secluded table. He kept talking about something, but honestly, I didn’t want to listen. It was obvious even without listening.

Intentionally blocking my hearing, I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and fiddled with my knife. Fiddling with the knife made me feel at ease. It was my own fidget toy that relieved anxiety.

Exactly 17 minutes and 41 seconds later, Kleang arrived.

“Sorry. Am I a little late?”

“Tsk.”

Me, silent. The baldy, clicking his tongue. Kleang seemed embarrassed and drooped his shoulders. Well, he was the only one who didn’t prepare anything.

“Th, then shall we go?”

* * *

The stench of rotten water stings my nose.

This is the Imperial Sewer Treatment Plant No. 17. It is said that the sewers were contaminated due to the appearance of rat swarms. Originally, magicians should have stepped up to do this. But the magicians were nowhere to be seen. They said they didn’t want to catch dirty rats and dumped the job on the Adventurer’s Guild.

And we are carrying out that request.

―Chwiik chwiik. Chwi.

The cries of the rat swarm echoed so loudly that I could hear them from afar.

I secretly released Mana without the party knowing and counted the overall number. It’s a kind of map scan.

Two rats 7 meters ahead, twenty rats at the crossroads 20 meters ahead from there. Looks like two rats were left behind.

“Hoo. I never get used to dealing with rat swarms, no matter how many times I do it. And the smell.”

Kleang seemed to have experience dealing with rat swarms, and he poured out all sorts of complaints. But a request is a request. To get paid, you have to do it even if you don’t like it.

The hooded guy is at the front. Kleang is at the vanguard, I’m in the middle, and the baldy is guarding the rear.

When the hooded guy at the front finds a rat swarm, he joins the middle ranks. Even the arrangement was blatant.

“Found two.”

The hooded guy said. Kleang held his sword with a nervous expression. I wasn’t surprised because I already knew.

“Wait a minute.”

I stopped Kleang, who was drawing his sword, and said.

“Huh?”

Those two are kind of losers who were eliminated from the ranking battle. It wouldn’t be difficult to catch them, but there was a possibility that the rats inside would hear the sound and swarm.

Even if trillions of them came, I honestly didn’t think I’d lose, but I didn’t form a party for a thrilling adventure or to make money, right?

I can burn half of a small city with one fireball, so why would I get excited about hunting? No matter how much I show off my strength, I can’t get what I want.

Yeah.

I hate to admit it, but I’m secretly hoping for it.

A ‘dangerous situation’.

The malice of monsters and the malice of humans are clearly different.

The causes are completely different.

Except for goblins and the like, humans are mostly the ones who mess with monsters.

Most of the malice of monsters comes from touching their survival and territorial consciousness.

In addition, monsters recognize the strong.

No matter how much I hide my Mana, they feel the instinctive danger and run away. There was nothing to gain from fighting those guys.

On the other hand, the types of human malice are countless. Arrogance, jealousy, anger, lust, gluttony, laziness. In addition to these, they harbor malice for all sorts of bizarre reasons.

There are countless reasons why humans hate humans. Humans are such animals.

“There’s a possibility that there are more rat swarms inside. It’s not good to make noise, so it’s better to deal with them quietly with a crossbow or just pass by.”

I was fascinated by that variety.

I didn’t feel anything when I was injured by a monster. It’s just a duel for survival and survival. No matter what monster I meet, I’ll quickly get tired of the same fight every time.

“Hey, magician-nari. I come and go here often, and the rats are pushovers. Why are you so scared?”

But, for just 70 silver.

“…That’s right. And at least as far as I can feel, there are no rats in front of us.”

Because of petty lust.

“If you’re so scared, just watch! Tweh.”

If my life is threatened.

I will become more desperate.

“But, isn’t the magician-nim right? I had a hard time once before….”

“Geez. You’re both being a pain in the ass. Are you really an inspector?”

In the end, Kleang and I followed the baldy’s opinion. Then the baldy smiled creepily and drew his sword. Does he feel like he’s a leader?

