Текст книги "Overlord - The Invaders of the Large Tomb"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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As he had hoped, Hekkeran walked by without incident. After checking his face with the list of wanted criminals and not finding any match, the knights made no further movement.

Having made past the territory of the temple, he finally relaxed and set his sights further ahead. A huge building came into view, and along with it, the sound of cheering, battle and the thirst for blood.

That unique building was the Grand Arena, which only existed in the capital of the Empire. It was also one of the most iconic buildings in the capital.

For Hekkeran, who had seen enough blood spilled during work and had no interest in gambling, the arena was a place which held no meaning to him. However, to the populace of the capital it was one of their most important sources of entertainment. Even from where he was walking, the cheering could be heard. It seemed the arena was completely packed today as well.

"Is it the finals? The excitement is really high."

In the past, Hekkeran had brought his worker team to the arena, where they had to fight continuous hordes of monsters. Because monsters did not accept surrenders, losing would result in death. Of course, it wasn't like casualties didn't occur during battle between humans.

On a typical day in the arena, it was very rare to not see a single person die. If something like that did actually happen, the pressure exerted by the audience was strong enough to kill someone, since the events with many deaths were very popular.

Among these events, the one with the highest casualty rate was therefore the most popular one, the Grand Combat Tournament.

Hekkeran shrugged.

He had absolutely no interest in seeing such bloodthirsty scenes taking place, and had no desire to visit that place. However, events that happened in the arena were hot topics that people often talked about, so there were always reasons to go.

I'm not planning on entering today, but when I get back I should probably ask for the highlights. It seems like the matches that took place today are quite exciting.

While trying to memorize the plans that he made, Hekkeran started walking towards an area that contained variety of shops. Soon after, he saw the familiar sign which said "The Singing Apple Pavilion".

The shop was said to have started with the gathering of bards who built their instruments using the wood of apple trees, but now it was a bar and an inn. From outside, the shop seemed a bit outdated, but the interior was surprisingly tidy and in good condition. It kept the cold out. The floor was kept well polished. The quality of the shop was actually quite high but not overly expensive. To Hekkeran and his comrades, no in fact, to the majority of the workers, this shop was regarded as the best inn without a doubt.

Although it can't be compared to the top-class hotels in the Empire, those type of hotels were better suited to the adventurers who stood on the public stage.

Firstly, the work given to the workers usually required discretion. Eye-catching hotels in public places weren't convenient at all for the kinds of people that required the services of workers. But at the same time, they couldn't always meet in shady locations and conduct their business there.

Next would be the need for multiple teams of workers to stay in the same spot at the same time. Therefore inns like "The Singing Apple Pavilion", which were much more discreet and where guests could discuss things in private, were ideal locations that met the clients' needs. Due to the fact that workers did not have the support of an organization like the Adventurer's Guild, the clients were required to search for worker teams themselves. It would be very troublesome for everyone if the workers stayed in different places.

Furthermore, from the perspective of the workers, staying near each other brought about a sense of camaraderie, as well as the benefit of avoiding conflicting jobs that would cause unnecessary bloodshed. And last but not least—which would also be the most important reason—the food here was really nice.

While thinking about tonight's dinner, Hekkeran opened the door to the inns. If it was his favorite pork stew, he would be very happy. Having these kind of thoughts as he entered, the words that he heard were not the typical "Welcome back" or "Good work" which he expected but

"—I've already said! I don't know!"

"No, no, even if you say that..."

"It's not like I‘m that girl's guardian or her relative. It's impossible for me to tell you where she is."

"Aren't you comrades? I can't simply take ‘I don't know' as an answer and leave. This is my job after all."

On the first floor of the inn, in the center of the dining area, a man and a woman stared at each other.

Hekkeran knew that woman well.

Though her eyes radiated an intense ferocity, the feature that stood out the most were the pair of ears which were far longer than those of a normal human. That said, her ears were still only about half as long as those of typical elves. That's right, her race was half-elf.

