034. Area 102 (2)
“Call me Dallas. The main thing I did was arm the fence. I crossed over from Area 88. I came running because I could get some money.”
“Buck. is a mercenary There is no separate affiliation.”
There were a total of six people gathered under Reefban, including myself.
After the situation on the first floor was cleared up, we gathered in Reef’s room.
“I am Kavan. do anything that makes money Not long ago, I was hired by an organization and went to war.”
There was no one who seemed to be particularly talented.
Although he was armed with his own guns and suits, the cheap copy products were clearly visible.
“great. Has anyone here dealt with a wizard directly?”
“… … .”
At Reefban’s question, the mercenaries only looked at each other.
Since it is an existence that is difficult to find, there is a high possibility that you have only heard of it as a rumor.
Rifban said, revealing it.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. ‘Cause I’m an expert You just have to trust me and follow my instructions.”
“Are you saying that you’ve been fighting in person?”
Reefban pulled out a small plaque from his arms.
It was the denomination’s plaque of appreciation, issued to those who actually defeated the Warlock.
Unlike the tattoo, this time it looked genuine.
“I also got a reward. It wasn’t caught alive, but the amount was small.”
Exclamations erupted from the mouths of the mercenaries.
“The hideout is usually hidden underground. If anyone finds it, let me know. If you want to fight, you don’t have to participate. me alone is enough The distribution will go down that much.”
explanation followed.
Things like the habits of a warlock and things to keep in mind when dealing with magic.
All of them were difficult to know without direct experience.
‘… It’s a little clumsy, though.’
It didn’t seem like a lie that he had ever fought a warlock.
“Are you saying that once you start using magic, it’s better to run right away than to hide?”
“okay. Lean down and zigzag. It’s hard to change direction once you use magic.”
As the story progressed, the doubts in the eyes of the mercenaries disappeared.
A mercenary raised his hand and said,
“You said you can handle mana, can you show me some?”
He added, paying attention to whether Reefban was offended.
“Ah, ah, of course I don’t doubt it. It’s my first time meeting a mana user. It’s also a solid ally. It’s funny, yes.”
“right. People say that they jump easily from high places and sometimes crush steel.”
His eyes turned to Reefban.
Everyone had a glimmer of anticipation in their eyes.
“… Well, then I’ll show you. It’s not difficult.”
Rifban reached over the table and picked up the ashtray. It was a marble object.
“Suck!”
The ashtray in his hand began to crack.
Soon, it was completely torn in half, and cigarette ash fell from the bottom of it.
“… Oh my gosh.”
“Oh My God.”
“This would be enough. Let’s go out and find our bounty.”
It was certainly an unbelievable sight by the standards of the general public.
Because there was no special mechanical device attached, it was really done with bare hands.
“Yeah, let’s go. Before it gets stolen by the other guys.”
“It was a good choice to say we would do it together.”
With Leaf Van in the lead, the mercenaries left the room.
I looked around the room before closing the door. An ashtray torn in half fell on the floor.
‘The mana circuit was not felt.’
When I showed the performance a while ago, I didn’t feel the surge of mana.
it was fake Unless you have an artifact that hides mana like me.
It was one of two things.
Either he was born with a stronger grip than he had imagined, or he had previously manipulated the ashtray.
‘… Well, either way has nothing to do with me.’
I looked at the ashtray indifferently, closed the door and followed the group.
* * *
“Find it well. There might be some kind of stairs leading down to the basement under the corpses.”
“Oh, damn it. Does anyone have a nose plug left? Can’t we search the private houses or wastelands first, like everyone else?”
“This is the most likely. See, there are more priests here than anywhere else.”
It was just as Ripban had said.
There were more priests roaming the cemetery than anywhere else.
He was holding a pole-shaped mana detector in his hand and was searching everywhere.
I mixed with the mercenaries and went through the tombstones one by one.
It is made by stacking stones, or by weaving branches.
There were some things that were right, but most of them looked like that.
‘You probably don’t even have the money to build a tombstone.’
I raised my head and looked to one side.
The goddess statue in the middle of the cemetery was facing this way.
denomination’s faith.
Teyumesa, goddess of the earth.
she was everywhere
It served as a kind of mana transmission and reception tower, in order to widen the range of activity of the priests.
“I got a scout offer first. The tattoo was also engraved at that time. Now that I have left the organization, it has become useless.”
Each time Reefban told the story, the mercenaries were amazed.
At the same time, the way he was trying to match his mood was that he wanted to go with him even after this work was over.
It was natural.
In the mercenary world, being with a strong person also meant that the chances of survival increased that much.
“Did you say Cain? It seems like you haven’t set foot in this world yet, but if there’s a fight, just hide. It’s about surviving and gaining experience.”
Rifban passed behind my back and tapped my shoulder with his palm.
“… … .”
didn’t care
My gaze stayed on the priests rather than that.
‘It would be helpful if you use magic.’
Of course, detection magic didn’t mean much.
Because the underground bunker has magic resistance to the outside.
However, magic such as speeding up the steps or strengthening the eyes could be helpful.
He was refraining from using magic for fear of being caught black mana.
Then one of the priests approached us. It was a young blond haired man.
“You look like mercenaries. If you find any clues, please share.”
“Oh, yes. of course… .”
beep-
At that moment, the mana detector the priest was holding rang.
“… … .”
The circuit was obviously turned off.
It was also double concealed using relics.
