Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 144

144

“…An angel has come.”

Loki sat on the floor of the slum, listening to the children’s stories.

“…I saw it too.”

The injured boy’s mother nodded.

If it were just the children talking, it would be less credible, but the inclusion of an adult changed the story.

“It had wings.”

They described what they saw.

“And it had a human form, and it spoke.”

It even tempted us….

‘If you follow me, you will never be hungry.’

‘If you follow me, you will never suffer.’

‘If you follow me, you can receive the ‘Constellation’s Choice.’

…it said.

“Some people from the slums followed that being, but… they never returned.”

Loki found it very interesting.

It was a story he hadn’t heard from Baron Ranga or the soldiers.

Many people had gone missing from the slums, but Baron Ranga seemed to have dismissed it as a common occurrence.

“…My child, Ron’s friend, Emma, was also taken by that ‘demon.’”

The boy’s mother now changed the expression from ‘angel’ to ‘demon.’

“Over there… in that sewer.”

The boy’s mother pointed to the entrance of the slum’s sewer.

There was a deep hole where you might fall if you accidentally lost your footing.

“My child went there to bring Emma back. And… he found demon beasts.”

Loki nodded.

“I see.”

Then, turning his gaze to Cancun, he tilted his head and asked.

“…Cancun, you seem busy. May I go ahead?”

“Huh?? W-wait a moment….”

Cancun was flustered and tried to speak to Loki, but her words were cut off.

“S-Saintess!”

“Saintess!”

The people of the slum and the soldiers were gathered around Cancun.

“Loki… Hon! Please help us!”

Everyone was kneeling and praying.

“Saintess.”

“…I see. Is it just a different way of expressing it because the culture is different? Is the priestess called a Saintess here?”

“……!”

Loki was looking at her with playful eyes.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of helping.

“E-excuse me, I’ll just pass through.”

Cancun cautiously moved forward, and the people of the slum were startled and parted to the left and right, like the miracle of Moses [a reference to the biblical parting of the Red Sea].

It was a gesture that they couldn’t dare to defile the sacred being.

Cancun, sweating under their burdensome gazes, followed Loki closely.

“S-somehow, those people are… overwhelming.”

“They must have needed a place to rely on.”

It was a country devastated by war.

With the Holy Emperor and the Pope, who had been the center of leadership, gone, there was no one to stop the looting of other countries and the corruption of nobles and clergy.

Tired of their tyranny, they had no choice but to mistake Loki’s group, who suddenly appeared and distributed bread and even provided treatment, as saviors.

‘Well, there was the miracle Cancun showed.’

Even faith they didn’t have would arise.

Was it because of the system skill?

Cancun demonstrated skills with power far removed from the ‘magic’ of this world.

‘Cancun is becoming a game character….’

Loki wondered if she, like himself or Helga, was changing into an ‘alien being’ in this world.

“W-where are you going?”

The soldiers, who had been staring blankly at Cancun, asked.

Loki pointed to the sewer.

“There.”

“…That place is full of all sorts of filth. It rained heavily the day before yesterday, so it must be overflowing with water by now. If you go in there….”

“Is it dangerous?”

“…You will be defiled.”

The soldiers looked at Cancun.

The look in their eyes had changed.

Unlike the wary look they had at first, they now had the look of seeing a sacred relic.

However, the monk was rather wary.

He was still confused, unable to believe what he had seen.

“Huh? Being defiled is….”

Cancun had a bewildered expression.

“A-a sacred person’s body is also a noble body. Lord Azelan will not forgive you for defiling your body.”

The monk suddenly interjected at the soldier’s words.

“Y-you are… not a Saintess or anything.”

“…Who said I was? I never said I was a Saintess in the first place.”

Cancun grumbled, feeling inexplicably put out.

“Then let’s go.”

Loki dropped into the sewer entrance.

Cancun stuck her tongue out at the monk, made a ‘nyah’ face [a playful, teasing expression], and followed Loki.

“Ah….”

The soldier watched the two of them disappear into the sewer and finished his thought.

“…I didn’t get to tell them that the sewer is like a maze.”

***

It’s squishy.

The smell rising from all sorts of filth is toxic.

“Ugh-!”

Cancun, who had experienced the battlefield in her own way, thought she had considerable resistance in terms of disgust.

However, the smell of this filth emitted a stench beyond imagination, and the occasional sight of decaying rat corpses was enough to make her feel fundamentally nauseous.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“Endure it.”

“…….”

You’re so heartless.

Cancun grumbled.

Loki walked through the sewer, and Cancun followed behind him.

It was filled with deep darkness.

It was hard to distinguish the front because there was no light.

However, it was clearly visible to Loki and Cancun.