Elves tended to be slimmer when compared with humans. It seemed like the woman here had also inherited this trait. Her whole body was very slim. Be it the area around her chest or her waist, there were no visible curves on her body. She was as flat as a board. From afar, it wouldn't be surprising if people mistook her for a man.

Clad in neat leather armor, without the typical bow and arrow on her, the only weapon she had right now was the short dagger on her waist.

Her name was Imina, and she was one of Hekkeran's comrades.

However, Hekkeran was unfamiliar with the man currently arguing with Imina.

Although he appeared to be groveling in front of Imina by lowering his head, not a single shred of sincerity could be seen in his eyes. In fact, the feeling present there was disgust. At least for now, it appeared that he was trying to keep things civil.

The man's arms and chest were packed with muscles. His appearance alone could force anyone standing in front of him to give him what he wanted. While he didn't seem like the type of person who relied on violence to get things done, Imina was still capable of handling him if he did.

Even though Imina didn't appear to be very strong, deep in her body dwelled a strength that was enough to take care of thugs who only relied on their muscles.

"Didn't I already say so from the very beginning?"

Noticing that Imina's voice was starting to become strained with emotion, Hekkeran hurriedly interjected.

"What's wrong, Imina?"

Hearing the sound of a familiar voice, Imina turned her head and was surprised when seeing Hekkeran.

For a ranger like Imina, who excelled in perception and awareness of her surroundings, not noticing Hekkeran's approach showed just how distracted she had been earlier.

"...Who the heck are you?" asked the man who was viewed as an intruder by Hekkeran.

Having met his gaze, Hekkeran felt that the atmosphere between them was on the verge of coming to blows. However, for someone like Hekkeran, who had survived countless life and death situations, the gaze was nothing compared to the intense stares of ferocious monsters.

"...That's our team's leader."

"...Oooh, so this is the renowned Hekkeran Termite-san."

Hekkeran was disgusted by the sudden change of attitude.

Even though Hekkeran didn't knew the purpose behind the man's visit, if he came all the way to what was considered by Hekkeran's team to be their stronghold—the inn—the chances of him not recognizing Hekkeran were non-existent.

Perhaps the harshness in the argument from before was to measure the extent of what Hekkeran was capable of. If Hekkeran displayed even a slightest hint of weakness, the man probably would have proceeded to use intimidation next.

Amongst workers or adventurers, there were always those who were capable of slaying monsters but rather timid towards humans. Even then, the most they would do would be to take a step back, but if things were pushed too far, it would definitely end in a bloodbath.

Even though we just met, he's already like this... This guy... is definitely the type I can’t stand.

While it was true that this was one of the commonly used methods for negotiation, it was a method Hekkeran didn’t like. He would much more prefer it if the other party got directly to the point instead of going about in circles.

"...Could you be a little quieter, please? This is an inn, and you're disturbing other guests. I'd be much happier if you could do that."

Although he was saying that, not a single guest could be seen nearby. Just where did all the people go? It wasn't as though they hid themselves away, the guests of this inn were already quite used to this kind of talk because the majority of them were also workers in the first place.

However, it was truly a rare occurrence for this place to be devoid of people.

Hekkeran glared at the man using a strength on par with mithril-ranked adventurers. As though confronted by a monster, the man wilted.

"I-I… I'm very sorry. I did not intend to do that initially."

After managing to calm his voice down, the man attempted to speak once more. However, he instantly became quiet again when he saw Hekkeran's glare. Judging from his reaction, it was clear that the man was used to this kind of work, where violence was a common occurrence.

What's a guy like this doing in here?

Although the type of work that Hekkeran's team did was under-the-table business, he didn't recognize this man, and Hekkeran had no idea why he had been sent here. He simply didn't fit the profile of someone who came bearing requests.

It bothered Hekkeran, and he ended up weakening his gaze and asked the man directly.

"...Just why on Earth are you here?"

"About that, I'm looking for a person that Termite-san also knows, Furt-san."

Hearing the name Furt, the image of a person appeared in Hekkeran's mind.

Even so, was hard to imagine that she would have any connections with this man. That was Hekkeran's conclusion.

"Arche? Did something happen to her?"