Nevertheless, it was said that it was the latest model that could not be compared with the one supplied to the prison.
The priest’s gaze slowly turned to me. The mercenaries opened their mouths first when they were about to say something to say.
“ah! It looks like this is a device that detects mana. Our captain is sending a signal that he is a mana user.”
“So that’s it. Performance is very clear.”
The mercenaries giggled and pointed to Reefban, who was busy searching from a distance.
“… … .”
The priest looked at me and Reefvan in turn, and said in a tone that it doesn’t really matter.
“Yes. okay. We ask for your cooperation. May God’s blessing be with you.”
Watching him disappear toward the other priests, I took a small breath.
It wasn’t a very dangerous situation.
However, there was a good chance that something a little troublesome would happen.
Searches conducted that afternoon and throughout the evening yielded little profit.
All the mercenaries returned to their dormitories, and the priests formed a group to continue the search at night.
As the day dawned, the four priests who were in charge of the last search team were found dead in the cemetery.
“… Aren’t you supposed to step out now?”
“It’s kind of like a warning sign. You keep walking around your house.”
The mercenaries’ faces brightened with a single word of Rifban’s ‘Don’t worry’.
You must be aware that the situation is more dangerous than you think.
However, he is blinded by the bounty and cannot step out.
Anyway, as yesterday, the search continued.
The sun was scorching hot, and people’s anger and anger gradually heated up.
“found!”
The call came when it was past two in the afternoon.
It was on the side of another group of mercenaries.
He hurriedly covered his mouth with the palm of his hand, but others had already gathered around him.
“What, did you find it?”
“where are you? Where are you?”
The caller crouched and pointed to a stele.
It was a tombstone in the form of a body lying flat and half embedded in the ground.
“Look carefully at the part below. There is a gap between the ground and the tombstone.”
“Really. It’s real!”
“Isn’t the space below empty?”
“Let’s push it first.”
The tall guys stepped forward. Then he bent down and began to push the underside of the tombstone as hard as he could.
I watched the situation first.
It could be a cache of slush funds, or a warlock’s hideout, but it could also be an empty bunker with nothing.
hard-
“Push! Push!”
“It’s true. There are stairs down!”
The priests who heard the commotion were also approaching this way.
When the tombstone was pushed about a third, I felt a presence in the pile of corpses right next to me.
“… … !”
Instinctively, I activated the protection magic.
Kwajik-!
something flew
He felt a burning pain in his side with the sound of the shield breaking.
My vision was turned upside down, and I saw a clear sky.
“… … .”
I was flying
As I lowered my gaze, I saw a huge monster with a club.
An oversized body that could be 3 meters tall.
restraints on the face.
Mechanical devices attached to various parts of the body.
A club and a giant hook in both hands.
thud!
After a short flight, I fell behind a pile of corpses.
On the other side of the pile, there was a shout as if a battle had already begun, and the sound of something flying and falling was heard.
-Do, run away! It’s a monster!
─Shoot those with guns! Shoot!
The part hit by the club throbbed as if the bone had been cracked.
If it hadn’t been for a moment’s protection, it wouldn’t have ended like this.
‘Is it the purpose of kidnapping the villagers to make that one?’
In an instant, several words ran through my head.
Human experimentation, body modification, mind indoctrination, etc.
I lay down on the floor and grasped the situation for a moment.
The four priests who died last night were most likely to have been attacked by that monster.
And if it was enough to create such a monster, it was said that the power of the Warlock’s body was not too strong.
‘The answer was already found in persevering without running away.’
Anyway, it all doesn’t matter to me.
You just need to use magic to quickly search the area by taking advantage of the priests’ attention being drawn to other places.
But when I turned my head to get up, I couldn’t help but open my eyes.
“Bow & Dos sleeps here.”
The tombstone I was looking for was at the bedside.
The inscription was engraved on the side, not on the top, which one could see when standing.
‘… I was in this place.’
I got up from my seat and looked at the tombstone.
It was obscured by a pile of corpses and could not be seen from the other side.
hard-
He strengthened his muscles with magic and pushed the lower part.
Soon the tombstone was pushed and a staircase leading down appeared.
dark darkness. I raised a light and headed down.
The stairs reached the shallow floor, leading to a narrow hallway.
“… … .”
As I was moving on, I felt something strange.
Van Woods apparently hired a wizard to set up some sort of trap in his stash.
But to say that, the bunker was too quiet now.
“no way.”
widely. widely. widely.
A guess ran through my mind.
The hallway was out of the way. I walked quickly and reached the far end of the room.
“… … .”
The room was completely empty.
Except for a few bills lying around in one corner.
I turned around and headed to the ground.
The warlock who was looking for a hideout found the slush fund’s cache, which was the most likely guess he could make under the current circumstances.
I climbed onto the pile of corpses and watched the situation.
The battle was not spared the struggle.
The mercenaries as well as the priests were lying on the floor bleeding.
“Cover! Attack the right arm without gloves!”
“Sa, save me!”
The devices attached to the giant’s body seemed to work with infused mana.
At every dangerous moment, a shock wave was emitted along with the light, or the movement of the giant was accelerated.
The biggest feature was that it looked like new, relatively recently attached, and that it looked like a very expensive device.
He looked behind the giant.
The monument to the warlock’s hideout was pushed back about two-thirds. There was enough space for people to enter.
I descended from the pile of corpses and magically obliterated me.
And I walked slowly towards the stairs behind the giant.