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Chapter 11: The Ghost of the Sewers

Since the sewers of the royal capital, which run underground throughout the entire city, are inhabited by monsters, people rarely venture into them. Normally, the entrance leading underground is blocked off and monitored by guards so that the monsters cant get out.

Therefore, people only enter the sewers when theyve accepted a quest from the Adventurers Guild to help clear out the monsters or when it needs to be cleaned. The only other reason someone might do so is to carry out unspeakable deeds.

These men fall under the last category. This place that people rarely visit is incredibly convenient for them. It has monsters, but none of them are extremely strong, and they also know the routine for when people will come, so as long as they hide during those times, they wont get found out.

They shouldnt have gotten found out. Unless something unexpected happened, that is.

For cryin out loud, you knew this was the day the adventurers were coming! Keep a better eye on whats around you! a man yells from beside an unconscious girl with chestnut brown hair.

The men who captured the girl in tattered clothing apologize, looking embarrassed.

What do we do with her, Boss? one of the men says, pointing to the collapsed brunette. The man he calls Boss is the one they consider to be their leader.

Were lucky there werent any other guys around, but she saw us, so we cant just let her go. Bring her with. If we kill her here, the adventurers will probably find us pretty quick. Well go back to the hideout for a little while and then kill her.

You got it, Boss. Since were gonna kill her anyway, you dont mind if we have fun with her later, do ya?

Fine, do whatever you want with her.

Hehe, I knew youd understand!

The men cheer with vulgar smiles on their faces. They tie the two helpless girls up with rope, gag them, and gleefully carry them away. Thankfully, they have plenty of merchandise. They sell girls, and many of their clients prefer virgins, so they decrease in value if anyone lays their hands on them. Since the men arent allowed to touch them, they get a bit dissatisfied. But since theyre going to kill one anyway, the boss decides that its fine for them to let loose on her.

Thanks to the girl the one in tattered clothes escaping the hideout, they have one more problem to deal with, but they can still recover from this. We just have to get back to the hideout, quick, he thought to himself.

Shes one of the merchandise they kidnapped from the slums.

In these times of monsters running rampant, theres no shortage of people whose family has been killed by monsters and children who have lost both of their parents. The fate of children with no relatives and no way to earn money is more or less predetermined. First, theyre taken in by an orphanage. However, not all of them can be saved. Orphanages are limited by their budget and their accommodations. So, what happens when they lose that support? The majority of them either die in the streets or end up turning to a life of crime, such as theft. The slums are home to orphans who have nowhere else to go and those that have made it to adulthood.

Therefore, since even the government cant oversee everything, theres no way to know if one or two children have disappeared. They kidnap these orphans and sell them to their clients as slaves thats their job.

Slavery is banned in the kingdom, so this business is illegal. However, there is a demand for it. There are those who simply want to exploit their labor, those who use them as a sexual outlet, those who perform taboos such as using them for alchemy ingredients or black magic sacrifices All things that cant be made public. As long as they have clients, these men can do business, and they will continue to kidnap children from the slums whose absence will go unnoticed and sell them.

Today is close to the delivery date, so they went to replenish their stock and lock them up in the hideout. They obtained information prior that adventurers would be coming to the sewer where their hideout is, so they hid quietly in their hideout so that they wouldnt be found.

However, one of the kids that should have been in confinement got violent and landed a surprise attack, so a few of them made it out of the hideout. Although the others were quickly caught, there was a single girl they couldnt catch. Just as they finally caught her and started to punish her, a woman saw them and they had to knock her out, which brings us to the present.

Halt, the boss orders his men, listening carefully. Theres a strange noise mixed in with the sound of flowing sewage. It sounds like footsteps, as if someone is approaching.

Its probably an adventurer, perhaps an ally of the brunette. The boss isnt sure whether they should capture him or not. He could hear the footsteps coming from beyond a narrow intersection. They were still some distance away. Whether they capture him or let him pass, they cant let anyone know theyre here. For now, they can put out the lantern and hide in the darkness. If it goes well, he might head in a different direction at the crossroads. If not, they can use the darkness to their advantage and attack. Having come to this decision, the boss gives the signal to his men. Understanding his intentions, they put out the lantern and hide themselves.

The footsteps grow closer. They hold their breaths and endure it. Their eyes have adjusted to the darkness after putting out the lantern, so the boss, who has good night vision, looks closely. Though its faint, he can just barely make out what seems to be the persons silhouette. Judging by the footsteps and the silhouette, its only one person. In that case, it might be better to attack, he thinks, clicking his tongue.

