Chapter 27
I received the items from the knight and settled down in a secluded spot.
The cloak and the shield.
Both had some issues with use.
The cloak was torn and worn out, and the shield had an uneven shape.
The true value of these items is not their appearance, but the spell circles contained within.
Enchantment.
It was the process of imbuing an object with a magic spell circle.
If the enchantment succeeded, the object was granted a special power it did not have before.
[Cloak of Fire Resistance]
- Resistance to fire is increased.
[Shield Bearing Flames]
- Possesses the property of absorbing fire-related attacks. It cannot absorb flames exceeding its durability.
For an inexperienced mage, the duration of the enchantment was exceedingly short, lasting only a few minutes.
However, the story was different for a skilled mage.
It was possible to weave the spell circles complexly and implant the ability permanently.
This was a domain only possible for a General, or 4th-rank, mage.
Therefore, the value of these two items was greater than the snowflake crystal that the knight was worried about.
These are items that cannot be bought even with hundreds of bottles of high-quality liquor.
While there were people among the knights who could use magic, like Lucille, it would have been difficult for them to know.
It is difficult to discern what abilities an item has just by looking at it.
I had the information and possessed an ability specialized in appraisal, allowing me to know the true worth of the items.
"......Hello."
When I looked up, Tania was there.
Her face was filled with disappointment.
She had been excited just before we parted yesterday.
She had arrived at a place larger than the dormitory she had previously stayed at, a place with many survivors.
I could guess how she felt.
But after spending just a few hours here, there is a fact that one realizes.
That the size of the hideout or the number of people does not guarantee safety.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah."
"My sister told me that you exchanged greetings with Lord Rodwell, the commander of the knights. What did he say?"
"It seems he has high expectations for me."
"That is a relief. If you distinguish yourself a little more here, they might immediately accept you as a knight."
Tania rejoiced as if it were her own news.
Seeing the innocent girl's reaction was reassuring.
However, contrary to her feelings, Rodwell's interest made me uncomfortable.
"I have no intention of joining them."
"Why? Everyone else is desperate to join the knights."
"Even if I am lucky enough to serve under them, I would start from the bottom. I do not plan to move while taking orders. Also, those who established themselves first are unlikely to think well of me."
"Because you did not go through the normal procedures?"
"That is part of it, but the biggest reason is probably that I am not a noble."
There were things that did not change, even with the world in this state.
Customs and social status were among them.
The moment I became affiliated with the Knights Order.
They would clearly be territorial towards me.
"Where did you get that old cloak and strange shield?"
"I traded with the knights."
"If you needed an outer garment, you should have asked me. I might have been able to get a spare one through my sister."
"Do you also see this cloak as just an ordinary cloak?"
I held out the cloak I was holding.
Tania leaned forward and tensed her eyebrows.
Soon, she shook her head.
Even she, who was called a promising talent as a mage, could not discern the spell circle contained in the cloak.
"It smells. The musty smell that rises when turning old pages. Other than that, I do not know. Is the fabric good?"
"Wrong. But it is okay not to know. Others surely failed to guess it too."
I put the cloak around my body.
The shield was fixed to my back along with the bludgeon, using the clasp.
My backpack held the snowflake crystal I had just purchased, along with spare food and water.
"......Are you planning to go out?"
"Yeah, not immediately, but soon."
Tania hesitated.
I could guess her feelings through her eyes.
Whether it was right to follow, or right to stay.
I said nothing.
There would be advantages if she accompanied me, but disadvantages also existed.
I remained silent because I was prepared to utilize either outcome.
"Have you met Talleon and Gavinu?"
"I have not seen those children. It is too early for them to wake up, so they must still be in their rooms."
"......Are you going to ask them to come with you?"
"No, I will not. But if they say they want to follow, I intend to take them. In that case, they must be prepared to go through what we experienced in the dormitory again."
* * *
Joshua did not head straight for the laboratory.
He wanted to take a day off to observe the atmosphere inside the Tower.
