Lv1 Skeleton - Chapter 79

★ Name: Chompy (Johra) Gender: Male Status: Normal Race: Human Class: Warrior/Priest Rank: H+ Level: 43/99 HP: 75/75 MP: 25/105 Attack: 24 (+3) Defense: 12 (+3 Agility: 12 Intelligence: 24 ✧ Unique Skills [Water Creation LvMax] [Lesser Healing Lv 3] [Magic Chanting Lv 2] ✧ (Hidden) Unique Skills [Night Vision Lv1] ✧ (Hidden) Titles (Active) [Wizard of the Pit] [Master of Magma Hall] [Guardian of Corruption] ✧ (Hidden) Titles (Inactive) [Rat Trapper] [Hit-and-Run] [Savior Lv4] [Coldhearted LvMax] [Dragon Slayer Lv1] [Ant Exterminator Lv14] [Spider’s Bane Lv3] [Giant Killer Lv2] [Scuttles’ Grief LvMax] [Goblin’s Slaughterer Lv6] [Valenor’s Husband] ✧ (Hidden) Modifications [Avatar Lv1] [Creation Magic Lv1] [Resurrection Song Lv1]

✧ (Hidden) Creation Magic [Hidden Status] [Species Conversion(Human)] [Material Creation Lv5] ★

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Chulkuk!

The basement of the deserted temple was now nearly full of unconscious Wolf Club members. I caught Carline trying frantically escape so I simply knocked her out again.

I tied Ikan to the remaining carbon steel ring on the wall, then grabbed a chair from outside and sat in the middle of the room. There were now 5 Wolf Club members and one boss which I had kidnapped.

‘Well, capturing them and holding them here was easy enough, but I guess I’m now responsible for them. How many days can a person survive without water? So far, it has been just one so they should be fine.’

I wondered if they would wake up soon, but it didn’t seem like they were in any hurry.

‘I’ll go check on Darryl, maybe he’s found some tangible evidence we can use on these guys.’

Making sure to securely seal the door, I headed back to the inn. Even if their friends were to somehow know their boss was locked up in there, it wouldn’t be easy for them to come to the rescue because I had secured the door from the inside using Material Creation. If Ikan could guess that Carline was being held here, then perhaps other Wolf Club members could as well, so I took the extra precautions.

When I arrived back to my room I was greeted by an enthusiastic Darryl.

“Take a look Johra, it’s a record of regular payment in gold coins made out to Miriam from one of Wolf club’s subsidiaries. It must be a bribe, we got them hook line and sinker!”

“Great job, we have them now, I have to bring this to mayor right away.”

“Mayor?”

“Yes, this was a request I had received form the mayor himself.”

“Oh, so it was like that.”

He was surprised to know that I had received the quest form the most powerful man in town.

“Why don’t you stay here for a while and keep a low profile, I wouldn’t want you to suffer from the Wolf Club’s retaliation.

Leaving Darryl behind I left to city hall to meet the mayor.

Tak!

I placed a silver coin on the reception desk.

“Hello, what can I help you with?”

“I came to see the mayor.”

“Did you make an appointment?”

I shook my head.

“Hmm… then I’ll have to ask if he has some time to see you.”

She whispered to a young attendant nearby who left in a hurry and soon returned.

“Unfortunately the mayor isn’t available at the moment but the deputy mayor is here, would you like to see him instead?”

I didn’t

“No, this is something I need to tell him in person, when is he expected to return?”

“He went to visit Count Volfgang and should only be back tomorrow afternoon”

I nodded back and began heading towards the exit when someone called out to me from behind.

“Hey there, you came to see the mayor”

“Yes?”

“Was there something you’d like me to pass on to him?”

“Sorry?”

“Oh, well it’s my responsibility to attend to things when he isn’t around so if you had anything to give to him you could just give it to me instead.”

“Excuse me, who are you?”

“Ah… apologies for not properly introducing myself. I’m the assistant to the deputy mayor, name’s Pillgion.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just return tomorrow.”

“Ah that’s a bit troublesome, you see others may think of me as incompetent if I can’t even do this much…”

Despite his polite mannerisms, he sounded nervous and even desperate.

“No thank you, I will give it to Mayor myself.”

His fake smile disappearing in a moment’s notice as he pointed towards me and shouted.

“Catch that thief! He’s stolen government documents!”

“What? What? Shit!”

I grabbed him by the throat, but it only made the situation worse. The deputy mayor had a crooked smile as the guards ran to apprehend me.

“Damn it, he’s lying! He’s a corrupt official!”