Wait. Somethings off, the boss thinks, getting suspicious. Why can he only make out a faint outline? They made their stronghold here in the sewers, and even they would have trouble travelling long distances without getting lost unless they had a lantern. However, this entity is not being illuminated. He can only faintly make them out in the pitch darkness. In other words, they dont have a lantern.

But that cant be. It would be far too difficult for an adventurer to make it this far without a lantern. And normally, theyd bring a lantern with them when they accept the sewer quest.

Then, who the heck is this guy? What did they come here for? It couldnt be a monster, could it? There are many monsters that are humanoid, but hes never heard of any of them being in this sewer. The boss is bewildered by this mysterious being. Perhaps sensing this, his men also appear to be uneasy.

The strange figure makes it to the crossroads. Just walk away, the men silently pray. However, their prayers go unanswered as the footsteps suddenly stop. It seems that the figure stopped in the crossroads.

Dammit, is it lost? Get out of here! the boss shouts in his mind.

The mysterious entity doesnt make even the slightest movement.

Has it noticed us? If it has, then why isnt it doing anything? he wonders, his impatience showing on his face. He has no idea why the figure stopped so suddenly. Their sense of time grows duller. Even though its only been a short amount of time since the mysterious entity arrived, theyre struck by a feeling that theyve been stuck here for a long time. They desperately fight to keep their breathing steady. Some of them wonder to themselves, How did I end up in a situation like this?

Then, the figure moves no, it disappears! What the heck is going on?! they ask themselves, their confusion at its peak.

They dont know what the entity possibly could have wanted. It feels as if theyve encountered something incomprehensible, an apparition unlike the undead theyre familiar with. It is an unmistakable fact that the mysterious entity is gone, with no sign of it in the vicinity.

Hey, hurry and put the light on! the boss demands, raising his voice. They light the lantern and illuminate the surrounding area, but theres nothing there after all. They breathe a deep sigh, their tension released. Due to the putrid odor, the air isnt exactly fresh, but everyone there wanted to breathe in at least a little bit.

Anyway, I dont want anything to do with whatever that thing was. Lets hurry up and get out of here.

With everyone in agreement, they start walking. They pass through the crossroads, on their way back to their hideout.

A splash echoes from behind, as if something was dropped into the water.

The men fearfully turn around.

Theres someone there. A person is standing there.

But thats impossible. There was no sign of anyone. When they passed by just now, they made sure there was nothing there at all!

A man lets out a small shriek, so terrified that he drops the lantern hes holding. The area is once again shrouded in darkness.

Theres no doubt about it. Its the mysterious entity from earlier, theyre all sure of it. But now, its different from last time. This time, it starts taking a few steps towards them.

S**t!

The boss throws a knife at the ghost. Since his eyes havent adjusted yet, he cant see it very well, but he can roughly estimate its location, so his aim should be good enough that he wont miss. Its also making splashing noises, so hes sure the knife will hit it.

However, the knife only cuts through air. A loud splash echoes, as if the figure struck the water to express its intense fury at the thrown knife.

Its hopeless. No matter what we do, wed be no match for it.

The men tremble in fear. The strange ghostly entity must have seen that thrown knife as a show of hostility. It starts quickly heading towards them, unlike the relaxed pace from before, as if to say, You made yourselves my enemy. Ill show you no mercy.

If it catches us, well die.

The strange ghostly entity is definitely after them. If it catches them, theyll surely get turned into gruesome corpses. Their teeth start chattering in fear at the thought of it.

One man steps back. One more follows suit, and yet another backs away along with them. All of their minds have fallen into a state of panic.

EEYAAAAAH! one of them screams as he runs away. The terror spreads, and all of them run away at full speed.

However, the ghostly entity follows, as if telling them, You wont escape. The men run as fast as they can, trying desperately to escape its evil clutches.

In the darkness and in this state of all-consuming fear, they havent the slightest idea where theyre running to. But if they stop now, theyll become its prey in no time. Since theyve devoted themselves to evil, they dont expect to meet their end in any decent way, but they havent the slightest intention of letting themselves die like this. In any case, they run blindly through the sewers to get as far away from the ghost as possible.

How far have they run now? They can still hear water. Their mental exhaustion is already at its peak. We gotta hurry and get away from that ghost and out of this darkness, but how? Their minds were occupied by thoughts such as these.

Boss, look up ahead!

They see a bit of light in the distance. If we go over there, well be safe for sure, they think, each of them clinging to their last hope of salvation.

