Chapter 326

326 Chapter 3: The Price of Sin

The reason Pluto’s maze is called a dungeon is that it’s a pure hell filled with all sorts of complex and bizarre structural devices, including traps.

It’s as if it doesn’t want to let anyone enter easily, nor let them leave easily. Strange things tend to pop out from all sides.

I followed the trail of Skargard, who had fled deeper into the maze, walking even further into its depths.

Gruuuh…

The undead skeletons lurking everywhere seemed to block my way but soon veered aside, their crimson eyes glimmering faintly as they let me pass.

“Dammit! Why aren’t you stopping him?!”

Because of this, the distance between slowly moving me and Skargard was consistently closing to the point where I could confidently say I was catching up.

“That’s because I have the right, Skargard.”

d*mn! Why aren’t the traps activating?!

Apparently, the Skargard fellow knows enough about this maze to boast as its master, but contrary to his expectations, the undead guards aren’t stopping me, and not a single trap is triggered.

I might as well be casually walking through a courtyard following him.

“I might be caught at this rate.”

Shut up, you useless thing!

Eventually, I managed to step on the hem of the long robe he was wearing, causing him to lose his balance, tumble to the ground, and scatter coins and jewels all over.

Don’t come near me, you freaking lower-level Samaritan kids! Worthless brats! No one is helping me! What a bunch of incompetent, foolish ones!

He wriggled around helplessly while looking up at me. It was quite amusing how he, who had seemed so calm until just a moment ago, now crawled on the ground pathetically.

I saw myself in him.

I, too, had lived like this, receiving blows in such a wretched manner. The fact that our roles have reversed makes me feel somewhat disoriented and deeply reflective.

Save me! I have a child to take care of! And an old mother!

“Don’t lie.”

Of course it’s a lie. If I say this, you won’t hit me, right?

“…”

Are you still hesitant to hit someone in fear they might feel pain? Do you hate even holding your sword because you’re afraid of killing?

“…”

If I want to survive, someone else must d*e. That’s the way it is here, worthless one. When you can k*ll something, then you’ll become a splendid gladiator.

No, it wasn’t because he feared me. This guy hasn’t changed a bit from two years ago, no matter how he appears now.

Fine, do your worst. If you can k*ll me, go ahead.

“I wish you’d go straight to hell, Skargard. Go get yourself crushed into Tartarus.”

Isn’t that necessary? My whole life has been hell.

I took out a cudgel from my back and struck the fellow’s head with all my strength. His body shattered into pieces and flew everywhere with a loud sound.

What… Can’t you even… Finish it off…

Bang.

As I stepped on the babbling fellow’s skull, complete silence enveloped me.

Skargard was among the most purely evil morons I knew out of everyone.

If there’s a real hell, I hope he’s thrown into it to suffer eternally while I kicked his scattered remains around with my foot.

I soon noticed trinkets and parts of robes attached to his body. Since I had slain the beast, it was time to do some farming—examine the loot.

The first thing I checked was the ring the fellow had worn, which up close turned out to be a crude piece of jewelry, a thick black pearl fastened with metal.

Still, the gem shone so brilliantly, it seemed to be quite rare.

Was this the Sage’s Ring?

Does having it mean I can control the undead?

In curiosity, I slipped it onto my fingers, but only my left middle finger fit it, so I managed to push it in only there—.

Ding.

‘You have acquired the Legendary Artifact of the First Necromancer, Sage Pelagius’s Ring.’

‘Mission Points + 200’

‘Current Mission Points + 250’

The floating text made me genuinely stunned.

A legendary artifact?

Isn’t this one of those extremely rare items that a connoisseur can barely get, even after spending a whole bag of gold to decorate their home with a single piece?

‘Pelagius, who won a bet against Pluto, the King of the Underworld, gained eternal life as a reward. However, while his soul remained immortal, his body withered and turned into a dry skeleton.

The ring he wore contained a strong residue of thought, and if in the hands of someone capable, it grants the ability to control souls with a mysterious power.’

‘+1 HP’

‘Necromancy Skill Level +1’

‘Further abilities will be revealed after purification.’

A series of contents flashed across my mind due to Skargard’s defeat and this old friend business, setting off quite a ripple.

