Catch That Guy!

“We are going to catch the Necromancer of Iushil from now on.”

At the abrupt announcement, Barkal and Serena tilted their heads in puzzlement.

I explained to them the details of Camilla’s request.

“A, a Necromancer has snuck into Iushil…!”

Serena trembled, her hand shaking. Just like her, Barkal’s gaze turned sour with displeasure.

“A Necromancer in such a peaceful city…”

Iushil is indeed a peaceful place.

“Brother Dmihtan must have accepted this because he couldn’t stand idly by!”

Of course. Destroying the device to search for a Necromancer and such are just side matters.

“Hurry, let’s find that scum Necromancer!”

Sss.

I know she’s not talking about me, but why do I feel bad?

“I don’t object, either!”

Barkal clenched his fist and stood up. From between the skull helmet, I could see a smile on his lips.

As if delighted, he started swinging his battle axe, “Erindal,” with a loud whoosh.

“But Brother Dmihtan! Didn’t you say the Necromancer is hiding!?”

“That’s right.”

“How do we find a hidden Necromancer?”

A fair point. Necromancers are monsters that are enemies to players, but they look just like humans.

Still, it feels a bit odd for Barkal to say something so reasonable.

“I have the talent to find Necromancers.”

The ability to track necromancy. That’s something I possess.

“That’s right! Brother Dmihtan found a Necromancer with incredible skill in the dungeon before, too!”

“Indeed! I’m curious about that!”

Apparently, Barkal still had doubts about how I found the Necromancer with “Necromancy Tracking,” which I obtained in the previous dungeon, so he asked me.

I wanted to just say, “Trust me,” but the more excuses you make, the less trust you get.

“My god, Thrag, told me the location of that disgusting presence.”

So I decided to lie.

“I-is that so!? It seems that Thrag trusts you deeply, brother!”

Barkal replied with wide, surprised eyes.

“For a god to reveal it directly… Your faith must truly be extraordinary!”

Serena seemed quite astonished as well.

* 〈Thrag is startled by your words.〉

Huh?

Why are you startled, pal?

* * *

We went to sleep early and then threw ourselves into Iushil’s night streets.

While wandering around Iushil, suddenly—

“Brother! Is Thrag revealing the Necromancer’s location?”

Barkal asked, and I replied that, for now, he was not.

My ‘Necromancy Tracking’ ability still cannot accurately determine distance or how long ago the trail was left.

In short, finding the Necromancer is still largely left up to chance.

“Brother! Is Thrag revealing the Necromancer’s location?”

“Barkal, it hasn’t even been five minutes yet.”

“Is that so!?”

Does this guy have no patience?

“But really, where could that person be hiding? It can’t be anywhere crowded…”

“There is a place I suspect.”

Answering Serena’s question, I stopped walking.

Iushil is a bustling city. There aren’t many places where a hidden Necromancer could rest.

“Where is it?”

“Where is it, brother!”

They asked in unison.

Are you expecting me to spoon-feed it to you like a mother bird to her chicks?

To help them grow, I decided I’d guide their thinking a bit.

“The Necromancer will avoid crowds.”

They both nodded.

“But Iushil has both a large permanent population and many people passing through. There aren’t many hiding spots.”

They seemed to understand so far, nodding again.

“So the Necromancer has few places to hide. There’s only one, if anywhere.”

I raised my hand, then pointed at the ground.

“Thrag, goodness gracious!”

At my action, Barkal looked at me in surprise.

“Brother, have you already buried the Necromancer underground!?”

“Barkal, my brother, that’s not what I meant!”

Really…

To set him straight, I tapped the ground and explained again.

“I mean, it’s most likely in Iushil’s underground waterways!”

“Aha!”

At my explanation, Serena’s eyes widened as if a light bulb had gone off.

“That does make the most sense! Necromancers tend to hide where there are no people!”

“Oooh…!”

“Brother Dmihtan, you really are amazing! You think exactly like a Necromancer!”

I am a necro.

That was on the tip of my tongue, but I held back.

So, we headed to Iushil’s underground waterways.

“Serena.”

While walking, I called to Serena to resolve my curiosity.

“Yes, brother?”

“What happened between you and that woman?”

The relationship with Camilla, whom we had just met. I had a rough idea but wanted to hear it directly.

“Well… as I said before, she was the leader of the adventurer party I belonged to.”

“I heard that.”

What I wanted to hear was why they became so antagonistic.

“You’re asking why I was so flustered, aren’t you?”

I nodded at Serena’s words.