Alright, well run that way! the boss orders, and his men sprint, summoning the last of their strength.

They finally reach the light. Once they hurry up the stairs, they collapse from exhaustion all at once. They take deep breaths, dripping with sweat. They dont even have any energy left to walk anymore, but, as a result, the ghost has stopped chasing them. Everyone bursts out into relieved laughter.

Ah, I have some questions for all of you.

The men startle, thinking it might be the ghost. However, the voice came from a sullen man of medium build. Whatre you startling us like that for, they think, relaxing their guard.

That woman over there is one of our guild staff members. She took so long that I brought some adventurers with me to search for her. But for some reason, shes with you, and it appears that shes unconscious and tied up.

The men look around at the adventurers surrounding them.

I assume youre aware of the situation youre in? Then, can you give me a satisfying explanation for this? the sullen man says with a chilling voice, and the men are filled with an entirely new kind of terror.

I was starting to regret this.

I was brought to the sewers for a quest to hunt wererats. Exterminating pests, essentially.

The wererats themselves were level 1-2, so defeating them was no problem. If anything, Im too high level for this quest. But since I already accepted it, I went into the sewers to complete it. However, there were quite a few other players at the entrance to the sewers, so my wererat kill rate was low and it didnt seem like Id be able to meet the quests clear conditions. Thats why I decided to hunt further in, where there werent as many people, but

I dont get tired in this game, and I only feel a vibration when I get hurt, but it leaves my sense of smell completely intact. It seems that the sewer was faithfully reproduced, so the stench was so awful that I felt like I was going to puke. It was like walking through poison.

Anyway, I headed further in so I could hurry up and finish it. There was no light, but I had the map window, so I felt like Id be okay if I navigated by left-hand rule and followed the walls. Although, I soon realized that I was being too optimistic.

With the map window, I knew my current location and the location of the entrance. That being the case, you probably wont be able to guess why this line of thinking was overly optimistic. The answer is simple. Its because there are obstacles that the map window doesnt display.

The map window isnt particularly detailed, so stuff like sewer waste isnt displayed on it. And so, inevitably

Sploosh.

I tripped on some garbage and fell over. If I had a light, Im sure I would have been able to avoid tripping and getting covered in sewage.

But I didnt have one, so there was nothing I could do about it at that point. There will probably be other times when Ill have to venture into dark places like caverns. Ill need lighting equipment, like a torch or a lantern.

With nothing else on my mind except for finishing the quest as quickly as possible, I focused on searching for rats.

However, just as I came to a crossroads, I reached my limit. I wanted to breathe in fresh air. I didnt want to stay somewhere that smelled this rotten. I stopped to think. Thankfully, I only had to hunt a few more wererats. It seemed like Id be able to kill them on the way back.

I decided to change plans and go back to the entrance. I could tolerate that much.

Anyway, I decided to get out and breathe some fresh air for a little while, so I logged out.

Ah, that feels so much better. I took the Valgear off and took some deep breaths. Since I couldnt tolerate much more of the sewer, I logged out temporarily to get some fresh air. I glanced at the time. It was about time for the quest to end. After I got enough air, I prepared myself and returned to the sewer.

When I returned, there were several players nearby. One of the players dropped his light and it got dark. Whats up with him? I wondered, but I just wanted to hurry up and get out of there, so I walked towards the entrance.

However, I tripped over some sewer waste, fell over, and made a huge splash. C**p, I cant believe I embarrassed myself in front of other players like that! Though, it was pitch black, so hopefully they didnt notice. It felt like something passed by overhead, but there were no monsters on the map window. It was probably nothing.

I was sick of that place. I needed to get out of there as fast as possible. I got up and quickly headed for the entrance.

The group of players also ran towards the entrance. Maybe they saw how I fell over earlier and left to spare my feelings. I was conflicted about whether to be grateful for it or embarrassed by it.

Oh, well, I thought as I hurried towards the entrance.

There were wererats on the way, so I hunted a bunch of them and met the kill quota. Finally, I cleared the quest.

When I make it back to the entrance, theres a man there that looks sort of like a guild staff member, and I inform him that I completed the quest. But apparently, there was some problem with quest activation, so he apologizes to me. I knew it felt unnatural, but it seems that the way I received this quest was a bug. I thought the man was a guild employee, but it seems like hes a character controlled by the games support team to keep the game running smoothly, one of the so-called GMs (short for Game Master). As an apology, he gives me more than the usual reward. I feel like I benefited from this.

Anyway, everyone around here seems really busy for some reason, I wonder what happened.

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