“Seriously? Again?”
Elise pinched her nose, her little face full of disgust.
“Yuri-chan, do you really have some kind of weird quirk? Do you just like crawling into these dirty, gloomy places?
First you found my tomb, then after we got to the city you looked for some broken-down house no one could possibly live in. After that, you went down to the underground city, then the black market, and now you want to crawl into the sewers. Ugh… Poor Yuri-chan, you must have been through something traumatic.”
“It’s just a commission. It’s not like I want to crawl in here.”
“Even so, you didn’t have to take it, did you?”
“I already told you—the reward is something I want, so I just have to bear with it.”
Even though she said that, Elise’s expression didn’t change much.
“I really don’t get what’s so good about that dumb thing.”
“Are you mad?”
“Huh? It’s just a stupid sword, w-w-why would I be mad?”
Elise turned her face away, but her feelings were obvious. Still, Yuri was a bit curious—why would she get upset about that sword?
From Elise’s perspective, that sword might even get Yuri killed. So in the end, things should be leaning in Elise’s favor.
She should be happy, even wishing for Yuri to get that sword as soon as possible.
But Elise’s attitude was odd—she objected to Yuri taking the sword, and even told her proactively that black smoke was coming from the blade.
What kind of medicine was this little evil god hiding in her gourd?
Better to observe more before drawing conclusions. For now, focus on the task at hand.
The two of them arrived at the entrance to the sewers on the west side of Anvil City. This area was already near the outskirts, with few residents around. No wonder someone would choose a place like this for a deal.
Looks like this is a shady transaction.
Judging by the contraband collected from Brol, it was probably some dangerous illegal goods again—stuff that might not even sell and just rot in his hands.
Alright, time to enter the sewers.
At the entrance, a foul stench billowed out of the drain, and inside they could see cloudy, stagnant water.
Unlike the underground city, which had been converted from abandoned sewers, this sewer was still in use, but rarely maintained since it was built. Who knows what’s been piling up in here after so many years.
A rusty iron gate blocked the entrance. As for the key—Yuri, of course, didn’t have it.
But dealing with a gate like this was simple. She just kicked it hard, and with a crack, the locked iron bars swung open with ease.
Good, there was no need to find another way into the sewers or take a long detour to open the gate from the other side.
“So, Yuri-chan, who are we supposed to meet here again?”
Despite her disgruntled face, Elise stuck close behind Yuri, entering the sewer together.
“Brol’s assistant. His name is Kaff.
A day ago, he came here to fetch a batch of goods for Brol. The deal was supposed to happen here, inside the sewers. But a whole day passed, and Kaff never came back—no word from him at all. So, Brol asked me to come investigate what happened to Kaff in the sewers.”
If he’s still alive, that’s best. But if something happened and he died in here, all she could do was bring back Kaff’s belongings.
Anyway, as long as Brol knows she found Kaff, that’s enough. Whether he’s dead or alive doesn’t really matter.
Lighting the lantern she’d prepared, Yuri stepped into the water that nearly reached her shoe soles. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained in the city recently, so the sewers weren’t too flooded. Otherwise, she would have needed to take more precautions.
She continued deeper inside. The farther in she went, the darker it became, and the lantern started to really prove its worth.
By the lantern’s light, she saw the main passage was quite wide, with a high vaulted ceiling—even if she were half a head taller, she’d have no trouble. The narrow maintenance walkways on either side were piled with sludge, and the water flowed sluggishly, making a dull, gurgling sound.
Farther in, the sewer began to split into branches, and the route grew more complex.
Glancing back at where they’d come from, Yuri knew she couldn’t skip the necessary precautions if she wanted to avoid getting lost.
After all, it was her first time here, and she didn’t know the way. The deeper she went, the more likely the paths would become a tangled maze.
On top of that, it was so dark, it would be easy to take a wrong turn if she wasn’t careful.
She drew her backup dagger and carved clear marks into the wall along the way. That way, after finding Kaff, she could follow the marks straight back out, without worrying about getting lost in this labyrinthine sewer.
Elise still floated behind her, examining the environment with a hint of distaste on her delicate face.
“Only someone with nothing good to trade would pick a place like this.”
“Maybe it’s something meant for the black market. Naturally, it would be something shady.”
Yuri replied instinctively. “So it makes sense to do the deal here.”
“I don’t think so. Choosing a place like this, and sending just that little assistant for the deal—it’s obvious someone’s planning to double-cross him.”
Before coming, Yuri had considered that possibility.
It had already been a day since Kaff disappeared. But was the deal really so valuable that someone would risk betraying Brol just to take out a lowly assistant?
Yuri wasn’t sure if Brol had any backing, but seeing how he got his hands on all those illegal goods, he clearly had some connections.
Wouldn’t offing his assistant risk retaliation?
So Yuri didn’t think things would go that way.
Kaff probably ran into some other kind of trouble—just what could possibly happen in these sewers?
“Hey, Yuri-chan, aren’t you worried that the people who took out the assistant are waiting somewhere in here, just lying in wait for idiots like you to walk right into their trap?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh?”
“That’s because Elise is here. If anything dangerous pops up, with your senses, you’ll definitely sense it ahead of time, right?”
“Huh? Stop, stop, stop.”
Elise darted in front of Yuri. “Yuri-chan, you don’t seriously think I’d help you, do you? Last time, you said you’d learn magic as an excuse to get me to help. What reason are you going to give this time to make me help you again?”
“I never said how much magic I’d learn.”
“What do you mean?”
Elise narrowed her eyes, a hunch telling her Yuri was about to say something that would make her want to tear the girl to pieces.
“One favor, one spell. That’s a fair trade, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Even though she’d expected it, hearing it for real made Elise’s face flush bright red.
“Wha—What kind of joke is this? Is my help really that cheap?”
“One time for one time. Very fair.”
“Yuri-chan…”
The little evil god’s face darkened instantly. “Do you really think you can haggle with me?”
“Fine. Then I won’t learn anymore.”
“You!”
Elise was on the verge of losing it. The pit she’d dug for Yuri to learn magic had now turned into her own trap, and Yuri was using it against her.
She was fuming…
Right now, she wanted nothing more than to summon black sludge into tentacles and hang Yuri up for a good lesson.
Even as a projection, it would be a cinch for her to take care of Yuri.
“Alright, alright, don’t worry, I will learn magic. As for any possible ambush, I’ll deal with it myself.”
Before Elise’s expression could turn completely ugly, Yuri skillfully eased the mood.
Sure enough, Elise was like a canister of gas—ready to blow at the smallest spark.
“Before we find Kaff, I’ll leave it to Miss Evil God to prepare some appropriate magic lessons, then.”