116 – sun, moon and stars – 1

I tossed some gold coins to Chin and immediately headed to the entrance of the ruins with Lucille.

“Master. Can we go alone?”

“that’s enough.”

“that…”

-Kwaaagh!!”

Terrible screams are heard from within the dark passageway leading into the ruins. The sound of something vibrating and moving with it.

– Hard! simplicity and honesty! Hard!!

It is the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking. Lucille stopped her steps nervously at the sound that would send chills down her spine just by hearing it.

No, it’s not just her who is nervous.

It was because the novice adventurers and mercenaries who looked like newbies stopped in a cold sweat.

But the skilled were different.

“Where are you?!”

“Let’s go pick up equipment!!”

“That equipment is mine!!”

The guys who were only looking for opportunities at the entrance run quickly. And after a while, some of them came out with equipment and food left over from blood and flesh.

Could it be because of that attitude of not showing any respect for lions?

One of the wandering adventurers eventually got impatient and vomited and ran away.

“Master…”

Lucille’s complexion turned slightly white as if this was the first time she had seen such a sight.

Well, I don’t see Lucille like that.

It is said that there are many crazy people among the adventurers I introduce, but they are still good enough.

Aside from those guys, there were also adventurers and mercenaries who far surpassed the term ‘troll’.

“Call those guys hyenas.”

The easiest way for adventurers and mercenaries to make money was very simple.

It is to steal someone else’s property.

Is it necessary to run dangerously through dungeons or catch monsters? All you have to do is steal things from easygoing guys.

But neither the adventurer’s guild nor the mercenary guild are fools.

If it was left as it was, it was clear that trust in each other would hit the floor, so they set the rules, and eventually they chose the method of hyena.

Unlike dungeons, these ruins have no restrictions on the number of people who can enter.

Instead, there are many traps and defense devices overflowing, and the monsters living in the ruins continue to regenerate and appear from the core of the ruins.

That’s why hyenas were able to do it.

Take the things of the dead from the ruins.

“…Look over there. Didn’t those bastards bring the trap release?”

“There is no avant-garde… The equipment looks pretty good despite the fact that it looks insignificant.”

“Shall we lead? To the bottomless room?”

Follow those who deserve to die in the ruins and take them when they die.

Undoubtedly, bad eyes are being put on our side. Lucille bit her lip slightly, receiving obvious malice.

“This is also the reason why the wizard guild’s test is a ruin exploration.”

This world is a very dangerous world, and there are a lot of people who drive to death pretending to be kind.

That’s why when you learn the ultimate skill, learn how to distinguish it.

“Are you saying that you can obtain the ultimate only when you know about the malice of others…?”

“Yes. Because you can’t make a person with strong power walk the wrong path. The easiest way to achieve that is to separate malice.”

“Oh, there! Is this your first time visiting ruins? It’s a lot of hard work. Lovers? Or what, brother and sister?”

A narrow-eyed middle-aged man approached with a grin. Judging by the color, it looks like a thief. It’s not like I’m stealing, it’s like I’m out of business.

“My name is Ulekrine. As you can see, I’m a thief. Apparently, both of them seem to be wizards… Only the wizards fall into a trap and get lost when they enter the ruins. That’s why we have to go together as a group. That’s what I mean.”

Ulechlin pointed to the back. There, a Lizardman warrior and a grasshopper warrior resembling Kamen Rider were waiting.

“There are no wizards on our side, so how about a party of five?

I saw Lucille. Because she herself must know how to distinguish between evil and good intentions.

Lucille hesitated and shook her head slowly.

“sorry.”

“Really? Then there’s nothing you can do about it. Come on. Then take this.”

“what is this?”

“There’s a place where sleep-inducing gas comes out of the traps on the first floor. This is salt candy, and chewing it increases resistance.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lucille, who received two candies wrapped in low-quality paper, thought for a moment and smiled.

“But why did you do this to us…”

“Ugh. Because the lady is like a daughter. Like a daughter. Anyway, be careful~! When looking for someone to party with later, when exploring ruins, or opening a locked treasure chest, be sure to contact me!”

Despite the rejection, he walks away. Lucille looked at the candy in her hand and took the ring on her finger.

It was to use the magic contained in the ring, ’emotion’.

“…Master. This.”

“It’s just candy salt, right?”

“Uh… yes. I honestly thought he gave the poison. And he… isn’t that… the hyena that went in when I heard the screams earlier?”

“right.”

“But why do you do good?”

“Not all hyenas are evil.”

Coveting the things of the dead is not necessarily a bad person.

And sincere exploration doesn’t necessarily make you a good person.

When I entered the ruins and was walking down the aisle with Lucille, a group of mercenaries from the front glanced at us following us. Then the rogue looking for a trap said something to their leader, and eventually the leader walked wildly towards us and growled.

