[Yoo Jin: 0.87%]
[A few people know about this. His presence is small. Someone is harboring strong emotions.]
“Damn…”
An uproar ensues.
Yoo Jin’s reputation, which was playing around the decimal points, is about to hit 1 percent.
Moreover, the addition of “someone is harboring strong emotions” makes it clear.
Jill has remembered me from the previous iterations.
‘Which iteration is it? She shouldn’t remember all of them…’
My vision spins.
The “strong emotions” mentioned in the reputation window are clear.
Obsession, anger, and hatred.
If Jill has regained her memory, she must have realized that I’ve used and manipulated her emotions.
How will she catch me and punish me?
I can just imagine Jill having such a happy dilemma as she searches for me.
‘She’s scarier than the Final Boss…’
Getting caught by the Final Boss wouldn’t be worse than death, would it?
But I can’t even imagine what would happen if I got caught by Jill.
Jill, who graduated from university at a young age and earned multiple degrees, has her pride soaring high.
Considering I toyed with her, it wouldn’t be surprising if her revenge comes in any form.
-The shattered pillars of the cathedral. It is suspected that a Mana Bomb was used.
I can somewhat understand the reason for the violent destruction of the cathedral.
It’s a message directed at me.
Come out while it’s still a good time.
‘I’m still safe.’
And that means Jill hasn’t found me at all.
With the power of a Priestess, she can easily smack down even the highest-ranking archbishops.
Yet she hasn’t been able to find me with that power.
It makes sense.
In this iteration, I’ve been thoroughly hiding my real name.
The “few” who know my real name are only Blin, Mi Jeong, and me.
Even if a thorough investigation is done, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t have a citizenship card anyway.
I probably won’t be caught unless I run into Jill directly.
As long as I pay a little attention, it’s more than enough to dodge her.
Worrying won’t change anything, so I decided to relax and think of something else.
“Do you like it?”
“…Uh-huh.”
Turning my head, I see Mi Jeong, who seems to have no intention of looking up, with her head down.
She keeps fiddling with the ring on her right ring finger.
A ring with a red Mana Stone embedded in it.
The same ring is on my left ring finger.
‘Tay’s quite the problem when she’s too skilled.’
This Mana Stone emits such a beautiful glow that it’s too much to show off.
So, I had to apply a transparent varnish over the stone to reduce its shine.
Thanks to that, it looks just like an ordinary ruby ring on the outside.
“Is it that nice?”
“…Uh-huh. Sparkle sparkle. Pretty.”
She’s always shown immense interest in Mana Stones.
Ever since I made her the ring, she has been petting it all day long.
I’ve given up on stopping her long ago.
If she likes it, what can I do?
“That thing is worth more than your life. Take good care of it.”
“…Uh-huh. I’ll treat it with care.”
“If you feel like you’re dying, just make sure to save the ring, okay?”
“…Uh-huh.”
Whether she’s listening or not is hard to tell.
She’s too busy touching the ring to give me a solid answer.
With a deep sigh, I look out the window.
“We’re almost there.”
Before I knew it, the scenery outside the train window has completely changed.
The lush fields have disappeared, replaced by vast wheat fields.
Just looking at it makes me feel like I can smell the savory aroma.
“…Wow.”
Even Mi Jeong, who was absorbed in the ring, looks out the window and gasps in awe.
It’s a slightly unfamiliar expression.
Until a few days ago, she wouldn’t have reacted to any sight.
It seems that her emotions have partially come back at some point.
‘This isn’t so bad.’
It has become harder to treat her like an object, but if I think of her as a conversation partner, it might not be so bad.
Until now, it felt a bit lonely like carrying around a robot.
Just like this is just right.
I hope no unnecessary emotions or memories come back.
“Ahh.”
Well, nothing ever goes my way.
What difference does it make that it’s the last iteration?
I seldom get disappointed since I always assume the worst.
The train slowly starts to slow down; I can feel it.
We must be arriving.
As we pass the tall castle wall outside the window, brick buildings fill the surroundings.
“The next stop is the capital of the Holy Kingdom, Cologne.”
The current capital of the Holy Kingdom. Cologne.
