Chapter 5: I shouldn't have done that (5)

Perhaps thinking about my parents for the first time in a while had made me a little sentimental.

Still, filial piety was filial piety, and a quest was a quest. There were still six keepsakes left to find.

“Wait.”

I had already searched every other area thoroughly, so the remaining six had to be somewhere in this space.

Using the area where the child had been hanging as my starting point, I searched through the tunnel. As a result, I found bones hidden between the roots.

“M-Mom…….”

There was a moment when the child recognized his mother’s keepsake and burst into tears, but…… there was nothing I could do.

All I could do was properly collect her remains, at the very least.

Anyway, thirteen keepsakes. I found every single one.

My eyes were practically falling out from searching because there were no object markers.

Those Deep Pearl bastards. I admit they made a good game, but weren’t they neglecting player convenience a little too much? Not that I particularly hated this, though.

“Kid.”

“Mom…… Waaaaah.”

The child showed no sign of moving on his own, so I simply picked him up with one hand and left the tunnel.

As expected of a body capable of swinging a Two-Handed Sword with ease, carrying one child was nothing.

「Purification | A space that has been occupied by a Demon and transformed into a demonic realm must undergo purification.

A demonized space can be purified by burning it with the holy power of a god or with pure flames. The available methods of purification differ depending on your class.

Demons will reappear in an unpurified space.

Make sure Demons never appear in this land again.」

Separately, since it said purification was necessary, I took out a can of oil from my bag and generously splashed the oil around.

This was also a system from the original game, and since the starting items included a can of oil, it was easy enough to do.

Just as I was about to throw a lit torch onto the spilled oil, the dead ends along the branching paths suddenly came to mind.

…Now that I thought about it, I probably had to burn those places too if I wanted to reach 100%.

「Purification Progress: 1%」

「Purification Progress: 4%」

「Purification Progress: 7%」

Reaching 100% purification wasn’t a condition for completing the quest, so it probably didn’t matter much.

Still, it bothered me. Maybe I should try it on my way out.

With that thought in mind, I watched the purification progress slowly rise and headed outside for the time being.

Apparently, they had even implemented oxygen deprivation when burning something inside the tunnel, because I was starting to suffocate.

It would have been enough to simply make me feel somewhat short of breath, but the sensation was disturbingly specific. My lungs felt constricted, and it even felt as though my heart had shot up to just beneath my throat.

Even though my pain sensitivity was set low, my chest felt unbearably tight and unpleasant.

I didn’t have any related Trauma, but I could see this becoming controversial for some people.

Was this really okay?

Covering my mouth with my Gauntlet, I coughed lightly and quickened my pace. I could handle it, but I had no idea how the child was doing, so I needed to hurry.

Cough, cough.

“…Tch.”

The moment I heard the child coughing, I simply broke into a sprint.

Fortunately, my legs were faster than the smoke.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

In less than three minutes, we escaped the suffocating area.

Not that we had escaped the Sewers. We had simply reached an area the smoke hadn’t reached yet.

After that, things were easy.

Having learned that starting another fire would be disastrous, I didn’t attempt any more purification. And since I had already traveled these paths before, finding my way wasn’t difficult.

It was fortunate that I had a good memory when it came to routes.

I hadn’t realized it while killing Goblins and moving forward, but the paths were unusually twisted and complicated.

It felt as though I had spent thirty minutes running just to get out.

Clang!

Still, I eventually found the exit and kicked open the iron-barred gate with my foot, letting out a breath.

It smelled musty, but compared to the air deeper inside the Sewers, it felt refreshing.

The setting sun, just beginning to disappear, stabbed into my eyes.

So, had it taken roughly two or three hours?

I didn’t remember what time it had been when I entered, but it seemed to have been daytime. Since eight hours equaled one full day in the game, that sounded about right.

Then again, finding my way around and beating up Demons had taken quite a while.

Considering how much of the Sewers I had explored, though, I also wondered whether only that much time had really passed.

It felt like I had been down there for at least four or five hours.

It was a shame the game didn’t provide a clock function. I could have known for sure.

“Kid.”

“…?”

Anyway, I checked on the child I was holding.

His blank expression was clearly visible through his filthy face.

His eyes were still glistening with tears, but as long as he was alive, that was enough.

I climbed up the riverbank and slowly retraced my steps.

