Chapter 95

Chapter 95

The Deepening Darkness (1)

The meal with Lucia, Eisel, and Yuri was enjoyable in its own way.

...At least Lucia and I ate deliciously.

As for Eisel and Yuri, I could not tell whether they were actually eating, because they were busy glaring at each other.

Had their relationship worsened after the spar in the Colosseum?

Yuri did tend to have a strong competitive spirit, after all.

After patting my now-full stomach together with the ever-bright Lucia, I finished the meal and briefly returned to the dormitory.

Today, I had to go somewhat far, so I was preparing early to leave the academy.

I had to go obtain a new skill.

Ever since obtaining hidden pieces in the Labyrinth, I had thought a great deal about what skill would be best to learn.

Time and skill points were limited, so choice and concentration were necessary.

The first thing that came to mind was, as expected, skills related to critical hits.

Since my critical hit chance itself was probably overflowing, I wondered about skills that raised the player’s “luck” stat itself.

“After all, I could not cut the golem in the end.”

There were beings like the golem I had faced in the Labyrinth, against whom physical damage itself did not work well.

Thanks to the “Necklace Containing the Hero’s Protection,” I could convert physical damage into light attribute damage, but there were restrictions, were there not?

It was once per day, and there was also a time limit.

I had also considered the “Berserk” skill.

A passive skill where, when health fell below a certain value, physical ability increased dramatically.

However, what had to happen for health to fall?

One had to bleed.

To intentionally use Berserk, one inevitably had to allow an enemy’s attack and suffer a wound.

In the game, perhaps, but now that it had become reality, I judged it to be an extremely risky skill.

It would hurt too.

But I had Chapter Two of Rebellion Against Heaven, which consumed health.

Chapter Two was a skill with excellent performance, so it was limited.

Although I could supplement it by raising my maximum health with elixirs, if I fought, I would still be unable to avoid a war of attrition.

What could guarantee endurance in that regard was Berserk.

Even if I used Chapter Two’s time limit to the maximum and still failed to defeat the enemy, since my health would be consumed, Berserk would naturally activate.

But...

“...In any case, it still does not let me respond to diverse situations.”

In the middle of that, my eyes went to the hidden piece I had obtained in the Labyrinth before open class.

The items I obtained this time were two.

“The Spirit King’s Whistle” and “Red Dragon’s Orb.”

Both were carefully stored inside the subspace pouch.

The orb was an item exclusively for mages, in other words, an item related to magic, so it was not something I could use.

Not only could I not handle magic, but in a situation like now, where my eyes were covered, learning it seemed difficult too.

This was a gift to give Yuri later.

Eisel was a mage too, but the item suited Yuri better than her.

It was by no means a light gift to simply hand over, so how to give it to her was the key... but in any case, I thought it would be better to give it to her before Yuri experienced a dangerous situation.

Next was the Spirit King’s Whistle, a one-use item close to a kind of “preventive shot.”

If one blew the whistle in an emergency, an “upper spirit,” possessing tremendous power even among spirits, would immediately be summoned to help in battle, and then vanish once the battle ended.

One brilliant “trick” concerning this whistle came to mind.

It was an excellent idea that would secure utility while also being a great help in terms of force.

Now that the game had become reality, it seemed like a method that might be possible.

For that, I had to learn “Spirit Sealing.”

If “spirit arts” generally involved summoning spirits and making a proper contract, “Spirit Sealing” was a skill heavily stained by human cunning.

Through sealing, one forcibly borrowed a spirit’s power.

Even without spirit affinity or profound knowledge of spirit arts, one could wield a spirit’s power at once.

There was no need to exchange with or converse with the spirit.

Power like this naturally came with bizarre conditions, and Spirit Sealing was the same.

One had to know the “true name” of the spirit one intended to seal.

A spirit’s true name, like a dragon’s true name, was not something one could easily learn.

Of course, since I had played spirit summoner several times, I knew the true names of upper spirits.

The Spirit King’s Whistle summoned a spirit whose attribute matches the traits of the one who blows it.

The representative attributes would be the four elements, and I also knew the true names of upper spirits of the remaining attributes.

The only ones whose true names I did not know were the light spirit related to the Hero and the darkness spirit deeply tied to demons.

I was neither a Hero nor a demon, so at least those should not appear.

No matter what attribute appeared, I did not especially mind.

I was confident I could make good use of it somehow.

In any case, since it was a one-sided contract, I would not hear anything good from the spirit, but true names did not exist for nothing.

It was a “trick,” but I thought it was a way for me, a possessed person, to use the one-use item Spirit King’s Whistle much better.

For now, I saw the advantages as having no skill point consumption, and the process not seeming especially difficult.

Now, the remaining problem was who would teach this rather vile “Spirit Sealing,” which could be considered harmful from a spirit’s point of view.

