31. Chasing the Warlock (4)

‘… Have to endure This is all necessary.’

‘I can’t, please….’

‘Are you going to give up then? Yes … to all… , Do you mean to give up everything?’

I checked the dead warlock’s face.

Then some hallucinations flooded in.

I felt nauseous for a moment.

Some kind of disgusting feeling that twisted my stomach welled up inside.

‘… What is this?’

The face of a warlock.

I’m used to it.

I saw it in the Temple of the Sun, so it might be familiar.

But, something, a little different….

“Hey, what’s wrong? Where are you sick?”

Richard approached and asked.

“Is it because you were enchanted earlier? You seem to be fine, take a break.”

“No. Not like that.”

Others approached me one by one and looked at me worriedly.

I shook my head and smiled lightly.

“Because of the smell.”

I was not harmed by the black magician’s magic.

However, due to being covered in corpses and blood, a foul smell emanated from the body.

“Really? What if….”

I replayed the memory I just had.

But it doesn’t work.

It passes by like a dream, so I can’t remember it clearly.

‘Mmm…. What was it?’

The more I try to be conscious of it, the more I can’t think of it.

I just felt frustrated.

Continuing to think, I wet a dry cloth with drinking water.

I roughly wiped off my face and armor.

This won’t erase the smell of blood and intestines, but it’s better than not doing it at all.

I rinsed my mouth as well.

I’m going back now anyway, so you can replenish the water then.

In the midst of a brief wash, Dylan gave instructions.

Thanks to that, I got out of my thoughts.

“There may still be other warlocks or enemies left. First, we will investigate this cave and then we will gather again.”

We decided to explore the underground city in groups of three.

I was with Jerry and Feline.

“After 15 minutes of research, we gather here again. If the time is up and there are still places left to investigate, then we can discuss it further.”

Each group took a torch and scattered.

Jerry and Feline chatted as they looked around the cave curiously.

“Yeah, but what kind of place is this? It’s really amazing.”

“A little spooky.”

Contrary to the fact that it looked like a large ant nest, the internal structure was not particularly complicated.

It was rather simple.

We looked around the room one by one.

There wasn’t a single room that looked like it was normally used.

“Ugh, disgusting warlocks….”

There are quite a few things that look like altars.

The shapes are also different.

A magic circle drawn with blood.

The bones of something that are strung together by tendons.

There are the most human bones, but there are also monster and animal bones.

Old, yellowed bones were piled up like towers, and there were piles of corpse that smelled rotten as if they had just died.

“Woo-wook….”

Felin beat Jerry, who was retching.

I pinched my nose and paid attention to another fact.

‘At this rate, the rotting gas should be full. It looks like this underground city has a separate ventilation system.’

From noble mtl dot com

Keep going.

The end of this road will come soon.

There is one room at the end, and there is another room that has slipped to the side just before.

We checked from the next room.

“Isn’t this place a bit tidy?”

“Relatively so.”

It’s just that there are strange chains all over the place.

A steel device fixed to the wall appears to restrain a person’s limbs or neck.

When a person stands, the position roughly fits.

One around the neck.

Two on both arms.

Two back on both ankles.

A device embedded in the wall as if drawing a letter ‘ㅅ’.

I like that look.

I captured the scenery of this room in a wide range.

Consciousness fades.

In a daze, someone whispers.

I am.

I know this.

Once upon a time here….

What… For… ?

“Here, maybe that’s it? Lovers just tie each other up, and so on….”

Jerry’s secret desire broke my thoughts.

Feline shook her head in disgust.

“You talk like lovers in the warlock’s residence…. Do you think that in a place like this?”

“Is that so….”

“Besides, I guess there wasn’t just one person.”

There were several restraints fixed to the wall.

The different sizes seemed to have been prepared for different ages and genders.

“It must have been a room to confine people for sacrifice.”

I looked at the child restraint device among them.

When I saw that, my stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Is it simply because of the disgust of treating a child like this?

Other than that, nothing special.

Go to the last room.

Now, at least, there is a room where people live.

“I guess someone wrote this?”

“I think that warlock used it earlier.”

Desks, bookcases, beds.

It’s a fairly small space, but it has everything you need for living.

‘What is this?’

I read the paper on the desk.

It looks like a letter.