They had told me to report back to the Adventurer’s Guild, so it was time to head there.

“Sir Knight.”

Then, after catching his breath, the child sniffled and called out to me.

“Mom is happy by God’s side now, right?”

It was a question with an answer already decided.

“Yeah.”

I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild.

***

“Ah, Adventurer? What brings you here…… and that child is?”

Perhaps because it was evening, the Guild was even more lively than before.

However, most of the noise seemed to be coming from the tavern patrons, so the actual service counter was relatively quiet.

Thanks to that, finding Administrator Izren was easy.

Reporting to her and handing off the child were just as easy.

“Take him.”

As she came out from behind the counter, I pushed the child toward her.

I thought he would be difficult for an ordinary person to carry, considering he was heavy enough that someone with the strength to wield a True Zweihänder with both hands could handle him comfortably.

Yet the administrator caught him without any trouble.

Impressive.

Even the real me would probably stagger if I suddenly had to catch that kid.

“This child is……?”

“He’s the child of one of the laborers. Apparently, he entered the Sewers looking for his mother. Ask him for the details.”

It was a cruel thing to do to the child, but I hadn’t heard the full story myself.

So I gave her a rough summary.

“W-What?!”

Naturally, the administrator gasped and looked back at the child in her arms.

The child merely held tightly onto his mother’s keepsake—the one I had given him—and kept his mouth firmly shut.

“I-I understand. We’ll take responsibility for the child’s safety.”

「※ Polluting the Sewers

■ Demon Elimination 71 / ??

■ Bonus: Find Keepsakes 13 / 13

■ Bonus: Recover Traces of Fallen Adventurers 10 / ??

■ Optional: Save the Child」

The moment the administrator said that, one of the quests was cleared.

The others would probably clear once I made my report as well.

“Where should I put the keepsakes I recovered?”

“Ah, you brought the keepsakes too? Please place them over here for now.”

The administrator handed the child over to a fellow employee and guided me toward the counter.

Judging from her gesture toward a desk that was neither particularly large nor small—something like a bank counter—I assumed she wanted me to place everything there.

Clatter.

Without hesitation, I poured out the keepsakes.

The laborers’ keepsakes consisted of jewelry and clothing, while the traces of the Adventurers were all Adventurer Tags, so there was no chance of mixing them up.

“Y-You brought back quite a lot.”

Of course I did.

Unless the situation made it completely impossible, how could I ignore a side mission?

Of course, I probably looked like a complete piece of trash who would ignore everyone else’s circumstances, but still.

I frowned and looked down at the administrator.

The administrator swallowed nervously and quickly began checking the keepsakes.

“Are these…… the belongings of all thirteen deceased laborers?”

“What else do you think they are?”

Even though that wasn’t what I actually meant, I responded irritably, causing the administrator to flinch.

“N-No, of course not. We will first deliver these keepsakes to the clients and confirm their identities. And these Adventurer Tags……”

Her words suddenly came to a halt.

The bloodstained copper-colored tags shifted beneath her fingertips.

“…On behalf of the Guild, I offer you our sincere gratitude.”

Her voice was somewhat heavy with emotion.

It felt strangely human, and that made me uncomfortable.

I had always wanted realistic NPCs, but now that I was actually dealing with one, it somehow felt unsettling.

At this rate, wasn’t Skynet really going to be born someday?

Of course, it was fun, so I would keep playing!

“Are you finished hunting for today?”

“…?”

What was she talking about?

Why would a player stop hunting?

“Ah…… Are you going back into the Sewers? Still, perhaps you should get some rest……”

“I don’t understand what you mean. Why would I go back into the Sewers?”

Hmm.

Was she talking about the purification?

But I really didn’t want to go back in and do it myself.

“Do I have to handle the purification too?”

“You…… have to kill the Demons……? Huh? Purification?”

I frowned as I recalled the purification progress, which had ended at 43%.

I wouldn’t mind taking responsibility for the purification if I could use a Purification Stone or something, but a Demon Knight could only purify through fire.

There was a chance I might suffocate to death while doing it.

I wanted to avoid that if possible.

“J-Just to make sure…… did you eliminate all the Demons?”

That was a rather unexpected question.

My eyebrows rose.

“Then why do you think I’m standing here?”

“To…… bring the child back?”

