Subdungeon #1

 

A bustling, bustling downtown area.

Wagner and I stopped here to do some shopping.

To conquer the sub-dungeon of the underground waterway, “Contaminant Sediment Site,” appropriate preparation is required.

Even the most accomplished adventurer cannot perform to their full potential without proper supplies.

“Wagner, how about this?”

“It looks okay. It’s a little worn, but I like the color.”

“No, I’m not talking about design… What’s wrong?”

The first thing I chose was a “large-capacity storage bag.”

Its appearance is exactly like a duffel bag used in the military, but it is engraved with a magical rune connected to subspace, making it a convenient bag that can hold a lot of luggage at once.

However, even within the same storage, there are luxury and cheap bags.

The bag I just bought wasn’t of particularly good quality, perhaps because it was a pioneer-level item.

“Large storage bag

—Equipment items

—Durability 17/19

—A rugged bag capable of carrying a lot of luggage.

—Additional option: “Incomplete Subspace Warehouse”

“Incomplete subspace warehouse

—You can store other items in the subspace of equipment with this option.

—Until the equipment is destroyed, the items inside will be preserved in their original properties.

—The “Large Storage Bag” can store 40 items.

—This rune has a flaw.

A portion of the weight of the items stored within the subspace is added to the weight of the bag.

In short, this bag can hold a lot of stuff, but it also means that it is heavy.

Although the weight of the original load is reduced to less than a tenth, the lower-grade storage bag still has performance defects.

Well, anyway⋯

It doesn’t matter because I’m not carrying it around.

“Okay. From now on, use this bag.”

I handed the bag to Wagner.

“Is that okay? I think I paid a lot of money for it….”

“I’m lending it to you. I think the only person in our party who would be best suited to use this bag is Wagner. He’s the strongest.”

“I see. I understand.”

Wagner carried his bag and smiled contentedly.

Okay, from now on you’re our party porter.

This solves the bag problem.

Next, I bought various tools needed for hunting.

Herbs to heal wounds, bandages, emergency scrolls, lamps and oils for lighting, etc.

Food can’t be left out either.

If you’re starving, you won’t have the strength to fight.

Various ingredients such as dried grains, dried meat, chicken stock, water, and seasonings.

You can’t leave out cooking utensils like large pots, pans, and ladles.

“Hmm.”

Wagner looked at me with interest.

“Are you thinking of cooking?”

“Uh. Why?”

“You’re quite talented. I only ate preserved food at best.”

It seemed as if I could picture before my eyes what kind of life Wagner had been living.

It was probably just a meal to satisfy hunger, slurping down dry bread with all the moisture removed.

As is the case with most adventurers’ lives.

But I didn’t want to give up the pleasure of eating.

In the harsh life of an adventurer with little to no entertainment, you have to survive by eating something delicious, otherwise what else can you find joy in?

Additionally, eating carefully cooked food will also give you a bonus to your “Cooking” skill.

It’s like killing two birds with one stone, as it increases your abilities and provides various benefits that help you in battle.

Right now, your cooking skill level is still low and not that great, but if you keep training, you will eventually receive a bonus that cannot be ignored.

“Have you heard of the Shelter Curry story? I’m the legendary one. You can look forward to it later.”

“Oh, I’m already looking forward to mealtime.”

Finally, I searched through the newly arrived ‘warriors’ and bought a bundle of clothes.

The design is done, and the goal is to have a variety of sizes.

Since everyone in our party has different body types, choosing clothes is also a task.

“Do you need clothes too?”

“You’ll know when you see it later.”

Wagner tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand this, but he did as I told him and packed the bundle of clothes into his bag.

Why do you need extra clothes when you’re going to raid a polluted waste site?

The reason is that you will feel it deeply only when you experience it yourself rather than hearing a hundred words about it.

After finishing shopping like that.

“Wagner, it’s a shame to just go back, so should we have a bite of each of the rat skewers before we go?”

“Okay.”

After finishing our work, we headed to the center of town feeling refreshed.

“Give me two skewers. Put a lot of seasoning on them.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I took a big bite of the meat.

It’s true that humans are animals that adapt to anything.

At first, I was disgusted and asked how they could eat rat meat.

Just smelling it now makes my mouth water.

“Did you come with Dad? You’re so cute. Hey, have another one.”

The skewer vendor looked at me with a pleased look and gave me some service.

No, Mitchell was like that yesterday too. Are all these guys blind?

What, follow dad?

Would an ordinary girl come to a place like the Garden Colony?

I wanted to say something right away, but…

But, if you put aside your pride for a moment, you can eat a free skewer.

My heart is shaken.

I stood there for a moment, lost in deep thought.

Is it pride?

Is it real?

What is the correct answer?

No, is this even a problem worth worrying about? I don’t even know.

“Hey, this girl isn’t my daughter-”

“dad.”

“⋯What?”

“Let’s go quickly. Mom will be waiting.”

I held Wagner’s hand tightly, enduring the humiliation.

Was it a mistake to come with Wagner, who was significantly taller than me?

If I had come with Flora or Mitchell, wouldn’t I have been treated like a daughter?

⋯No, I don’t know. If that were the case, I would have been treated like a younger sister who followed my older sister.

I would like to call this event today “The Humiliation of Garden.”

Unless he returns to being the fearsome Lich who spreads infamy across the continent, today’s shame will repeat itself endlessly.

Let’s engrave it in our hearts.

Today’s humiliation.

I pretended to be an innocent girl just to get a free skewer.

