章 25: Chapter 25: Not Considered Human

[An hour ago]

After walking from the Elmer Vault, I went to the city center where the guild was located.

The guild is a place where most artisans, job hunters, adventurers, and dungeon lurkers sell their services.

Since Lumonara has only one ten-level deep dungeon that spawns a single Tyrant every six months, there aren't many dungeon lurkers in the guild. However, there are adventurers who hunt mana beasts.

The guild building is one of the largest buildings in the capital, almost as big as the Royal Palace. It has a single floor consisting of numerous compartments that cater to the needs of everyday folks.

I went there and asked for a maid or someone who can do chores like cooking meals and washing clothes. They said they'd send someone by tomorrow.

I looked around for weapons and found a nice spear made out of Sylvarite, which is stronger than the usual Glowsteel.

There are five metals used to make weapons: Glowsteel, Sylvarite, Lunarium, Titanium, and Draconium. They get stronger and rarer up to Draconium, which requires a dragon and is almost impossible to obtain.

After buying the Sylvarite spear for a single gold coin, I kept a few coins for my spending rather than giving them all away. I'd need them until I got my Rune Slate.

After doing all this, I walked back to the house with food in my hand. I twisted the knob and saw the scene.

"..."

The whole house was in a disheveled state. The furniture was turned upside down and—

"Oh!" I almost screamed as I dashed inside. I turned and looked into the kitchen. "Fuck." I picked up my spear and walked near the broken kitchen compartment.

It was the hole that Ines showed me. I peeked in, and it was dark, pitch black. "Selvà," I muttered as I pressed the wand over my skin. My vision brightened, and I could see deep into the hole.

From this angle, I saw someone standing. It was a man—he looked around side to side and then above. His face was full of scars, and he wore a single spectacle with an eye bulging out of it.

I didn't see any Seraph around him, so he didn't look like a contractor.

I carefully grabbed the handle of my spear and dangled it in the hole, keeping it straight. For some reason, the man wasn't moving. Was he confused or something?

I let the spear stabilize, and with a precise movement of my wrist, I let it drop.

There's one thing about Sylvarite that other metals don't have: it tenfolds its potential energy when converting into kinetic energy, so—

"AGHHHHHHHH!!!!"

It took the guy a few moments to realize something had passed through his body.

I sighed as I dropped onto my back. "How many people do I have to kill to keep this place a secret?"

I looked around the room and saw that the door was still open. I got up and closed it immediately, then jumped down the hole.

Slowly climbing down and dropping with a soft thud, I was now standing in front of a real-life barbecued man.

"Ugh, ugh," the guy winced in pain, trembling.

From that height, the spear went from the guy's shoulder blade straight through the side of his rib cage to his foot. The spear itself was about five feet long, and the guy was around six feet tall, so now he had a whole spear in his body.

"Alone?" I asked, the spell still active as I looked around. I stared at the door, noticing the blood stains from the time I had dragged Ines by the floor.

"Ack!" With a yelp and a thud, the guy fell onto his side, trembling in pain more intensely. That must be excruciating.

I pitied him; his eyes seemed like they would pop out of the spectacle any minute. I walked closer to him and sat cross-legged near his face. "I know it hurts, but I also have to survive, you know. It would be a problem if I let anybody in here," I explained.

He turned his face to the side, his face smeared with his own saliva and mucus, breathing heavily.

"I'll let you go immediately. I've got some Mismre leaves up there. Just answer my few questions, and I'll let you go... okay?" I said, genuinely wanting to release him.

Upon hearing my proposition, the guy immediately began nodding his head and body like a fish out of water.

"Okay then, who do you work for?" I asked immediately, making it clear that someone had sent him here. Breaking into a kitchen compartment that led to a place like this showed he was well-informed.

The man managed to open his mouth but shut it immediately, refusing to speak, which annoyed me.

"Did you not hear me? I asked you who you work for?" I repeated, but he still didn't say anything.

His eyes watered and he opened his mouth, "I-i can't-"

At that moment, I felt angry. I looked around and saw a sharp stone nearby. This would do. I picked it up and scooted near the man. He flinched and tried to back off, but he couldn't because of the weird position he was in—he was strong to hold on this long with a spear inside him.

I removed his shirt and revealed his torso. Placing the sharp edge of the stone against his side, I said, "It's fine, don't say anything. I'll just retrieve my spear and go." All I had to do was make a cut to the side where I supposed the handle could be, put my hand inside, and forcefully rip the spear out of his body.

As I began pushing the stone, the man immediately started wiggling. "You have something to say?" I asked.

"T-the Crow..." He managed to speak.

That worked... well, I guess. I put the stone down immediately.

"The Crow? You work for them?" I asked, getting him to nod.

Damn it, wait, "Was Ines from The Crow?" I questioned immediately. Just say no, just say no.

But to my bad luck, he nodded his head almost immediately. I could feel my facial expression change.

The Crow is a criminal syndicate managed by well-known criminals. It's a big deal.

Rubbing the side of my forehead, I muttered, "So you knew about the Basilisks?" I asked, and he nodded again. "Did they send you to look for Ines and Baron?" He nodded again. That meant the news of Ines being captured and Baron's death had not reached them yet.

"How many people know about the Basilisks in your group... wait, how many groups are there in the capital right now?" I asked. But before he could answer, I saw the light leave his eyes.

[Should've saved him and then asked the questions.] Rune added.

Well, he was dead anyway. Mismre leaves are not saving you from this kind of injury... it was just false hope.

With each passing second, this thing was getting bigger and bigger—the Crow, huh? I'm damned for sure because now my house is on their target list.

Should I leave? Leaving these Basilisks behind? Nah, not happening... I need to know what this is all about.

"Ha, my head hurts!" I looked to the side and saw the door. Behind that thing, there's a creature big enough to kill half of this city's population, but despite being that strong, it's living under my house... in a hole. Why?

"By the way, you still have to explain why that thing didn't kill me. I was using Selvà," I questioned Rune and looked at my palm.

[Because it doesn't consider you a human.]

This... was interesting.