༺ Hassan and the Underground Market (1) ༻
It was impossible for me to just forget all the suffering I had endured during my first month in this world.
Swoosh—
The vivid sensation of suddenly falling through a manhole cover.
And how I subsequently found myself in a dim and unfamiliar underground corridor after I regained consciousness.
Now I knew for certain that the place I woke up in was one of Pluto’s Labyrinths, but back then, I thought it was just a sewer from the 21st
That time, I thought I must have fallen through the manhole cover that had been opened during construction. So, it was more of a feeling like, “Damn, I have the worst luck, don’t I?”
Of course, I soon realized that the gigantic spiders and skeletons, which were moving around in the underground that I had found myself into, were not normal.
Anyway, at that time, all I could do was run away with all my might.
After running around aimlessly, I was eventually captured by the human hunters from Desros who were exploring the labyrinth at that time. Then, I was finally enslaved and put to use as a gladiator in the arena.
Wahahaha, look, what is this? Another. I can’t believe this. I was able to catch another Samaritan! I must be very lucky!
Desros Arena.
It was truly a dreadful place.
They only gave me one meal a day, and I was forced to fight all sorts of monsters and creatures on a daily basis. So that place was basically like hell on earth for me.
Although I only spent about a month in that place, that one month remained one of the most terrifying and darkest times of my life.
So, in the end, I took advantage of various incidents and set the arena on fire. I soon escaped after setting the place on fire. However, even in this world, setting fire to someone else’s property was a serious crime, so I was eventually caught once again.
The verdict— they sentenced me to either death by hanging or slavery.
I was thrown a punishment where no matter what sentence I chose for myself, it would be dreadful for me and my life. Even though there were two options for me, my death was already an established and unchanging fact. In their opinion, I was a barbarian brute wicked enough to set fire to the place I lived.
And the people who would enslave such a barbarian were only said to be perverted individuals who enjoyed torture and torment.
As expected, no one wants to become your master. Therefore, according to the kingdom’s laws, you shall be executed!
And just as I was being dragged to the execution stand, I encountered the albino elf— Elfriede.
You set fire to the place you live? How amusing.
Now that I think about it, maybe she felt some sort of empathy toward me, as someone who ran away after setting the World Tree on fire.
But that was probably just my delusion. She wouldn’t have whipped me like that if that were to be the case. Or maybe… she just needed a sturdy sandbag that wouldn’t fall no matter how many times she hit it.
It was because we all somehow had a hidden desire to whip and dominate others.
Anyway, that was my past in the most concise way possible.
“So, Hassan is a criminal who set fire to a place?”
A faint wrinkle appeared on Luna’s forehead as she listened to my story while sitting at the table. It must be difficult for her to understand the whole scenario since I skipped over so many details.
“Yeah. But I think my record should have been cleared since I participated in the cultist’s subjugation mission.”
Sitting next to her, Marco chimed in.
“Wow, even among elves she is a remarkable beauty. To have lived as a slave under such a beauty… I envy you, brother. Perhaps during your time living together, you indulged in some—”
“M-Marco, be quiet!”
“Ouch!”
Luna fiercely punched Marco’s abdomen, causing him to collapse on the table without being able to speak any further.
Ignoring the state Marco was in, Paranoy continued to mutter a few words of her own.
“To set fire to the mortal realm, you are indeed Mr. Hassan…! You must have intended to create a pandemonium hell…! Admirable…”
It seemed to me that this girl was getting more and more unhinged every time I saw her. It was almost as if she was gradually losing the remaining screws that were holding her sanity intact. Her behavior seemed to have been in its most normal state when she was still active as a cultist apprentice, working with the stompers on the Lumberyard.
Was it because it was hard to maintain her sanity in such a nymphobic world? If I thought about it that way, somehow, I felt a little sorry for her. Mental illness was still a significant problem whether it was on Earth or this world.
But that wasn’t the important thing here right now.
Despite intentionally hiding many details, I still gave them a general overview of my past. I felt somewhat relieved yet embarrassed and uneasy at the same time.
I wondered what Luna thought about the story of my life before I met her.
As I observed Luna’s complexion, she blushed and stammered as if she had a lot to say but couldn’t bring herself to speak them out loud.
Then her lips slightly parted.
“Hassan, you lied to me.”
“…No, I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you from the beginning. You didn’t ask either.”
“That’s not it. You said you’ve never had a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I really never had one. It’s not a lie.”
“But you are familiar with such a pretty elf. It’s not fair!”
Luna eventually got angry, seemingly unsure of how to feel about the fact that I had a fairly deep relationship with Elfriede.
Honestly, I didn’t expect this kind of reaction from her, so I was quite taken aback.
“She wasn’t my girlfriend. We have never done anything.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, I’m telling you the truth.”
“Hmm…”
Luna shut her mouth tight as if truly reluctant to accept my words. Looking at her face, it seemed that her doubts hadn’t completely faded, so she was still upset about this matter.
