Chapter 139

“But you lot are surprisingly strong drinkers, aren’t you? Maybe not as much as Melt-chan, but you downed a fair bit of that wine, didn’t you? Even I got fairly tipsy.”

“Right? But lately, I just don’t seem to get drunk at all.”

“Same here. I used to be weak with alcohol, but…”

“Well, I can still drink comfortably and enjoy the taste, so I don’t mind. I just don’t understand why—that’s the strange part.”

On the way back, as I escorted two of the three to the residential district, I chatted with the three, all still walking steadily.

Hmm… can’t imagine someone’s alcohol tolerance just shooting up all of a sudden…

“Oh, my inn’s here. It’s close to the residential district, cheap too, so it helps a lot.”

“Oh? There’s an inn here?”

“Eventually, I’d like to save up enough to buy a house deeper in the residential area.”

“I’d like to do the same, but… with my family home in the city, it’s too convenient to leave.”

“My parents would probably object. As long as my base is in Lindblum, living alone won’t be easy.”

“Well, that’s parents for you. Once you’ve proven yourself, maybe they’ll change their minds.”

The residential district.

At this hour, when night has only just begun, the sounds of daily life still leak from houses and apartments all around.

But—no suspicious presences.

As I thought, no one would dare launch an attack in such a crowded place.

I parted ways with Grant-kun at his inn, then the other two inside the residential district.

Likely no pursuers within, but once outside, we’d surely be tailed.

And indeed, once we exited the district and reached the mid-layer, I began to sense presences probing us from afar.

Can’t let them trace us to our home. I’ll lose them here.

“Melt-chan, hold on tight.”

“Mmm… yeah…”

Even half-asleep, her arms clung tightly around me.

I dashed at full speed, leapt at the corner, and landed atop a nearby roof.

From there, I sped rooftop to rooftop, climbing toward the upper layers. No way anyone could keep up—the only way up here is through the sloped streets.

“…Or so I thought.”

I felt it. Someone else, bounding across the rooftops after us.

A high-level physical ability… troublesome.

If they follow us home, that’ll be messy. Better to settle this at the Allheus estate—the very place Shizuma once fought, likely still cleared of people.

“…Here, there are no eyes to see. Show yourself.”

As expected, I landed in the Allheus courtyard, abandoned but still lit by lamplike fixtures that illuminated the grounds of this masterless manor.

“…Who are you? Release that girl immediately.”

But the one who appeared—though masked—was unmistakably a woman. No, more than that, I recognized her identity.

“Hyoh!? You’re with the guild, aren’t you! If I recall… the one who helped Silent… ehh… that’s right, Remiya-san!”

“…You know Silent-sama…? Who are you?”

“Mhm, Silent’s my subordinate. Could I ask you to watch over this girl, Melt-chan, for me instead?”

Remiya. A woman of the guild’s dark division… and if I’m not mistaken, one who harbors certain feelings for Silent. A lucky man, indeed.

“…So you knew her. I only chased because I saw a suspicious shadow moving across the rooftops, but… wait. Subordinate? Are you… the leader of the brigade!?”

“Correct. I’m doing a little favor for Same. …Anyway, could you take Melt-chan home? She should have her key. She’s had too much to drink.”

“…I don’t fully understand the situation, but—yes. You’re being pursued, aren’t you?”

“Mhm. I need to finish this. Once she’s safe, would you mind waiting at the house with her? As you can see, she’s quite drunk. Having someone nearby would be a big help.”

“…Understood. Later, you’ll explain everything.”

Lucky, or perhaps inevitable.

No doubt both the kingdom and guild had already been monitoring the faction behind this disturbance. That Remiya was assigned here isn’t surprising.

“Well then… if I recall correctly, this estate has a passage leading down to the Underside…”

“Could it be? Are your pursuers from the Underside?”

“Just a hunch. But realistically, only that would explain a sudden shift in Lindblum’s power balance. The adventurers’ den must be part of some ‘territory,’ right? Whoever is cutting into it… that narrows the list of suspects.”

With the kingdom moving into the underground, those shady denizens would have fled upward.

No such world could exist without some unifying force.

Surely, there must be a leader ruling the Underside’s shadow.

“Hmmm… my guess is Killcrawler would normally suppress them.”

“…! You’re knowledgeable about Lindblum’s factions?”

“Hmm? Not really. I just assume each layer—surface and underground—has its own ‘front’ and ‘back’ powers. On the surface, the front is the Glory Knights, the back the Curseface Trade Association. Below, the front is Killcrawler… and this time, the ones rampaging are the underground’s back. Am I right?”

Likely that delicate balance is what kept both kingdom and guild from interfering until now.

