＜ 8. Duel is a big deal in town (6) ＞
“All contracts have been fulfilled. I’ve been getting tired of having fun in this town, but I’m satisfied that I can finish it this way.”
When Osei struck with his staff, the wall cracked and a red-energy portal appeared. He looked at Andrea before leaving and left these words.
“I hope to see you next time, henchman of the shadows. I’ll keep an eye out to see how your journey goes.”
Andrea formally bowed her head.
Since the demons that appear in the ‘Encounter with the Devil’ event are random, the probability of meeting Ose again was not very high. However, since the future is unknown, there was nothing wrong with being polite until the end.
Andrea turned her head and looked at the village chief. The village chief opened his mouth and twisted his eyes strangely. As if he was betrayed by a trusted colleague and struck by lightning on his way home.
“Hey, how did you meet and even sign a contract with the devil?”
Even after hearing Andrea’s question, there was no response. Instead, the village chief crawled past Andrea. The intention was to look inside the warehouse.
Of course, the warehouse was empty. The village chief made a sound of pain as he tore his hair.
“Ahhh···.”
“I spent it all on the cost of contracting with the devil. It was a fortune accumulated through dishonest methods anyway, so there is no regret, right? The little pile of gold over there is mine, so don’t even think about touching it.”
Hearing that, the village head rolled his eyes. The village chief rushes toward Andrea with his fists clenched and screaming.
However, the village chief couldn’t even lay a finger on Andrea. The moment I tried to inflict harm, I felt a pain that felt like my head would burst through the stigma. Andrea looked at the village chief rolling on the floor with cold eyes.
There was not much sympathy. He is a madman who drove all the villagers into madness to satisfy his petty greed for power and wealth.
The biggest reason Andrea wanted to enslave the village chief was to farm the property, and the next reason was, of course, to root out the absurdity of the village as promised with Emilia.
If someone asked him if he thought he was a good man, Andrea would certainly shake his head, but that didn’t make him a bad guy either. Andrea also did not want to leave such an abnormal village as it is.
Wasn’t that what he had promised, seeking Emilia’s cooperation more than anything else? He didn’t want to be the one who only looked out for his own gain and reneged on his promises.
In the game, absurdity was eradicated by seeing the village chief’s blood. It will be different this time. Now that the situation had turned out this way, Andrea thought of taking a different approach this time.
As a way for the person who perpetrated the work to rectify it himself.
“Well, it doesn’t matter how you met the devil. The important point is that from now on, if you do not obey my orders, you will suffer the same pain as before.”
The village chief trembled all over. It was like denying the reality that had come before his eyes. Andrea didn’t care and continued.
“Even so, I have no intention of making unreasonable demands of you. My only command is that you take responsibility for what you say.”
The village chief raised his head and looked at Andrea. Andrea ordered in a stern voice.
“Free all the slaves, and don’t enslave the villagers again with that card game. And somehow contact Arpan and make a deal. Really make the winner of the Duel Tournament a challenger.”
“Ha, but how…?”
“That’s something you should think about from now on. I will give you 3 years If we cannot meet or negotiate with Arpan within the time limit, we will consider it disobeying the order.”
“What nonsense… profit…!”
The village chief tried to run at Andrea again in anger, but only the same result as before was repeated. Andrea let out a sneer, raising one corner of her mouth.
“If you’re not thinking of hurting yourself, you’d better stop.”
Andrea leisurely passed the village chief and took the gold in the warehouse. When I counted them individually, it was exactly 5,750 gold.
‘As expected, the devils are meticulous in their calculations.’
When I came out after work, the village chief was rolling on the floor, screaming like a child playing around. An old man with fine wrinkles was doing it, so it was really unheard of.
“Eek! This… I can’t admit this. It was me who signed the contract first! It’s invalid, that contract is invalid!”
“Then, should we decide it as a duel, like when we are fighting in the village?”
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Now that the madness that Ose had sown had disappeared, the villagers would no longer be abnormally obsessed with dueling. Andrea was trying to be sarcastic, but the village chief seemed to want to cling to those words.
“Yes, Duel! I’d rather do it in a duel! Because that’s the rule of this town! I am the mayor of this village. I am the one who sets the rules!”
The village chief groped his waist. He too had a leather pouch imitating the deck. It was an urgent gesture, lest Andrea cancel her words.
Andrea took a card from the deck with a deep sigh.
“I do it first. Let’s use the blow first.”
Andrea landed a real blow and hit the head of the village chief with her fist. The village chief felt the shock of splitting his head in half and lost consciousness at once.
*
While the situation was being sorted out, the village became somewhat untidy.
The villagers were confused by the sudden declaration of the abolition of slavery by the village headman. I couldn’t help but feel awkward about treating the slaves I had worked with until yesterday the same as other residents overnight. In the end, people either didn’t talk to me or treated me like they didn’t exist.
“The emotional trough won’t go away easily, but it will gradually get better. This town is no longer bound by the devil’s pact.”
Andrea was in a hut that was no longer a shelter for slaves. Emilia listened to him and nodded.
