Chapter 78
Splash—
A reeking sewer.
Guided by Ventus, Eric and the others entered the only passage that led into the fortress without going through the main gate.
“Ugh… sir, is this really the only way?” Lillian complained.
Perhaps because the fortress had been overrun by Mahuwang’s forces and left unmaintained for weeks, the filthy water came up nearly to their knees and made breathing difficult; a wail escaped Lillian’s lips.
The others—except Ventus—felt the same. They didn’t say anything, but their faces betrayed unmistakable disgust.
“This is embarrassing. It’s bad now, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to get this smell out later,” Eric muttered, looking thoroughly bothered by the foul stench.
For the moment his nose was the main problem, but the real issue would be after they got inside the fortress. To rescue the cardinal while avoiding the patrols, stealth was paramount — and with this smell, he doubted they could fool the monkeys’ noses.
“If it comes down to it, I guess I’ll have to strip off my clothes,” he thought, unwilling but realistic.
“This is the only way into the fortress without passing the gate. If you hold on a little longer, it will lead into the inner keep’s underground.” Ventus answered Lillian as if there was no alternative.
In truth there were a few other passages that connected inward, but most had been used for evacuation when the fortress was taken. Some paths had been collapsed to stop pursuit; even if not, they’d used those routes while shaking off cruelly persistent monkey pursuers. Those fools wouldn’t have left an already-discovered passage open.
So they had no choice but to use this hardly-a-passage that even many who’d served in the fortress for ten years didn’t know about.
Squelch— squelch—
“We’re here. This way.”
After tramping through the sewer, Ventus stopped, looked at the ceiling for a moment, stretched out both arms, put one hand on something and pushed upward as hard as he could.
Clatter—
“Wow—” “There’s a passage into the inner keep?” “I heard the commander who built the fortress had made this to dispose of the bodies of enemies quietly. Back then we were practically at war with the kingdom every other day, so if someone disappeared everyone could just assume they’d died in battle. I heard it from another hunter, so I don’t know if it’s true.”
Lillian and Leona crawled out of the hole after him and admired the sight that clearly led into the inner keep’s underground.
How did Ventus even know of this place? At the question, he gave a bitter smile, remembering a senior hunter from his mischievous youth who used to bring him here to get rid of worthless animal entrails.
If you didn’t dispose of animal guts properly, maggots would swarm and later cause plague. Usually other animals would come and eat the entrails if you just dumped them, but sometimes conditions didn’t allow it. Then they’d have to come back to the fortress and pay people to dispose of them, and that cost wasn’t small. In lean winters, paying to dispose of entrails could be tight.
Somehow, during his unknown senior years, he’d accidentally discovered this place and had been using it ever since.
“Hah. I thought I’d die. If we’d stayed a little longer my nose would’ve been destroyed by the stink.” Malefica said, relieved.
“Milord, are you alright? If you’re tired, we can rest a moment,” Leona offered.
“It isn’t as if I’m exhausted from a fight. I’m just a bit dizzy, that’s all.” Eric, who came up last after sending Malefica ahead, closed the hole behind him and slowly looked around.
‘An old storage room? Dust settled on the floor — the Mahuwang’s monkeys haven’t come this far. We can relax for now.’ he thought.
“More importantly, milord, will you be okay like this?” Malefica asked anxiously as they sat in the empty storeroom catching their breath. Eric followed her gaze to their clothes and the filth on the floor and spoke.
“We have time before the knights move. We need to think of a way to get the smell out.”
Fortunately there were no clear signs that monkeys had been nearby, so they wouldn’t be found for the time being. Whether they could come up with a good plan in the meantime was uncertain, but if nothing else worked they’d use whatever they had thought of on the way here.
“If you don’t mind, take this.”
“What’s that…?”
Ventus, who had been listening to their conversation, fished something out of his coat.
A large bottle filled with bright white powder. Eric looked at it blankly, then his eyes widened as he remembered something.
‘Oh, right. He had stuff like that.’ In the game, if you hired Ventus as a hero, he carried a random kind of consumable each time he was sent on an expedition. There were so many types that Eric had never thought of them all, but now he recalled one useful for a situation like this.
“It’s powdered dried slime secretion. It’s very effective for cleaning filth like this. It also neutralizes odor.” Ventus explained.
