My Demons

Thanks to the unexpected assault that took out the leader, I was able to deal with the rest of the outlaws quite effortlessly.

Covering the front, I obstructed their advance while Arnal, who had followed me without shoes through the dark, fired arrows from the rear.

One more was struck by an arrow, and the bandits attempted to gather themselves and hurried towards us, but –

“Flammae, satus!”

We gave our backs to Ellen, Grania, and Luke, who emerged from the opposite side.

Following the fire arrow, a wind fist came through, and Grania and I took care of those who had completely lost their desire to fight.

After the skirmish, while Grania was questioning a fortunate survivor, I wiped away the blood smears on me and got dressed.

Meanwhile, Luke came over and handed me the armor he had been responsible for.

“Thanks, Luke. Can you pass me the breastplate first?”

“Sure thing. But how did you figure it out, Phoenix?”

“Figure what out?”

As I responded, attaching the rings to the breastplate, Luke fastened the side straps and said,

“I had my doubts at first. I was worried that we might be attacking innocent folks.”

Hmm, how can I put this?

My rationale for assuming they were bandits solely based on their presence was, naturally, influenced by my experience in the game.

‘Fast foot Tobald’ was a fixed named enemy (an enemy that appears invariably with a name) encountered for the first time in Chapter 2 of the Dark World Campaign.

While wandering around the sewer, you’re almost guaranteed to come across him, usually accompanied by a minimum of four and a maximum of ten lackeys. However, despite searching every nook and cranny from the 1st to the 4th floor of the sewer, I never came across Tobald’s group.

That’s why I grew suspicious when I noticed a crew of about ten people heading toward an unlikely location. How could I not harbor doubts?

Yet, I couldn’t share this with Luke.

“Uh, it’s a bit tough to explain, but I sort of had a hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“Yeah, and well, I had my doubts. If there’s an actual secret passage to the outside, I wondered whether the enemies might be using it too…”

“…I get it.”

Luke appeared puzzled for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Well, you are a blood sorcerer. It’s not too surprising that your gut feeling is strong.”

“Uh, yeah, something like that.”

Thanks for buying into my vague explanation, Luke.

As I improvised, Arnal, who was putting on her shoes beside me, spoke in a bored tone.

“I don’t care about intuition or whatever, just don’t attempt such crazy tactics next time. I have no clue what I’ve stepped on while running around like a maniac.”

“A crazy tactic? It worked pretty well, didn’t it?”

The idea of only Arnal and I flanking the enemy was a spur-of-the-moment decision. It felt like a missed opportunity not to ambush them while they were unaware of us.

Sure, silencing all five of them would have been a challenge. But for Arnal and me, with high agility scores and training from a hunter, it seemed worth a shot.

We had to shed our clattering plate armor and thick-soled shoes.

Thanks to that, we managed to subdue them without a single injury. Still, Arnal didn’t appear satisfied.

“We were just lucky. I still can’t believe such a makeshift plan actually worked.”

“Hey, if you want to argue, just say it.”

“It’s not an argument – ah, forget it. You, don’t do this in public, okay?”

“Do what?”

When I asked, Arnal frowned as if genuinely clueless.

“Running around like a berserker. Even without that, the rumors about you are odd. If you keep that up, people might label you a heretic or a lunatic. The reason the arms dealer opposed hiring you – never mind, forget it.”

Although she’s concerned, it’s a bit bothersome.

It’s not ‘be cautious not to be misunderstood,’ but ‘be cautious not to get caught,’ right?

And, the arms dealer? If he’s the arms dealer, then he’s the general I encountered on the battlefield by the dock. What about him?

Just as I was about to voice my doubts, Ellen, who was inspecting the sling I had returned to her, suddenly chimed in.

“She’s right. It was an unnecessarily risky operation.”

“Hey, I chose the safest method on my end. And–“

Hold on a second. Is this girl actually agreeing with what Arnal just said?

When our surprised looks turned to her, Ellen swiftly averted her gaze and added.

“They weren’t all that great to begin with. Why take the chance?”

