The Dark Magician's Story
As I entered Harang Tavern and ordered some food, a familiar face approached me.
"Long time no see."
It was Teron, waving his hand as he came closer.
Perhaps it was because it had been a while since I last visited Harang Tavern, but I felt even more pleased to see him.
"It's chaotic outside. You're still open?"
"Chaos is chaos, but a man's gotta make a living."
"I suppose so."
Teron seemed like the type who valued reality.
With that thought, we chatted for a bit.
"So, who's this next to you?"
Teron asked, shifting his gaze to Basil.
There was no particular reason not to answer, so I did.
With a slight lie.
"She's... my home security guard? You could say that."
"...Home security guard?"
"Yeah. There's not much to explain. She really is my home security guard."
Since she guards my house when I'm away and lives in the same house, calling him a home security guard seemed the most appropriate.
To be honest, aside from guarding the house, her job was to milk the Griffin, but it would be a bit strange to tell Teron that her job was milking, wouldn't it?
It could lead to strange misunderstandings.
As I thought about this, I placed my order.
"I'll have the usual."
"Got it."
With that, Teron disappeared into the kitchen.
I liked this side of Teron.
If the other person showed even the slightest sign of discomfort, he would be considerate.
Among adventurers, his personality was truly in the top 0.001%.
That's why I frequented Harang Tavern.
"...What does he do?"
Basil asked cautiously after Teron left.
I was going to tell her anyway.
"He's a colleague I met a while back. He's incredibly kind, so we've become quite close."
"...Ah, I see."
And so, I told Basil stories of my past adventures.
There wasn't much else to do before the food arrived.
And it was a chance to chat with Basil.
"Ahahaha... That's funny."
"Yeah, that happened, and it was a real pain to heal from."
Basil didn't laugh much at other stories, but she laughed a lot when I talked about Dontas.
The stories about Dontas were indeed funny.
To put it bluntly, he was stupid, but to put it nicely, he was innocent.
That's probably why he enjoyed hearing stories about Dontas.
As we were talking...
"Food's up."
Teron brought our food.
Looking at the dishes, there was something we didn't order.
Probably a service.
"Thanks for the service."
When I said that, Teron flinched and looked at the food on the table again.
"Ah, my mistake."
He took back the dish we thought was a service.
"I brought out food meant for another table."
It was a little embarrassing.
*
Silence.
That was the emotion Cthulhu was feeling right now.
No matter how deep a cave was, there should be some sound.
But there was no sound in the cave he had just entered.
Perhaps some magical measures were in place.
"Damn it, I can't see a thing..."
He couldn't see anything.
It was pitch black all around.
Even with his eyes open, he couldn't see a thing.
He had entered the cave thinking it would be fun, but to think someone would pull such a dirty trick.
"This pisses me off."
He gathered mana in his fist and struck the ground.
And then--
Crack!
With the sound of rocks splitting, the ground cracked open.
He could feel the magic that had been surrounding him shatter.
He didn't know who was there, but...
"You're dead when I find you."
He had been inconvenienced, so their death was certain.
Who would use such a cheap trick?
If you're going to be wild, then fight with your fists.
It didn't matter if it was a woman.
If it was a woman, he had to hit her even more.
Who would use such a cheap trick?
With that thought, he smashed everything suspicious around him and moved forward.
He wasn't wearing a top anyway, so he didn't have to worry about getting his clothes dirty.
"Come out now. If you don't, I'll come and find you."
He shouted, but no one answered.
If that was how they were going to play it, he had no choice.
He would just have to find them quickly and smash them all.
That was the way of the martial artist.
*
After taking Basil back home, I checked the barrier around my house once more.
"...What the..."
The barrier was reinforced to the point that even a powerful individual would have difficulty breaking through.
It was as if intruders would die instantly upon attempting to enter.
It occurred to me that it would be a good idea to put up a sign in front of his house.
It would be troublesome for him if someone tried to rob his house and ended up dead.
"One sign, please."
"Here you go."
I bought a sign from a nearby shop and drew a picture on it so that even those who couldn't read would understand.
It was a skull, drawn realistically.
