Chapter 47 : Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Foolish and the Great (1)

“Chase them!”

“They went that way!”

The sound of footsteps rushing toward us echoed from all directions.

Artier, who was running at the very front, kicked off a nearby wall and leaped up, swinging his sword as soldiers emerged from a fork in the path.

[Using Flame Cleave!]

“Kuaaak!”

A massive flame sword energy swept through the corridor, but no one was hurt.

It was because Artier had intentionally controlled its power.

However, the guards wearing metal chainmail struggled to take off their scorching hot armor.

“Is that okay?”

“They won’t get burned.”

To be precise, they had to not get burned.

Artier had no intention of making an enemy of another race.

“This way!”

The party ran and ran.

When the sound of pursuit faded, they were able to hide inside a secluded attic.

“……We escaped, but what are we going to do now?”

Bow asked.

Unlike Artier, he was unable to control the power of his weapon, so he hadn't even taken out his bow in the first place.

“If we can’t contact Ropin, isn’t it impossible to find him?”

“We’re going to the lord’s office.”

“Why there?”

“Ropin received a request from the lord, didn’t he? Naturally, he would have gone to meet the lord right away.”

The butler at that time had also said he would inform the lord that a guest had arrived.

Since the lord was also of a different race, he wouldn't stay with the human Ropin for long.

“That’s right. But the office is in the very center of the castle. We’ll inevitably have to break through the guards.”

“That won’t be difficult. Right, Gerard?”

“What? Are you talking to me?”

Gerard wore a bewildered expression.

He couldn't swing his sword like before, and being asked to infiltrate as a mage was simply baffling.

‘What’s with him? I thought he learned skills like that with this kind of situation in mind from the start?’

But Artier, who had done this sort of thing many times during his gamer days, found Gerard’s reaction puzzling.

“Magic traps. If we scatter them as we go, they won’t be able to approach us carelessly.”

“Ah……!”

The Magic Trap skill Gerard possessed had a variety of effects by default.

From status effects like poison, temporary blindness, and binding, to even stunning the target, it could subdue enemies without causing great harm.

“But if it’s the lord’s castle, there will be mages too.”

“It doesn’t matter. It takes time to detect and disarm traps. We will achieve the original goal of buying time.”

“……I see. I will give it a try.”

Having decided on a course of action, the party left the room and started heading for the office.

They moved as carefully and stealthily as possible, but it wasn't long before they were spotted by guards again.

“There they are!”

“After them!”

Artier looked at Gerard.

He nodded, took out his grimoire, and extended his hand toward the soldiers.

“Magic Trap.”

A moment later, the corridor they were in began to fill with various smokes and oozes.

“Ugh!”

“It’s a magic trap. Call a mage!”

The guards who failed to spot Gerard’s traps flailed around on the floor that had turned into a swamp.

Thanks to this, the party was able to reach the front of the office more easily than expected.

‘What is this? I don’t remember it being this easy when I did the quest back in the day.’

As Artier recalled, not only was the number of soldiers and mages stationed in the castle much higher, but even the regular guards had the ability to disarm that level of Magic Trap if they took the time.

‘Could it be that the difficulty was adjusted because it’s too early in the game?’

It was an unknown, but there was no time to think deeply.

Artier immediately opened the door.

Click.

The office, which opened as soon as he touched it, was empty.

Among the desks and bookshelves that seemed to be made from carved tree roots, various books and documents were tightly packed, and on the central wall hung a portrait of an elf that looked as if it had been gruesomely slashed with a knife.

“Why is no one here?”

“They might have already evacuated somewhere.”

“That could be.”

While everyone was looking around, Collie lowered his posture and placed his hand on the ground.

“Mr. Ropin was here. It seems he was here until a little while ago.”

“Can you tell where Ropin went?”

“Well……”

“What’s wrong?”

Collie scratched the back of his neck and pointed at the desk in front of him.

“The scent suddenly cuts off right there.”

“There? Did he teleport?”

“If he had, he would have said he felt the flow of mana.”

Bow stepped forward, examined the desk, and then gently pressed a spot with his hand.

Click.

The desk then split in half, revealing a hidden passage.

“As expected.”

“How did you find that?”

“……Just a hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“Sometimes there are eccentrics who prefer mechanical devices over magic like this. I just wondered if that might be the case.”

The passage Bow found led deep underground.

‘How did he find it?’

Artier’s eyes darted around.

Bow said he found it on a hunch, but it was not a passage that could be found on a hunch.

‘Even the Tracking skill wouldn’t be able to find this passage.’

It was a passage hidden by none other than the lord.

Unless one had the ability to open the door or was a player who had cleared the game, there was no way other than to physically break the entrance.

‘I’ll have to ask him later.’

Organizing his thoughts, Artier stepped into the secret passage.

