Chapter 17 - Something is Suspicious
"Ah right, you were here."
"What? How can you say it like that? You're the one with no presence, Hero, not me!"
"W-well, that's true. So what do we do? I'll go in first, so do you want to get checked by the guards and come in?"
"No way. That's a human castle! Are you saying that because you don't know how humans treat beastkin?"
"How would I know that?"
"Oh, dear..."
Mosilian diligently explained the situation. Humans did not tolerate beastkin. It wasn't just because they looked different.
"It's because we worship a different god. Ferdinando, the god of all furred beasts. He is the only god who bestows grace upon us."
"Aha. So from a human's perspective, you guys are heretics?"
"But it's so unfair. It's true that the goddess is great, but she never restricted worship to only herself! It's the humans who needlessly persecute others, saying it has to be the goddess or no one."
"That is a bit strange. There could be humans who don't believe in the goddess, right?"
I was a prime example. Although, officially, I was a hero of the goddess.
"There are no such humans. At least, I've never seen one."
"That is a bit strange."
It's true that I was peculiar, but could there really not be a single person like me in the world? The humans of Lumos were probably just not very open about it.
"Anyway, I can't enter a human castle. Any beastkin captured by humans never, ever return. Lord Ferdinando also said to stay away from humans and stay close to the forest!"
"That does sound a bit dangerous."
"See? Right?"
"If you get caught, that is."
"What?"
"You have a hood. Wear it properly and be quiet. Then you won't get caught."
"What? With just that?"
"People are generally not that interested in others. Unless you go around showing off and making a name for yourself, there's no way they'll know if you're a beastkin or whatever the hell else."
Humans are not interested in others. I know that better than anyone. No matter how little presence I had, I was still a human who existed in this world; if someone were to observe me carefully, I would eventually be discovered.
But in reality, no one ever noticed me. They would chatter on about their secrets whether I was there or not and treated me like a ghost.
"Ugh. You'll help me if something happens, right?"
"Do you have anything else left to give me?"
"W-what if I don't?"
"I'll ditch you."
"What? Then what do I do!"
"What do you mean, what do you do? You choose. Whether to be ditched now, or to be ditched after we go in… no, I mean, whether to follow along quietly."
"..."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm serious."
"A demon… You really were a demon."
"In any case, I have to go in."
"Ugh, I have no choice."
We circled the castle once and then found the most deserted section of the wall.
"It's a bit spooky here."
"Tell me about it. It's completely different from the front."
The northern wall of the castle. Blackish, dead moss grew all over it in a mess.
It was a completely different sight from the front wall, which was so white and radiant it was overwhelming just by existing.
Mosilian began to dig furiously. Her movements were marvelous to behold every time.
"Why don't you get a job in a mine instead? It seems much more suited to your aptitude than monster hunting."
"Hey, I'm going to be a great hero like you. I'm going to defeat scary enemies like Rankol and revive the Golden Mogu tribe."
"R-right. It's good to have big dreams."
"Okay, it's done. The castle walls seem to be buried very deep. For a wall like this, it's easier to dig at a slight angle rather than vertically."
"Thanks for the useless information. Now, lead the way."
"Yep!"
Mosilian answered energetically and threw herself into the tunnel first. It was partly because she had to move while digging, but it was also due to her natural abilities.
As a creature at the bottom of the food chain, Mosilian had a good and sensitive nose. It meant she could know in advance when a predator appeared. Thanks to that, she had survived well for someone who was targeted so often.
"Uuugh..."
"What, what's wrong? Is it the smell of humans?"
"N-no. It smells like garbage. I think this land is connected to a garbage dump."
"That's possible."
A neglected castle wall where moss grew, and the smell of garbage. It made perfect sense. Didn't they say that high heels were developed because people in old castles would relieve themselves anywhere?
This place might just be dumping its trash on one side and ignoring it.
"Then hurry up. Staring at your butt is getting disgusting too."
"Ugh, my nose is going to fall off."
Mosilian dug with all her might, as if for her very life. And when she finally emerged from the tunnel, a piece of garbage the size of a human body…
No, there was an actual person there.
"Uwoargh!"
"Uwooah!"
"Euk! Keok, kek!"
I immediately held my breath. If things went south, I was prepared to kick Mosilian's butt to close the hole and run away.
But what surprised me more than the sudden encounter with a human was their reaction.
"Shh! Shh! Lower your voice. We'll be in big trouble if someone outside finds out."
A youthful voice. Sure enough, the owner of the voice was a little kid who looked even younger than Mosilian.
"Phew, that's a relief. It seems no one heard."
"Ah, thank you."
"But who are you all? Why did you come in from over there?"
"Ah, well, I, I'm..."
I had nothing suitable to say. Because a person with a legitimate identity wouldn't have dug their way under a castle wall.
'I should just ditch Mosilian and run.'
But the little kid said something completely unexpected.
"This isn't a good place. You should probably go to a different castle."
"Huh?"
"Shh! I told you to lower your voice."
"Ah, sorry..."
This kid kept talking despite telling us to be careful. She was asking where we came from and why, looking at us as if we were a curiosity.
'Strange. We came from outside the castle, but these kids were inside…'
Only then did I get a good look at the kid. She was wrapped in cloth that couldn't even be called clothes. To make matters worse, the cloth was a mix of black and a murky color that was in the process of becoming black.