"Arche... Ah! That's why. I got confused just then, but we're both talking about Furt-san here, Arche Eeb Rile Furt-san."

"And!? Did something happen to Arche?"

"No, no, I only wish to discuss something with her... The content of the discussion is private, that's why I wanted to know when she would return."

"As if I would know that." Hekkeran replied sharply.

For someone who was never direct when speaking, the man was briefly stunned by Hekkeran's words.

"If that's the case, the conversation is over."

"I-It can't be helped then. If that's the case, I'll have to wait here."

"Get lost."

Hekkeran gestured to the entrance of the inn with his chin. Hekkeran's attitude shut the other man up once more.

"I will make it clear, I don't like you at all. I simply can't tolerate guys like you within my sight."

"But this is the tavern area, I should be able to..."

"Ah, that's right, isn't it? This area is indeed the tavern. But don't forget this is also the place where drunks get into fights," Hekkeran smiled at the man. "But you don't have to worry. Relax, even if you become gravely injured, we have a priest here who’s capable of using healing magic to heal you. As long as you pay the right price, that is."

"It can't be helped that we have to charge you extra. Otherwise the temples would become very annoyed. We definitely don't want to attract any assassins sent by the temples," said Imina. A grin was visible on her face. "Well, at the least we'll give you a discount. Remember to thank me for that, won't you?"

"—And that's what's going to happen."

"If you plan on threa—"

The words coming from the man halted midway, because he saw the dramatic change on Hekkeran's face.

Hekkeran took a step forward, all the way until the distance between their faces was a fist away.

"Hah?! Threats? Who's making threats? Is it such a big surprise that bars have fights? What the hell, I give you good advice for living a long and healthy life and you say I'm making threats? Are you trying to start a fight?"

Hekkeran's current appearance was something only people who had faced death could possess.

Confronted with the pressure coming from Hekkeran, the man took a step back. He clicked his tongue for a bit and then reluctantly walked towards the entrance. Although he wanted to hide the fact that he was frightened, one look at his back was all it took to confirm it. As he reached the entrance, the man turned his and shouted at Hekkeran and Imina one last time.

"Tell that brat from the Furt family! Tell her the deadline is approaching!"

"Hah?!"

Hearing the iron in Hekkeran's reply, the man quickly scurried away.

As soon as the man disappeared, Hekkeran's expression quickly returned to normal. The change was sudden enough that onlookers might have thought that the entire scene had been nothing but an act. And then, Imina started clapping, as though he had really pulled off a great performance.

"So, what that all about?"

"I don't know. He only told me as much as he told you."

"Damn, I should have listened more before getting rid of him."

Hekkeran held his head in defeat.

"Just wait and hear it from Arche once she gets back."

"...But, it isn't good to pry too deeply into things."

"Well, even though what you said is correct, you're still the leader. Do your best!"

"In that case, I will use my authority as the leader to order you to ask her about it. It would be much better if a fellow woman like you were to ask her about it, don't you think?"

"Come on, give me a break, I don't want to ask either."

The two of them smiled bitterly at each other.

There were a few rules in common between adventurers and workers, where certain things were simply not done. The first would be to uncover a teammate's past. The second would be to display excessive desire.

In the case of the second rule, to some extent, excessive desire was unavoidable due to the fact that many people chose to be workers for personal gains. However, even that had a limit. Too much desire could cause a team to lose its coherence. For example, it was difficult to trust teammates who were constantly grumbling about money. Letting teammates watch your back during dangerous moments was a fundamental part of teamwork and unity. As such, all teams needed a minimum level of trust between each other. But how much could you trust someone who was known to be greedy when you take on a high-risk, high-reward job?

Currently, it seemed like there were problems relating to Arche, which would affect her reliability. That simply wasn't a matter which could be easily overlooked.

During the course of their jobs, they would be putting their lives in each other's hands. As such they couldn't afford to have even a trace of doubt in their teammates.

Hekkeran shook his head, while displaying his reluctance on his face.

"Looks like it can't be helped, then. I'll have to ask when she comes back."

"I'm counting on you~."