Once Hameln’s development is completed, this city will lose its status as a capital.
Just by looking at it, you can tell that Cologne is quite an old city.
It has a deep history and tradition, making it a fitting capital.
However, as the Holy Kingdom began to expand, Cologne quickly faced limitations.
The population continued to grow, but since it originated inside the walls, it became impossible to expand.
Consequently, the population density kept increasing, leading to problems cropping up here and there.
That vast wheat field we just saw is all just to feed a single city.
“Let’s go. We’re really busy right now.”
“…Uh-huh.”
As soon as we get off the train, I pull Mi Jeong’s hand and hurry along.
The rings clink against each other, getting in the way.
The reason we’re here isn’t anything else.
A dungeon has appeared right in the center of Cologne, which has been designated as the Black Star Dungeon.
All the prominent mercenary groups have fled in panic.
The flustered mayor of Cologne is now recruiting anyone who can defeat the dungeon with a reward of sorts.
The reward the mayor has proposed is none other than a Pearl Necklace.
The dungeon is extremely dangerous, yet the reward is this; it’s no wonder no one dares to challenge it.
‘But that’s a must-have hidden item.’
I absolutely need that Pearl Necklace.
To be more precise, one of the pearls in the necklace is a hidden item.
It’s set to be a storage medium containing information on the weaknesses of all monsters.
That setup doesn’t matter to me; what matters is that obtaining that hidden item grants me a trait called ‘Weak Point.’
It’s a trait that reveals the weaknesses of all monsters.
For someone like me, who has memorized the weaknesses of most mooks, it has been useless until now.
But since I’ve decided to tackle the Final Boss conquest, knowing the weaknesses of a face I don’t even recognize is an essential trait that I cannot do without.
‘Just in case, let’s get it a bit earlier this time.’
Previously, it took me much longer to get here, but this time I arrived about two months early.
I know the dungeon is something that nobody can break through for a long time, but I’m afraid some butterfly effect might occur and change the reward.
Considering it’s such an important trait, I hurriedly came to get it.
“Ugh. It’s like a chicken coop everywhere.”
As I wander through the city, my eyebrows keep knitting together.
The closely packed buildings feel even more dreary than modern apartments.
Plus, there seems to be an oddly unpleasant smell.
Even though this area is supposed to be where the nobles live, it looks like this.
“Don’t make a sound. Just stick close to me.”
“…Uh-huh.”
After walking for a while, we finally arrive at the city hall building.
Its large size, combined with walls covered in vines, gives it quite a majestic presence.
“I’m here to see the commission.”
“Please follow me.”
Seems they’re quite hurried after all.
With no formalities, we are immediately guided inside.
“Mayor, we have a guest here to see the commission.”
“Let them in.”
“Yes.”
Bang!
The door swings open, revealing a breath-stealing scene in the office.
A huge desk piled high with thick documents.
And sitting among them is a bespectacled man.
He looks up at me and breaks into a beaming smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lawrence Briam.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Count.”
“Count my foot. Mayor…no, even that’s too much. Just call me Lawrence.”
Lawrence waves his hand dismissively, looking bothered.
He certainly still hates formality.
Despite being a Count, he insists on wearing a plain shirt instead of lavish attire; he’s quite the unconventional noble.
“Let’s do that, Lawrence. Is it okay if I don’t reveal my name?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not really interested. Hahaha.”
Lawrence laughs heartily as he expresses his true feelings.
It would be fair to say that Cologne is (at least on the surface) functioning well because of Lawrence.
Since he took the mayoral position, he has obliterated unnecessary bureaucratic processes and created a system that only chases efficiency.
If you have ability, you can recruit commoners, disregarding the manners of nobles and pushing work forward.
Although his bulldozer personality has earned him a lot of enemies, he already has a solid support base, so it doesn’t matter.
The entire city of Cologne is under his influence, so what is there to fear?
“You must be tired from your journey; you should rest first.”
“No, I’m fine. You seem to be in a hurry, so I’d like information on the dungeon first.”
“Straight to the point, huh? Good.”
Both of us have an affinity for directness.
When two such people come together, things get done at a breakneck speed.