Eric gladly took the bottle with its bluish powder. Made using the slime’s property of absorbing nearby liquids, it was perfect for cleaning the gunk pooled in the sewer.
“Do you usually carry things like that?” Eric asked.
“Beasts and monsters often have keener senses than people. I pack various things on hunt days.” Ventus replied.
Eric used the powder to scrub the filth off their clothes, then handed the remainder to the others and looked at Ventus as he produced yet another bottle with some powder or liquid. Eric admired under his breath.
‘In the game he only carried one at a time… but in reality there’s no reason to limit it like that.’ The variety of consumables that could help in combat or tracking was only a good thing.
‘I’ll have to ask the duke if I can recruit him after this is over,’ Eric thought, intrigued.
“Milord.”
“Mm. Time to go.” After resting until the moment to move, Eric nodded at Leona’s call and rose.
Creak—
The old hinge protested as they carefully opened the storeroom door so it wouldn’t make a sound outside. Ventus led the way as they slowly climbed.
“Wow. The corridor’s longer than I thought,” one observed.
“The eastern fortress is larger than the other three in scale. I’ve never been, but I heard there are three prisons inside the inner keep alone.” Ventus said.
“Three? Really?” Lillian asked, now less tense as they walked down an otherwise uneventful corridor toward stairs in the distance. Had Mahuwang’s forces simply not paid attention to the inner keep?
“Do you happen to know which prison the cardinal is being held in?” Leona asked, stopping for a moment. If they didn’t know the cardinal’s location, they might have to check all three prisons inside enemy territory.
“No. I first heard that the cardinal had been captured by Mahuwang the day I was summoned by the duke.” Ventus said, shaking his head. When the enemy attacked, he’d been outside with other hunters and had no way of knowing what had happened inside. Even if he’d seen where they took the cardinal then, they might have already moved him elsewhere.
“Topmost floor,” Eric said quietly.
Everyone froze with awkward expressions at that. Leona blinked.
“Topmost floor… you mean?”
“Or perhaps the prison farthest down in the inner keep. Hostages are usually kept where variables are minimal.” Eric added with a confidence that made his guess sound more like certainty than speculation.
‘Mahuwang. That old, stubborn ape who hates change would not have left the safest prison empty and put the cardinal somewhere nearer an exit.’ Eric thought. He knew that old monkey’s personality well—always sticking to plans and avoiding variables. There was no way he would place such an important hostage near an exit.
“…That makes sense. Then we’ll head to the prison on the topmost floor,” Ventus decided, thinking deeply and then nodding as he led them to the stairs up.
—Ugk? —Ugk! Creak!
No sooner had they climbed out of the underground than they saw monkeys hastily carrying weapons and rushing off somewhere.
“This way.” Thanks perhaps to the knights and the duke’s troops drawing attention outside, the shadows of the moving Knight Order were shifting. Contrary to his worries, reaching their target prison wasn’t difficult.
Squeeeak—
Standing before a cell located in a far corner on a fairly high floor, they carefully opened the iron door.
“Ugh…”
A groan from within. They hurried to the sound and found the cardinal with his arms chained to the wall, hanging by metal shackles.
“Who— who is it?” he croaked.
“Bishop Fides sent us. Please wait, we’ll—” Leona began.
“Leona, wait.” Malefica, who’d been silently surveying the surroundings, felt something odd and stopped Leona.
“Milord, something’s wrong about this…” she warned, turning to Eric with concern. Eric nodded grimly.
Despite Ventus’s help, it had been suspiciously smooth to sneak into a fortress taken by the Demon King. Especially strange was that no one was guarding such an important hostage.
“…Speak,” the exhausted-looking cardinal wheezed, his voice cracked. “Run… quickly…”
Kuuuuung—!
As they leaned in to listen, dust rose behind them with a thunderous roar.
“Ughk! Just like the captain said! If we keep him here someone’ll come to save this old man.” “Rats! I’ll kill them all!”
Two named enemies. One hung from the ceiling with very long arms, watching them from above; the other was far too massive to be called a mere monkey, with proportionate giant arms.
“Everyone, prepare for combat.” Eric drew his sword without hesitation, aiming at the Mahuwang forces that guarded the hostage just as he had expected.