Hekkeran narrowed his eyes at Imina, who was smiling and waving her hand, and said, "Don't think you can get away. You also need to come talk to her with me, yo."

"Eh, ehhh..." Although Imina clearly wanted to refuse, she gave up as soon as she saw the determination on Hekkeran's face. "Oh well, it can't be helped. Hopefully it isn't anything big..."

"Anyway, where did Arche go?"

"Eh? Ah, she's gathering the information behind that job."

"Aren't Rob and I in charge of that?"

After returning from Kattse Plains, they received a new commission, with pretty good terms for the nature of the work concerned. As such, they began the preparations for taking the job.

Originally it should have been Roberdyck, who was best suited for this sort of thing, to research the background of the commissioner as well as the compensation. Hekkeran was to head to the Empire's Administrative office to collect the payment for their undead subjugation—all work related to eliminating undead on the Kattse Plains was treated as government work by the Empire—and at the same time, use alternative methods to gather similar information as Roberdyck.

Imina and Arche should have waited at the inn.

"It wasn't just that. Rob needed help investigating the history and conditions around the area of operations."

Hekkeran nodded his head, as a look of understanding dawned on him. Although Arche had dropped out of the Imperial Magic Academy, she probably still had some contacts there. She was probably more suited at gathering academic-related information and she could also visit the Magician's Guild to collect additional material.

"So that's why she went along. Rob is also quite knowledgeable, and has connections to the temples. Anyway, how did it go?"

Hekkeran made a sound as he sat down into a chair, and spoke up.

"Although the request was only offered to workers, the content of the job isn't anything bad. The reason why they chose to hire workers this time around is probably because the location of the job is somewhere adventurers can't go. However, just like the client said before, it seems like they've made contact with other teams as well."

"Are we really working with other teams? Even if it is said that the ruins they discovered appear to be untouched, for them to be willing to invest this much without any definite gains seems a bit..."

That Greenham guy—from one of the other teams that were contacted—was saying the same thing. But in the end, 'Heavy Masher' seems to be planning to accept the request. If we don't decide by tomorrow, things might become troublesome."

So far Hekkeran's team had only listened to the contents of the request, and they had yet to accept it. Although they promised to give the client a reply by tomorrow, if they were going to accept, they would have to start preparing immediately.

"And then, at this important juncture something else comes up… Are the two somehow connected?"

"We can't rule out that it was done by another team that wanted to make a fortune with this, but I think we should still wait and listen to Arche's explanation before deciding. If it really is some scheme started by another team, do we back out or carry on?"

"Of course we continue. If they plan on starting a fight, then we just need to keep whacking them until none of them dares to mess with us again, ‘till we knock all their teeth out."

"That sounds quite excessive."

Although Imina seemed overly harsh on the outside, Hekkeran also thought her approach to solving this problem was a good one.

While it wasn't too big of a deal to be looked down upon, their reputation would also drop if they backed out. Losing reputation was something that those in the worker profession wished to avoid.

At the same time a fiery determination burned within Hekkeran's eyes, a squeaky sound of doors opening came from the entrance. The figures of two people walked into the inn.

"—We're home!"

"We have returned!"

The first voice was somewhat whiny and belonged to a girl, followed shortly by the voice of a man whose eyes were filled with righteousness. The momentary pause came from the hesitancy of covering up the soft voice of his female companion.

The girl that first walked in was not too thin. The words “young beauty” would describe her the best.

With an appearance between fifteen to seventeen years old, the girl possessed a face with delicate features and shoulder long hair. Hers was an elegant beauty, but every now and then, she also gave the impression of being a lifeless doll.

Her hands grasped an iron staff that was around the same height as herself. The surface of the staff was covered with symbols and runes that could have been words or pictures. The girl wore a loose robe, and under that, sturdy clothes which offered quite a bit of protection. She was obviously a magic caster.

The man was wearing full body armor—although he had taken the helmet off—and over the armor was a surcoat embroidered with the symbol of a crest. A morningstar hung from his waist, and a necklace bearing the same crest as his surcoat laid around his neck.

