How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 159

177. Hidden Elements Are Often on the Wrong Path (4)

As I pondered slowly, other concerns arose.

‘Now, how do I move all this stuff?’

I could store it in my subspace and wander around, but subspace consumes mana even while active.

Carrying a sword or some equipment isn’t a big deal, but stuffing this much material in there is annoying.

‘New method. Should I try it?’

Using it in a different way than teleportation.

I imagined grabbing the image of a specific point and the image of that place, forcing them together.

Another method of space control: space connection.

A rounded space opened on the floor.

But this time, it’s not subspace.

A familiar landscape.

The place where I used to mine spirit stones.

I connect that place and pour all the materials in.

I can always go back and retrieve them later.

Just in case, I cover it with rocks, creating a dome using the power of the Gnomes [earth spirits or beings associated with earth manipulation].

I immediately closed the space.

Just keeping it open consumes a considerable amount of mana.

It’s incomparable to subspace.

But since I don’t need to maintain it continuously, it’ll be convenient depending on how I use it.

Besides, I need to save some mana right now.

“…….”

Because I have a use for it.

I cleared my throat and looked around, trying to pinpoint where the guy might be watching.

“Are you coming out now? I know you’re watching.”

As I finished my warning, there was a clanging sound of metal, and the guy revealed himself.

I stared at him and sighed.

“Since when did you change your job from knight to monster caretaker? Ah, well, I guess knights don’t get paid much these days. Or maybe Marquis Selond doesn’t pay well?”

I had noticed his presence.

When I spread my shadows wide, I caught a presence other than the monsters.

I thought about sweeping him away along with them, but he skillfully avoided it.

Considerable agility.

He must be quite skilled.

And as I called him out to confirm and saw his face, I felt a sense of weariness and chuckled.

Unfortunately, the man who appeared is a familiar face, a familiar name.

“……Quite an unexpected reunion, Kroll.”

It was Kroll, a knight of the Empire.

The man I had previously mocked as the weakest knight, after fighting him to the brink of death.

Honestly, I didn’t expect to meet him here.

“Honestly, I didn’t even think you’d be alive…….”

“…….”

“Why are you so taciturn, old man? Well, I guess a new job is like that, right? It’s always awkward for the first few months. I know that well. I’ve changed jobs about four times, you know.”

“…….”

But jokes won’t work.

I stopped the nonsense, took a breath, and glared at him seriously.

There’s a reason why I’ve been mocking and ridiculing him since a while ago.

“I’ll point it out clearly: you’re not even alive right now. Are you aware of that?”

“……You can even tell that?”

“Roughly. I have a pretty good sense.”

Because what’s overflowing from your whole body isn’t aura, but a power closer to demonic energy, and I can see a strange energy that seems to be the source in the middle of it.

Besides, your skin is pale, and there are strange stones embedded here and there.

‘It’s like a corpse. And those stones…’

The same product that’s embedded in those monsters from earlier.

“……It feels more like a soul forcibly attached to a dead body than an undead… but you have consciousness?”

“It would be a little disappointing to be treated like an undead. I have consciousness. ……At least, I recognize it that way.”

However, his tone suggests that it doesn’t matter whether his will is normal or not.

“I can guess what happened, but I’ll ask you anyway. What happened?”

“It’s nothing much. A demon summoned by Selond rampaged. I just couldn’t stop those monsters.”

That’s how he died in vain.

And then someone collected his body.

‘A demon? Or someone else?’

Maybe they were interested in Kroll’s body, who was quite skilled among humans.

They might have thought it would be good to use him as a soldier to guard this place.

To have his soul bound and be used even after death.

It might be more miserable than simply dying in vain.

But considering his actions, I don’t feel any sympathy.

That might also be his own fault.

Besides, he doesn’t look miserable at all.

“……Considering that, you seem to have accepted your new job quite well?”

“I’m not going to say anything trivial like a change of heart. Just…….”

“Just?”

“I just felt emptiness.”

He said bitterly.

“The lord’s goal collapsed with one small mistake. No, it would have failed anyway.”

“So you became twisted? What, does puberty come after death?”

“I just felt that neither duty nor anything else was necessary.”

He gave a cold sneer.

“Thanks to giving up on everything, I can still hold a sword. As long as I have that, I don’t care what happens to the rest.”

“Huh? Wait a minute? That’s a strange thing to say.”

“Besides, this isn’t so bad either. I feel more power than before.”

“No, this old man… that’s not right.”

The conversation has been subtly off since a while ago.

The conversation is somehow misaligned.

“Okay. Mr. Kroll, I’ve confirmed that you’ve definitely gone crazy.”

Well, they wouldn’t use him while he’s purely sane.

It’s a clear sign that he’s gone wrong.

He’s not the same guy I fought before.

“Even so, it’s strange. To think that the first human I encounter in this body is you.”

“……I’m not particularly happy about that…….”

He seems to have been quite bothered by losing to me before.

Hate? Competitiveness?

Those dark emotions are the perfect fuel to use to control a soul.

Maybe they’re encouraging him even now?

Whispering in his ear.

“It’s a reunion after a long time, Aileen. I’ll repay you for the humiliation in Pelpuk.”

“……Tch, how petty.”

“You don’t look happy.”

“Not really. It doesn’t matter whether I’m happy or not.”

I answered indifferently and prepared myself.

A grudge from his past life.

I can’t ignore that. The battle is inevitable.