Luna had stronger possessiveness and jealousy than I had initially expected. I wonder what would happen If Luna were to find out about my involvement with Hippolyte.
I was extremely curious, but, on the other hand, I was also equally scared to find out about the outcome. Yet surprisingly, there was also the probability of her being easily soothed if I just treated her to some pheasant meat.
But who knew for sure?
While I was trapped in various complex thoughts, Marco, who had been lying on the table due to Luna’s punch, raised his head… looking as though he had recovered already.
“Anyway, I can’t believe you will have a showdown against such strong adventurers in the Thieves’ Guild wipeout mission. Hehehe, brother, you’ve improved by a great deal. Aren’t you already considered a full-fledged silver-tier adventurer now?”
“Is that so?”
Although I had a strong feeling that I was just riding on the back seat of a bus driven by the great Hippolyte, it was still quite something to compete with a silver-tier adventurer team that had the same goal as us.
Damn, how did you, who once struggled in the arena to live to see another day, grow up this much, Hassan?
Nevertheless, I was indeed steadily growing my skills and power.
It was so amusing to see Elfriede being surprised and bewildered after getting punched by me. She probably never expected my level to reach as much as 19 in my whole life.
Perhaps this wipeout mission of the Thieves’ Guild was a great opportunity to give those pesky girls surrounding Elfriede a good beating too.
Those thoughts immediately filled me with motivation for the mission ahead.
If things were resolved well, I would be able to make a tremendous contribution to the guild and elevate my status. There would undoubtedly be a reward worthy of all the hardship we would face.
Perhaps the golden bearded dwarf, the Margrave of Sodomora, would say something along the lines of, “Tell me your wish.” If that happened, I would definitely say, “Please help me establish a treatment center.” or something of the sort.
Then, even if I handled just one bad condition for 10 customers, I would already get 100 points from task completion a day.
In that case, I could level up by one level per day, and in about a month, wouldn’t I reach level 40 already? Wasn’t level 40 the realm of the Heroes? If that happened, the gold tier was no longer just a dream for me.
Wow, holy shit.
My enthusiasm soared through the roof at that realization.
It had been a long time since I felt the desire to try something on my own. I couldn’t afford to miss out on such a big opportunity.
* * * * * * * * * *
The central area of Sodomora was filled with various facilities such as guild buildings, temples, and government offices. I didn’t have much knowledge about city planning, so I couldn’t provide a detailed explanation of the infrastructure of the central part of the city.
If someone asked me what facilities would be in the city’s center, my mind would immediately imagine that it would be equipped with such facilities. And in the underground of such an important city center, wouldn’t there be facilities for maintaining the old sewage system?
For a city of this size, Sodomora’s sewage treatment plant was said to have been installed and constructed with considerable effort.
“However, for the past ten years, those underground areas meant for sewage have been occupied by thieves instead.”
Marco’s words made me understand why Sodomora had become a dirty and messy city. It was because these thieving scoundrels had taken over the public facilities and caused trouble for everyone, all while evading taxes and their duties to the city as a whole.
So I asked.
“Well, shouldn’t they be driven out? Why has no one dealt with them?”
“Hmm…”
Marco hummed softly in response to my question.
After briefly surveying the streets of the city center, he spoke in a hushed voice that only the members of our group who were nearby would be able to hear.
“It was a futile attempt. According to the rumors, there are some individuals that have considerably high positions within Sodomora’s City Council who are affiliated with the Thieves’ Guild.”
Could it be that there was some sort of collaboration between the central government and the thieves?
Slide—
Marco, using his finger, pointed at the buildings in the central area of the city and the surrounding walls. Just as I wondered what nonsense he was going to spout this time, he spoke—
“Take a look at those walls. Don’t you think they’re unusually low compared to the other cities?”
Marco’s question made me suddenly pay attention to the size of the walls. The walls of Sodomora were indeed quite low in comparison to the cities that I had seen.
At best, they only reached my chest level, so they were lacking in terms of security measures apart from marking boundaries between the districts.
“Why is it that way?”
“They changed the laws to make it easier for the thieves. In Sodomora, except for the city walls, the rest of the walls cannot be higher than a person’s height.”
“What? Damn. How could such a law exist?”
I suddenly recalled how the Sicilian Mafia was deeply involved in politics. It was a story from the movie “The Godfather” that I quite enjoyed watching back in the day.
Indeed, it was not easy to remove an organization that had spread its influence in various directions, like a giant tumor.
So instead of handling it themselves, they brought in outsiders who had no connection whatsoever to the Thieves’ Guild to deal with it.
Of course, if we looked at it that way, I was also an outsider.
I was a barbarian from the Black Wilderness of Samaria, ah no, a 21st-century modern outlander from the planet called Earth.
“Those damn thieves are screwed now.”
