Chapter 197

Chapter 197

The gatekeeper room, originally the home of Nekoyanagi, was ransacked. The released captives work quickly to clean it up. The rider I incapacitated was tied up in one corner. Before I interrogated him, I wanted to address the captives first. With all the things known now, straightening out the situation was at the top of the list.

The remaining members of Nekoyanagi only stared dumbfounded as the corpses of the people who attacked their home were packed one by one into the boxes. Besides the beastkin slaves, the members of Nekoyanagi included dwarf and elf.

Two of the members I was already familiar with. Flick, the little elven boy and the dwarf cook from the Pavilion.

“So tell me, little elf, what are you all doing here?”

I stood in front of Flik so as to hinder him from looking at the slaves. I bent forward so we were eye level, letting him stare into my pale flames that served as eyes.

“… Hiding from the Drak Kingdom.”

“Why do you have to hide?”

“….”

Flik looked straight back into my eyes but was otherwise unsure whether to answer. After some silence, the dwarf beside him spoke up.

“Because we were fugitive slaves.”

“Ho… Then that girl who left via the circle was also a slave?”

“She’s different from the rest of us!”

I thought the dwarf would be the one to answer my question, but Flik butted in. I turned to him once more. He did not seem scared of my appearance. More so that he was indignant to how I spoke of Koti.

“Then, what is she?”

“The Princess of Drak Kingdom. She rescued us slaves and hid us here temporarily for our safety.”

“Temporarily…? Then where are you going?”

“… Kurtmerga Kingdom. We earn money from what we mined here, for the fee to enter the country… But why would an undead want to know about that?”

“Moreover, why didn’t you kill us? You killed those dragon riders, as well as their mounts… Are you going to eat us?!”

Ignoring the prattling of Flik and the dwarf, I processed the information I got. Apparently, Koti and her troupe were against Drak Kingdom’s slavery. They could earn money through stealing and mining ores. Which was used to smuggle slaves to their connections in Kurtmerga.

The magic ores alone should normally sell for quite a sum, but considering their reasons and goals, they must’ve been forced to sell the ores cheaply. However, this didn’t justify their crimes regardless of their intent.

“I am, as a matter of fact. So, why was that girl taken away?

“Thi-This undead…!!”

The dwarves also forgot they were in captivity and began to bark with bright red faces – of the five remnants, it was clear the elven boy was the leader. The other two and Gerard, who I saw with Koti, remained silent.

“She… Princess Koti was accused of treason against the kingdom. Anyone who brings her back would get a fair bounty.”

“Then who is the man who took her?”

“The man who took her away… He is Captain of the Cesium Division of the Drahm Fortress. He is a greedy man who has been chasing us for a long time.”

Was Drahm the same fortress situated on the border?

In order to conceal the existence of this labyrinth, I may have to do something about that..

“Oy! Don’t make us afraid, skeleton-man! Just tell us if you’re going to release us or not already!”

The old dwarf’s question didn’t only concern himself. They all were waiting on the outcome.

“Consider me being lenient. I’m going to release you all. But I will be claiming this place for myself.”

“This place? Don’t tell me you’re going to replace the Labyrinth master?”

“I’m not going to be tied up with it. I seek to conquer it.”

At my statement, everyone went wide-eyed. It was only natural. An undead told them it would conquer the labyrinth after all.

“Wh-Wh-what the hell are you talking about!? An undead is going to conquer a labyrinth?!”

The old dwarf leaned closer to me as he shouted. This old man, he’s too noisy.

“A-And what are you going to do after conquering the labyrinth? Why’d you even release us?”

“I still need you all to mine the ores for me. Shouldn’t you feel happy that I let you live?”

“W-Well we are happy… And it’s not like we could live anywhere else but here… But what about Koti-sama…?”

“That — Has — Nothing – To— do – with – me.”

“What use are the ores to an undead anyway?!! Are you going to eat it like those pig dudes?!”

Pig dudes… Now that he mentioned it, I did see the orcs eating magic ores when I encountered them before. I suppose the act of eating ores was a common habit of theirs…

“Oy, are you listening to me, Skeleton-man! If that’s what you want, you can dig them yourself!”

The man’s face was dyed bright red and he was spitting saliva as he shouted. But I’ll ignore it for now. While he was being noisy, I focused on Flik. He stared straight back at me. His complexion was bluer than when he was captured by the Dragon Riders and he was sweating. It seemed he had something to say, but hesitant to the point he forgot to blink.

“What? Is there something you want to tell me?”

“W-Why don’t we make a deal…”

A deal – what does he think of me, who is in the form of an undead.. No, it must be something very important then.

“Flik! What are you trying to do!?”

“I’ll hear it out.”

“Please rescue Koti-sama.”

“And in return?”

“I’ll help you mine the ores. You can all the ores I mine.”

“If It can save Koti-sama, I’ll do the same too!”

“Y-Yeah, me too!”

Following the offer, the others followed suit. Wait… Hold your horses there.. I did say I wanted to claim this place for myself, but all I want is the actual transfer circle. Mining the ores would be a good source of funding, but I would have to deal with someone to convert it to gold. It’s unlikely that I can trust the person they’ve been dealing with.