“There was an incident.”

An incident?

“It happened after I completed a request with Camilla.”

As she continued, tears began to well up in Serena’s eyes.

“For the next request, I waited at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Nothing remarkable so far.

“But even after two, three, a week passed, Camilla never showed up!”

With tears glistening, sorrow was filling her eyes.

“I heard from a receptionist! That I was expelled from the party!”

That woman, Camilla.

She looked fierce, but she really was a rotten one.

What kind of boss fires you without any notice?

“Well, technically not without notice! She did drop a hint in the dungeon!”

“What did she say?”

“She said, ‘there’s no need for a cleric who stands right next to the vanguard!'”

Wow.

I guess she pretty much made it clear.

“But I’m not ashamed! I met every qualification they wanted!”

She spread her fingers and showed me calloused hands, quite unlike her delicate face.

“I proudly told them I was a believer of the proud Liberas when asked. I said I could use both Blessing of Strength and Heal!”

Hmm.

“And when they asked if I had any way to protect myself, I said I trusted my own body! I met all the requirements!”

Right.

You did have all the spells a cleric should have.

Along with a few—no, a lot—of striking and joint-lock techniques on top.

That’s a scam for employment. What kind of cleric… no, never mind.

“Serena, I understand you’re upset. But we’ll be arriving at the underground waterways soon, so please hold your anger a little longer.”

“Sniffle… Yes, brother.”

“You’ll have to listen to me more later.”

I heard Serena’s muttered words behind me, but ignored them and proceeded to the entrance of the underground waterways.

I know the location. Anyone who played “Dungeon God” starting in Iushil knows it.

Because this was the place where new “Dungeon God” players learned many things.

How to hunt monsters.

How to survive.

How to counter status ailments.

All of this was learned in these underground waterways.

Why?

Because even though there’s no dungeon in the waterways, monsters live here.

― Squeak, squeak.

After passing through the filthy entrance and descending into the darkness, an inhabitant of the waterways appeared before us.

“Is that a… ratman?”

“They really have literal rats walking around now!”

A rat that walks upright, barely reaching up to a human’s waist. The weakest of the weak monsters, even lower than goblins in both size and numbers.

They are a race that hates light and cannot survive unless it’s in the darkness belowground.

But as is typical for monsters in ‘Dungeon God’, those of smaller stature come with unique strengths.

“Just in time, I was running short on blood for Thrag!”

“Wait, Barkal.”

“What is it, brother?”

I stopped Barkal as he readied himself to charge.

The ratman’s strength is in infecting with disease using its teeth and claws.

Thanks to them, beginners in “Dungeon God” learn how to deal with status ailments here—using potions and herbal bandages for treatments.

But we hadn’t brought herbs or potions.

Limiting expenditure is a leader’s quality.

Which means, we’d have to mooch off healing spells.

“Serena, I’d like you to handle it.”

It’s simple.

Our physical cleric, Serena, should be able to use the cure spell to remove disease.

She can use Blessing of Strength, so she should have at least that much.

The problem is, a cleric’s basic abilities can only be applied to themselves.

“I’d like to say, ‘the teeth and claws of ratmen cause diseases. Only you can heal them.'”

But from her point of view, that would sound like I’m telling her to handle those filthy ratmen alone.

So, I decided to phrase it differently, so no one would be offended.

“All right!”

While I was searching for words, Serena clenched her fist and nodded.

“You mean you trust me! I’ll take care of all the ratmen myself!”

While I was racking my brains for an excuse, she answered so cheerfully I felt guilty.

“J-just in case, I’ll make some armor for you.”

* 〈’Tattoo Inscription’ mastery has increased.〉

“Thank you!”

As I drew the tattoo for her skeleton exoskeleton, Serena thanked me and then took a step forward.

― Squeak… squeak, squeak!”

As Serena approached, the ratmen began to tremble with fear. Monsters must instinctively sense the aura she gives off.

Of course, not a single ratman could even touch the buffed-up Serena.

All the ones that came at us.

Even the ones deeper inside.

Every last one of them.

To begin with, a place like this is beneath a true apostle of the gods.

“Cure!”

But still—

“Heal! Cure!”

It’s hard to get used to someone with that innocent face beating up monsters at close range.

“Huh?”

Serena, who had gone ahead knocking out ratmen, stopped as she looked deeper into the underground waterways and mumbled as though she’d found something.

“I found it!”

What did you find?

Did you regain your senses or something?

“The Necromancer!”

Oh, right.

We came to catch the Necromancer.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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