"Please save me. Sir Knight, I will meet the tribute somehow, please just give me one more day!"
"Please take at least the children, I beg you!"
"Please have mercy."
In just half a day, over 20 people were chased out.
The knights showed no consideration for their circumstances.
Some struggled and had their arms or legs severed by the swords the knights swung.
Terrible screams could be heard.
The remnants of that moment remained as bloodstains at the main entrance.
'If it were not for [Cool], my mind would be ruined.'
I was grateful for my personality traits.
However, someone other than me would have felt anxious seeing that situation.
If things continued this way, they would be chased out again.
If they were chased out, they had no certainty of surviving the monsters.
Anxious people gave up what they had without calculating profit and loss.
There were people who could only survive that way.
"Hey, tell me the truth. That content posted on the wall. Was it you who told them?"
That night, the first floor became noisy.
"Since you are not answering, it must be you. You traitorous bastard!"
It was the group of students I had seen in the morning.
The student who looked like the leader was wrestling his friend to the ground and beating him up.
"Woah, woah, calm down."
Knights appeared shortly after and separated the two.
"We cannot explore the laboratory with our power anyway. It is better to report it to the knights and get a little benefit."
The beaten student publicly disclosed the information they had been sharing among themselves.
A yellowish-brown poster, which was not there before, was affixed to one wall.
The content written on the poster was as follows:
[Laboratory found in the northwest direction of the Tower. According to the informant, no group has succeeded in exploring it yet. High possibility of Hunters being nearby. The number of incidents where people disappear without a trace near the laboratory has recently increased.]
The student had given up.
It was difficult for his group to raid it.
Therefore, he sought practical gain through a different method.
He reported it to the knights.
He received food as a reward for providing the information.
It was an action he had taken independently, without consulting his comrades.
The leader, who later found out the truth, was enraged and was currently confronting him.
"Let go of me!"
The student forcefully pulled his hand away.
The knight did not let go.
He easily restrained him right there.
"There are too many eyes watching here, so if you have a problem, resolve it elsewhere."
The student caught his breath.
The fury towards the traitor in front of him and the coercion emitted by the predator behind him collided.
"Just you wait!"
The student gritted his teeth and retreated.
Only then did the onlookers flock to the poster.
"What is written here?"
"Lab...ora...tory? Is that right?"
"What is that?"
"I do not know. But seeing the students fighting over it, it must be something important."
The villagers shook their heads.
Most of them could not even read the letters on the poster.
People who did not know the meaning of the word 'laboratory' could not possibly understand its value.
On the other hand, the students showed interest.
"This would be a good place to try, wouldn't it?"
"A laboratory is a place we know too."
Laboratories were familiar places to mages.
They ran errands for professors or assisted with experiments as assistants.
They knew how those places were structured.
The mage students suggested heading to the laboratory, persuading their comrades.
'Seriously. Things never go smoothly.'
Joshua sighed as he watched the situation.
He thought things were flowing easily, somehow.
THE Survival never led players down an easy path.
This time, it blocked his way by increasing the number of competitors.
'But this is still better than many other situations.'
Compared to being trapped in a building swarming with zombies from the start.
Or having a knight aiming for the back of his head.
This increase in difficulty is easy to accept.
'I hate how I am becoming numb to this.'
[Cool] soothed him, telling him not to falter.
I approached the poster.
The knights had no intention of sending people to the laboratory.
[Clever] informed me of their intentions.
A significant number of knights who went out on missions had failed to return and were missing.
The Order of the Star had suffered a major blow.
It seemed they hoped for someone else to raid it, rather than sending their own people.
'If someone succeeds in exploring and returns, they have to hand over only a part of the spoils. Even if they fail, the number of mouths to feed is reduced.'
In either case, there was no loss for the knights.
"What, are you interested too?"
A student asked curtly.
He was an extra whose name I did not even know.
However, the other person seemed to recognize me.
"You, who never even left the dormitory, could not possibly know anything about the laboratory."
"Hey, do not tease him. He must be scared enough as it is."