Sealing had to be seen as a rather rare skill.

The one who taught this was a man considered eccentric, or even a fraud, someone treated as less than a spirit summoner even among spirit summoners.

“Should I say treated as one... or is he simply an eccentric?”

Just then, as I was packing my backpack and about to leave the room, Sierra asked me a question.

[ Where are you going today? ]

Long accustomed to me leaving the academy and doing whatever I wished, she did not bother asking what I would be doing today either.

I answered her with a smile.

“A gambling den.”

***

“He... he got it right again—!!!”

Inside a not-so-large gambling den located underground in a certain city, things were noisy because of a “blind man” who had suddenly appeared.

The gambling the blind man was playing was a “shell game,” where one had to guess which of three bowls contained a bead.

The blind man, whose eyes were covered with bandages, should not have been able to see which bowl contained the bead. Yet perhaps because he was hearing the sound of the bead striking the bowls, he was accurately guessing which bowl it was in.

When the blind man entered the gambling den, sat before him, and took out a pouch heavy with money, the shell-game operator had thought he would make a big score today.

To him, how a blind man who could not see ahead could possibly guess the bowl containing the bead was not an important matter.

That same shell-game operator now had cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

It was already the thirteenth time.

Across thirteen shell games, the blind man had not gotten it wrong even once and had immediately guessed the bowl containing the bead.

It was a speed that often deceived even perfectly normal people with open eyes, and yet this was unbelievable.

“Fuck... what do I tell the boss...?”

The enormous fist of the man who owned the gambling den and was the organization’s boss flickered before the shell-game operator’s eyes.

A shill who was a member of the same organization kept trying to stir things up, but the blind man paid the shill no attention and, without the slightest wavering, guessed the bowl containing the bead.

Around the time the coins before the blind man began changing color to gold...

The organization running the gambling den also began to move.

Losing money was one thing, but the “suckers” who should have been coughing up money—in other words, the customers—were all gathered around the blind man in clusters, watching this rare sight instead of gambling themselves.

For the gambling den, this was troublesome.

—Smack!

Someone struck the back of the shell-game operator’s head as he sat before the blind man.

“Urk...”

Tears sprang from the sudden pain, and the shell-game operator turned around.

The one who had struck the back of his head was a large bald man, the organization’s underboss.

The underboss was also a shell-game operator.

Unlike him, who only had quick hands, the underboss used even more vicious tricks.

“Move. The boss is calling.”

At the rough voice, the shell-game operator thought all sorts of things inwardly and quickly moved aside.

Soon, the underboss sat down and asked the blind man.

“You don’t mind if I do it, right? Seems your ears are good, unlike your eyes... A pro should face a pro.”

“It does not matter. Then...”

The smiling blind man answered calmly and trailed off.

Then he pushed forward the money pouch in front of him and all the money he had won this time.

“A-all in...!”

“Whoa—!”

“He’s got guts, guts!”

When the blind man bet all the money he had, the spectators gathered around him let out exclamations.

“Hah...”

At this, the underboss let out a short sound as if dumbfounded, then immediately hid a bead under one bowl.

“Stupid bastard. You dare go all in in front of me?”

Soon, the bowls mixed rapidly beneath his hands.

—Slide.

—Slide.

At his shell-game skill, which had become flashier than the previous operator’s, the spectators showed troubled expressions.

“Ah, I lost track.”

“I do not know this one either...”

“It is the right one, the right.”

At the same time, the shill was diligently doing his job.

At last, the underboss’s hands stopped.

“Now, choose.”

His confident voice followed, and the gambling den was filled with silence and the spectators’ tension.

Could the blind man get it right this time too?

He had bet everything.

“Hmm...”

The blind man let out a hum and touched his chin.

The man who had immediately guessed the bowl containing the bead was thinking this time.

This was not a good sign.

At this, one of the spectators said, “He’s done, done,” and clicked his tongue.

The corners of the underboss’s mouth were slowly rising.

“Hurry up and choose!”

At the shill’s urging, the blind man finally opened his mouth.

“...It is not there. None of the three bowls... contains the bead.”

At the blind man’s quiet words, the gambling den stirred.

“It is not there? What does that mean?”

“Are they cheating? I thought it was strange from the moment the operator changed.”

“What kinda bullshit is that? Is he just scared he can’t get it right?”

However, the underboss, watching this silently, still did not lose his smile.

“Hey, those words just now. Can you take responsib...”

Just as the underboss provoked the blind man and reached toward the bowls with fairly natural movement...

“...”

The blind man suddenly stretched out his arm and blocked the underboss’s hand.

Then with his remaining arm, the blind man flipped over all three bowls at once.

“...It is not there!”

“Nothing?”

“What the hell!”

The bead was nowhere.

The watching spectators were startled as well.