I clenched my small fists as I roughly tore at the skewers coated in a sweet and spicy sauce.

Wagner gently patted my shoulder.

“People tend to judge easily based on appearances. Estelle, don’t worry too much about it.”

“⋯Yeah. Thank you.”

“This happens to me often. People call me a bear or something because of my size.”

“No, you’re a bear. That’s a different story.”

“⋯.”

Wagner’s shoulders slumped listlessly.

At that moment, a crowd gathered in the middle of the street came into view.

A crowd of people gathered in a circle around something, as if a spectacle had been created.

What happened?

I tried to see inside through the crowd.

‘Miss, I can’t see anything.’

Because I’m short, it’s no use jumping up and down or jumping.

Because this guy’s body is so small and pitiful.

I looked back at Wagner.

“dad!”

“⋯I guess I got used to that title quickly.”

“I can’t see. Please listen to me.”

Only when Wagner lifted me up and placed me on his shoulder did I see the sight beyond the crowd.

“ah.”

There are some familiar faces.

Vigilante leader Dawson and his men.

In front of them, several people with swollen faces are kneeling on the floor.

Judging by the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like a very pleasant event.

“Everyone, listen carefully.”

Dawson said, slung the mace over his shoulder.

“These guys broke the rules of the colony. They repeated selfish acts, knowing only about themselves, and thus disrupted the community’s order. Unable to stand by, our vigilantes stepped in. Tell us, Imma, what you’ve done.”

Dawson kicked one of the kneeling men in the back.

Crunch.

The man, who had been kicked so fiercely that he was face down on the ground, barely managed to get up, his shoulders shaking.

“⋯I, I⋯ kill a monster without permission⋯”

“I can’t hear you well, you punk. Speak up!”

Kick again.

The vigilantes standing behind Dawson giggled as if they were playing a funny prank.

The gathered people only murmured quietly, but no one stopped the vigilantes.

“I…! I secretly hunted monsters without the vigilantes’ permission…!”

“Fred, why did you do that? Controls are only meaningful if everyone follows them without exception. We’re all trying to do well together, so why aren’t you listening? Huh?”

“That, that’s⋯!”

“Okay. Enough excuses. If you did something wrong, you deserve to be punished like a man, right?”

Dawson aimed at Fred’s head a couple of times like a batter coming to the plate, then raised his mace high in the air.

‘The main story of the pioneering area has already progressed to this point.’

“Vigilante Monster Control”.

The vigilante group, whose power has grown increasingly large, begins to exert its influence in the frontier under the command of its ruthless leader, Dawson.

Controlling the hunting of monsters around the settlement and demanding a certain amount of the harvest as tribute is also one of the atrocities committed by the vigilantes.

I stole a glance at Wagner’s face.

If he were to come forward with a weak sense of justice, things would be a bit difficult.

“Don’t worry, Estelle. I have no intention of doing anything rash.”

Wagner noticed my gaze and spoke in a low voice.

There was a deep wrinkle on Wagner’s forehead.

“Fred’s gang is also a gang with a bad reputation. It’s a shame, but in the end, you reap what you sow.”

“huh.”

“But… I don’t like it.”

Wagner glared at Dawson with a hardened face.

I wanted to joke that I looked like a gorilla because I put so much force into my face…

It wasn’t that kind of atmosphere.

Dawson swung his mace.

Crack.

Sigh.

A series of unpleasant sounds, like my head was exploding, rang out.

Following Fred, the gang falls one after another.

It took less than 30 seconds for four men, who had been alive and breathing just moments before, to become corpses.

“Whoa!”

“Eek⋯.”

“Ugh- that’s true. But there’s no need to go that far… that’s terrible.”

The crowd sighed.

It was a terrible sight, but I didn’t turn away.

A weak-hearted person who turns away and says he can’t see here cannot survive in the world of “Nine Stars.”

You have to get used to it.

Otherwise, I’ll be the one who gets hit next time.

“What are you kids doing here!”

Two guardsmen came running late.

The vigilantes no longer paid any attention. They simply looked at each other and snickered.

“Nothing happened, why?”

Dawson said casually, wiping the bloody mace.

“What? What are all these corpses, you punk!”

“⋯This kid?”

Dawson looked up at the soldier with cold eyes.

The soldier flinched and took a step back.

“What, what are those eyes?”

“I helped you. Why are you all fussing and making a fuss, huh? You guys weren’t doing your work on time, you kept procrastinating, so I just cleaned up some trash for you.”

Dawson’s men banged their weapons and quietly surrounded the guards.

The vigilantes are no less skilled than the security forces, and the quality of their equipment is second to none.

It was only natural that the two guard soldiers would be at a loss and unable to do anything.

‘It’s going to blow up soon.’

The power struggle between the vigilantes and the security forces, which has been precariously submerged until now, will now begin to intensify in earnest.

“let’s go.”

I jumped down from Wagner’s shoulder.

I’ve seen everything there is to see.

Now it’s time to go to my work.

As I was leaving the crowd behind, I felt eyes on me from behind.

“⋯.”

It was Dawson.

Hyena-like gray-white eyes.

Dawson was watching me, his mace slung over his shoulder and a grin on his face.

A murderous smile hangs on the corner of his mouth.

As if it were your turn next.

“Estelle?”

Wagner suddenly stopped walking and looked back at me.

“No, let’s go.”

Yeah, laugh a lot, kid.

You will bitterly regret not killing him when you had the chance.