The sender is written at the top. Taboo? Is that the name of the black magician?

The content is…. I do not know.

I must have woken up in a hurry while writing, and the ink bottle was overturned.

As a result, most of the contents of the letter were covered.

‘The Crown of Thorns? Target? Sun? This is the only word I can recognize….’

I didn’t even write the recipient below.

I wonder if it was because I woke up in a hurry.

I got off my desk.

We rummaged around.

I was wondering if there was a hidden space or something to investigate.

I wonder if there are clues inside the book.

For example, digging up paper and hiding something like a key.

I took the most recently used book from the shelf and opened it.

‘There’s nothing like that…. Are the contents a diary?’

Date and short history.

This is unencrypted content.

[Gaston and Salaman were returned. As a bonus, even a guy named Envinil.]

‘… Envinyl? Even the guy who said he was from Giudecca like me? But there was no envinyl…. Did he even die during the experiment?’

[I tried to strengthen it to the maximum level studied so far. Result is success. It has reached a level where even a weapon can be enchanted only with the power of the mango planted in the corpse. If I could put this in with a hint to the target….]

The power of Mango.

A term referring to the black power used by black magicians.

As far as I know, Gaston and Salaman were killed by Elijah and sent back to their families….

‘This warlock got it back? By any chance, is this place related to the Moonsin Church?’

In the future I know, there is no such point of contact.

I took out another journal.

This time the oldest one.

Likewise, there is no such thing as a key.

It was difficult to recognize the handwriting as it was old.

Faded paper. Crumpled wrinkles. Faded ink.

The date was roughly 10 years ago.

[…] The brainwashing and suggestiveness of……. Now Guild… First mission… Number of animals… I’m aiming…. Again…… For…. Psychological shock… Resistance…. Just a hint……. Expendables……. When you finish and die….]

‘Oh, my eyes hurt.’

I closed the journal because I couldn’t read it anymore.

A search of the rest yielded no useful information.

“Fifteen minutes have passed.”

Jerry said looking at his watch.

We went back the way we came.

At the same time, 12 people gathered again.

It seemed that there were no enemies left.

As I was putting together the information, Gauss said.

“There was something like a magic lab over here. Not black magic, but a laboratory used by real wizards.”

“Huh? So this guy is both a wizard and a warlock?”

“Why does such a crazy person exist?”

Surprisingly, there are few crazy people like that.

Magicians who are intoxicated by power and fascinated by it, and are not satisfied with magic alone.

They even reach out to black magic.

“There are a lot of data about studying or experimenting with magic.”

“There was a facility on our side that looked like it was conducting black magic. Something like an altar.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever written this big place alone, but at least I don’t think there are any other enemies left here.”

Dylan sorted things out.

“First of all, the goal has been achieved, so I just need to take the corpse with me….”

I was thinking about it, and suddenly I was curious.

Wouldn’t Elijah need something like this warlock’s research materials?

At least it might be of some help.

I asked Dylan.

“May I call the lady?”

“… Hmm? What is that, ah?”

I shook the necklace.

“It might be of some help to you, my lady.”

“There are materials that ordinary wizards can use, so it makes sense. But, that, um. I don’t think it’s a matter for me to decide…. Is it okay to use it carelessly?”

I was scratching my head.

I gave it to keep Elijah, I didn’t give it to call Elijah when I wanted to.

But what… Wouldn’t it be?

“If you don’t want it, the lady will refuse.”

“Then what?”

Everyone took a step back.

I poured magic into the necklace.

“Sent a signal….”

“Ah.”

As soon as she could speak, Elijah appeared.

Putting your face into my chest like the first time I used it.

As usual, I had a cat doll in my arms, and a red blanket wrapped around me like a scarf.

She rubbed her nose.

Her nose soon turned red.

“Modify Coordinates… I forgot….”

‘What, why are you showing a little stupidity these days?’

Unlike me, the other kids got down on one knee in shock.

Elijah was about to give me a hug, so I raised her hand and took a step back.

Even though I washed it briefly, my appearance is not normal right now.

It still smells disgusting.

As if surprised, Elijah’s eyes widened.

Like someone who has seen an incredible reality, her eyes blink quickly.

The trembling red lips ask.

“… What are you doing? Did you reject me?”

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