Chapter 67: Remove The Lower Stone and Place The Upper Stone

At the tail end of an endless line reminiscent of a century-end game queue, we finally received our temporary entry permits.

“Then, have a pleasant journey.”

The immigration officer, unable to take his eyes off the potion bottle I handed over, smiled brightly and bid us farewell.

At first, the atmosphere was somewhat stiff and oppressive, trying to weigh us down, but as they say, ‘gifts’ have a way of smoothing out relationships and conversations.

We had offered a ‘gift’ of a skin-beautifying potion specially made by Ark’s General Store, free of any ulterior motives.

Naturally, we passed through without any issues.

“Ellis, did you see that?”

“Huhu, as expected of Ark. Truly amazing.”

It wasn’t that big of a deal.

It was just the result of sincere and appealing communication, with polite eye contact.

As we stepped through the other side of the immigration office, finally setting foot within the borders of the Great Empire.

[★★★: Enter the Great Empire within 1 hour. (Completed)]

“Impressive action speed.”

The message announcing the clearance of Area 1 sparkled.

I hadn’t expected them to be faster than us here.

But there’s no way they could have passed through more smoothly than us.

They must have caused some trouble.

I’m sure of it, betting on Tina.

***

As soon as we stepped out of the tower, Johanna’s face told me all I needed to know about what must have happened.

It was the same expression she had when she was caught rummaging through the kitchen at 2 a.m. looking for snacks.

“Johanna?”

“Yes, yes?!”

“Did you resolve it peacefully?”

“Pe, peace? It was peaceful…”

The Saint has a habit of stuttering severely when she lies.

…Honestly, after the mess in the Great Forest.

People don’t change that easily in just a few days.

“Saha?”

“…Ahem.”

“Ari?”

“Hehe.”

Seeing the obvious accomplices avoiding eye contact.

I turned to Renatel, the only one with a conscience, who was making a face that clearly said, ‘I saw it with my own eyes!’

“Please explain what happened.”

The ‘Lost 50 Minutes’ memoir of the only conscientious Renatel could be summarized as a dynamic action-packed drama filled with violence, destruction, and oil.

Starting with smashing the nth torture chamber due to a minor misunderstanding, followed by a bloody battle with the golems that started to swarm.

While being chased, they coincidentally encountered a group of black market traders and carried out some justice.

They interrogated them for clues, entered the underground waterway, and crossed the barrier.

“There were, there were so many rats…”

Renatel, a beastman who made a racially discriminatory remark, shuddered.

“Hyuk!”

I planted a justice-filled flick on Johanna’s forehead.

Though my fist hurts more…

“Didn’t you promise to lead us responsibly in the name of the Goddess?”

“But, but there were flying chunks of metal…! It’s heretical magic…!”

Ah.

Don’t you know?

“That’s not magic, it’s called science.”

I kindly added the explanation, but Johanna listened with a pout.

“Hmph…! Creating so many combat golems modeled after the dignified and noble form of humans. They must have evil intentions…!”

Suddenly channeling Heungseon Daewongun, she began to expound on conspiracy theories about the ancient magic-mechanical civilization of the Great Empire.

At this point.

“Ellis?”

“Yes, did you call?”

“I think I need to join them in Area 2.”

“Huhu…”

Don’t you start with that ominous smile.

But here, I had personally demonstrated ‘ways to solve problems without violence,’ so they should be able to handle one Area well enough.

Especially since it’s before any serious combat encounters.

So, line swap.

I decided to attach Renatel, the oddly conscientious former thief from the Darang Thieves, to the demon group, and join Rumi and me with the heroes who are more demonic than demons.

At that, Saha, Ari, and Johanna all simultaneously broke into bright smiles.

“…Did you cause trouble on purpose to make me follow you?”

“Of course not.”

“We, we didn’t cause any trouble…!”

“Ahaha.”

“Hmm…”

I felt a bit suspicious, but anyway, for the time being, it seemed I would have to coordinate by going back and forth like this.

“Then, let’s go again.”

After redistributing the members.