“The dungeon appeared two months ago in the sewers of Cologne. Numerous mercenary groups flocked to the city. Although no separate rewards were promised on a city level, the honor of saving the Holy Kingdom’s largest city would come with it, so attempts to conquer it were very active.”
Lawrence pulls out a pile of documents from the cabinet and dumps them in front of me.
Each mercenary group’s attempts at the dungeon are documented in detail.
They’ve created maps based on understood structures and even noted the types of monsters and their spawn points.
It’s overly detailed, to the point of excess.
No one but Lawrence could have produced dungeon records this systematic.
At a glance, he may seem cold and stoic, but he’s also famously a hopeless romantic.
‘I heard he’s written hundreds of letters to his late wife.’
Lawrence has a poignant backstory.
He had a wife who died of illness, and he missed her terribly for not treating her well when she was alive.
Some interpret that he pushes himself harder at work to forget that pain.
“All the records are there, so you can take a look and decide afterward.”
“What are you saying?”
“Whether you’ll challenge it or not.”
“…”
Lawrence, having already put on his glasses again, sits down and goes back to work.
It seems he doesn’t harbor any expectations for me.
Perhaps he thought I would just turn around and leave without a second thought.
-Encountered 3 Orcs. 2 deaths. 1 serious injury.
-6 Lizardmen ambushed from the water. 3 deaths.
-Explosion trap. 1 death. 1 serious injury.
Indeed the records are filled with grim tales.
Fewer participants returned alive than those who did.
If it were my previous self, I would have been scared stiff seeing this.
“I’ve roughly got the gist of it. Please guide me to the dungeon entrance.”
“Pardon?”
But I have already cleared this dungeon before.
It is challenging, but compared to the top-tier dungeons, it’s an easier one.
With my Mana control level now at level 4, it’ll be a piece of cake.
“Can you read?”
“That’s a rather rude question.”
“Apologies. I thought only illiterates would challenge a dungeon after reading that.”
Lawrence quickly stands up and offers to guide me himself.
I appreciate his straightforwardness.
“If no challengers show up, I was planning to raise the reward. So this works out well.”
“Haha, I’m quite satisfied with just the necklace.”
“Eh? Necklace? What do you mean…?”
Lawrence tilts his head, wearing a puzzled expression at that moment.
“Ah.”
“Oops.”
As we turn the corner, we unexpectedly run into a woman.
Is she Lawrence’s secretary?
But she’s dressed far too elegantly for that.
“Cornelia. What’s the matter?”
“Ah, honey…”
The woman hesitates, then immediately lowers her gaze to the floor when looking at Lawrence.
Cornelia. Honey.
Those two words clash together in my head, causing confusion.
Lawrence’s late wife was supposed to be dead…?
‘Right. I came two months early.’
That’s when it hit me.
In previous iterations, Cornelia Briam was dead every time I came to Cologne.
But in this timeline, Lawrence’s deceased wife is still alive.
Seeing a dead person come back to life feels eerie to me.
“Please say hello. This is the person challenging the dungeon this time.”
“Th-thank you…”
“Thanking me? I came here because of the reward.”
The moment Cornelia bows her head in gratitude, Mi Jeong suddenly points at her with gleaming eyes.
I quickly grab Mi Jeong’s hand to pull it down.
“…Sparkle sparkle.”
“This girl is being rude to the Countess.”
“It’s okay. Maybe she spoke because of this?”
Cornelia seems momentarily flustered but soon smiles as she pulls a necklace out from her neck.
It’s a necklace filled with pearls.
The moment I saw it, my mind goes blank.
“…Sparkle sparkle. Pretty.”
“Thank you, little lady.”
No doubt about it.
That pearl necklace must be the one that gives the ‘Weak Point’ trait.
Yet this makes things quite weird.
‘Promising the necklace of a deceased wife as a reward…?’
A love-struck man who couldn’t forget his late wife and wrote hundreds of letters, is handing over his deceased wife’s keepsake to a complete stranger?
It doesn’t make sense.
The air suddenly feels cold around me.
The smile that once seemed easygoing from Lawrence now appears somewhat sinister.