With a neatly arranged hairstyle and a well-trimmed beard, the man gave off a hearty impression. Appearance-wise, his age seemed to be around 30.

These two were the comrades that Hekkeran and Imina were waiting for, Arche Eeb Rile Furt and Roberdyck Goltron.

"Ooh, welcome back!"

Could this be described as good timing or bad timing? Hekkeran thought while turning around to greet the two with a hard voice

"What’s wrong? Did something happen to the two of you?"

Roberdyck used a tone that did not display any seniority to the two of them. One of the reasons was due to personal choice, the other was because of the mutual equality between workers.

"Th-there's no problem."

"Tha-that's right. Just as Hekkeran said."

Arche and Roberdyck both watched as the two of them waved their hands in denial.

"Umm, speaking of which, this isn't a good place to talk, how about we go over there?"

Being done with joking around, a serious expression appeared on Hekkeran's face as he pointed towards a circular table at the back of the tavern area.

"Before that, err. About the drinks—Oi, Imina. Where did the owner go?"

"...Out shopping. I'm watching over the place for him."

"Is that so? Then what should we do? Is it fine for me to casually take out a bottle or two?"

"—I'm fine with not drinking."

"Ah, I'm also fine, thanks."

"...Is that so? In that case... then let's start the meeting of ‘Foresight'."

The relaxed expression on every member's face vanished. At the same time, they leaned their weight onto the table, bringing everyone closer together. Although there weren't any other guests at the moment, this sort of behavior had become an old habit that was hard to break.

"First, I would like to confirm the content of the commission."

Once he made sure that he had everyone's attention, Hekkeran continued. His tone and expression were completely different from before. As the leader of the team, it was necessary for him to act serious and maintain dignity when the situation called for it. That was only expected of a leader.

"The client this time is Earl Femel. The content of the request is to survey some ruins—most likely an underground tomb—discovered within the territory of the Kingdom. The compensation consists of a down payment of 200, followed by another 150 after completion. The quality of the contract and the total amount offered as reward is extremely high this time around. Not to mention that there's going to be a bonus at the end based on the results of the investigation. All magic items discovered during the investigation will belong to the Earl; however, the person that discovers them will receive an additional bonus of half the market price of the magic item. As for things like gems and precious metals, artworks and other treasures, after their value is verified, half the amount will be given to the discoverer. Also, they've made contact with other worker teams as well. Based on how events might unfold, it's most likely going to become a joint operation—alright, I think I've said enough."

After sharing the information he obtained with Arche and Roberdyck, Hekkeran returned to the content of the commission.

"The maximum duration is three days. The aim is mainly to explore the inside of the tomb. The important part to note is, it's suspected that we might encounter monsters during the investigation, but the type of monsters that we might encounter are currently unknown. From the looks of thing, this commission really seems to be just a simple investigation."

It was very common for monsters to use abandoned ruins at the outskirts of human civilisation as their lairs. As such, the "survey" tasks given to workers tend to be regarded as a reconnaissance by fire.

"The most important aspect about this commission is that it seems like the tomb is unexplored."

The moment that was said, the atmosphere surrounding the group changed.

Two hundred years ago, during the time of the Demon Gods' unrest, many kingdoms perished. It wasn't just human kingdoms that were destroyed, countries composed of demi-humans and other heteromorphic species perished as well. The ruins of these civilizations often contained many priceless treasures—the possibility of finding magic items was also high.

Finding these treasures was a dream shared by both adventurers and workers alike.

As such, unexplored ruins were something that adventurers and workers all wished to find. And suddenly, here it was, right in front of their eyes.

Having confirmed the excitement within the eyes of his comrades, Hekkeran passed the ball to the two that went out for intelligence gathering.

"Finally, the provisions required for the trip to and from the site will all be

covered by the Earl. That is all the information that I've gathered. Next, Arche, Roberdyck, tell us the findings of your investigation."

"—In that case, I'll start. Earl Femel's standing within the palace isn't very good. There are rumors that the Blood Emperor is giving him the cold shoulder. Also, from what I've gathered, it seems that he isn't in need of money."

