Chapter 69
“The Mysterious Black Tragedy That Occurred in Portplum.”
This story began when a single corpse was discovered inside the circular amphitheater.
As people stared at the body, its face covered in unknown black veins, confusion spread.
Originally, the incident truly began when soone touched the crystal embedded in the corpse’s chest—the corrupted mass known as the “Black Tragedy”—causing their body to shrivel and blacken as they died.
From that point onward, chaos began to spread throughout Portplum.
At that mont, the protagonist arrived in Portplum and struggled to resolve the situation.
Based on information obtained from a previous quest, he learned that identical corpses existed at the far ends of the east, west, south, and north.
Once he succeeded in destroying all of the “Black Tragedy” crystals, a notification appeared stating that a cursed tool hidden sowhere at random had manifested.
If that tool was destroyed within the ti limit, the scenario was cleared.
No demonic beasts would be summoned in Portplum, and the people inside the magic circle would no longer be offered as sacrifices.
Although the quest appeared complex at first glance, it was designed to be relatively easy to clear as long as one had companions to work with and a magical tool capable of locating the cursed artifact.
However, several prerequisite conditions were required for this scenario to occur.
First: et Gusaf Fad Nenchel and complete the quest to obtain the magical tool.
(Note: Even if the attempt to obtain it failed, the quest would still be marked as completed.)
Second: Complete the “Count Anette Subjugation” scenario.
Third: The protagonist, Ark Batchel, must be present in Portplum.
If these conditions were not fulfilled, the scenario “The Mysterious Black Tragedy That Occurred in Portplum” would not occur.
***
Sixteen million gold.
Aquila called out that price and won the Eye That Sees the Hidden.
Strictly speaking, it was closer to forcibly claiming it.
Doubling the price he had originally intended to call, Aquila seized the item as if snatching it away, without sparing even a glance for those who stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Fortunately, the atmosphere had not been one where competition could truly take hold.
If it had been, he would have been forced to waste even more ti.
Even so, who among them would dare accuse Aquila of “snatching it and running” as he imdiately turned away with the item in hand?
His red hair was practically synonymous with Reschenhardt, and everyone present was effectively a witness.
In any case, having obtained the Eye That Sees the Hidden with most of the formalities skipped, Aquila headed straight out of the theater.
Under normal circumstances, the wide main road could easily accommodate two carriages passing side by side, but it was the Founding Festival period.
On top of that, the Old Items Auction had clogged the area with parked carriages, so Aquila’s group barely squeezed through the narrow gaps before mounting their horses.
‘Thirty-eight minutes. I spent quite a bit of ti.’
Aquila glanced sideways at the ti ticking down in the corner of his vision.
The remaining ti was one hour and twenty-two minutes.
As befitted a major city, Portplum was expansive, but its roads were so well maintained that there was no need to detour. If they rode straight ahead, the southern city gate would appear soon enough.
Everything within the city walls fell within the effective range.
At an ordinary pace, it would take a solid forty minutes, but…
“Cahena! Can you go faster?”
“…Yes, sir. I will give it a try. Hold on tight!”
Cahena twisted the reins tightly in her hands.
Since the previous Aquila had never learned how to ride, Shen had only brought two horses.
As a result, Aquila was riding together with Cahena.
In truth, it did not matter who rode.
All that mattered was reaching the southern city gate as quickly as possible.
“Hyah!”
As Aquila tensed his body to avoid being thrown off, Cahena shouted sharply.
The horse surged forward at great speed.
Behind them, Shen urged his own horse onward just as fiercely.
Aquila barely spared a glance at the rapidly passing scenery, focusing instead on keeping his jaw steady so he would not bite his tongue.
With his fingertips, he checked whether the magical tool tucked into his inner pocket was still there.
‘The Mysterious Black Tragedy That Occurred in Portplum. It is labeled Chapter 1, but this was not originally the first scenario. What in the world happened?’
Aquila’s questions only continued to pile up.
‘If Gusaf left and I gained the opportunity to obtain the magical tool directly, I can overlook the first condition. But what about the Count Anette Subjugation?’
The twins, Ershan and i, who had originally been ant to handle the nad monster in that scenario.
Had the disappearance of the Count Anette Subjugation scenario been caused by their changed fate?
With two prerequisite conditions gone, perhaps that was why the scenario had begun.
‘Then Ark Batchel…’
That was what troubled Aquila the most.
The final condition—that the protagonist, Ark Batchel, had to be in Portplum.
‘…Was what I saw back then truly real?’
The familiar back he had seen at a street stall on the fifth day of the Founding Festival.
If that had not been a mistake on Aquila’s part, and Ark Batchel had already set out on his journey for so reason…
“The southern city gate is in sight!”
Startled out of his thoughts, Aquila snapped his head up.
Sure enough, a massive city gate and the wall stretching out beside it ca into view.
“Shall we stop in front of the gate?”
“…No. I know the location.”
Shaking his head, Aquila brushed his thoughts aside.
His gaze shifted not to the wide-open gate, but upward.
“On top of the city wall. There is a corpse there.”
***
Though it was a straight road, they covered the distance to the city gate in under thirty minutes.
They charged forward so recklessly that pedestrians, carriages, and wagons all scrambled to get out of the way.
The mont they dismounted near the southern city gate, a royal guard stationed there ran toward them.
