## Chapter 1068 – Ancient Beings

But thinking about that also reminds me of the slums.

It was definitely the place I investigated with Elise.

The cultists had boldly infiltrated the Isvant slums, spreading their bizarre faith among the poor. Moreover, their headquarters had a vast basement where numerous cultists gathered to carry out some kind of underground construction.

And there was an Evil Giant there… and the Trophy of Darkness as well.

Risha said it was just an artifact that emitted some kind of power, but it was quite something. Anyway, the Evil Giant, who was supposed to be serving the cultists, suddenly went berserk, and we ran like hell.

What exactly was that Evil Giant? Was it related to the Titans? More than anything, those bastards turned Lina’s grandmother into a ghoul. That is absolutely unforgivable. If I ever uncover that secret, I must tell Lina as well.

“So, when are you going? Should I come with you?”

Karin asked.

“Not right away, but I’ll go in a few days. But since it’ll take about two days to run there, wouldn’t it be faster to just go alone? That’s what I’m thinking, if possible.”

Whether it’s the Kobold Dungeon or the Ossuary, I can now run there super fast, explore the inside super fast, and return.

It might be faster to go alone.
I don’t want to make them do something unnecessary.

“Why always alone? Are you the only one who can run?”
“Hehehe, that’s not true. Anyway, let’s talk about this later.”
“Father.”
“Hmm? What is it, Ari?”

Ari came to my side.

“If it’s an underground dungeon made by Kobolds digging tunnels, I might be able to help. Since there will be tree roots nearby, I can use them to easily figure out the internal structure.”
“Ah, that’s true too.”

Should I take her along then?

Anyway, while talking about that, I got up and took off my clothes.

“Katt, you worked hard. Shall we rest for today?”
“We should.”

Let’s shower, eat something, and then go to bed.

I have something else to do tomorrow.

* * *

The next day.

I woke up early, put on some suitable clothes, and took Vigal and my wallet. And only my ID before heading outside. The place I’m going to visit today is the slums. The Kobold Dungeon and the Ossuary are outside the city, but the slums are inside.

So, I should be able to take a quick look today and come back.

Well, I told them last night that I was going to the slums, so it should be okay if I come home a little late, but I plan to look around quickly if possible.

Whether there are any cultists.
What happened to that underground facility.

I’ll dig into that kind of stuff.

—Thud, thud.

I move my feet towards that familiar place.

Not long after that, I arrived at the slums. As Isvant is a large city, the slums are quite large as well. And as befitting its size, it is a gloomy and lifeless place. No matter how you look at it, there is no hope here.

Whatever the case, it seems difficult to thoroughly search such a place in reality, but as a Paladin, I have informants I can use at any time.

They act independently in various places, waiting for my orders.

That’s why the slums are so convenient.

If I just find those guys and conscript them, the difficulty of the investigation will be greatly reduced. They’ll do anything I tell them to do.

Then, shall we go do some good deeds while maintaining public order today? Thinking about it, I’ve always done good things every time I’ve gone to the slums. That’s proof of my good character. A person’s character comes out in places like this.

“…”

Of course.

The identities of those informants are the trash of the slum’s criminal organizations.

“Hehehe.”

Killing, beating, and plundering those trash is the duty that a Paladin must perform, and it is also an extremely righteous thing from a Fusion Confucian perspective. If I beat them up, the state of public order will improve, and I can also get the information I want. Improving my financial situation is a bonus.

Then, from now on, let’s create a world where everyone can smile while doing good deeds.

—…
—…
—…

Thinking that, I walk through the streets of the slums. As always, the poor, who have lost all hope, are collapsed here and there, sleeping.

A space where only despair exists.

“Jongno.”

Right there.

“Shall we go?”

I sang of hope.

“Shall we go to Myeongdong.”

It’s been a while since I sang this song.

I haven’t really thought about it while living here, but walking here makes me think of it for no reason. Yes, let’s sing it after a long time. Let’s sing and spread hope. That’s what songs are for.

“Tsuarari!!!”

As I sang, I felt hopeful emotions welling up inside me. In the past, I used to cry with longing every time I sang this song, but now I just feel happy.

This land in this other world.

And this sky.

It’s my Jongno and Myeongdong.
And Cheongnyangni.

It’s my hometown.

How can I not be happy?

“Shall we go to Cheongnyangni!!!”

It was when I sang with all my heart.

“Oh, oh…”
“That song!”
“Could it be! Could it be!!!”
“Could it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”
“Has he returneddddddddddddddddddd!!!”

Suddenly, the surroundings began to become noisy.

—Spring!!!

The sleeping poor people jumped up from their spots and began to scream.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!”
“S, S!!!!”
“S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Saaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

S?

“Murder Bardddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“The Murder Bard has appeared!!!”
“Save me!!! Save meeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!”
“Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!”

These fucking bastards.

—Furtively!

In front of my eyes, all kinds of poor people disappeared. As if they had never been there from the beginning, men and women, young and old, all vanished like mirages.

—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!

All that remained was the sound of screams fading away.

“What the fuck.”

I was going to ask where the criminal organizations were.

At this rate, I’ll have to find them on foot.

More than that, these bastards dared to react like that to a righteous Paladin… That’s why these bastards are no good. Thieves are always afraid, so they have no choice but to run away from a Paladin from the very beginning.

“Still a fucking awful neighborhood.”

I stopped singing.

These bastards don’t deserve to hear my song.

Anyway, in that way, I explored the slums.

“Excuse me. Hello.”
“Wh, wha…! Heok!”
“I wanted to ask something. Do you happen to know where any criminal organizations are these days?”
“N, no! I don’t know!”
“Is that so? Thank you.”