The source of the garbage smell Mosilian had picked up was this very kid. This place wasn't a normal area, but a shantytown. No, a village of vagrants, even worse than that.
"So not all castles are okay, huh."
"I know, right? I was so surprised. But it's a relief. That they're friendly to us."
"I don't know if I'd call it friendly..."
They just looked curious, and a little pitiful. Even though they were so emaciated themselves.
For some reason, their innocent appearance weighed on my mind.
"Take this."
"Th-this is..."
"Aah, those are my sunflower seeds!"
"Tsk."
Mosilian's lips pouted, but she couldn't say anything. Once it's in my hand, isn't it all mine?
"It's nothing much. It should stave off your hunger for a bit."
"T-to give me something so precious..."
"There's more if you go through this one's pockets. Well then."
"W-wait!"
The little kid grabbed my sleeve tightly. Her hand was filled not with the greed of trying to get something more, but with desperation.
"Don't go into the main castle. I don't know what you're expecting, but this probably isn't the castle that has it."
"What on earth is the reason?"
"That's..."
"Franc! What's going on? Why is it so loud?"
A sharp voice came from outside. The kid called Franc was so surprised she hiccupped, and then her eyes went wide as she clamped her mouth shut.
It seemed that us being discovered would be troublesome in many ways. Franc waved her hands, shooing us away.
We couldn't put this kid in a difficult position just to hear one story. We left the garbage dump… I mean, the northern wall.
"Do you think there's a monster living in the castle?"
"It would be a relief if that were the case. Making me so anxious."
One way or another, I had to enter the castle. Since I was going in anyway, it would be nice if it were safe.
"Hmm..."
Contrary to my worries, the inside of the castle was bustling with the smell of life. The savory smell of cooking food wafted through the air, and the calls of merchants hawking their wares echoed from all over.
"It's perfectly normal."
"I know, right."
We looked around the town a little more. But there was nothing strange, and no cause for concern.
This place was even more peaceful than Carroty Village, and there were no monsters running rampant.
"Since it's come to this, let's take care of our business quickly. From now on, we're looking for the darkest tavern in this castle."
"Just the two of us? In this whole castle?"
I could understand her bewilderment. Shita Castle was the size of at least three villages combined. It would take quite a while to look through it all.
But I couldn't just avoid it because it was difficult.
"Then what? You know someone here? A Golden Mogu from this neighborhood or something."
"Of course not. I told you, we were on the verge of extinction."
"Exactly. Who are we going to ask for help? Especially since we snuck in."
"Ugh, what about the people who took my sunflower seeds earlier?"
"You want to get hit before you go? Or just go?"
"I'll go."
"Good. Hurry up. If something happens… pretend you don't know me."
"You're so cold. You're like the frozen Lake Serad in December, Hero. Not only are you cold, but you're so hard that I couldn't catch the fish in the lake. That winter was so cold..."
I left the grumbling Mosilian behind and searched every nook and cranny of Shita Castle.
Shita Castle was largely divided into east, west, south, and north. There were towns in the east, west, and south, and in the north was the lord's castle, from which he could look down on everything.
Mosilian would take the nearby north and east. I decided to check the farther and more crowded west and south.
'Nothing's open yet.'
It was broad daylight, too early for a tavern to open. I looked at the signs first, but I couldn't tell just from that.
The signs in Shita Castle only had a symbol indicating what was sold there, not a name.
This tavern and that tavern both just had a picture of a beer mug.
'I guess I have no choice but to go to each one.'
Or, I could hope that the darkest tavern was in the area Mosilian went to, and take care of my own business in the meantime.
The first was to sell off the magic stones.
When I was traveling in a large group with the other heroes of the goddess, I didn't really need money. In every village we went to, we were provided with food and necessities for free.
They even packed us supplies to last until the next village when we left.
That much was a convenience I had to admit. But I couldn't enjoy it anymore.
'It doesn't matter. I have the money I've earned so far.'
From the jewels I received from Mosilian to the numerous magic stones I got from killing monsters. Among the heroes of the goddess, there couldn't be anyone with more than me.
Checking the market price was simple. I snuck into a jewelry shop that handled magic stones.
I watched quietly until at least three customers had passed by. Then, I could see the approximate market price.
'The price of a magic stone depends on its size, and a fingernail-sized one is about 100 Cooper, so 10,000 Won? And jewels start at a minimum of 1 Silver, 100,000 Won.'
The magic stones were cheaper than I thought. To think the minimum price was 10,000 Won for loot from killing a monster. That was disappointing.
But it was still better than a salary. I could probably kill over a hundred goblins in an hour.
That meant my hourly income was one million Won.
'A hunter's life might be pretty good.'
I sold off some of what I had. I only sold the large magic stones I was worried about leaving with Mosilian and the jewels she had given me, but I made over 3 million Won.
If I sold all the magic stones Mosilian had, I would make tens of millions in an instant.
'Tens of millions…'
Money that was hard to make even working for a whole month in Korea. A hunter's life would indeed be quite good.
Now that I had filled my pockets, it was time to spend money again. I looked down at Rankol's sword.
[Beast Rankol's Dagger (Rare)]
[The dagger used by the beast Rankol.]
[This sword is the secret that made Rankol the last survivor and the strongest warrior of its clan.]
[The thorn-like blade does not let go of prey once it has bitten.]
[Bleed +10]
[There is still an undiscovered secret.] [Its true power will awaken when the secret is revealed.]