Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 56

Rumors (3)

“How did you know?”

Of the two refugees, the male opened his mouth. He was a man who looked like he was about 30 years old and had a slightly messy beard.

Dallen answered indifferently.

“Typically, rumors travel faster than people.”

Growling.

At that time, the bearded man’s stomach growled loudly.

The man, who was about to say something more, closed his mouth as if embarrassed by the sound coming from his stomach.

Dallen chuckled. He took some beef jerky and dry bread from his backpack next to the blanket.

“You must be hungry after coming such a long way. “Have some.”

The two refugees looked confused for a moment. But it was only for a moment.

They lowered their heads and accepted the beef jerky and bread and soon began stuffing the food into their mouths as if they were greedy.

In fact, dry bread and tough beef jerky are not good foods to eat in a hurry.

Nevertheless, the two people ate hungrily as if they had starved for several days.

Dallen looked at it, then took a leather canteen from his backpack and handed it over.

“If you go this road for about four days, you will come to a city called Lvivach. If you need work, look for it there. “Recently, a lot of wealthy merchants have flocked here, so I don’t think it will be difficult to make a living right now.”

“Thank you. Really cool! “Thank you.”

The bearded man said with his cheeks stuffed with pieces of bread. His eyes were completely filled with emotion.

At that time, a refugee woman, quenching her throat with a canteen, opened her mouth.

“How can I compensate you? “We don’t have much to give in return right now…”

“We’re not asking for anything in return, so don’t feel pressured.”

Dallon added as he pried the campfire with a long branch.

“If anything, please tell me more about the rumors about the dead rising from the grave. “There’s nothing better to stay up at night than hearing stories from travelers from out of town.”

“okay. thank you.”

The woman began talking, tearing off a piece of beef jerky and rolling it slowly in her mouth.

“At some point, a rumor began to circulate in the neighborhood. “It was a rumor that an old demon had been released from its seal and descended on the northern part of the empire.”

“You mean the devil?”

The woman nodded.

“At first they were cultists. Cultists appeared from nowhere and started shouting in the town square. “The end is coming, and we have to prepare an altar for the devil to come… No matter how much the village youth chased him away, he would reappear the next day.”

“They were truly extreme people. Ugh!”

The bearded man, who had put down the bread and beef jerky as if he had filled his stomach, was trembling. The woman also frowned.

In fact, not all cultists formed large organizations like the Retrograde Apostles.

The people commonly called cultists meant beggars who claimed to have received revelations from God and caused trouble in front of town squares or city gates.

Most of them were crazy people with shabby clothes and messy hair, and there was an occasional swindler or two.

No matter how many times you hit them and chase them away, they come back and shout out revelations from an unknown god. From the residents’ perspective, they are like cockroaches.

‘Anyway, it’s a rumor about the devil. It doesn’t feel like it’s a little early. It’s a common event around the middle of the game.’

Dallon stroked his chin and thought.

As we enter the middle part, monsters become more active and war clouds spread throughout the continent.

If it weren’t for Dallen’s activities over the years, it would have been inevitable that the labyrinth city would have fallen into disrepair a few years later.

The apostles of retrograde would overthrow the Bronze Zone, and demons with holy swords and huge groups of gnolls would roam the first floor of the labyrinth.

In that situation, rumors about the devil would not be such an important event.

At most, it’s a small side quest that takes place in a border city or rural village.

‘Of course things are a little different now.’

No matter how big or small aberrations occur here and there, the situation on the continent is still far from reaching the halfway point.

Therefore, rumors about the devil were not common at this point.

Moreover, what if it were nothing more than a mere rumor?

Because it was a situation where necromancers and even undead appeared.

“At first, everyone thought it was a rumor, but as time passed, the situation changed. “At night, the dead people began to rise from their graves.”

The woman seemed nervous and bit her nails. The bearded man next to her patted her and spoke on her behalf.

“Before I left, I even heard these rumors. They say that a demon is sealed in a cave in the mountains, and necromancers are performing a ritual to unseal it. What a devil. “I thought it couldn’t go on like this, so I took refuge with my wife.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

The bearded man laughed softly. It was a slightly empty laugh.

Dallen asked as he put some more firewood on the fire.

“That demon that was sealed. “Don’t you know what kind of devil that is?”

The man thought for a moment and answered.

“I think it was said to be an immortal demon.”

***

‘An immortal demon.’

next day.

As he rode a horse and headed south with his group, Dallon constantly replayed the conversation they had yesterday in his head.

‘Immortal demon. yes. The village of Wrankleton in the northern part of the Empire. The appearance of cultists and undead. It was all evidence pointing to an immortal demon.’

Why didn’t I notice it sooner?

I’ve thought about it that way, but in reality, it’s not easy to pick out the right answer among thousands of events and quests in my memory.

Dallen chewed some beef jerky, determined to raise his intelligence level, which had become the lowest at some point.

‘Anyway, if you do this, you might run into the most annoying guy in this game.’

Immortal demon.

He was literally a devil who could not die.

Of course, when it comes to demons, they are all people who have deviated from the ways of mortals.