I wasn't particularly talented at drawing, but this should suffice.
After placing the sign near the entrance, I headed back towards the wall.
I was curious about the current situation.
I checked the forum occasionally on my way.
As I browsed, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘What is that guy up to now?’
Surely, that Dark magician and 'Decadent' on the forum knew each other.
There weren't many Dark magicians in the world, and since they competed for a limited number of sacrifices, they were likely acquainted.
With that in mind, I began reading the posts written by 'Decadent.'
I found the most recent post.
[Author: Decadent]
[Title: LOL some old geezer just died hahahahaha]
[Content: That old fart who kept nagging me is finally dead LOLOLOLOL Who killed him? Whoever you are, thank you so much LOL]
L: I don't know who did it, but why do something that benefits this guy?
ㄴ: For real
ㄴ: This is infuriating
L: The way you're happy about someone dying just shows you're beyond saving
ㄴDecadent: Look at this goody-two-shoes LOL
ㄴ: He's not a goody-two-shoes, he's just a normal person with a modern way of thinking LOL
ㄴDecadent: You wanna fight?
ㄴ: You have no argument, so resorting to fighting is pathetic
ㄴDecadent: You scared?
ㄴ: Yeah, I'm scared, happy now?
ㄴDecadent: You just wait right there
//e)win
The Dark magician had seemed quite emotional when I saw her before, and judging by the comments, she was still quite emotional.
But then again--
'Should I not have killed her?'
It feels like I had done Decadent a favor.
But no matter how I thought about it--
"Killing him was the right thing to do."
Not killing him would have been absurd.
If I hadn't killed him, Baruk would have been doomed.
If he had destroyed Baruk and obtained a large number of sacrifices, it would have been difficult to defeat him, even for Cthulhu.
As I pondered this, I began checking other posts.
I thought there might be some useful information.
And then--
"...This is interesting."
There was a post that piqued my interest.
I immediately clicked on it.
[Author: Decadent]
[Title: I'll tell you why Dark magicians collect traveler corpses LOL]
[Content: A lot of them study traveler corpses in hopes of finding a way back to their original world. I don't, but some do, so keep that in mind.]
L: Why is this informative?
ㄴ: Seriously
ㄴ: I never expected this to be informative
ㄴ: This is so randomly informative
ㄴ: You gotta admit it's informative LOL
L: It's pathetic how the biggest scumbag here is trying to shift the blame onto other Dark magicians LOL
ㄴ: So true
ㄴ: It's pathetic
ㄴ: I just want to punch her
ㄴDecadent: You complain even when I give you information
ㄴDecadent: Then don't believe it
//e_win
I had always wondered why Dark magicians were particularly fond of traveler corpses, and now I knew.
It might apply only to some Dark magicians, but it was valuable information nonetheless.
With that thought, I was almost at the wall.
Refreshing the forum, I saw a post from a familiar user.
[Author: Cthulhu]
[Title: Is this thing screwed or what?]
[Content: (Photo) There are so many forks in the road, and even when I try to smash through the walls, they won't break]
L: Why are you even breaking them LOL
ㄴ: LOL
ㄴCthulhu: I have to break through if they're blocking the way
ㄴ: You think differently, don't you?
ㄴ: There are paths, why are they blocking you, you crazy fool LOLOLOL
ㄴ: This is absurd
L: They must have put up some serious magical barriers, but stubbornly trying to break through them is a talent in itself
ㄴ: His brain is legendary
ㄴ: He sounds angry...
ㄴ: Stop breaking the walls...
"...He's doing surprisingly well?"
Looking at the photo Cthulhu uploaded, it seemed he was trapped somewhere.
In such situations, it was usually better to destroy the paths rather than follow them.
Magicians hated it when someone destroyed their carefully crafted work.
Even if they didn't hate it, destroying a magician's setup was the best option.
"...I doubt he did it intentionally, though."
His instincts were on par with a wild animal.
In a good way.
As I thought this, I closed the forum and arrived at the wall.
"Someone get rid of those trolls!"
"Ugh... the smell is awful."
I saw adventurers in the middle of butchering something.
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