Andrea told Emilia what had happened in the warehouse, adapted appropriately. The village chief made a contract with the devil, and in order to cancel the contract with the devil, he had no choice but to spend all of the village chief’s wealth.
As soon as she heard the word demon, Emilia freaked out. He was still trembling at the evil deeds of the village chief, but to have even signed a contract with the devil, from the point of view of a priest, there could be no one more heinous than this.
The challengers hired by the village chief left when they realized that the village chief was broke. The reason they were tied to the 25th floor was not because of petty loyalty, but only because of money.
Andrea talked about the reason for not getting rid of the village chief. He made a promise he couldn’t break, and from now on he’d have to take responsibility for what he said.
Emilia seemed to want to hear more about something, but Andrea asked not to ask for details. I couldn’t openly confess that I had made a pact with the devil.
In the game, when the village chief is eliminated, Emilia becomes the new village chief and leads the village. Now that the village chief wasn’t dead, he didn’t know what would happen.
There was a reason why Andrea made the village chief a slave and eradicated the absurdity of the village. It was because there was something she wanted from Emilia. Andrea carefully asks a question.
“What are you going to do now, priest? Are you going to stay in this town forever?”
Emilia shook her head slowly.
“I also thought that I would have to leave this village someday once all the problems were resolved. It will be difficult for a while as I have to help the people in the cabin adapt, but eventually I will have to climb the dungeon again.”
The dungeon selects those who crave something as challengers. I stayed there because I couldn’t just look at this town, but it was clear that Emilia also wanted to reach the end of the dungeon and achieve something.
Andrea nodded and got to the point.
“Priest, did you choose to undergo trials before entering the dungeon?”
“Nope? I didn’t even know much, so I thought I wouldn’t have to go through hardships…”
Andrea explained the true function of the ordeal. Upon hearing the story, Emilia’s face turned pale.
“So, does that mean I can’t go above the 50th floor?”
“No, there is a way.”
Andrea informed the circumstances of Trisha’s joining the group. Knowing that there was a way, Emilia’s face gradually brightened.
“Then, that means I can go to the 50th floor or higher if I accompany Andrea-sama!”
“Yes, but… I don’t know if Arpan will allow that.”
Multiplayer with two people was also quite unusual, and it was unknown if Arfan would allow up to three people.
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Not only that, but with Trisha joining, the difficulty of the dungeon subtly rose. Now that I think about it, the number of orcs on the 21st floor was greater than before, and the three hobgoblin brothers attacked much more nimble and tricky. The difficulty probably increased in proportion to the number of challengers.
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Nevertheless, Andrea decided that Emilia was worthy of being a companion.
‘A lot of the playable characters have weird personalities. Emilia doesn’t have any flaws in her personality, and her ability as a supporter is outstanding…’
The Earth God’s most powerful power. One of the strongest cards in ‘Dungeon of Infinity’ that can only be obtained through the blessing of the Earth God.
Since the Priest of the Earth was not a playable character, Andrea could only use ‘that card’ as a different character.
But what if the priest of the earth, who has the best compatibility with the earth god, directly uses that card…?
Andrea looked straight into Emilia’s eyes and said.
“There are no trials for the priest, so if you climb the dungeon after the village’s affairs are settled, you’ll probably be able to reach the 40th floor faster than our party. If you reach the 40th floor, could you wait for our group in the waiting room? I will try to talk to Arpan.”
“Yes… I will do that. I hope that Arpan-nim will allow us to accompany you.”
After the conversation, Andrea smiled bitterly. It was because if they weren’t allowed to accompany her, it would have led them in the direction of ruining the life of Emilia, who was destined to settle down in this village.
‘Still, there are things you can’t get by just standing still. Until now, Emilia has chosen the path of suppressing her long-cherished wish and showing kindness… but now that the game has become a reality, she can choose a different path.’
Andrea got up. Now it was time to prepare to leave for the next floor. I had to go back to the inn and join Marco and Trisha.
“Then, until we meet again, good luck on your journey, priest.”
“Yes, May the father of the great earth, Kleitos, bless Andrea-sama’s journey as well.”
A blessing sent by saying the true name of a god was the highest honor for a priest serving that god. Andrea bowed her head in response and left the cabin.
When I returned to the inn, Tricia and Marco were already sitting at the table. Andrea walked towards them.
The innkeeper and villagers were keeping an eye on the party. It was because rumors spread that the change in the village was due to them.
However, the residents did not intend to harm Andrea and the others. No, I didn’t even have the ability to do that in the first place. What was contained in their gaze was moderate vigilance and fear.
“I guess we have to leave soon.”
Trisha and Marco nodded their heads after hearing Andrea’s words. Anyway, the things to see in this town are almost finished. The remaining problems are only those that the village chief and the villagers have to solve gradually.
Andrea told Tricia and Marco as soon as she came out of the inn.
“Before we go, let’s stop by the store properly again. We need to prepare for the next floor.”
“Aren’t you not able to spend money because of your eccentricity?”
“…Tricia, can you tell me to lend me 5,000 gold?”
Trisha started to worry about what to do if she told her to pay back all the gold she borrowed later.
＜ 8. Duel is a big deal in town (6) ＞ End
Seems like author forgot that they are on 25th floor…