But then, the underground partially collapsed, refugees surged up, and Killcrawler suffered injuries.

Who else would move at such a time?

“…Now I see why Silent-sama respected you. He once said, ‘Our boss is a man of great virtue.’ …I believe his words.”

“Ho ho, I see, I see. So I can enter the underground from here?”

“Yes. The rubble has already been cleared. Your enemy is most likely the group known as Abyss Fang—a former band of mercenaries. They’ve absorbed criminals and thugs, and now command a force large enough to rival the mercenary guilds. We’ve been cautious not to act rashly against them, but…”

“Then use me. I’m an outsider after all. And this time, I wasn’t commissioned by you or by the kingdom. Fortunately, plenty of witnesses saw those thugs pick a fight with me. In other words…”

The justification is already set.

“—Rest easy. Those fools who dared disturb my dear granddaughter’s peace and defile her cherished place… tonight they bid farewell to this world.”

If no one is watching—if my beloved granddaughter and her young companions are not watching—

Then surely it’s fine to show just a little of my true strength.

“—!!”

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Y-…yes…”

And so, I descended into the Underside, through the underground prison connected to this mansion.

“…Hhh…hah…hah…”

Cradling Melt in her arms, Remiya finally remembered how to breathe.

Even in the dead of winter, sweat streamed down her forehead like a waterfall.

“That… was the leader of the brigade…”

On a different level. The fear she once felt from Silent seemed lukewarm compared to the pressure this old man radiated.

Only now, at a distance, did she realize it. She had been standing before a truly overwhelming existence.

“A natural disaster… I nearly blacked out…”

“Mmm… yeah… mmhh…”

Hearing Melt stir and murmur softly in her arms, the stiffness finally drained from Remiya’s body.

At the same time, a new thought struck her. She must protect this girl—this granddaughter the man cherished so deeply.

If the brigade’s leader, who no longer even felt human, was so concerned for her… then surely, if Melt were lost, the very nation itself might fall.

That conviction burned within Remiya’s heart.

In the underground quarter, the Underside.

After the explosion incident and subsequent state-led reconstruction, the airflow improved, driving most inhabitants away.

But there was one faction that opposed the kingdom’s attempt to flood the area with “outsiders.”

They called themselves Abyss Fang—the Fangs of the Abyss. A group far too powerful to be dismissed as mere criminals.

Ignoring the fact that they themselves squatted illegally on royal land, they were now negotiating directly with the kingdom, using the rights to this district as bait.

Arrogant and unchecked, they extended their influence toward the surface.

The balance of the four powers—if broken—could ignite a second war.

Ordinarily, the surface and the underground each had their own “front” powers to contain such threats.

But with the underground’s “shadow” forces growing stronger, a clash with the “shadow” of the surface was inevitable. Everyone expected it.

Thus, the kingdom was preparing to act.

But tonight, into this underworld, descended not a king’s envoy, but a single old man—no, a single Shura.

“…I see. Truly, almost no one remains.”

With an almost inhuman sense, Rue gauged the number of intelligent beings lingering in this enclosed space.

Through faint vibrations, through the freshness of traces left behind, through the subtle scent of human life.

All five senses worked unconsciously, picking up even the kind of information that ordinary people would instinctively shut out. Rue read it all down to the finest detail, manifesting a power akin to Mind’s Eye, Divine Guidance, or Eye of Observation.

Rue walked on in silence.

Despite being underground, where footsteps would normally echo, he advanced without making the slightest sound.

Along the way, he even spotted patrolling royal knights. Yet, for some reason, it was as though they could not perceive Rue at all—as if they passed him by without noticing, not a single one calling out to stop him as he explored the depths.

“…So there’s no problem when it comes to ordinary humans.”

It wasn’t just a matter of walking technique. It was a fusion of predicting the unconscious blind spots of the human mind, reading the movements of their gaze, and inhuman perception abilities—an art so refined it could only be called a secret technique.

With nothing but these “skills,” he was casually producing effects that had never existed even back in the days of the game.

And so, Rue pressed deeper into the Underside, heading for the place where the most people still remained.

…And eventually, he arrived. No—he could not help but arrive.

At the base that served as Abyss Fang’s stronghold.

Once, long ago, when Lindblum was first being built, it had been the largest and sturdiest foundation block constructed to support the city.

“…I see. So they’ve turned it into a fortress.”

Passages that had once been used during construction. Spaces where work sheds must have stood.

All of it remodeled, transformed—no longer mere foundations, but something that could be called a fortress beneath the city.

Facing it, Rue’s usual gentle smile twisted into something ugly—not a smile, but a sneer.

“Kukaka… I will not say ‘forgive me’ anymore… Resign yourselves.”

The Shura begins to run.

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