Re-entry.

***

“Ugh.”

As soon as we entered Area 2.

I instantly understood why Renatel’s face was crumpled during the flashback scene.

I hurriedly equipped the mask I had prepared for the previous Arachne battle from my inventory.

“…It’s impressive that they even found this path.”

I couldn’t help but let out a sarcastic remark from the depths of my heart.

What lay before us was.

A massive underground waterway.

The faint stench of rancid oil lingered in the air, damaging my clean lungs.

“Kiiing, kiiiing…”

Rumi, with her more sensitive nose, looked like she was about to faint from the pain.

“Master…!”

Reluctantly, I handed my mask to Rumi.

Her tail wagged vigorously.

“Hehe, a shortcut is still a path!”

Ari, overly infused with positivity, laughed cheerfully.

“Let’s move forward. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Staying here any longer would lead to respiratory distress and claustrophobia, so I urged everyone to find the exit.

If I had known it would be like this.

I should have brought Tina, the pathfinding expert.

“Squeak!”

Large rats, seemingly ready to shout ‘Gra-gra!’, appeared to block our path.

“Squeak…!”

One arrow cut.

One hammer cut.

They met a fitting end for early-stage mobs.

“Rumi? You don’t need to collect that.”

Honestly, even though I’m a pro chef who doesn’t discriminate based on origin, I didn’t want to loot rat meat and cook it.

Of course, the calamities summoned by our heroes also appeared periodically.

《Intruders detected. Eliminating.》

《Intruders detected. Eliminating.》

Occasionally, the ‘evil creations defying providence’ named by Johanna, the mechanical soldiers, appeared to block our way.

They looked almost identical to the ones we saw mobilizing at the immigration office earlier.

“Sigh…”

Those guys.

They were here to catch us.

I felt a slight dizziness.

But we couldn’t just say, ‘It was a misunderstanding, sorry hehe,’ and bow out at this point.

“Let’s destroy them quickly and get out of here.”

Our heroes were a bit lacking in that aspect.

The fact that a report was filed means there were witnesses or survivors, escapees.

That’s a deduction in artistry points.

If you’re going to do it, do it thoroughly, surely.

Killing all witnesses is what makes it an assassination.

“Saha, Ari, keep doing what you’re doing. Rumi, check if there are any fleeing or spying on us.”

“Meow!”

As the heroes immediately prepared for battle.

《Elimination protocol activated.》

The robots, albeit a bit awkwardly, began to perform gun kata.

***

“Wow──!”

Beyond the barrier, a vast territory stretched out, and in the distance, a massive shining tower was clearly visible.

And the sight of a giant black mechanical snake emitting steam made Tina exclaim.

“Idiot. Have you never seen a train before?”

Neb, who had previously visited floors 21-25 of the tower, puffed out her chest and acted know-it-all.

For a sloth demon, she was oddly active and talkative.

But showing off ‘knowledge only I know’ is an instinct ingrained in both demons and humans at the genetic level.

With the two softies chattering in the background.

“Hmm.”

Ellis reorganized the explanation Ark had given earlier in her mind.

The grand premise.

Aim for a 3-star clear if possible.

[★★★: Board the train within 2 hours. (0/2)]

That didn’t seem to be a problem.

Just get on top of that black snake’s body.

Except for one foolish puppy, the rest are all demons.

Although it’s been a while since we’ve been active inside the tower, if we fully utilize the demons’ power, getting on top of the snake’s body shouldn’t be too difficult.

So, the problems Ellis needed to solve at this point were two.

Finding a way to ensure Ark could reach this place as comfortably as possible, despite the hardships.

《Question. Satisfy the curiosity of Barrel 38. The handsome man who was with us earlier is nowhere to be seen. Where did he go? Unauthorized departure is illegal.》

And how to deal with this ball that keeps following us.

Judging from the other party’s precedent, destroying it doesn’t seem to solve the problem.

“Hmm, what should I do?”

The girl who had been rotting away her true talent in the alchemy workshop.

The deceit demon flicked her tongue like a snake.