Report
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
Chapter 6 - When Five Adventurers Gather, There Is Bound To Be…
The next day.
Holding the mission contract received from the wonderful receptionist at the guild, Arzen arrived at the sewer entrance at the appointed time, but no one was there.
‘Are the lowest-level adventurers just society’s trash who can’t even keep an appointment…?’
As he thought this, someone waved from a distance.
“Ah, hello!”
A man waved with a friendly smile.
Arzen had mentally labeled him as a ‘bastard’ since he had been chatting warmly with a woman on a bench since morning, but decided to reconsider.
He might just be a kind person after all.
“So you’re the healer recommended by James, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, I didn’t see you right away because I was discussing the plan. Oh, by the way, I’m Brick. As you can see, I’m a warrior. I’ll be in charge of the front line.”
Steel-ranked warriors usually wear chainmail armor or even just padded armor because they struggle with the cost of plate or medium armor and its maintenance.
But this guy is in light armor.
He’s either supported by a wealthy family or exceptionally skilled, and it’s more likely the former.
‘Basic warrior equipment… A one-handed sword and a round shield.’
Brick then pointed to the woman next to him.
“This is Dini. She’s a mage. She’s working this job to save up money and gain experience for her apprentice witch exam.”
What is this, a bastard?
Why is he going on about such unnecessary background details?
‘I don’t get the point at all. What’s with this jerk?’
Is he trying to say his girlfriend is different from us lowlifes who aim to make a living by the sword?
This is a complete load of crap.
“Hmph… Unnecessary information.”
Just then, a voice from above, on the roof beside the sewer entrance, seemed to reflect Arzen’s thoughts.
What’s going on!
A woman was skillfully carving bamboo into arrows.
By the way, it’s a trait of poor archers that they can’t afford metal arrowheads.
“We’re just a collective group of interests for this mission. I don’t understand why you’re explaining all this.”
So much for trying to look impressive, but not managing it at all.
The lowest-level steel-ranked adventurers really are pitiable in many ways.
The archer gathered the bamboo arrows into her quiver and jumped down with flair.
But she seemed to twist her ankle upon landing, causing her body to jolt.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Seeing the archer limping away and trying to hide it, Arzen spoke up.
“Need healing?”
“No, it’s not necessary. It’s equivalent to a mosquito bite.”
“Okay, so you really don’t need any help?”
Then the archer rolled up her pants to reveal an already swelling ankle.
‘What insane honesty…!’
This woman, who uses wooden arrows, is definitely meticulous about her economic calculations!
“That’s a pretty big mosquito bite. It was so fast that you didn’t even see it leave.”
“Yeah, I got bitten by a mosquito while jumping down. You’re more observant than I thought.”
“Are you mocking me, you fool? ‘Only love is the first commandment. Follow this commandment, so that the light of creation within your soul may be seen by the world…’”
Healing light radiated from Arzen’s hands, enveloping the archer’s ankle.
“Oh, oh! You’re really amazing! Now I understand why James, who has such high standards for people, recommended you even at night!”
The warrior, Brick, was full of praise.
‘Yes, praise me. Applaud me!’
For you lowlifes, this noble Arzen is fundamentally different from you!
“Hmph, is that so.”
As Arzen shrugged his shoulders while pretending to be indifferent, the mage Dini’s eyes narrowed.
‘What’s up with her…? Did she just recite a shortened version of the liturgy?’
With her sun-tanned skin, she seemed like a shepherd type, but using a liturgy instead of a spell means she’s a cleric type.
‘But a shortened chant?’
Even though it’s basic healing magic, that was incredibly fast.
‘Her healing power must be exceptionally quick.’
At that moment, a public official from the city hall appeared, scratching his disheveled hair.
“Ah, everyone’s gathered.”
Arzen narrowed his eyes.
‘A stench of corruption… or maybe he just sees steel-ranked adventurers as nothing but trash.’
It was infuriating.
When he was with the <Divine Guillotine>, public officials were always groveling.
But this guy now had an arrogant air, as if his shoulders were breaking through the sky.