At first, Aquila thought it was because of their aggressive riding, but it seed rien had already sent word here as well.
If a red-haired man arrived, they were to offer assistance—or, if he said it was unnecessary, not interfere.
‘Is this repaynt for helping her obtain Quija’s Smile?’
It was not only because Reschenhardt revered dragons and believed Aquila’s oath.
There was also the simple fact that they had received a favor.
As he had said before, Raiesel did not forget its debts.
No matter how far-fetched the story sounded, they would at least try to offer help once.
Thanks to that, they were able to proceed toward the city wall without difficulty.
“When we checked about an hour ago, there was nothing there.”
The royal guard climbed the ladder leading up to the wall first.
Aquila did not follow imdiately, as his Communication Bracelet vibrated with an incoming ssage.
Heinen.
He reported that while searching near the rear entrance of the Grand Temple, he had discovered a corpse, found the crystal embedded in its chest, and destroyed it.
That made two.
The rest were either still on the move or still searching for the bodies.
While Aquila nodded and exchanged ssages instead of climbing the ladder, Cahena stepped forward.
“If sothing strange had appeared, one of the lookouts would have reported it. But we did not receive any contact at all…”
“That lookout?”
“Yes? He should be over there… ah!”
The royal guard, who had climbed partway up and turned his head at Cahena’s question, let out a small sound.
Just an hour ago, he had been talking with that lookout.
But now, the man was sprawled comfortably on the opposite side, lying face down as if he were fast asleep.
“Good grief… he must have nodded off. I will wake him right away.”
Standing watch was tedious work, and it was not unheard of for soone to get distracted or even doze off now and then.
But to be sleeping so openly—when Reschenhardt had arrived, no less.
The guard replied awkwardly, casting a cautious glance.
‘Well, it is true he has barely slept lately with the Founding Festival and all. Perhaps he relaxed because it was the final day.’
He had been complaining of fatigue for so ti, and it seed he had finally succumbed to sleep.
Just as the guard, feeling a bit sorry for his friend, moved closer—
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
Cahena, who had been climbing the ladder monts ago, was now standing right behind him.
“Allow .”
With a hardened expression, she stepped toward the guard lying on the ground.
She grabbed the prone man’s shoulder and turned him over.
“Huh? His face—!”
The guard gasped in shock.
Black veins, like twisted vines, covered the entire face beneath the helt.
Frowning, Cahena yanked off the armor.
As expected, there it was—the Black Tragedy, deeply embedded in the chest, pulsing violently.
Without hesitation, Cahena drew her sword.
Crack! Clang!
The crystal shattered instantly, and just like the corpse discovered in the amphitheater, the body blackened and shriveled.
“M-my… ahhh…!”
The guard rushed toward his friend, letting out a horrific scream.
Cahena, after confirming the corpse, slid her sword back into its sheath.
Destroying the crystal itself was not difficult.
However…
Her gaze lingered uneasily on the blackened face beneath the helt.
It had been the sa in the amphitheater, but judging from what the guard had said, this man had been alive just an hour ago.
So how was it possible to move around unnoticed and reduce people to this state?
“Is it done?”
Aquila shouted up from below the wall after finishing his communication.
Cahena glanced once more at the sobbing guard, then nodded.
Since she did not fully understand what was happening either, she rely warned him not to touch the body and then leapt straight down from the wall.
She landed lightly, lifting her head with a furrowed brow.
“Yes, sir. The crystal in his chest has been dealt with. But how are the ones doing this even moving around? There was no sign of anything at all.”
“It is so kind of compulsion. Thinking too much about it will only waste ti.”
“Sir?”
“It ans I do not know either.”
Wooooong!
As Aquila finished his flippant reply, golden letters surfaced from the Communication Bracelet on his left wrist.
He accepted the call with practiced ease, and a calm voice ca through.
At the Seritini clothing shop warehouse, they had found a corpse beneath the lowest empty shelf and destroyed the crystal embedded in its chest.
[They said it was the shop owner’s husband. It was not so unknown body dumped there.]
“This one was a soldier standing watch on the city wall. That leaves only the north.”
[It seems they simply grab soone nearby and embed the crystal. How pitiful.]
From beyond the bracelet, Aquila could hear Ianpel softly reciting a prayer.
[Now that we have confird the corpses, what you said must be true. What do we do next?]
“Once the north is handled, I will take care of the rest…”
And at that very mont—
Ding!
【‘Black Tragedy’–bearing corpses dealt with (5/5) complete!】
【A cursed tool has appeared!】
【Locating the position!】
Seeing the windows appear, Aquila stopped speaking and prayed.
‘…Please, let it be as close as possible!’
There were now roughly fifty minutes left.
[Hm? What is wrong?]
Hearing Aquila suddenly fall silent, Ianpel asked in confusion through the bracelet.
Wooooong!
As if announcing another communication, the mana stone trembled and golden letters appeared on the opposite side.
It was surely rien’s ssage confirming that the northern corpse had been dealt with, but Aquila could only stare intently at the loading window.
After a minute that felt like an eternity—
Ding!
【…Complete!】
【The location of the hidden cursed tool is ‘near the northeast’! (Remaining ti – 00:49:17:33)】
【‘Destroy the Cursed Tool’ (0/1)】
Aquila’s eyes flew wide open as he shouted without realizing it.
“I asked for sowhere close!”
[…Pardon?]
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