The shill could no longer make a fuss and was sweating coldly.

“The bead is... here.”

The blind man said this and tapped the underboss’s hand, which he had blocked.

Then, from his palm, the bead fell.

He had been hiding the bead in his palm by using the angle of sight.

—Ting!

With a clear sound, the metal bead fell to the floor.

—Roll...

The spectators’ heads naturally followed the bead rolling across the floor.

Soon, the underboss hurriedly shouted.

“Fuck! Close the doors—!!”

Immediately afterward, an organization member near the gambling den’s door slammed it shut.

When running a gambling den, having the den’s own cheating exposed was extremely bad.

At the very least, there had to be no witnesses.

“What is this!”

“What are you doing right now!”

“Are you people insane?!”

Several spectators, not knowing the position they were in, grew angry.

Organization members strode toward them.

Then they pulled out the weapons they had hidden inside their clothes.

Only then did the spectators realize the situation and begin trembling.

Their occupations varied, but not one of them had a weapon. Because in order to enter the gambling den, one had to leave one’s weapon near the entrance.

And to run there, there were organization members nearby who had drawn weapons and were approaching.

“Is there no mage? A mage?!”

One spectator who wanted to escape this situation immediately grabbed the collar of someone before him and shouted.

Then the person whose collar had been grabbed slapped the hand away.

“What are you doing? I have no intention of dying with you lot. Puhahat!!”

Saying this, he left the spectators and stood beside the underboss.

It was the shill, one of the organization members.

“Fuck... I knew he was giving shitty advice for a reason...”

The dumbfounded spectator cursed, but the situation did not change.

At the worthless spectator’s curse, the underboss snorted.

However, among them, only one person remained composed.

Even in this urgent situation where organization members were closing in, the blind man who had caused this entire situation was sitting calmly with a smile on his lips.

At this, the shill standing beside the underboss whispered to him.

“But brother, why is that guy smiling...?”

“How should I know?”

Could it be that since he could not see, he did not know his life was in danger?

Just as the underboss was thinking that...

“What is this!”

The organization member standing guard at the door suddenly voiced doubt.

Soon, something rushed toward the blind man from the entrance at high speed.

—Clack.

The blind man caught it accurately.

It was the sword he had brought.

Everyone inside the gambling den doubted their eyes.

It had looked as if the sword had floated into the air and flown to the blind man by itself.

They had failed to see it, but attached to his sword was an extremely thin thread, nearly invisible.

At the moment the entire gambling den was dyed in bewilderment at the impossible situation...

—Shing.

The smiling blind man rose from his seat and drew his sword.

***

“So noisy, yet it went quiet so quickly.”

The old man imprisoned in the cell below the gambling den stroked his beard.

It was “Magredo,” who had been caught cheating in the gambling den using spirits.

“Mm?”

In the middle of that, Magredo sensed a presence.

Someone was coming down the stairs.

Magredo tilted his head and looked toward where the stairs were.

Then one man completely descended the stairs.

It was not one of the organization members he had grown used to seeing, the ones who brought him filthy, tasteless food waste and called it a meal.

“A blind man?”

Snow-white bandages were wrapped around the eyes of the man approaching him.

“...Who are you?”

At Magredo’s meaningful question, as he could smell a nose-stinging scent of blood from the blind man, the man turned his head toward him.

Immediately, the blind man’s mouth opened.

“That voice... Could you perhaps be the famous spirit summoner, Lord Magredo?”

“...I am, for now.”

Magredo answered in a reluctant voice.

“Was I famous enough to be recognized by voice alone?”

...For now, he was famous in a bad way.

More than that, it had been quite some time since someone called him a spirit summoner.

The blind man standing before Magredo smiled brightly.

“I am glad you are alive.”

“Well, they said they had no use for an old man’s body or whatever... Then, because I am a spirit summoner, they said there would be a use for me and left me alive.”

Magredo did not know at all who the blind man before him was, but he answered without hesitation.

Just as he said, the people imprisoned in the cells besides him had disappeared one by one. Most of them were pitiful people who had been cheated by the organization and fallen into debt.

...Though it might be hard to say they were completely pitiful from the moment they touched gambling.

Listening to the conversations of the organization members, it seemed women were used as playthings by them and then sold to brothels, while men were sold to black mages or blood mages.

“If not for what happened at the Imperial casino, I would not have needed to come to a dangerous gambling den like this...”

Thus, Magredo had been looking only for an opportunity to escape the cell.

For some reason, he currently could not handle spirits of intermediate rank or higher. In common words, he was in a “weak as hell” state.

Then the blind man came.

The commotion that had been heard from the gambling den.

The thick scent of blood coming from him.

Moreover, he knew who Magredo was.

He was a figure full of the unknown.

But at least, judging by his benevolent smile... he did not seem to be an enemy.