‘Steel-ranked adventurers are pitiful… society is cold.’
The public official pulled something out of his pocket and started chewing.
It was a famous slime jelly made from slime essence.
“As you know, after slaying a slime, its mucus spreads everywhere, and the byproducts are sold at high prices.”
“!”
“This one can’t be used for food since it’s from the sewers, but you can collect as much as you want after exterminating them.”
“!!”
“Once the extermination is complete, report back to the guild. Any questions or concerns should be directed to the guild as well.”
He completely shifted all responsibility for the process and results onto the guild.
This guy was a high-level piece of trash.
‘Quite impressive. Even though your level of trashiness is high in a different industry, I’ll acknowledge it.’
Brick, bowing deeply to this piece of trash of a public official.
“Thank you in advance!”
Low-level adventurers are truly unfortunate.
“Alright, don’t overdo it. I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be off.”
Brick bowed energetically once more and then looked back at everyone.
“Let’s set up the formation. I’ll naturally take the front, and since the sewer is dark, archer, please stay on the side and keep an eye out for any signs.”
“Hmph……”
“Also, we’ll place the healer in the safest central position, and Dini… you’ll take charge of fire support from the rear. Now, let’s go!”
While these instructions were exchanged, a light appeared on Arzen’s palm as he recited the miracle's incantation.
“《Lamp of Prayer》.”
This was even before the warrior had a chance to light the torch.
Everyone looked at Arzen with confusion.
To Arzen, their expressions were equally perplexing, and he tilted his head.
“Why? Don’t you need this? The inside of the sewer is dark, you know.”
* * *
There are many different types of amorphous monsters, but the slimes that form in the sewers are more disgusting than mold.
‘What a god-awful stench...!’
Forget everything else—their mucus is the real problem.
Once it touches your clothes, it’s only a matter of time before the rancid stench of the sewers spreads all over your body.
“Alright, everyone has their clips on, right?”
Brick spoke with a nasally voice.
Steel-ranked adventurers couldn’t afford proper gas masks, so the best they could do was pinch their noses with clothespins.
The four adventurers, looking ridiculous with their noses clamped shut, entered the sewer.
‘Society is cold... The life of a Steel-ranked adventurer is pitiful.’
As the dim light of Arzen’s miracle illuminated the sewer, slimes began squirming out from the dark corners.
‘The most dangerous part is definitely…’
With his hands clasped in prayer, Arzen’s incantation spread a protective barrier across the entire sewer ceiling.
“《Shield of Radiance》.”
Sewer slimes, unless they were mutations, were pretty weak.
However, the real danger was the surprise attacks from above, when slimes would drop down and cover your face.
‘They quickly fill up your respiratory system with their mucus, causing suffocation. And if you’re lucky enough not to suffocate, you’ll suffer for days from the toxins in your body.’
Miracles are all powered by the strength of light.
That’s why all divine powers have the qualities of light.
In an instant, a massive glow illuminated the sewer, driving away the darkness.
‘What’s the deal with this kid?’
Dini, the mage, widened her eyes.
‘A wide-area miracle like that requires an immense amount of divine power.’
How was he able to cast something like that so effortlessly?
“Ugh…”
Of course, it wasn’t completely effortless.
Maintaining such a strong connection with the heavens took a toll on Arzen as well.
He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, panting heavily.
‘Still, I have to do what needs to be done.’
He had blocked the sneak attacks from the ceiling and illuminated the darkness of the sewer. His part was mostly over.
Now he just had to sit back and watch the battle.
Brick, the warrior, charged forward without fear of the slime’s corrosive vomit, slashing through its liquid body with his sword.
“I’m going first! Hyaaaaah!”
Whoa, this guy’s got guts.
And just like him, his mage friend wasn’t half bad either.
“Spirit of Fire wandering through the air, heed my command and appear before me! Habakone!”
A blindingly bright fireball shot through the sewer and hit three or four slimes.
Boom…!
The slimes’ amorphous bodies exploded, scattering their slimy remains everywhere.
“Well done, Dini! Your first-level spell hit perfectly!”
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Dini was panting heavily.