“Hey. Pay for the free ride.”

“yes?”

“Aren’t we going while disarming traps and all that?!”

The savage mercenary raised his hand to his weapon. As the four mercenaries behind him nodded, Lucille asked in a puzzled way.

“But you haven’t found a single trap so far, have you?”

“Yeah, but! But we’re going ahead and making sure we’re safe!”

“So what?”

“My money!!”

“If you don’t want to bet…”

“You have to get ahead of us.”

Their atmosphere is unusual. As they began to surround us with cold smiles, I explained to Lucille.

“Among those who are going in the same direction in this way, there are many who want to be scapegoats if they seem easygoing. These are not hyenas.

“And still like this?”

“Because it’s a great trap detection device. People, too.”

It is a method used by those who are not confident in detecting and disarming traps, or who cannot do it.

Of course, players can also use captured enemies for trap exploration after winning a battle during ruin exploration.

And we agreed to call it tactical makeshift armor.

“Crazy bastards. Can’t you figure out what’s going on?”

“Give up all your equipment and quickly lead the way! Otherwise…”

A mercenary, who was dumbfounded as he watched me teach Lucille, ran up to me, and I fed him a punch.

-Puuu!!

They didn’t recognize me, so I thought I was a wandering mercenary with no skills, and that was correct.

I reached out my hand right away to him who was floundering, almost losing his mind at the blow of the boungkwon.

“Huh? Uh uh?!”

“Hey, why are you going away?! Why are you being sucked in?!”

“What?! What?! Wasn’t that a monk? That’s a shaman’s telekinesis?!”

– Awesome!!

“And when dealing with these guys, it’s best to just defeat them without questioning and answering.”

The guy who was pulled by telekinesis and then hit and bounced off again eventually passed out.

The complexion of the rest of the guys who saw it began to change.

“Mo, I can’t move!”

“This… this is bind?! It’s magic!”

“Boo, Bungkwon, telekinesis… Eh, even magic?!”

“Heeik… I’ve heard… I’ve heard…! A monster that can use all skills!! A wise man! A wise man!!”

I turned the moonlight into a sword.

“Master. Is it okay to just kill me like that?”

I stroked the worried Lucille and reassured her.

This kind of thing, honestly, quite a lot.

“Huh? Uh… I’m sure the mercenary guild will take a penalty.”

“then…”

“If you get caught.”

As soon as he finished his words, he blew the sword wind and blew the heads of those tied to the binds.

“And it really doesn’t matter if you get caught.”

First of all, I am an S-class mercenary.

One of the privileges given only to S-rank mercenaries is that mercenaries kill each other, and even if they kill each other, the guild does not hold them guilty.

“really?”

“Of course, in exchange for that, even if I am attacked, I will not be able to complain.”

“Uh… then, isn’t that dangerous?”

“It doesn’t matter. If you can attack, do it.”

After changing the moonlight to a staff, I lightly shot it down. At the same time, the sleeping shadow spreads around me and absorbs the corpses.

And what was created was the shadow puppet.

When you go to a ruin with a high-ranking shaman in a party, or when you kill an attacking enemy, you can use the enemy as a tactical makeshift armor in this way.

“…It’s difficult. People who think it’s dangerous show good intentions, and people who think it’s okay show malicious intentions.”

Lucille, who doesn’t hide her complexity, laughed as my old self overlapped.

“It increases as you do it.”

okay. If you really do this distinction, it will increase.

I remembered what happened in real life.

It was difficult for me at first to tell who was trying to kill me and who was trying to save me.

In the end, it worked because I did it.

The reason I participated in the Ruins Exploration was to help Lucille learn her ultimate skill, not to teach her the details of Ruins Exploration.

That’s why I didn’t teach them how to attack defense devices or find and disarm traps.

If I find a trap, I’ll disable it, and if a poison comes out, I’ll decode it. When the enemy came out, we fought together and filled up the tactical temporary armor.

How far did it go?

By the time I had filled the maximum of thirty tactical armor I could own, Lucille was out of breath.

“Ha ha… ha… It’s hard.”

Even if it’s hard No matter how weak the first floor was, there were 17 battles, including defense devices, monsters, and raids.

“If you go a little further, it will be the entrance to the second floor. Let’s take a break there. We can’t fight in that place because it’s a safe zone.”

“yes…”

It was evident that she had exhausted herself from the continued battle, but Lucille followed my words well.

Arriving at the safety zone on the first floor, we filled our stomachs with bread and beef jerky and regained our magic through meditation.

When we were ready to some extent, we headed for the stairs going down to the 2nd basement floor, and a hallway that looked more delicate than the 1st floor greeted us.

“Generally, the deeper you go into a ruin like this, the more dangerous it becomes, and the traps and monsters become more sophisticated. That’s why…”

-visor!! visor!!