Hmm, she’s aligning with Arnal’s viewpoint… but she’s still addressing me. It’s unclear.

But, it’s still positive. I should be content with that.

“Well, that’s true. But it could have been a dangerous gang, right?”

“Phoenix is right.”

Behind Grania, who seemed to have wrapped up the interrogation and was coming towards us, I could see the fallen bandits.

“That guy with the split head is ‘Fast Foot Tobald,’ a leader in the bandit group. They say he’s one of the top five in the hierarchy.”

“Huh?”

Instead of the usually silent Ellen, Arnal asked with a puzzled expression.

“A bandit leader? Why would such a guy come all the way here?”

“He discovered a hidden passage while scouting the area. He was returning after confirming that this is the sewer of South Harbor.”

“Hold on. Wouldn’t the exit already be blocked then?”

“I don’t think so. They entered as soon as they found the secret passage.”

Huh, they stumbled upon a secret passage by chance? This bandit is still lying even after we spared him.

Chuckling to myself, I approached Tobald’s body while half-listening to Arnal and Grania’s conversation.

His body was still bleeding from the head. Fortunately, the passage had a slight slope towards the central channel, so the blood mixed with bits of flesh was getting carried away along with waste, rather than drenching the body.

While rummaging through the corpse’s belongings, Ellen, who had quietly followed me, spoke up with a glint of interest in her eyes.

“Phoenix, that cloak.”

“Huh? The cloak?”

“I can sense magic. Seems like it’s a magical item.”

“Oh, really?”

Did I just stumble upon treasure?

At Ellen’s words, I unfurled the bandit’s black cloak.

The cloak was just long enough to barely reach the buttocks, and it was designed to drape over one shoulder only. It seemed to be made of wool, but it didn’t appear to be for warmth.

“Hmm. I wonder what kind of magic it’s imbued with?”

“Pass it here.”

Ellen, who had taken the cloak, closed her eyes gently. Her golden hair swayed slightly in the sewer, unaffected by any breeze. It was evident she was manipulating mana.

“…Hmm, I can sense resistance to mana.”

“Resistance?”

“Magical resistance. I don’t know much beyond that.”

Possibly attracted by the subtle current Ellen had conjured, Luke, who had approached unnoticed by me, inspected the cloak and added.

“It doesn’t seem to be a cursed item. I don’t detect any malevolent aura.”

“Really? In that case.”

With a cheerful spirit, I shook the cloak a few times before draping it over my left shoulder.

Emulating Tobald, I fastened the cord around my torso and secured it to the brooch on my chest, and then I felt an odd sensation.

Whoooo.

It was as if a delicate barrier was enveloping my entire body. Unfamiliar as it was, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Is this magical resistance?

On the other hand, the cloak wasn’t overly long, so it wasn’t too unwieldy, and the substantial material didn’t flutter needlessly, which was quite nice.

And above all, it was very black, probably owing to quality dye.

In a nutshell, it was stylish. All I had received from Poison were a few poison-coated daggers and a curved knife, but Tobald had actually provided me with something quite impressive. I was feeling quite pleased.

“How does it look? Does it suit me?”

Having draped his cape and stretched out my arms to display it, Luke chuckled and gave a nod, while Ellen scowled as if finding me pitiable.

“Continue with what you were doing. If he had such a magical tool, he might have other useful items as well.”

“Hey, is it really that hard to say it looks cool?”

“Quit uttering silly things.”

How unfair.

I stepped over to Tobald’s remains and discovered a few glass bottles.

Each of the glass bottles had an uncommon hue, and they definitely seemed like remarkable items at first glance.

“What’s all this?”

I decided to have the items examined, so I called over Grania and Arnal.

Thankfully, the young mercenary, the hunter, the elderly necromancer, and the young wizard possessed enough knowledge to identify what these items were.

The contents of the glass bottles were exactly as they appeared: magic potions.

In total, there were six glass bottles. One contained a ‘potion of infrared vision,’ two were ‘healing potions,’ and the remaining two were ‘sleep potions.’