"Regarding the ruins discovered within the territory of the Kingdom, both Arche-san and I have tried researching the past history of recorded civilizations. So far, we are unable to find any records of ancient cities being built near the site of the ruins. If it indeed is a tomb, we should have been able to find clues left behind in books... Truthfully speaking, I can't figure out why there would be a tomb built at that location. Only a few small villages exist near the area, perhaps it would be better to search for information there?"

"It can't be helped. We've been ordered to keep this operation has secret as possible. The client wishes for as few witnesses as possible, in other words, we shouldn't be making any unnecessary movements."

"—Of course, that region belongs to the Kingdom. If things gets exposed, we might end up becoming enemies of the Kingdom and the Vaiself family."

Exploring the ruins discovered in a different country, this kind of borderline illegal work was the reason why workers were selected instead of adventurers.

"So in other words, what we're doing is just plain old dirty work?"

"Although it can be seen that way, there's still a slight delicate issue."

"That's right. If the Empire's workers are caught inside the Kingdom, the Earl will definitely get dragged down along with us."

"Which brings us to the main question."

"Where did this information on the discovery of the ruin come from?"

"Yeah. No matter how I think about it, it's strange."

"Is that so? Isn't it fairly close to the Great Forest of Tob? Perhaps it was discovered during logging."

"—Weird. Take a look at this." Arche opened up the map and pointed towards a circular spot. "Although the details aren't very clear, but spots like this..." Sweeping her tiny finger along the map, Arche indicated their objective.

"—There's also a village here. However its size is really small. Perhaps it's better to describe it as a hamlet. I don't believe a village like that is capable of creating such large clearings within the forest."

"That's correct. The chances of these clearings being excavated by such a small village is highly unlikely. Especially if the forest is inhabited by many dangerous monsters... It's much more likely to think that it was done as a government project, but I can't see any reason why the Kingdom would want to excavate that part of the forest. In the end, we're still lacking information.”

The four of them became more troubled after this. Should they accept the request or not?

Unlike adventurers, who had the backing of an entire guild, it was absolutely necessary for workers to properly investigate all details regarding the offered work before deciding. First, they had to thoroughly investigate the client's background and his connections, then the work location. Finally, based on the details gathered from the description of the job, a decision is made on whether or not to accept it.

Even after having done all of that, sometimes it still wasn't enough. If one wasn't capable of doing this, then they should quit being a worker. No matter how good the payment for the job might be, it would be better to reject it if you couldn't wash away the dirt that ended up staining your hands.

"...I've confirmed the payment already, this was given for the initial deposit—"

Hekkeran placed a metallic plate on top of the table. The surface of the plate was inscribed with countless different small glyphs and runes. Although he was given the plate, he would have to return it if they decided to reject the commission.

"I've already checked it with the Imperial Bank. The sum has already been credited to my account, it can be converted into cash any time."

The metallic plate was a type of guarantee that was used by banks within the Empire, in a similar role as a cheque.

In order to prevent counterfeits, the plates were made with great care and delicacy. Although it the creation process was extremely long, and would definitely incur additional fees for people to use, the advantages still far outweighed the drawbacks.

In other countries, this sort of thing was usually handled by the Adventurer's Guild; however the metallic plates used in the Empire were guaranteed by the government itself.

"From the looks of things, it doesn't seem like a trap... well, I knew they were dead serious the moment they paid the deposit."

If it was a trap, there shouldn't have been a need to pay such large deposit. However, it might just have been made to let people think this way, although Hekkeran didn't believe that he had somehow offended the nobleman enough to merit a trap specifically to target him.

"I—"

"Stop. Imina, I haven't finished yet. Please, keep your thoughts a little more flexible."

"Yes, yes. Let's hear them then. About this job that's offered to us... it seems that they're quite pressed for time, however, there are still points I don't agree with. For example, hiring multiple worker teams, what do you make of this?"

Just as Imina pointed out, considering the amount of time it took to contact multiple teams, it would have made more sense to pick the first team that agreed and rush to the tomb’s location, considering that jobs like this required great haste.