As the explanation continued, the sound of weapons colliding with weapons was heard from the front.

what from the start…

is it a trap? Or a monster?

Or a fight?

I tried to take a detour because it was busy, but I couldn’t go back because it was a single road.

Moving forward like that, we found adventurers and mercenaries fighting in a small room with those who had seized the defenses.

-Suddenly!!

“Keuk!!”

“It’s sloppy! It’s sloppy! Euhhahaha!!”

The adventurer who was cut in the arm withdraws in anger. The tall swordsman who laughed at him twirled his sword and laughed at those standing in the hallway without even entering the room.

“You guys don’t deserve to pass here!!”

A male mercenary swordsman with a handsome, rugged look, a face like a mountain thief, two female wizards next to him, and even a shaman for recovery behind him.

Not only that, but two archers were waiting.

It seems that a small group of mercenaries are blocking the road by occupying defense devices and laying seats.

“Damn!! Gather more people!”

“Those bastards! I’ll kill them all!”

“Call everyone in the safety zone on the first floor!”

“hahahaha! Call as many times as you like! No one can pass through this place unless this Rugal Everancy is defeated!!”

“Damn it! Why is an S-class mercenary doing that here!”

Despite the shouts and exasperation, Rugal just smiled and attacked those who entered.

“It’s become a headache. Hmm… I think we’ll have to start with the archer on the right…”

“No. You don’t have to.”

I made my way through the crowd with Lucille into the room, and as soon as he saw us, Rugal smirked and raised his sword.

“Oh! The challenger this time is… Huh?”

He tilted his head.

And after rubbing his eyes again and looking at me, he exclaimed in fright.

“No?! Sage-sama?! To meet you here?!”

“…Master. Are you acquainted with that person?”

“know.”

I waved my hand at him, who was madly pleased.

“I treated his parents and younger brother for their incurable diseases. It’s been a while. Rugal.”

With that, I cleared a quest related to that guy, and I got an achievement at that time.

“It’s just fine. Did Cecil pass through here?”

“Are you the King?”

“okay.”

He thought for a moment, then nodded. Then he came close to me and spoke in a voice that was inaudible to the people around him.

“Actually, we were hired by Prince Cecil. He told us to block the road here.”

Cecil?

why?

When I looked at him, he was only embarrassed.

“I don’t know. Our mercenaries are just doing it for money… but… here… what is it? They say that the records of the sun, moon and stars are very dangerous and should not be touched by anyone. But do you know what they are?”

“…know.”

It’s a problem you know too well.

I was hoping that word wouldn’t come out.

“How long have they been gone?”

“It’s been… about seven hours. And he told me not to let him through unless he beat me.”

I didn’t ask about anything else, but it was said that quite a few knights in bikini armor went with Cecil and Karin Cloud, Cecil’s closest aide and her teacher.

Seeing that he brought only the elite, it seems that he has made up his mind too.

If it’s their strength…

We’ll reach the third floor in at least 24 hours.

“Then let’s go too.”

“Keuheum! No matter how much you are a benefactor and wise man, I am also a mercenary! I cannot ignore the request of the client!!”

He shouted and grabbed his weapon.

If you want to fight, I won’t stop you.

In the first place, there was never a time when I didn’t accept the fight that came my way.

“Lucille.”

“…Yes.”

If I defeat Rugal, the guys in the back will step out. Then, after striking them with Lucille’s magic, I approach and knock them down.

“Whoa…”

Inhale and exhale.

That guy is also an S-class mercenary and a warrior who learned his ultimate skill.

They’re not easygoing guys like the ones I saw above.

then…

After changing the moonlight into a stick, I ran to him and swung it to keep him in check.

“aaa~! I got hit~~”

Rugal, who was not even hit, exaggeratedly tumbled on the floor and shouted at me.

“Ugh… uh, as expected, wise man… you deserve it… open the road!!”

“…smart.”

“Hehe.”

Anyway, it was a request to pass only those who could defeat him.

Is this what keeps requests and opens the way for me, my benefactor?

“It’s kind of hard to say this, but… He looks like a bear, but he’s really like a fox.”

“Did you know that you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance?”

Lucille glanced behind her. Rugal, who declared that he had lost his temper earlier, stood up brazenly again and growled at those who only sucked their fingers.

“Yes. Really. Ah. By the way, Master. What is the record of the sun, moon, and stars that Prince Cecil is looking for?”

“That… Ha. f*ck.”

“…Su, it’s the first time I’ve heard you curse at Master.

I, who don’t swear at all, had no choice but to swear at least this time.

The fact that records of the sun, moon, and stars appear is itself.

Guardian of the Eight Stars DLC in this world. It’s because it says that ‘foreign press of time’ has been added.

…It seems that there will be more achievements to achieve.

damn it