All of them were valuable, but the real prize was the final potion.

“‘A potion of invisibility’? Isn’t that incredibly valuable?”

“Yes. I couldn’t even fathom finding it here…” In the game, ‘Fast Foot Tobald’ often employed invisibility to ambush opponents when his health was reduced by half.

Could it be that due to this game mechanic, he had a potion of invisibility?

Ellen picked up the glass bottle containing a gray liquid and held it up to the torchlight, examining it from different angles.

She gave the bottle a few shakes to inspect its contents, then clicked her tongue and added,

“This is a crude concoction made from the cocoon of an invisible moth, not fairy dust. The effect won’t even last for five minutes.”

“Five minutes? That’s rather brief.”

The potion of invisibility was incredibly valuable in the game.

It was a versatile item that could prove useful when pilfering valuable items, when surrounded by enemies and in danger, or when dealing with a tricky adversary.

While it could be detected by an opponent equipped with an invisibility detection item or by someone with high agility… isn’t that not a concern right now at our lower level range? Unless dispelled by significant movement or sustaining damage, there would hardly be a reason to deactivate it.

“Why the surprise? In the La-Palais Palace, it’s common for a potion of invisibility to last over an hour. And there are no side effects.”

“Alright, enough. I’m not even asking for an hour.”

Five minutes is already quite substantial for a PvP situation based on my experiences.

“Let’s distribute the potions roughly.”

Deciding to hold onto the potion of invisibility, I gave the potion of infrared sight to Arnal, who was an archer. We agreed to entrust the potions of wound healing to Grania and Ellen, respectively.

The one given to Grania served as a sort of compensation for her injury, while the one given to Ellen was meant for safekeeping as she held the most protected position.

As for the sleeping potions, I decided to keep them since there wasn’t a specific immediate use. Their time will come eventually.

As Arnal received the potion and marveled at it, she suddenly muttered as if recalling something.

“Come to think of it, it was a good thing we ambushed them.”

“Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”

“That Kobold, or whatever his name was, if we had given him a chance, he might have consumed the invisibility potion and caused trouble. We could’ve missed him.”

Upon Arnal’s words, even Luke nodded vigorously.

“Somebody could’ve gotten seriously hurt. We really lucked out.”

Well, my initial decision to ambush was mainly because I knew Tobald was a problematic character.

He used his subordinates as human shields, engaged in hit-and-run tactics, and even launched surprise attacks while being invisible. I wanted to take him down first.

Fortunately, my teammates attributed our success to luck alone, and no one questioned my impeccable strategy.

They seemed to genuinely believe it was luck. No one realized the truth, and while it was a bit disappointing… well, that’s alright, it’s fortunate.

Internally, I clenched my lips again and continued searching through Tobald’s belongings. After all, my main goal wasn’t these magic potions.

“Are we finished? Why the intense search?”

“Wait a minute.”

Responding casually to Arnal’s query, I continued digging through Tobald’s clothing. Finally, I sensed that there was something inside his upper garments.

A small piece of fabric about the size of my palm was sewn into the lining of the tunic, slightly flipped over.

Upon tearing away the stitched portion and looking inside, I found a paper envelope coated with adhesive.

“Oh, that-“

“… It’s a letter.”

I inspected the paper envelope carefully, disregarding the surprised remarks.

The material was smooth yet substantial, giving it a high-quality appearance.

Hmm, the ‘evidence of collusion’ I remember from the game was in the form of a scroll.

I fiddled with the paper for a moment before carefully unsealing the glue which lacked a seal.

As I read the letter quickly, my face turned pale in an instant.

[The currently used route is narrow and fraught with hazards, making it unfavorable for progress.

We will secure the official route at sunset, four days from now. There are numerous alternate paths near the official route, so we suggest attempting a breakthrough in multiple directions.

Around 300 squads should be able to maximize profits while maintaining speed.

Please relay this information to our allies in the south. They will be eager to cooperate. Also, ensure that we do not infringe upon each other’s interests.

We will await you with a green flag,

Please avoid any missteps.

May 20.

by L.C.]