If I had found the child halfway through, I probably would have done that……

Wait, did she think I had found the kid and given up on the quest halfway through?

Was she programmed to react like this if the clear time was fast?

But I didn’t think my clear time had been particularly fast.

“…How unpleasant. Were you looking down on me?”

When I immediately twisted my face into a scowl, the administrator desperately shook her head.

“No, I wasn’t looking down on you. I apologize, Adventurer. Then, aside from the purification, have all the Demons been eliminated?”

“Yes.”

“…Then I will contact the client immediately.”

Fortunately, it seemed I didn’t have to personally complete all the purification after all.

It would have been troublesome if purification had been one of the completion requirements.

I got lucky.

「※ Polluting the Sewers

■ Speak with the Client」

The quest updated, further confirming my suspicion.

The Sewers quest was really over.

***

「Adventurer’s Guild | At the Adventurer’s Guild, you can accept requests, submit reports, receive rewards, and perform various other activities.

You can enjoy cheap food and alcohol at the Guild tavern, though the taste may leave something to be desired. However, if you are lucky, you might obtain useful information.」

While waiting for the client, I familiarized myself with the Guild’s various systems and even finished dinner.

The messenger from the NPC who had posted the request arrived just as I finished eating.

“This is the payment for the request. And…… we will cover the brokerage fee as well.”

Since I had been summoned by one of the higher-ups of the trading company, I had no choice but to walk all the way there.

In exchange, they even paid the brokerage fee.

I had a feeling that recovering all of the laborers’ keepsakes had influenced their decision.

Honestly, I was the only one unhappy about being dragged around. NPCs never seemed to have any hesitation about making players run errands for them.

“Is that acceptable, Administrator?”

“For that level of convenience, we can certainly make an exception.”

“Then, here you are. The promised 400,000 Gal.”

More importantly, this amount.

I had checked it when signing the contract, but was this seriously real?

I had been surprised by the number of digits back then, but now that I had a rough understanding of the prices in this world, it was even harder to believe.

This wasn’t the kind of reward you gave someone for completing a single tutorial.

“Confirmed.”

The moment I transferred the gold coins into my inventory, I barely managed to suppress the trembling in my heart as I admired the rising amount displayed at the bottom of my vision.

I couldn’t help it.

In most games—no, even in the original Legend of Heroes—you only received rewards in the hundreds or thousands for completing quests.

Sometimes it was even less than that, with the game compensating you using one piece of cheap equipment or a few consumable items.

That was because you could earn far more by walking along the roadside or looting enemies you killed than by completing quests.

However, the remake was different.

Apparently, instead of letting players earn money by killing monsters, these bastards had designed the game so that quests were the primary source of income.

Otherwise, there was no way they would hand out rewards in the hundreds of thousands.

“The spoils obtained from the Demons……”

No, wait.

Earlier, I had focused only on combat and defense and hadn’t looked closely at the lifestyle-related skills, so I hadn’t noticed.

There was a skill called Butchering.

It was a skill that allowed you to obtain loot from the corpses of beasts or Demons.

If I learned it, perhaps I could earn money through hunting alone instead of relying on quests.

Though I doubted it could earn more than this.

“Not interested.”

That didn’t mean I regretted learning Close-Quarters Combat.

Considering the nature of my Character Concept, I didn’t think I would ever be taking loot from Goblins anyway.

On the other hand, Close-Quarters Combat and the Deflect skill I learned afterward had both proven extremely useful.

Even if I had known about Butchering beforehand, I would have learned these first.

“Petty change obtained from insignificant insects like those.”

I firmly maintained my pose and rejected the additional reward.

It wasn’t as if I felt no regret, but that was the nature of Roleplaying.

You had to overcome things like that.

I could confidently say that not even the slightest trace of regret lingered in my response.

“Is that the end of our business?”

With my legs crossed, my arms folded, and my head slightly lowered, I asked in what could only be described as a stylish pose.

The middle-aged NPC glanced at me nervously before answering, “Y-Yes.”

Bwaaaam!

The quest completion BGM rang loudly beside my ears.

“Then there is no reason for me to remain here.”

Damn it.

I almost broke Character.

Why was their quest completion music set so damn loud?

If I didn’t lower the volume, I was going to have a heart attack someday.

“I’ll be leaving.”