Unlike humans, who are mortal beings, they had no concept of getting sick or dying of old age.

However, in the case of immortal demons, the concept was a little different.

His ‘immortality’ literally meant that he would never die.

‘Even if the Sword God used one of the Five Swords to make a mop and poured the witch’s spell and the knight commander’s sacred power into it, it didn’t work.’

Thinking back to the adventures he had taken in one episode, Dallon shook his head.

In fact, the power of the immortal demon itself was not that powerful.

Not by the standards of demons, but even by the standards of ordinary monsters.

Excluding his immortality, would he be as good as Varguf, the gnoll warrior we killed earlier?

Nevertheless, because of his ability to not die, if he got caught by the wrong guy, the episode would have been ruined.

There was no way a proper fight would be possible with a demon by my side who chased me to the ends of the continent and placed all kinds of curses on me.

‘If you want to avoid the area where this guy is active, you’ll have to go back a really long way… Wait. perhaps…?’

At that moment, an idea suddenly crossed Dallen’s mind.

Dallen immediately opened the status window.

――――――――

Name: Dallon

Level: 13

[Strength: 32] [Skill: 21] [Stamina: 28]

[Sense: 20] [Intelligence: 19] [Magic Power: 20]

Skill: Dehaman’s Armor Fighting (D) Night Vision (E) Dragon’s Blood’s Regeneration Factor (C) Leaping (E) Flame Arrow (D) Quick Freeze (D) Lapanthella’s Crushing Blade (C) Hegaleus’ Rain of Flame (C) Shooting Lightning (D) Seal of Curse (D)

――――――――

Letters appear in front of my eyes.

The status window has become incomparably more crowded than when I first entered the labyrinth city.

It seems like it was only yesterday that he acquired his first skill at a shabby inn in a back alley, but already ten skills were in his status window.

Ability scores also increased by more than 50 in total.

Besides, except for their intelligence level, they were all in their 20s now.

As a result of eating one of the two Mandrake roots dug up in the forest, his stamina and magic power increased by one additional point.

Unfortunately, these types of elixirs were limited in that they only increased abilities once per type.

If not, Dallen would have searched Lvivbach Forest like teeth, even if he had to collapse from the aftermath of dragon blood on the day he defeated the witch.

‘Anyway, this seems like a good possibility. The things I got from killing the witch made up for the missing part.’

It only took a moment for an idea that suddenly occurred to materialize into a plan. Dallen looked at the status window and quietly guessed the possibilities.

Then Lucia spoke to him.

“Do you think about what the refugees said?”

A word that suddenly hits the nail on the head. Dallen scratched his nose in silence.

Lucia continued speaking while looking at the distant horizon.

“Did I tell you to be careful about inns? Would you rather go back?”

Oh, was that what you were talking about?

The refugee couple said that as they parted ways in the morning.

It would be a good idea to be careful of the inn on the street. However, strangely enough, he seemed to avoid mentioning anything further.

Dallen shrugged.

“The inn is located on a path that runs through a small forest. If I go back, it will take twice as long. On the other hand, since so many refugees would have passed through it, it would be good to collect information about the undead. Also…”

Parun looks quite tired. He added in a low voice.

Lucia slightly turned her gaze and looked back. Parn was dozing off on the horse saddle.

The fatigue of five days of homelessness and unfamiliar horseback riding was steadily eroding the boy’s physical strength.

I made an effort not to show it, but this type of fatigue, if left untreated, can lead to bigger accidents.

“I guess I should take a day off and rest.”

After saying that, Lucia slightly slowed down her speech. Her horse came close to the boy’s horse.

“…Mmm!”

The boy opens his eyes as soon as he senses something approaching.

As soon as Parn came to his senses, he quickly looked in all directions and was alert to his surroundings.

He seemed to be faithfully following the advice Lucia had given him over the past few days while teaching him horseback riding and swordsmanship.

‘He’s a guy who can do anything.’

Dallen laughed lowly.

***

The group arrived at the inn late that evening.

The upward road passed through the middle of a small, unnamed forest, and the inn was located on the right side of the forest road.

“wow. It’s really big…”

Parn let out a small exclamation. He looked like a child I hadn’t seen in a long time.

The appearance of a mansion in the middle of a remote forest seemed to have touched the boy’s heart.

“It’s because it’s near the border, so there are a lot of merchants coming and going. Since the village is just across the border, the supply of materials will be smooth.”

Lucia calmly explained to the boy.

The inn was four stories tall. The first floor served as both a bar and a general store selling travel goods, and all above that were guest rooms.

There was also a large stable next to the building, perhaps in consideration of the frequent traffic of merchants. There were already several carts and horses tied up in the stables.

However, for some reason, there seemed to be no staff to guide us.

As I was driving the horse straight to the stables, Lucia approached me and whispered softly.

“Dallen. “I guess it’s strange.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“I can sense a faint, evil magic.”

Dallen nodded.

“I felt it too.”

For some reason, the air is dreary. The scent that faintly permeated it was a type that a warrior’s nose could not easily miss.

“I smell blood.”