“For now, let’s go in. It seems Mr. Ropin went through this passage as well.”

Thump. Thump.

Beyond the cold stone stairs, not even a speck of light could be seen.

They had to keep moving forward, using the sporadically placed torches as markers.

“Where in the world does this lead?”

“Ugh, it stinks of stagnant water. Don’t they clean this place?”

Jeina grumbled, pinching her nose.

The basement reeked of a musty smell due to the underground waterway.

Clatter.

Just then, a loud noise came from ahead of them.

Everyone instinctively drew their weapons, but Gerard, who was at the front, stopped them.

“It’s not an enemy.”

“Really?”

“Look over there, the sound came from that prison.”

Gerard moved aside to let them see.

As he said, next to the passage was a prison with densely packed bars.

Artier, who had casually approached it, unknowingly held his breath at the tragic sight he saw beyond the bars.

‘I knew about it, but seeing it in person is really…….’

There, a person was imprisoned, so skinny that all their bones were visible through their skin.

“A-a person? You’re a person, right!”

As soon as the person spotted Artier’s party, they rushed to the bars and shouted in a hoarse voice.

“G-give me something to eat! Please! I feel like I’m going to starve to death!”

Why would a human be imprisoned in the basement of Gigas Hall, and in such a terrible state?

Everyone hesitated, but Artier handed the person the water and bread he had.

“Here.”

“F-food!”

The man immediately snatched them and devoured them as if possessed.

The food was gone in an instant.

“Is there… is there more?”

“I have something to ask you before that.”

Artier pretended to rummage through his inventory and quickly asked.

“What is this place for?”

“I don’t know. The madman of Gigas Hall brought me here.”

“You mean the lord?”

“Yes!”

The prediction was not wrong.

Artier immediately asked the question he was most curious about.

“Did an old man who looked like a mage pass through here earlier?”

Ropin was a pacifist who wouldn't want to kill even a passing ant, so why did he just pass through this passage?

If the Ropin he knew had seen this sight, he would have flown into a rage, demanding the person be released at once.

“If you’re talking about the old man who came with the lord, he passed by earlier.”

Fortunately, it was true that Ropin had used this passage.

“But you’re probably out of luck. He came down with the lord.”

“What do you mean?”

“That lord is a madman.”

The man’s pupils shook uncontrollably.

It seemed the mere act of recalling the memory was agonizing for his entire body.

“The lord knows how to use illusion magic. Until he revealed his true colors, I thought this was a neat and clean corridor. I had no idea.”

“So that’s what it was……?”

Illusion magic is very difficult to see through unless one is aware of it.

Moreover, since the opponent was the lord of a city, he probably wouldn't have thought he would be deceived.

“If what he says is true, Mr. Ropin is in danger. We have to find him quickly.”

Gerard replied with a stern expression.

At that moment, Jeina, who had taken a few steps forward, pointed ahead with a hardened expression.

“Leader, don’t tell me those are those monsters?”

Their gazes turned to where Jeina’s finger was pointing.

Next to the spiral staircase leading down, numerous prisons were packed tightly together.

And inside those prisons were the white monsters that Artier had cut down countless times.

“Hellmorphs……?”

“They all seem to be dead. But why are they locked up here?”

“What in the world are they doing.”

Artier looked back and forth between the imprisoned man and the passage they had to descend.

Artier could explain what they were curious about.

‘But this is a time attack quest.’

[The quest has been updated.]

You have decided to rescue Holy Mage Ropin and escape the lord’s castle.

But be careful.

Ropin is currently in a very dangerous state.

If you do not rescue him quickly, you will be in great danger.

Ropin's Safety: 75% (Decreasing)

Reward: Significant increase in affinity with Ropin, 2 Silver coins, Experience Points

It was a time to act immediately rather than explain the situation.

“Let’s go down and find the lord and Ropin. We can probably get the prison key from inside.”

The Dispel-enchanted prison bars could not be destroyed with skills.

Unfortunately, there was no way to save the man for now.

As they descended the stairs, the party’s expressions showed no sign of easing.

Almost every prison held a Hellmorph.

In one prison, there was even a skeletonized corpse.

There was no need to say what had happened.

“……What the hell is this.”

Artier could hear Bow’s soft whisper from the very back.

A look of shock.

He seemed to be pondering something, but as soon as he felt Artier’s gaze, Bow shut his mouth.

‘What is it? Has he been here before?’

In the meantime, they had descended all the stairs and arrived in front of a large room.

After confirming there were no traps, the party drew their weapons and entered the room.

Bang!

“Artier? How did you get here?”

“My, my……. It seems we have uninvited guests.”

What they saw upon opening the door was a huge library surrounded by tightly packed bookshelves.

And at a magnificent table, Viscount Hol, who had been writing something, looked at Artier with a faint smile.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.