Calming my pounding heart, I rose from my seat.

I didn’t bother pushing the chair back into place after moving it.

“Then I should get going as well.”

The administrator also prepared to leave with me.

Tap, tap, tap!

It was at that exact moment that the sound of someone running wildly echoed from the hallway outside.

The urgency carried through the walls and reached us.

“What is it?”

I opened the door and stepped aside.

A moment later, someone burst into the room in a manner perfectly suited to the phrase crashing in.

The administrator jumped back in surprise.

“S-Sir!”

“Are you a colt with its ass on fire?! What is it?!”

What an old man’s way of speaking.

Suppressing the urge to smile at the strangely familiar feeling, I watched the situation unfold.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I suspected this was another Main Quest.

Even without relying on my memories of the original, my years of gaming experience told me I was smelling a quest.

“It’s a request for rescue! A signal flare was launched nearby! It’s one belonging to our trading company!”

“What?!”

Just as I expected.

“We informed the guards at the castle, but they said it would be difficult to mobilize in time, and they’re moving far too slowly……!”

“Those bastards take all that money and still don’t do their jobs!”

The old man shouted thunderously, veins bulging in his neck.

Seriously, this was an old man who looked like he could easily live to be two hundred.

“Send our people immediately!”

At that point, the old NPC’s gaze met mine.

“You! You go too!”

“…Do not order me around.”

There was no way this personality would react well to a one-sided command.

If Demons had been mentioned, that might have been different, but at the moment, we didn’t even know who the attackers were.

After interpreting the situation that way, I scowled in an attempt to protect my pride first.

“So you’re saying no?”

“I have no reason to obey your orders.”

“Gah! Then are you refusing or not?!”

Still, completely refusing felt a little wrong.

It wasn’t as though I had anything else to do.

I glanced toward the administrator.

The administrator happened to be looking at me as well.

“Given the urgency of the matter, we can postpone drawing up the contract.”

“…You will have to provide appropriate compensation.”

“If that’s the issue, we’ll reward you generously!”

“The contract is established. Lead the way.”

Then, shall I go save them right away?

But where exactly was the location?

I needed to know that before I could go kill whoever was attacking them.

「※ People in Danger

■ Optional: Join the Mercenaries

■ Travel to the Battle Location

■ Eliminate the Attackers 0 / ??

■ Bonus: Number of Survivors ?? / ??」

The quest window I opened just in case turned out to be quite helpful.

Apparently, a quest could still be generated even without formally signing a contract.

I checked the updated quest and estimated the location.

There was no minimap, but fortunately, there was a world map, so confirming the location itself wasn’t difficult.

It was simply inconvenient to keep opening the world map while traveling.

“Send a horse immediately!”

“Y-Yes!”

Fortunately, the messenger was assigned to guide me.

“You should go with the mercenaries—”

“Unnecessary.”

This was a tutorial.

Did I really have to drag a bunch of mercenaries along?

There was no need to put up with such an inconvenience.

「※ People in Danger

■ Optional: Join the Mercenaries

■ Travel to the Battle Location

■ Eliminate the Attackers 0 / ??

■ Bonus: Number of Survivors ?? / ??」

That Number of Survivors bonus objective was bothering me.

There was no actual number displayed, but my years of gaming instincts were telling me that this was probably a time attack.

Unless traveling with the mercenaries was mandatory, it seemed better to go ahead first.

“B-But it will be dangerous.”

“…Did you just speak to me about danger?”

There was no way an early-game quest could actually be dangerous.

If anything, I was worried about the NPCs losing their heads.

Considering the time it would take to get there, even leaving immediately might already be too late.

“Just let him go!”

The old man suddenly intervened.

“If he cleared out the Sewers by himself, he probably won’t die even if he goes ahead!”

“Y-Yes!”

It was unexpected help.

The messenger immediately guided me to the stables.

“This is the horse you’ll be riding!”

The horse they provided looked large and sturdy.

However, horses were a common means of transportation in games, so instead of being intimidated, I immediately climbed onto its back.

Besides, I had once played a horse racing simulator.

It was a game praised for making horseback riding feel exactly like reality.

Thanks to that, I was thoroughly used to riding horses by now.

“Hyah!”

The horse’s stick-like legs churned through the mud as it began galloping forward with a rapid thud-thud-thud!