More than anything, I had been planning to pay him back properly when we met again next time.

“If we were going to fight again, it would have been more meaningful to fight when you were alive.”

“…….”

He closed his mouth.

I can’t know what he’s thinking.

Honestly, he’s not in his right mind anymore.

Let’s not think of him as the same Kroll I encountered in Pelpuk.

“Enough, come at me, Tin Can Old Man. You’ve got proper equipment this time, right? You’ve upgraded your strength and become stronger too? Then you won’t have any complaints if you get smashed this time.”

Kroll didn’t say anything more and unleashed a dark aura, emitting a strong sword energy.

The energy I feel is definitely greater than before.

It must be thanks to having proper equipment.

If I had to fight him with his current strength in Pelpuk, I wouldn’t have lasted even a little bit.

And he’s coming.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!”

A resounding shout.

Kroll’s momentum, closing the distance in an instant and striking down with powerful sword energy, was terrifying.

“His spirit is definitely no joke.”

I calmly responded to that momentum by unleashing spirit magic.

‘But that’s all there is to it.’

The outcome was decided in an instant.

Five blades of shadow that soared from under my feet intercepted his attack.

Almost simultaneously, hundreds of high-pressure water jets pierced his entire body.

Simultaneously, flames and electricity mixed and exploded.

Finally, a gravity field, deployed in a very small range, struck his torso and lifted him up.

“Keuh?!”

Kroll, whose sword was shattered and whose equipment was destroyed all over his body, fell powerlessly.

The outcome is decided in an instant.

“……The problem is, it’s meaningless in that state.”

I muttered calmly.

It would have been better when he didn’t have enough equipment.

That was more frightening.

A man deluded by obsession looks no different from a monster with a sword.

Besides, I’ve become stronger too.

“And at least, I’m careful not to struggle against the same opponent twice.”

I’m careful not to struggle against opponents I’ve encountered once.

It’s not like I’m suffering for nothing.

“……Keuh! You… You’ve become a completely different person.”

Kroll’s body stirred, making a rough coughing sound.

Perhaps because he’s a dead man, he still has consciousness.

But Kroll doesn’t get up again.

He doesn’t seem to have the will to get up anymore.

Has he lost even his fighting spirit after being broken so futilely?

“I’m curious, Kroll. Why did you fall for the demons’ persuasion?”

Is an aura master’s mind that weak?

That’s impossible.

They couldn’t have cast this spell without his consent.

“Demons? Puhahahahahahaha!”

“What?”

Kroll suddenly burst into laughter.

Is he really crazy?

“You’re misunderstanding. Let me correct you. I didn’t fall for any demons.”

“What?”

“It was that man who persuaded me to cooperate with them. It was him who spoke to me, who had already met a futile end. That…….”

Kroll’s voice faded as he said that, and he didn’t say anything more.

The energy that had been maintaining his body suddenly disappeared.

I didn’t get rid of it.

Perhaps it was a conditional release of the spell.

To prevent him from saying unnecessary information.

‘What? It wasn’t a demon who seduced him?’

That bothers me.

And soon, I found the identity of that sense of unease in the original story.

‘If it’s not the demons’ method?’

Yes, both the monster from earlier and Kroll.

The method of binding and moving already dead beings.

The ones who first showed that technique in the original story weren’t the demons.

‘Damn it. That technique belongs to the Continental Integration Society [a secret organization]. That evil secret art used by that secret organization that I’ve already taken down several times.’

‘I smell a third party.’

Kroll also mentioned it.

That someone other than the demons had seduced him.

There is someone who could easily change the mind of that man, who values his duty as a knight.

‘I don’t know who it is, but I need to find that guy first…….’

Normally, I would have turned away, saying let’s not get involved, but this time my thoughts were a little different.

There’s something I want to know.

Depending on the situation, I needed to do something.

* * *

How much further did I go up?

After that, there was nothing particularly unusual to encounter.

Most of the time, I only entered rooms where rare monsters were gathered, like before.

I guess Kroll was the only human they brought in?

Well, they wouldn’t have had any other talent to bring in right away.

Marquis Selond is just an incompetent nobleman even if you revive him, and the rest of the humans are the same.

‘Then I’ll probably run into the culprit soon…….’

Is this what it feels like to feel like there’s a landmine somewhere in front of you?

Clearly, there’s an element involved that I don’t know.

‘Who the hell is there?’

After skipping through space several times and wandering around, the place I arrived at was a certain place.

A large door was firmly closed.

“……It seems to be a room with something in it, as always.”

Let’s prepare ourselves a little.

The problem is whether to go in confidently or think of another way…….

‘There’s no need to charge in head-on for no reason.’

Would I be crazy enough to go in confidently?

Using the spatial awareness ability I gained as a byproduct of my space control ability, I sensed an empty passage in the ceiling.

Is it a space with the concept of a ventilation duct?

I moved to that place.

Crawling forward as it is.

How far did I crawl? I faintly heard voices.

“……Unlike what you said, you seem to be quite troubled, resident of the Demon Realm.”

Roughly listening, it sounds like a voice in their late 20s to early 30s.

Calling someone a resident of the Demon Realm must mean a demon.

‘So there was someone after all.’

I didn’t even twitch a finger and put my ear close to the floor.

They haven’t noticed yet, and they’re chattering among themselves.

“Kaaaaaak! No need for interference!”

Maybe the one who answered nervously just now is that demon.

Who are they talking to?