SMT 71

“Are you kidding me? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Instead of shouting in anger, I ignored the hand and went through the hole.

“In this situation, you’re really joking?”

“You don’t get angry even in a situation like this.”

“Should I get angry?”

“Go ahead. You got locked in the dungeon and beaten, and now you’ve gone a whole day without eating, but you’re not complaining. You’re doing better than I thought, and now I’m curious to see how long you’ll last.”

Fuck. I couldn’t reply, and I inwardly cursed. That was because Mo was adjusting things so I wouldn’t feel hunger.

It wasn’t a function I could use for long, but right now, escaping and finding a safe place mattered more. Maybe I looked too normal without meaning to.

It seemed I didn’t feel any urgency because even without Mo’s help, going a day without eating didn’t matter to me.

To others who didn’t know that, it probably looked strange. Any normal person would be exhausted and irritable from hunger and thirst.

“…I skip meals often to maintain my figure.”

He looked at me once, but fortunately he didn’t seem to doubt me. But he added a displeased remark.

“Well, Adeye Lantuya probably gave you strange food all the time, so you didn’t want to eat it.”

“Strange food?! It tastes amazing! It’s really good, you know?!”

If it weren’t for water kimchi, dongchimi, and all kinds of pickles, I would’ve starved to death in Tubain already. When I retorted in anger, he muttered with a confused look.

“Brainwashed?”

His voice was so low that I barely heard it, but Mo made a useless comment.

[He’s sincerely worried that you might have been brainwashed.]

He’s nothing better to worry about. I grumbled and led the way through the secret passage. After about ten minutes of walking, I reached a dead end.

There was a brick wall in front of me. Beside it was a device that looked like a handle.

What’s beyond that? Should I open it? While I hesitated, Tairok grabbed the handle without hesitation.

“Wait, what if there’s someone beyond the wall?”

“There isn’t.”

He arrogantly said and pulled the handle down. I was ready to laugh at him if someone really appeared, but with a grinding sound, the wall opened, and there was really no one there.

As expected, his hearing was ridiculously good.

I envied his ears and stepped inside the passage. Then I immediately stopped. The interior wasn’t bright, so I hadn’t noticed, but it was a huge underground stone chamber at least two floors high.

Fortunately, it wasn’t another tomb. Jewels sparkled everywhere. It looked like a palace filled with gems straight out of Arabian Nights.

“So this is the relic room.”

His indifferent comment came from ahead and I asked Mo right.

‘You memorized the map of Borhumi Castle, right? Check where the relic room is.’

A 3D model of the main castle appeared in front of my eyes, and one point in the underground area lit up.

Hmm, that’s near the center of the castle. It would probably take time to get out.

‘Where’s the exit of this room?’

Mo marked a red arrow on the floor. I immediately followed it.

“Let’s get out first.”

As I walked past him, I noticed he was looking at me.

“You’re not coming?”

“You seem certain that the key isn’t here.”

Of course. I looked around at the glittering jewels and piles of gold. All of it was useless. In my ruined world, even a single bean was more precious than these stones.

And non-human beings probably understood that too. That was why their gifts to me were things like wooden sticks or dead insects. Divine beasts weren’t any different.

“These things aren’t valuable at all. But the foolish Borhumi wouldn’t know that, so the key wouldn’t be placed among treasures kept here.”

I spoke with certainty and walked forward. He didn’t ask further or object. He just followed quietly behind me, and I could feel his stare on the back of my head so much that it almost itched.

He’s going to bore a hole through my skull.

Just when I was about to turn around in frustration, we finally reached the exit.

The massive door could be opened from inside, but since the room was full of precious jewels, there must be guards outside, at least two of them. I wanted to plan before opening it.

“Even if we deal with the guards outside, there’ll be a shift change, so eventually, someone will notice something’s wrong. And this room must be important.”

“So?”

“Our goal should be to get out of the main castle entirely.”

“And the route?”

“I kno… ah.”

I answered confidently before realizing I’d said something suspicious. What would I say if he asked how I knew the layout of Borhumi Castle? But contrary to my worry, he nodded casually.

“Got it.”

“…That’s all? You’re not curious why I know the way so well?”

I couldn’t help asking, even though I was practically urging him to doubt me. But he had a reason that made perfect sense to him.

“It’s your hobby to sneak into the houses of men you like and molest them. No wonder there’s a rumor in Tubain that no one knows other people’s homes better than you do.”

That was a hobby I had never heard of or seen before. Honestly, the one who had shocked me the most since coming to Tubain was Lu, someone I had never even met. This lunatic. King of kings among perverts.

“It wouldn’t surprise me even if you knew the whole structure of Borhumi Castle.”

“Ah, yes…”

“……”

“What is it?”

“I am suddenly curious. Maybe you know the inside of Kun Castle too?”

“No. I couldn’t get that blueprint.”

When I honestly answered honestly, he smirked.

“I’ll show you.”

Show me what? The pigsty?

“No thanks. I’ll pass.”

I turned toward the door and firmly refused. He followed behind and muttered one line.

“That’s too bad.”

He hadn’t given up on turning me into pig feed yet. I couldn’t let my guard down. It seemed time to show him what I could do. More precisely, to show him my weapon.

“I’ll handle one of the guards.”

I expected a mocking “How will you do that?” but instead, he just stared at me. Why was he looking at me like it was the first time he’d seen me?

“If you don’t believe me…”

“I believe you.”

Oh, really?

“I said I believe you.”

“Yes, thank you, well.”

As I hesitated, he informed me coolly.

“I don’t plan to use you, no matter what you see or do.”

“Please keep it a secret too.”

A dumbfounded smile appeared on his face. Only after he finally said “Alright” did I take out my weapon.

“Club.”

When I called it, the twig hanging around my neck suddenly grew in an instant. Tairok raised his eyebrows.

“I’ve never seen magic like that.”

Of course not, because it wasn’t magic. I heard the club and confidently stepped forward. There was nothing to fear now.

“Let’s go.”

‎

‎

‎

“What, this number of people… this is it?”

Rick stared at the people in front of him in disbelief. One was Solongo, whom he knew well, and next to him stood a woman in her late fifties he had never seen before. No matter how he looked, it was just the two of them. Rick was speechless and asked Solongo,

“Did you even understand the message I sent you properly?”

“You said the Grand Duke Kun’s location was confirmed, right? The main castle of Borhumi.”

“Yes. I was debating whether to tell you or not, but since Adeye’s side kept searching everywhere for Adeye Lu, I generously decided to share the information…”

“No matter how ugly your face is, at least speak properly.”

“W–what’s wrong with my face…!”

“Since Kun couldn’t send people into Borhumi, aren’t you just trying to use us to get in?”

Solongo interrupted Rick’s words quickly and spoke in a businesslike tone.

“Borhumi only allowed four people in. We could request more, but we don’t want to draw unnecessary suspicion. So we plan to go just the two of us, me and this person, Teacher Black Bear. You should send only two as well.”

There were many things Rick wanted to argue about, but the name he just heard made him forget everything.

Rick, as well as Enya and Haas, who stood crookedly behind him, all turned to look at Teacher Black Bear.

The woman in her late fifties with half-gray hair had her hands behind her back and leisurely looked up at the sky. Her thin body didn’t match the name Black Bear at all, and her shabby clothes made her look more like a farmer than a teacher.

Rick and Haas frowned immediately. They weren’t going there for a visit, but for a rescue. Why would Adeye send someone like that?

Meanwhile, Enya looked confused as she stared at Black Bear, then walked toward her quickly.

“Enya, what are you doing?”