I nodded and prepared magic. It was a small fireball.

―Kwang!

One rat cut!

The rat with its body on fire struggled and was stabbed by Kleang’s sword and became a skewer.

The size was disgustingly large. Roughly the size of an adult retriever.

The baldy looked slightly surprised when I shot fire without chanting. But he quickly came to his senses and successfully dealt with the remaining rat with the hooded guy.

“I told you they were pushovers! Why were you so scared?”

As a result of checking with the released Mana, about ten rats were running towards us.

Well.

Can he still say that now?

―Chwiik! Chwi!

Swarms of rats the size of wolves.

Their claws and teeth were small, so they were inferior to real wolves, but the number was not just for show.

Ten sewer rats the size of wolves were too much for three E-ranks and one F-rank (Archmage) to stop… but I didn’t really feel like using my strength.

I cast magic in the middle to prevent the rat swarms from entering so that Kleang wouldn’t get hurt.

“Th, thank you!”

On the other hand, the baldy was being gang-raped by the rats. He was somehow dealing with them with the hooded guy, but his leather clothes had long been tattered.

“Fucking rat bastards!!”

It was the opposite of Kleang, who had no particular injuries other than blood splattered on him.

We kept moving forward and killing the rat swarms.

About 4 hours passed. It seemed like we had come quite deep.

“Haa. Hey. Why don’t we take a break?”

The baldy said, chewing on jerky.

About 4 hours of forced march had exhausted everyone. The hooded guy kept scratching his neck as if he had been bitten by a bug, and Kleang kept turning his ankles as if his feet were sore.

I nodded. At the same time, Kleang’s expression brightened.

Each of us put on the blankets we had brought and started chewing on the tasteless dried food.

I lit the fire. It was a fire that would never go out unless I turned it off separately, but they didn’t know that. It was worth seeing Kleang’s expression when he said he was happy that he saved on oil.

Break time 20 minutes.

We advanced back into the sewer.

* * *

“Roughly, we’ll camp out today, catch about ten tomorrow, and then return.”

We have collected 70 rat tails so far. There were many rats left, but if we killed about 80, the Red Magic Tower magicians would be dispatched.

The baldy naturally took on the role of party leader. I didn’t think much of it, and Kleang didn’t want to take the lead.

It was amazing to see him giving instructions like a leader.

The baldy put up a makeshift tent and said to us.

“We’re going to stand guard, who wants to go first?”

The flower of adventure, standing guard.

However, depending on the order, it could be a rose or a rafflesia. Of course, everyone was just looking at each other. The best order to stand guard is first.

When no one opened their mouth, the baldy pointed at Kleang and said.

“Hey, tall guy. Do you want to stand guard?”

“Ye, yes?”

The baldy, who had a dirty personality and a foul mouth, was giving up the first watch? Kleang’s face brightened noticeably.

“Th, then I’ll stand guard.”

Even though Kleang looked naive, he wasn’t such a pushover that he would kick away an opportunity that came his way. Kleang, who agreed right away, took his place and started guarding.

The hooded guy decided to take the second watch.

The third was the baldy.

The last was me.

The baldy and the hooded guy went inside the makeshift tent after deciding on the order.

Only Kleang and I were left standing there.

I decided to lean against the wall and close my eyes. I couldn’t sleep in a normal way, so I had to use magic to forcibly cut off my consciousness separately.

Of course, I was completely defenseless until the magic was released. It would be released if I received a shock, but it was inevitable that my subsequent reaction would be dulled.

I was about to cut off my mind.

“Um, magician-nim.”

A soft voice pierced my ears. I just turned my head without saying a word. I saw Kleang mumbling.

“I guess you didn’t bring anything either, magician-nim? Haha… We’re in the same boat.”

Kleang glanced at the baldy’s tent and approached me. He said it was good to stick together to maintain body temperature.

“D, do you want to share a blanket?”