“As if anyone would believe you. Guards! Hand me the document he has in his hands and throw him in jail.”

My proof I had worked so hard on to find was quickly confiscated as the guards took hold of me. Of course I could have chosen to resist with my dagger, but I didn’t want to go against the government at this point in time.

After a day in prison the mayor finally appeared with his guards.

“Oh it was you, you created quite the scene while I was away.”

“Why weren’t you in your office?”

“How was I to know when you were going to pass by?”

He had the guards free me and we went to speak in his office.

“So they all got away huh?”

“Yes, but since they are now wanted criminals, they won’t have an easy life anywhere in the kingdom.”

“I guess that’s it then.”

Cling!

He threw me a gold coin.

“What is this?”

“Your reward for completing the quest.”

“This was more than what we had agreed on.”

“You are a competent adventurer and I’m sure I can find use for you in the future. I’d like to pay you more, but unfortunately one gold is all I can afford.”

“Don’t worry about the amount, but…..is everything settled?”

He nodded his head and dove back into his pile of documents

When I went to check the deserted temple, the basement was already empty and everyone had escaped.

“Hmmm so they burnt through.”

“Johra judging by the molten metal it must have been a flame of over 2000 degrees celsius.”

Hearing Lena’s analysis my back broke out into cold sweats. For fire magic, the higher temperature the flame, the stronger the magician. It didn’t want to imagine how powerful Miriam was to be able to melt through my carbon steel restraints.

‘I wonder what would have been the result if we had fought head on.’

Still, it was fortunate for everyone involved that he had skipped out of town. If we were to fight, even if I’d win there would have been many casualties.

Leaving the basement I returned to my inn room and found Darryl asleep in my bed, buried in documents.

“Darryl”

“I had no idea what was going on when you didn’t return last night. I went to the city hall but you weren’t there and no one told me anything so I just came back and waited for you here.”

I decided to bring him into the loop and explain to him what had happened to me in the last couple days.

“Well you’ve succeeded, but now that they’ve escaped, they will get their revenge against you for sure. Miriam is the son of a famous merchant from a neighboring city. Also there are rumours that he has certain underworld connections, and that he’s used them to secure his position as deputy mayor. Now you’ve banished them back to their hometown, you need to be careful.”

“Ah so the deputy mayor was also known as Miriam….”

“Oh you didn’t know? I guess I had never mentioned it.”

I told Darryl that it was fine and that it wasn’t a big deal. We then headed towards the market where everyone seemed to be in a much better mood than yesterday, especially the merchants because they no longer had to pay protection money which cut into their profits.

I turned to ask Darryl, “did they manage to locate the little girl who was sold as a slave?”

“Really? I thought that the Wolf Club brought her with them when they escaped.”

“No, through my interrogation I learned that they got some decent money for selling her as slave.”

“Hmm… well she was still quite young so I doubt they would have tried to sell her to a brothel. Our best bet would be to look for her at the slave traders market.

“Slave traders in the city?”

“Right, since there is a demand be it for brothels or working slaves.”

My expression turned ugly as we headed there together. It was still a small city so it didn’t take long for us to arrive at the only place selling slaves.

“Hmm? Oh, you mean the girl which was sold by the Wolf Club? She’s been bought already.”

“Where?”

“I’m sorry sir but I can’t give out that information.”

It was expected for the merchant to be tight lipped about his customer’s information. Discretion was a necessity in the slaving business.

“So what should we do uncle Darryl?”

“I don’t know, maybe all we can do is hope that she was sold to a kind owner and leave it at that.”

In my mind I replayed the scene where she stared at me with those hateful eyes that fateful night in the dark alley. I had a premonition that if I were to sit back and do nothing it would surely affect the flow of history and create a huge crisis.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Looking around I noticed a small group of beggars in an alley nearby.

“Wait for me here.”

At the moment I could easily play the role of either a beggar or an adventurer. I was planning to fish out some information from some colleagues of mine.

“Here you go.”

I handed them a few loaves of bread I had bought earlier in the market.

“Are these really for us?”

I nodded encouragingly.

“You are also a beggar no? Are you sure it’s okay?”

They struggled to speak properly as they were stuffing their faces with the bread.

“I’ve already had something to eat.”

They were actually three young children between the ages of 9 and 12. Nothing but little kids who had run away from their homes in a nearby small mining town. Their families were most likely going through some tough times and couldn’t afford to feed so many mouths, so there only way to survive was to try to beg for some coin or food in a larger city. We were able to quickly get along because our ages appeared to be quite similar.

“Here, have some more.”

The young beggars feasted on bread and milk, until they laid back with a satisfied expression.

