Chapter 69 - Guilt by Association is a Bad Practice
Unlike regular heroes who form equal partnerships, demon heroes bound by the “conversion contract” are tied to a practical master-servant relationship.
Lumi, angry to the tip of her tail, can growl and bark “kyaoo” even without Ark’s consent.
But Elise, no matter how much she seduces, cannot violate him without Ark’s consent.
However, where there’s loss, there’s also gain.
Demon heroes are relatively better at resonating with the Revelator compared to regular heroes.
Neb’s ears perk up.
Arachne’s legs tap.
Elise’s chest bounces.
“Seems like they’re coming more smoothly than expected.”
“…I want to eat steak…”
“Hmm, they should arrive within an hour.”
“Huh? Huuh? What’s going on?”
Except for the stupid totem Tinya, who boasts a 0% prophecy accuracy rate, everyone could feel the Revelator’s spirit pressure gradually approaching.
“Rene, start retracting now.”
The strengthening of the Revelator’s spirit pressure means
The influence exerted by the demons’ magic power is also diminishing.
Before their identities could be discovered,
Rene’s spider webs spread throughout the street went swoosh!
Threads wrapped with all sorts of odds and ends were slowly sucked into her spacious skirt.
Of course, the Wind Cave’s performance wasn’t good enough to perfectly retrieve all the loot.
Thud.
When something fell where Rene had walked,
Pick.
Renatel naturally bent her waist and swiftly picked it up.
Thud. Pick.
Thud. Pick.
Though not as flexible as felines,
The waist movements of the canine, which had its own flexibility, continued without rest.
Renatel felt a deep moment of enlightenment.
Is this why I made the contract? I’m feeling self-loathing…
A little later, in a deserted alley.
Crash──!
The items wrapped tightly with spider webs on Rene’s thighs under her skirt,
And the items stored in Renatel’s pockets spilled onto the ground.
Having harvested, it was now time to process.
Neb and Tinya’s small hands tore open the pouches one by one and took out the contents.
《Caution. The public safety in the Great Imperial Empire has not been good recently. As per this Duiju No. 38’s warning, please walk on the main street.》
“Oh my, Sampal. Are you worried about us now? That’s so touching. I’m so happy to have made a friend?”
[>_<]
《…Friend. Affirmative. This Duiju No. 38 is willing to form a friendly relationship with Elise. However, please abide by the agreement.》
“Of course? Hehehe.”
《By the way, how long are you going to keep holding me? Not that I’m complaining. No sense of touch, regrettable.》
“Friends can have skinship too. Hehe, when we meet in person, I’ll give you a tight hug, okay?”
Originally, Duiju No. 38 had the duty to manage and supervise whether the ‘Level 3 visitors’ were committing any impure acts.
But far from detecting the crime scene of attempting to conceal and launder stolen goods, it was just deeply engrossed in cheerful chatter with Elise.
As a bonus, it had leaked all sorts of confidential information after being played by Elise’s tongue.
It was an exemplary model of a public servant.
While Elise kept drawing Duiju No. 38’s aggro with her mouth,
The rest of the demons began sorting through the items ‘carelessly lost by citizens’.
Tinya’s appraisal skills, honed as the deputy manager of Ark’s general store, came in handy!
Miscellaneous items.
Alchemy materials.
Cash-equivalent assets.
Coins.
As they quickly sorted them by various criteria, Neb and Rene swiftly, jingle jangle, pop pop, divided them into several pouches.
“Food… none…?”
“Pig, we can buy it with this.”
During this process, the Demon of Gluttony, master of the ‘all roads lead to eating’ philosophy, wore a slightly sad expression.
But Neb comforted that loss a bit by adding some nagging.
There was still some time left before Ark would arrive nearby.
As they say, a full wallet creates leisure.
They each put on new clothes from a nearby fabric shop, identical to what the locals were wearing.
With food items from street stalls in their hands,
Their footsteps, savoring leisure like real tourists, finally reached the final destination of Zone 2, the train station.
“There are so many people!”
“It seems similar to Celestia.”
“Nom nom, nom nom…”
Admiration, indifference, mukbang.
With various reactions in the background,
“What, what could this be…?”
Elise felt a huge wall when faced with the advanced civilization of an automatic ticket vending machine.
But.
[V_V]
《This Duiju No. 38 will kindly explain the usage method for its f.r.i.e.n.d.s.》
Duiju No. 38, who had changed jobs from surveillance camera to travel guide, put a strange emphasis on the word ‘friends’ and then
Kindly guided them, relieving Elise’s distress.
This must be what they mean when they say it’s good to have friends.
Of course, there were some trial and errors.
“…I am not a pet…!”
“Oh, that’s right.”
They bought one pet ticket for Renatel’s share but had to cancel it.
“Eek! Tinya’s not a child!”
“Be quiet, stupid…”
After subduing the obvious little kid who was struggling to exercise ‘the same one vote’ as adults,
Three adult tickets.