With such a determined mindset, I entered the streets of the thieves’ underground, which was said to be located beneath the central area of the city. The underground area was called ‘Mercury’s Street’ for various reasons.
The principal reason behind this naming was the fact that Mercury was actually the god of thieves, merchants, minstrels, swindlers, and other despicable, gutless bastards.
So, I was slightly nervous about how dirty the underground would be.
However, the large entrance in the corner of the city was well-made. It resembled the set of stairs leading down to a subway station that you would see in the 21st century Earth.
As I descended further down, I discovered a bright and magnificent interior that was almost impossible for one to imagine that it could be located underground.
The high ceiling soared with sturdy pillars.
Countless people moved about below.
And even lights adorned with shimmering stones were installed here and there.
Instead of a place dominated by thieves, it felt more like a thriving underground marketplace.
Seeing people buying and selling goods from all directions and minstrels singing here and there, it gave off the feeling of a bustling underground shopping district.
“Hassan, look at that! They’re selling wildlings! It’s not just any wildlings! They’re huge! On top of that, they’re blue! Heuuuuh!”
Luna tapped my arm and continuously pointed at something with her finger.
What the hell could make her so excited? When I turned around, I saw a peculiar aquarium-like container with a slimy substance wriggling inside of it, about the size of a soccer ball.
Gyuing—
Gyuing—
It was unlike any creature I had ever seen in my life. If I compared it to a monster, perhaps it was more suitable to call it a slime?
There was a time when Luna struggled to find wildlings when she was digging up tree roots during the Lumberyard quest. These creatures seemed to be the ones she was searching for.
Fully grown blue wildling? One for 2 underground golds?
Damn, that was quite a bit expensive. Were they creatures that laid golden eggs or something? Why were they so expensive?
I wondered what kind of creature it was for it to cost 2 golds just for one of them. Luna already ran eagerly toward the short old man selling the wildlings and spoke to him in an excited tone.
“Welcome.”
The shopkeeper seemed to be of the same halfling race as the theologist, old man Plato, whom I had met in the past.
“Holy shh! Wildlings!”
“Oh, are you a customer who knows how to appreciate these goods of mine? It’s not easy to come across these creatures.”
“Give me the wildlings!”
“How many?”
“Give me all of them! Three!”
“Hehe, so you are indeed a knowledgeable young lady. You won’t find these anywhere else in the underground, even if you search high and low for them.”
Just like that, Luna spent 6 underground golds out of the seven pieces she had on her just to purchase the peculiar-looking gelatinous creatures.
Even if it’s money that came for free, to flex such a large amount all at once like that. It was a bit unbelievable.
They said people who won the lottery would quickly spend all their money. I felt like I was witnessing that event firsthand.
It really feels like my sense of money has become so skewed that my mind might get twisted. To exaggerate a bit, it was like my brain was being assaulted by this extravagance.
I wondered if this was really Luna, who used to be delighted on catching a beetle with a value of merely 20 coppers, that I was seeing right now.
However, Luna, with the slimy creatures clinging all over her body, raised both hands high and exclaimed in a bright and cheerful voice.
“I caught wildlings! This must be paradise! Am I dreaming?”
Only she didn’t really catch it; she bought it.
Anyway, I had no choice but to ask Luna about this situation.
“What is that creature that you bought at such a high price? It costs 2 golds for one of them too…”
“It’s delicious! It’s good for your body too! With such a vibrant blue color and this size, you might only see it once every few years.”
And then, Luna started drinking the wriggling gelatinous creature attached to her chest.
Gyuing— Gyuing—
The liquid creature, worth two pieces of gold, made a pitiful sound, and disappeared into Luna’s mouth, going down down to her small belly.
I felt dizzy after watching this scene. She ate a creature that was worth multiple gold coins just like that. How cruel and brutal…
“Do you want to try one, Hassan? It’s really good if it suits your constitution! I didn’t plan on sharing because it’s so valuable, but I’ll give it to you so you can become healthier.”
The crazier thing was that Luna even offered me a wildling and I accepted it without much thinking.
As I held it in my palm, I got a sensation like holding a water balloon that was filled to the brim with liquid. It seemed like it would be cool to embrace it during the summer.
Gyuing—
Perhaps it was only in my head, but the creature rubbing against my palm seemed to follow me well. It was cuter than I expected.
But again, I felt like I needed to muster an incredible amount of courage to eat it raw like that. Although I had eaten various bizarre foods in my lifetime, this was something entirely new to me.
“Eat it quickly!”
But under Luna’s urging, I followed her lead and sucked the creature into my mouth, just as she had done before.
Surprisingly, it tasted like grape-flavored jelly, something that was surprisingly edible. Was it like pudding?
What was even more astonishing was that a stream of words appeared before my eyes as I finished eating the wildling.
Ding—
What the hell was this?
Was this for real?
As I turned my gaze away from the words, I looked at the liquid creatures clinging to Luna’s body with an astonished gaze.
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