Increasing HP, isn’t it?

That’s quite significant. I am aware of how many efforts the adventurers put in just to raise their Karma points one little bit.

The ring that increases the necromancer’s skill level—well, think of it like skill leveling in RPG games: it seems to indicate improved proficiency.

The mention that an additional ability confirmation requires purification was, again, something I had not encountered before. Whatever it is, it must be quite extraordinary.

I tried saying to Skargard’s corpse lying in front of me, “Rise.”

Not a flicker. All I felt was a subtle, strange ache in my lower abdomen causing me to furrow my brows.

It appears the necromancy seal Jupiter had inflicted still had its effect.

What now? A bit of disappointment crept in as I sifted through the skull fragments in case of some potentially useful items.

When someone approached from behind, I could feel them.

“Is that you, Hippolyte?”

“Ah, it seems you’ve gotten to the point where you can sense my presence.”

“More or less, that’s correct.”

“I hurried over worrying that something might happen.”

“You thought I would lose to this guy?”

I shook the pile of bones in my hand. I could sense someone behind me slowly turning their head to look around.

“No, but this is Pluto’s maze. I thought perhaps something involving you and the maze or such might occur.”

“Ah.”

“So, I’m asking, do you feel anything unusual here? This is within the realm of your father, which might be a place where you could gain power.”

Indeed, I had felt a strange surge of strength, almost like an overflow of confidence and self-assurance. Similar to how Prince Triton of Neptune could freely manipulate the sea and waves, or how the Amazon women, daughters of Mars, enjoyed warfare.

It’s a reasonable assumption that Hassan, son of Pluto, could handle something powerful within this maze.

“Perhaps, can you maybe shift the maze’s location, or change its structure? Or find hidden entrances?”

In response to Hippolyte’s question, I glanced around and tried moving my arms about, attempting various actions, but couldn’t perceive anything happening or changing.

“Not really sure about it.”

“If you’re asking me, the end of the maze should be where your father is. Hassan, try talking to him. Your father is the caretaker of this place, after all.”

“Ah.”

Thinking about it, Pluto seemed to have fled from the throne and left someone else in charge of the underworld.

Currently, Erebore and Nox were ruling over the underworld, a secret known only to certain high-ranking cult members.

Thus, Hippolyte, unaware of this fact, seemed to genuinely believe that I could accomplish something here.

“Hassan, if there’s leftover nectar, could you perhaps give me two bottles?”

“Seems unlikely at the moment.”

“That’s too bad…”

Hippolyte clicked her tongue in obvious disappointment, which I shared.

*

The news that the arena of Desros was burned spread quickly throughout the city of Delphi.

No one had been injured, but people seemed to sigh with relief instead upon learning that the previously undiscovered maze entrance had been closed.

Goodness, wasn’t Desros that terrible gang? And it existed so close to Delphi?

People kept disappearing, I heard. Could it be that last year’s vanished adventurers’ party was taken by them?

Unbelievable. They were reckless even in the divine city of Delphi where the God of Light resided.

People were shocked to learn that such wicked deeds could happen so near to Delphi, known as one of the closest regions to the gods, excluding Hypos.

Upon learning this, Hippolyte chuckled softly with a “Hmph.”

“The darkest part is always under the lamp. Since this city shines with light, the shadow spreading from beneath it dives into even darker depths.”

That’s true.

At any rate, the name of Hassan, who had demolished Desros’ arena, and the name of Pluto’s successor who manually shut the maze’s doors, spreading throughout the area, was good news for me.

I was worried about monsters continuously crossing over from the maze gate, but it was indeed a relief that it had been closed.

Since people started to like me a bit more, I took that as a sign.

It seemed to signal that I was heading towards a different path from those of the Pluto cultists, which was nothing to complain about.

“The loot from the arena amounted to 155 gold, 30 silver, and 22 copper coins…! With this much money, I won’t have to worry about starving for the rest of my life…!”

Furthermore, the spoils from raiding Scargard’s vault and warehouse turned out to be quite profitable.

This amount of money could buy a house with a spacious garden on the south gate street of Sodomora, where the middle class lived, or even an ordinary house on the expensive east gate street.

But frankly, I didn’t care about that at the moment.