If it’s another merchant…. Perhaps Malta-san? Maybe… Considering the situation…

“Flik, what are you doing! That guy is an undead! You can’t just strike a deal with an undead like that!”

“But, Glim… If he’s just another undead… We wouldn’t be talking to him right now.”

“Of course, I know that we can communicate with this guy! But to strike a deal with him, just what kind of response are you ex—!”

“Sounds good.”

“See! He’ll just reply with non-se—- eh?”

The bright-red dwarf lost his voice as if time stopped when he heard my answer.

“However, you’ll need to do something more in return for that.”

“What else should I do?”

“Look! This guy is planning to use Koti-sama as a hostage to get whatever he wants!”

“First of all —”

I decided to do business with the slaves, including Flik and the Nekoyanagi members – offering a number of conditions beside mining. One of them being the gatekeeper room should be cleaned and returned to its previous state. The living space had been ransacked anyways, and I could see Miche’s dot steadily approaching on the map.

It was impossible to keep them in the gatekeeper’s room. Ophelia joined the advance group partly to track Nekoyanagi. If they were to meet, I’d lose my workforce. Ophelia might’ve decided that they made their base on the 10th floor.

First of all, I need to make it so that they think that it was just a false prediction by moving their living space.

“Jonah, we’re ready now. What should we do next?”

When all the materials of the base had been put into the GIFT BOXes, and preparations to depart were roughly prepared, Flik called out to me. I’d already introduced myself as Jonah. Despite looking to be a teen, Flik was over a hundred years old already. Apparently, he’d taken care of Koti since her youth. Therefore, he was the acting leader in her presence.

“You need a safe place to live. And warm clothes are required to cross the devil mountains. Get ready.”

“Just enter that over there and use the circle inside.”

I pointed to the LVTP-5 that I summoned while they cleaned. The front hatch was already opened and the circle had been taken out and laid on the room’s floor. Of course, it is connected to my store in the capital.

Fifteen people were moved to the basement of Daikokuya temporarily. I didn’t tell them where this basement was, and I had no intention of letting them out. If we went directly from the entrance of the labyrinth, there was a separate corps of riders waiting. Not to mention monsters drawn to the labyrinth.

With all those factors, I decided this was the best choice.

“Who would’ve thought that an undead owned a transfer circle. Jonah, where is this?”

“The basement of my mansion in the undead land. But make no mistake, your safety will only be guaranteed for as long as you don’t leave this basement.”

“Oh, okay… We’ll do just that…”

The fugitive slaves looked over the room which was not enough space for 15 to live in.

I took out the meat of the Hiryus previously stored and tools necessary for accommodation, like furniture that could not be showcased on the first floor. Soon enough, the basement was turned into a decent living quarter. I also prepared Marida Trading Company bentos. However, there wasn’t a kitchen or toilet.

If so, I had to prepare for it as well. Considering the future, it may be needed. Accessing the TSS, I summoned the motorhome right in front of the basement door to prevent entry and exit.

“… I’m convinced of your reluctance in rescuing Koti-sama despite our offer. But, this is…”

“Precaution. I don’t believe you enough to keep your curiosity in check and keep that door shut, especially while knowing that door will lead you outside this room.”

Dwarf Gilim, who had a long beard with gray braided hair, watched the motorhome and stroked it, closing the door. And the same was true for the others. Perhaps they were right in their choices, or they realized the ridiculousness of the undead man.

However, I did not have the time to get rid of their anxiousness. By operating the electronic lock key on the side, the boarding stairs popped out.

“Gerard, follow me.”

“Eh? Me?”

I entered with him. He lost his voice as the splendor of the clean interior. I didn’t want him to be amazed. I taught him how to use the equipment inside, where to cook, and how to use the toilet, bath, and allowed him to manage it. I left him inside as I prepared to return when I saw two young girls just outside. They were wearing – for lack of better words – rags. While they looked to be in their teens, I was not so sure if they were that old.

“What is it?”

“Princess… Princess…”

“You-you are- you are going to rescue the princess… Right?”

The girls asked while looking up and down,  probably scared of my appearance. I put my white bony fingers on their heads and stroked their damaged hair.

“I am. She’ll be here by tomorrow. Now go wash up and eat.”

I called out to Garrad, who was checking the kitchen, and pushed the girls to go inside.

“Are you… Are you really undead?”

I heard a voice addressing me from behind.

“Why do you think so, Flik?”

“First, you speak the common language. You didn’t attack us immediately. You own a transfer circle and your… Behavior… has warmth in it—-”

“Only fools prattle on foolish things. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, know that it may lead to your own demise.”

Perhaps feeling threatened, he took a step back with a pale face. As I stepped closer to him, I rested my hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“…Kuh!”

“No more snooping around. Even after our deal is over, the consequence will not be your shoulder alone.”

“I-I understand…”

“Good.”

“Is-Is there anything else…?”

“You’ll return to the labyrinth with me to help rescue the princess.”

“Eh…?”

“The only thing I will do is wreck the fortress. Rescuing your princess will be up to you.”

It seemed he didn’t catch it at first, but the second time looked at me with suspicion.