“I have a question for you guys.”

“We don’t know much about anything.”

“No, I think regarding this I think you might be able to help me.”

I described to them the little girl which had been taken and then asked if they had seen or heard about anyone who fit that description.

“About four days ago there was a group of ruffians who sold a young beggar-looking girl to them.”

“That must be her!”

“But I don’t know who she was sold to after because whichever noble bought her arrived in a black carriage and I didn’t get a good look at their family crest.”

From the beginning I didn’t expect this to be an easy endeavour, so I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“So in the last days, how many nobles have visited the slavers market?”

“Three?”

“Can you tell me anything more?”

“No, it was four!”

I tried to dig through their memories to see if they’d recall anything else which could be useful.

“I got something!”

“From those beggars huh?”

I repeated to Darryl everything the beggars had just told me, hoping that he could be able to perhaps identify our suspects seeing as he knew the local nobility much better than I did.

“Alright thanks Darryl, I’ll take it from here.”

“Okay, I’ll be at my bakery working on the repairs. Let me know if you need any help, she was my assistant afterall.”

I was attempting to track her down by investigating the nobles’ manors one by one and having Lena try to recognize the little girl’s voice. It was now midnight and I was in front of count Sion’s villa when Lena spoke up.

“Found her, she’s tied up in the basement of the building at your 2 o’clock.”

“Really, are you sure she’s tied up?”

“Yes, and I also detected the voice of that official Pillgion which framed you coming from the second floor of that same building.”

“Oh, can you transmit it to me?”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Count Sion, have you already forgotten how Miriam has helped you over the past few years?”

“Of course not, but this time things have gone too far. Miriam has already fled to his home country and Ikan escaped into the mountains. Also what is your relationship with that young slave girl?”

“Miriam has ordered me to punish the one who was behind all this, and I’ll be needing your help, count.”

“Ugh… I understand.”

From their conversation I had learned that Miriam was still looking for his pound of flesh, just using another person to get his revenge.

‘I am no pushover though.’

I broke into the manor very cautiously, and took a full 10 minutes before arriving to the basement entrance were the girl was being kept. I used Lena’s infrared vision to take a good look at the situation inside before proceeding.

Ppakak, Kung!

Having broken the lock I, the sight of a beaten and unconscious little girl appeared before me, bruises covering the entirety of her body. Taking a look at her status I realized that her HP was almost at zero, had I arrived just a little later she would have been a goner.

“Shit, Lesser Heal!”

After making sure her condition was stable with the help of a few heals, I picked her up and fled the mansion, heading off to meet Darryl.

“OMG!”

When we arrived he was still busy with the repairs despite it being late into the night. When he saw me carrying the girl and her condition he was shocked, unsure how to react.

“Just fetch her some water, and maybe a cloth the clean her wounds.”

I spoke to him brusquely and he soon snapped out of it, preparing blankets, a wet towel and drinking water.

Phew

“Where did you find her Johra?”

I simply shook my head. I didn’t want to tell him so as to not implicate him in Miriam’s revenge plan.

“I think you should stay out of this one and look after the girl.”

They are looking to hurt me, which means that Darryl who was associated with me wouldn’t be spared.”

“Is it somehow connected with a noble?”

I nodded heavily.

“Alright, I’ve got some money which I’ve saved up so I guess we can go hide up in the coal mines.

“I think I should be able to resolve this within three months at the latest.”

“Okay, then let’s meet back up at the inn in three months time.”

He picked up the girl and headed home to pack his stuff and prepare for an extended trip.

“Hmm…since I no longer have to worry about them targeting someone other than me. Time to play the hunter, afterall offense is the best form of defense.”

Balled my fist as I made up my mind.

‘But first I need to get some sleep, I’m way too tired.’

The fatigue had been piling up as I’d been very busy these last few days without any proper rest. After doubling back a few times to make sure that I wasn’t being followed, I decided to be a beggar tonight, and sleep in an empty alley facing the guard house.

‘It should be difficult to kidnap someone here.’

I drifted into a deep, blissful sleep while staring at the Autumn stars in the sky.

*——–Translator’s Notes——–*

[Dragon Slayer Lv1] All stats receive a 30% bonus when facing off with a Dragon.

[Ant Exterminator Lv14] Ants fear your very presence.

[Spider’s Bane Lv3] Spiders bear a strong hatred towards you.

[Giant Killer Lv2] 150% damage increase towards Giants.

[Scuttles’ Grief LvMax] Scuttles fear your very presence.

[Goblin’s Slaughterer Lv6] You can frighten off Goblins with a single glare.