“Hassan, are you sure you’re going alone…? What if anything happens?”

Because what was most important to me right now was addressing the long-ignored favor I had left forgotten for so long.

The reason I survived and was reborn to live my second life amidst flames was undoubtedly because of this favor.

At the moment, the best thing was not to overthink things and focus on what I needed to do first.

“The young lady, she’s there at the sewage treatment plant. But, the smell is terrible. Are you sure you’re okay with that? It’s not a place for someone as noble as you.”

“I’m fine.”

I headed towards the sewage treatment facility in Delphi where Gloria was performing forced labor.

After bribing the guard with a small silver coin at the gate, I entered past the broad doorway. In a place filled with foul odors, I saw a woman busily sweeping here and there.

“Hey, that one has already been done.”

Mmmh…

“If you keep this up, one lifetime won’t be enough to finish—”

The sight of her suddenly made me fearful. Even though I had prepared myself emotionally, my mouth suddenly went dry.

Of course, this fear stemmed not from dread of her previous violence but from the fear of speaking the truth.

What should I say now?

Will she understand me?

With these questions swirling in my mind, I remembered how I had been putting things off for two years due to various reasons.

Now was the time to say what I was supposed to say.

So, I called out to the girl busy cleaning up,

“Gloria.”

Her busy hands froze. She straightened her bent posture and turned towards the entrance.

Her face, though smeared with grime and sweat from various impurities, revealed black shining eyes that pierced my heart like daggers.

Only then could I find the friend I once knew in her face—she was the one who used to sparkle her black eyes even amidst all the dirt.

“Gloria—.”

“Ah, you’re here big brother? What’s up? Did you miss me already?”

“I have a message from your brother.”

“But we’re nowhere close to finishing. It’ll probably take a week to clean all this up. They’re punishing me for destroying a few buildings and eating food without paying.”

Jingle-jingle.

I pulled out the necklace in my hand.

The necklace dangling in my hand consisted of what appeared to be some beast’s fang and a small gemstone on a string, making a faint rattling sound.

Your brother, Castor, asked me to deliver it to you. He said he didn’t abandon or leave you. He should have come two years ago, but it’s late.”

Gloria’s lively chatter suddenly fell silent. We sat there in silence for some time.

…

I thought I was used to such profound silence, but enduring this specific silence made me feel incredibly awkward.

“Our big brother is the strongest person in the entire world.”

“That’s true.”

“I couldn’t even defeat him. No one can. That’s why I believed he must be somewhere on this continent, that I would meet him again.”

“…”

“The one who killed my brother is you, right? Holding this necklace means that’s what it means, doesn’t it?”

It seemed Gloria’s judgment was intact. Thanks to this, I could finally say out loud what I hadn’t told anyone until now.

“That’s correct, but it wasn’t a fair fight. The one originally supposed to d*e was me, yet Castor didn’t k*ll me.”

“That’s of no significance. The bottom line is that he’s dead. In this world, it’s a rule—you either d*e or you k*ll.”

Gloria was echoing the same logic as Skargard. This savage world says that if you don’t want to d*e yourself, you need to k*ll someone. In a way, this is a natural rule.

I indeed stabbed Castor’s body.

But Castor didn’t do so.

At the end, I followed the rules of this world, whereas he didn’t.

I always thought Castor was as savage as anyone, but in truth, it was I who had been savage. That’s why I became Hassan the Samaritan from that day onward.

Now, there’s nothing left to say.

I don’t even know what to say or what I might hear. Hence, as I kept silent, Gloria spoke up.

“My chest hurts.”

“…”

“I’ve never felt this kind of pain before. What is this? It feels like all the strength is leaving my body. Could I be falling sick with something?”

“That’s not a sickness, Gloria. It’s probably just a normal emotion—”

“I understand. This pain must be what they call ‘love’.”

“…What?”

“There’s no other way my chest could hurt so much.”

I had to admit, things were getting really messed up here.

Hippolyte had once referred to Gloria as a “typhoon-like person.”

Now, I realize why they call something unpredictable a “typhoon.”

“If you’re not my brother—”

Gloria smiled.

“—then maybe we can legally get married.”

Her sharp, exposed fangs almost blinded me.

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