The female student who seemed to be taking his side was actually just mocking me with him.
The opponent's intention was obvious.
To pick on an easy target and regain his lost self-esteem by bullying him.
Monsters are scary, but there is no reason to be afraid of a troublemaker.
'I can use this situation to my advantage.'
There was an achievement that awarded coins when a conflict with students was resolved.
How many was it?
[Clever] kindly informed me it was 1 coin.
I had heard that many a little makes a mickle.
I used [Analyze].
[Roden Pierel]
Current LV 15 (Apprentice mage)
8th Grade Perity
Potential - D
Attribute - Lightning
Unique Skill - X
'Dealing with a guy like this for one coin is a profitable business.'
Joshua was fully prepared to engage in the provocation his opponent offered.
"What is with you, acting like a bully in this day and age?"
"What is he talking about? Bully? What country is that word from?"
Roden stuttered, still speaking.
At the same time, he scanned his surroundings.
I knew the person his gaze was searching for was a knight.
"Watch what you say, as there are no eyes watching. Otherwise, you never know what will happen to you before the knights come to stop it."
"What a joke."
"......What did you just say?"
"You must be hard of hearing. Should I repeat it? You’re a joke, and you’re full of crap."
Roden showed a flustered expression.
"Haha, now I know what you are thinking, you bastard."
He mustered his mana.
Blue electrical discharge wrapped around his raised fist.
Even then, Joshua showed no particular reaction.
The student felt something strange, but he was concerned about the eyes of his friends watching from behind.
If he put his fist back down, he would surely be disgraced.
Swoosh!
His clenched hand flew towards Joshua's face.
Crack!
The fist collided with something in the air and bounced back.
It felt like hitting a hard rock.
Roden instinctively looked at his hand.
His fingers were twisted, and the skin was torn between them, bleeding.
"Aaargh, what the hell did you do!"
Joshua sighed.
He had aimed for the moment Roden attacked and created a shield of light.
With the increase in his magic level, blocking this level of attack was effortless.
"You should have picked your fight carefully."
I replied in a cold voice.
Roden looked down at the floor, only staring at his injured hand.
[Cool] warned me.
He had not given up yet.
He intended to launch a spell, aiming for a moment of carelessness.
Smack!
I kicked him hard in the face with my foot.
The guy tumbled on the floor.
[A surviving troublemaker has been subdued.]
[1 Coin is acquired.]
[The doctrine of the Loner God has been executed.]
[1 additional Coin is acquired.]
[Total Coins: 52]
I acquired one more coin than the expected reward.
Executing the doctrine of the God.
The support of the God, which was mentioned as the level of Originality increased, must have referred to this.
Thanks to this, I gained good information.
'Very good.'
His comrades, who had only been watching, rushed forward belatedly.
But it was too late.
The mediator who would stop this fight returned to the lobby.
"Stop!"
The returning knight shouted loudly.
The students who had rushed out to confront Joshua froze in place.
"I took care of one trouble, and this is what I return to."
"I did not do anything."
When I replied smoothly, the knight looked at the fallen student.
His nose was broken, as blood would not stop flowing from it.
"Do not lie to me. You can see who is hurt, can't you? That bastard is the culprit of the disturbance."
"That is enough."
"What do you mean? This is what I look like, and you tell me that is enough?"
"Students fight each other, and sometimes a little blood is drawn."
"I cannot let this end here!"
The student growled.
He could not calm his anger despite the knight's dissuasion.
"I clearly told you to stop, and if you take one more step now, I will take it as you ignoring my words, understood?"
The knight warned him.
The bleeding student stiffened.
His reason had not completely flown away.
"If you understand, go and stop the bleeding."
He glanced at me with resentful eyes and disappeared from the lobby.
Joshua was left alone with the knight.
"......Did you do that to him?"
"Yes, I taught him a lesson since he did not know his place."
The knight looked at me with a bewildered expression.
Unlike Roden, who had left in a mess, I had not shed a single drop of sweat.
"If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave. I need to prepare to go out tomorrow."