I grabbed the lying people and asked them, but I couldn’t find out anything in particular. But I don’t give up. In that way, I persistently asked the poor, and eventually, I was able to find out something.

“Th, there… over there… well…”
“What is there?”
“Th… there seemed to be a fight earlier…”

A fight?

“That’s all I can say…”
“Oh, thank you. You’re kind.”
“He, hehehe… it’s nothing.”

Still, it seems that people’s hearts haven’t all died, and everyone answered very kindly when I asked them something.

After expressing my gratitude with 1 Cooper, I immediately went to the place where the fight was said to have taken place.

“Ugh…”

As soon as I turned into the alley, I heard a man’s groan. Were they having some kind of brawl? The only ones who have brawls in the slums are the trash of criminal organizations. My informants were causing a civil war. I’ll punish them right away.

“Well, who is this?”

But I encountered someone I didn’t expect.

“Oh.”

It was none other than Lisette.

Lisette, wearing a rather revealing outfit of hot pants and a tank top, was beating up the slum thugs, just like I had seen once before. She recognized me first and waved her hand.

“Ugh…”
“Kkeueuk…”

At Lisette’s feet, emaciated men were bleeding, their faces a mess. Lisette the chivalrous. She was doing good deeds again today.

“Hehehe, you bastard. Still doing that kind of thing?”
“There’s no work because of the recession.”

Lisette, who came towards me with her arms crossed, said.

“Why, does our Paladin not like it?”
“Who were you beating up just now?”
“Slum bandits.”
“Then I like it. Rather, I want to join in too.”

It’s something I want to participate in.

“Huh. And they call you a Paladin… But what brings you to this humble place?”

She smiled faintly and turned her head to ask me.

“Well, nothing special. Just trying to do some investigation. It’s what I do.”
“What?”
“Are there any cultists here? Like a strange religion spreading.”
“There’s always some strange religion spreading. Hey, this oppa is a Pala, no. A Holy Knight, you know? If you don’t want your heads chopped off and hung up, tell me everything you know.”

Lisette said that and casually kicked the man who was lying down in the side.

—Thwack!

“Gyaak!”

This bastard knows how to handle criminals too.

“Thanks for the consideration.”
“It’s nothing. We have to get along with a noble and a Paladin.”
“Hehehe, that’s a really pleasing mindset. Lisette. That kind of attitude guarantees survival.”
“Should I use honorifics for you?”
“Fuck off.”

Anyway, I went in front of the man who was groaning and sat down, patting his head.

“Why are you acting so dramatic? Introduce yourself.”
“Ugh… Th, that is… My name is Polas… Keuheuk!”
“Good. Polas. You’re a member of a criminal organization in this slum, right?”
“A, a gang…”
“That’s the same thing, you fucking bastard. Do you not know how many guys have died from talking back to me yet?”
“I’m sorry!!!”

When I tried to break his finger, Lisette said from behind.

“That guy’s just a low-level thug. He was getting beat up by me today because he didn’t have any money. Don’t kill him or anything. There aren’t many guys like that these days.”
“Is that so?”

I guess the number of criminals in the slums has no choice but to decrease since a bastard like Lisette comes to extort money every day.

It’s really amazing that there are still some left.

“Anyway, there’s something I’m curious about… If you tell me everything you know, I won’t hit you.”
“Wh, what is it? Just tell me…”

Polas immediately bowed his head.

I asked him about the current state of religion in this slum, and he listened to my words, saying yes, yes, and soon gave an answer.

“In the first place… there are often many strange religions spreading in places like this… But it’s not really suspicious… It’s been around since a long time ago. The Holy Knights sometimes come to crack down, but they just let it pass.”
“Oh, is that so?”

I already knew it, but I agreed with him.

“For example, there are many guys who blindly believe in trivial things like gaining mana through mental training… or receiving blessings if you pray… We, people like us, make a living by collecting seat fees and protection money from those guys… That’s how it is.”

He knows a lot for a low-level thug.

This industry is becoming specialized.

“Well, anyway. Has there been anything strange recently? Like demon worshippers or something.”
“B, big trouble! There’s no way there would be something like that! It’s a scary time, so there’s nothing like that!!!”
“You’re really sure?”
“Th… th, the thing is, my job is to collect money from those religious guys… There are a few guys like me. So I know.”

Well, whatever.

I can’t trust him, but that’s roughly it.

“Then has there been anyone who’s really good at talking and gathering people?”
“There’s… probably not.”
“Is that so?”

I got up from my seat.

“Well, I can’t know for sure without torturing him. But there doesn’t seem to be any big problems.”
“There’s nothing like that these days. Priests come to look around from time to time, you know?”
“Is that so?”

Seeing them come on patrol even though it must be difficult to spare troops, it seems that the church is keeping a close eye on the slums.

“Anyway, thanks for the cooperation, Lisette. May the blessings of the Verde God be with you.”
“Can a guy like you give blessings?”
“I’m just saying it. Keep doing what you were doing.”
“Well… okay.”

I parted ways with Lisette, and I headed to the building where the evil Evil Giant had appeared, which I had previously examined with Elise and Lina.

“Hmm.”

The building was collapsed, and there was a fence around it. There were signs posted everywhere by the Lord of Isvant and the Bronze Sky Knights, prohibiting entry.

—Whoosh!

I simply jumped over the fence and went inside.

The closed space seemed to be poorly managed, with weeds growing everywhere. Anyway, there was a small warehouse-like building right in front of me, and since it seemed like there was an entrance to the basement in that location, I immediately broke the lock and went inside.

—Creak.

“As expected.”

As expected, there was an iron door leading to the basement on the floor. The only difference was that there were a lot of iron locks on it.

—Crack.

I tore them all off as well.

—Creak!

I opened the door and went down the stairs.