Though she was still in the early stages of her training to become a witch, the power she wielded was as potent as that of a mage.
‘Both mages and witches—an elite career path!’
However, the cost of using that power was steep, and just casting a proper first-level spell left her in a state of exhaustion.
‘How weak! I can summon half a dozen Voidworms without even breaking a sweat!’
Arzen felt a strange sense of superiority as he glanced at the rest of the group.
- Arzen, did you know? When there are five adventurers, one of them is always bound to be trash.
Those were the words of Circe, a leader of the Divine Guillotine, and a mentor figure from Arzen’s childhood.
- You’ll come to understand this deeply one day, especially after being dragged through the mud in this adventurers’ world, which is worse than the animal kingdom.
Arzen had trouble accepting those words at face value.
The Divine Guillotine was filled with trash personalities, but there were very few who were incompetent.
Even the lowest-ranking members were Silver-ranked adventurers—that said everything.
‘It’s the same here.’
No matter how low the Steel rank might be, surely they couldn’t all be complete failures.
“Hyaaaaaah!”
“I pushed it back with my shield!”
“Archer! Hit it hard before it recovers its stance!”
However, Circe’s "trash principle" was proven with scientific precision.
“Pew! Peeeeew! Pewpewpewpewpew!”
That idiot over there was waving his arms and making loud, exaggerated sound effects, but only shooting an actual arrow every three or four times.
“This isn’t just me making the sound! Peeeeew! Pewpewpewpewpew!”
Is he out of his mind?
I get that Steel-ranked adventurers are too poor to waste arrows, but this is going too far.
People like him always say, ‘Well~ Theoretically, one arrow is enough,’ but hearing that just makes me want to punch them.
‘Sure, one arrow would be enough... if you were an adventurer skilled enough to kill with a single shot and retrieve the arrow from the corpse to kill again...’
But for someone like her, a bottom-tier adventurer? That’s completely out of the question.
‘I didn’t want to see this… I didn’t want to see the absolute bottom of the adventurer world!’
His admiration for adventurers crumbled to dust, replaced by pure contempt...!
“Hyaaaaaah! Pewpewpew!”
If I have to deal with this idiot as a damage dealer, we’ll be here all night.
‘Unless we’re just waiting to see whether my eardrums burst or her voice gives out first.’
Clutching his head dramatically, Arzen let out a fake scream.
“Ugh, my head… My head… I can’t maintain the miracle any longer… Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Brick urgently shouted,
“I’ve got a torch! Fall back and take a break! Dini, light up the path with your fire spirit! Archer, keep an eye on the ceiling slimes!”
But the fire was no match for the brightness or range of the divine light.
With Arzen’s light gone, everything outside the torch’s glow was swallowed by darkness.
As chaos descended upon the battle, Arzen quietly muttered the Void incantation.
“Kaz to Arcturas.”
To carry out the Apostle’s command, the veil between dimensions tore open, and the Void’s minions emerged.
Only the first Voidworms—the first to ever make contact with the Apostle—were worthy of touching the Apostle’s physical form.
Six Voidworms hovered silently in the air, while the largest landed on Arzen’s shoulder.
“Worker bee, let’s get to work.”
Bzzzzzz…
At Arzen’s whisper, the worker bee flapped its wings in response.
“Can you see the layout? This is where I am. Go ahead and circle behind us, checking each intersection, and devour the slimes you find.”
Bzzz…
“Oh, and leave one or two slimes in each passage. It’d be suspicious if they were all gone.”
This was a perfect opportunity to test the limits of his power.
If he could maintain the summoning duration, he’d find out if his Void creatures could function far from their summoner.
“And make sure not to eat everything—slimes have a core that concentrates the liquid in their bodies. Just eat that, and the rest will dissolve. Got it? When the job’s done, take the others and disappear.”
Bzzz… The worker bee took off.
It flew in the direction Arzen had indicated, with the other Voidworms following in formation behind it.
From the darkness came the sound of slime bodies collapsing as they lost their cores, their remains falling with a wet splat before the sounds faded away and disappeared entirely.
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