Two child tickets.
By purchasing train tickets,
Party 1, mission successfully completed.
Without navigation, mini-map, or map,
We somehow broke through the ordeal of the underground waterway.
“Myeong myeong!”
“Haa, I’m sick of waterways now…”
“It’s full of amazing things!”
The place we reached was a huge underground cavern.
To be precise,
The core of transportation crossing the Great Imperial Empire.
It was the garage of the ‘Silk Road Train’.
Although still underground, it was a much higher and more open space compared to the stinking waterway, so it felt more livable.
Of course, it was still too early to let our guard down.
《Malfunction detected. Repairing.》
《You. Oil leaking.》
《System activation. Preparation complete.》
All sorts of labor robots were busily moving around here and there.
“Shh, let’s quietly go that way.”
Changing genres from a chase scene to infiltration action, we tiptoed.
We moved towards what looked like a passage leading up to the ground from the garage.
Fortunately, there were piles of luggage everywhere.
Which meant there were many places to hide.
Solid Snake. Possession complete.
Heroes, just follow me.
Sometimes boldly, sometimes stealthily advancing towards the exit,
[★☆☆: After arriving at the train station, find a way to board the train to Hanseong. (1/2)]
[★★☆: Do not get arrested by Uigeumbu or Saheonbu agents. (2/2)]
[★★★: Board the train within 2 hours. (0/2)]
As if the mission had been updated, the status window chimed.
Strictly speaking, our Party 2 hadn’t even arrived at the train station yet, nor had we properly found a way to board the train.
It must be Party 1 that achieved the one-star condition.
Moreover, it seems they didn’t cause any particular trouble.
The two-star condition was also comfortably achieved.
“Let’s go up. Lumi? Please take the lead and check if there are any people.”
“Woof!”
As we climbed the seemingly endlessly high square stairs to the ground, panting,
“Woof…!”
When we sensed people, we quickly hid in any nearby passage.
Each time, we couldn’t help but glance at the elevators installed in the passages, but it was clear that the moment we encountered someone in the elevator, there would be 100% trouble.
Holding back tears and overworking our thighs again, still grateful for the lax security, we went up and up.
Finally, we opened the last door leading to the ground and stepped outside.
“Wow!”
“It’s cool, woof!”
With the heroes’ exclamations as sound effects,
Finally, the outside.
The scenery of Hamgyeong, the border city of the Great Imperial Empire, unfolded before us.
For some reason, the familiar design, like a provincial city full of industrial complexes, didn’t impress me much, but the heroes kept their eyes sparkling as if fascinated.
And not too far away,
Our destination, the train station──
Hamgyeong Station was visible.
And.
“Master!”
A small, soft creature in cute clothes came running and jumped.
Although I hadn’t provided a separate outfit skin,
As if they had custom-ordered modified hanboks as a group from somewhere,
The four demons and Renatel appeared, their colorful clothes fluttering.
We’ll probably separate again soon, but.
Still, Party 1, Party 2. Assemble!
“Ugh…”
Trying to ignore bikini girl Saha’s slightly frustrated expression, I asked the two questions that came to mind.
“What, how did you know to come here? …And why are everyone’s clothes like that?”
“Hehe, we had a good connection.”
Elise flashed a suspicious smile.
And Neb, who came walking timidly,
“Here, take this.”
“Huh?”
Handed over some quite heavy pouches.
When I peeked inside, they were full of gold and silver treasures.
Surely they didn’t steal these, right?
《Handsome scum. This Duiju No. 38 will show leniency this one time. Unauthorized departure is illegal, so please refrain.》
Seeing the Duiju-drone still attached, they probably didn’t commit theft brazenly.
But still, there’s a scent of crime.
For now, I’ll store these in my inventory as evidence.
I’ll have to shake them down after confirming Zone 2 clearance.
Anyway.
“You worked hard, Elise.”
“You worked hard too, Ark-nim.”
Even if I shake them down later,
For now, I gave words of praise to Elise, the capable leader who renewed the no-incident record.
Now we just need to get to the train station and it’s over──
《Warning. This Duiju No. 38’s vision confirms unregistered individuals at the immigration office, excluding beastkin. Proceeding with identification.》
Over…
《Confirmed to have a silhouette similar to the C-class wanted targets ‘Female Quartet Barrier Terrorists’. Please prove your identity. If you cannot prove it, an emergency protocol will be activated.》
…
When did you guys become infamous…?
I hurriedly approached Duiju No. 38.
Absolutely not distancing myself from the Party 2 friends.
“Ah, these are friends I met nearby after a long time. Um, our friends are extremely kind and friendly friends, you know? Come on, it must be a misunderstanding. How could they possibly be subversive elements like barrier terrorists? Haha, hahaha. Ahaha.”
And defended them to the best of my ability.
Absolutely not considering cutting ties out of fear of guilt by association.
Really.