Loki’s red eyes and the Nord’s blue eyes flickered in the darkness.

“It’s like a maze.”

“I know. I should have asked if they had a blueprint.”

“What should we do? Should we go back up?”

It was already a situation where their whole bodies were covered in filth if they were to go back up.

“The territory didn’t seem that big. Let’s split up and search.”

“Ah, yes. Then… I’ll go this way….”

Cancun turned around and headed towards the entrance that split into two.

Loki looked ahead.

“Hmm… it feels like exploring a dungeon.”

Although the stench is a bit much.

He was feeling a sense of adventure in his own way.

***

Cancun moved forward.

The depth of the filth in the underground sewer was irregular.

Clearly, it was because the design of the sewer was flawed or it wasn’t being maintained.

As she moved, the filth that had reached her lower abdomen was now down to her knees.

‘Maybe I’ve come to a higher place?’

Splash… splash…

At that time, there was a sound in Cancun’s ears.

A splashing sound.

It wasn’t hers.

Loki was heading in the opposite direction, so it was someone else’s.

Cancun looked ahead.

“Huh?”

A child is visible.

A small girl who looks to be about 5 or 6 years old.

Her ankles were chained, and behind her, a long iron chain was connected to the darkness of the underground sewer passage.

The girl stopped and stepped back in fear as soon as she saw Cancun.

“Ah! Wait, don’t be afraid! I’m… uh….”

Cancun smiled brightly.

“I’m someone who came to save you!”

“C-came to save me?”

The girl opened her mouth.

“Yes.”

“L-lies. That ‘demon’ also said he would save me and then….”

“…….”

Ah! They said a demon tempted her and took her away, right?

The girl’s wariness deepened.

Cancun pondered what to do.

Then she remembered that she had bread in her pocket and took it out.

“Eat this….”

But the food was covered in filth.

Cancun threw the food behind her. And as she was thinking about how to persuade the child, a name came to mind.

“Ron!”

The girl paused at that word.

Ron was the name of the boy Cancun had healed in the slum.

“D-do you know Ron?”

There’s a reaction.

Then is this child the child ‘Emma’ that Ron was trying to find?

“Yes, yes. Uh… I’m Ron’s friend too.”

She decided to match the child’s eye level to ease the child’s wariness.

“That kid asked me to save you.”

Cancun slowly approached the girl.

“So come with-.”

It was then.

Black lights flickered in the underground sewer passage.

Flickering eyes.

And.

Kuaang!

A pack of black wolves rushed and pounced on Cancun.

Cancun’s blue eyes flickered in the darkness.

She drew the holy sword Brutgang.

The sacred light illuminated the surroundings, and the noble blade emitted a flash of light.

Swish-!

She cut off the wolves’ heads.

At that moment, the child’s chain became taut.

“Ah-!”

And the child was quickly dragged back.

“Emma!”

Cancun shouted and tried to follow her, but black beasts flew in.

This time it was a swarm of bats.

Cancun swung her sword and followed Emma as she was dragged away.

***

Loki stopped as he walked through the sewer.

‘I’m lost.’

But he felt a strange presence.

In front of him, he could see eyes flickering in the darkness.

Thump-! Thump-!

Crack-!

The filth flowing through the sewer was agitated,

And the walls and ceiling cracked.

Loki raised his head.

He could see a giant bowing his head in the narrow cave.

A bulging lower abdomen.

Skin as bumpy as toad skin.

Both hands with thick and large fingers.

Even a distorted face.

A troll.

“Oooo!”

It really felt like a dungeon.

The troll looked down at Loki.

‘But it’s strange.’

“Even though there’s a monster like this in the sewer of this small city, no one knows.”

But this guy was different from the appearance of an angel.

“There’s a fairy tale in the north that trolls kidnap and eat children.”

Looking behind him, he could see red eyes behind the troll.

They seemed to be orcs and goblins.

Strangely, he didn’t feel any ‘life’ from them.

It was ambiguous to see them as undead either.

On the contrary.

‘I feel divine power.’

He felt divine power from these monsters.

It was truly bizarre.

“You don’t seem to be the culprit in this case.”

Kwoereureureureureureu-!

Loki’s raven feathers fluttered at the troll’s roar.

“You must be a henchman of the culprit.”

Loki took out a greatsword from his inventory.

Kuoohhhhh!

The troll raised its arm.

The ceiling collapses.

“Then, if I go towards where you guys are coming from, the culprit will come out.”

The troll swung its arm, and Loki swung his greatsword from top to bottom.

The flashes of light connected in a straight line.

From the ceiling to the floor, the troll and the monsters behind it were divided to the left and right.

Bang-!

A black liquid splattered on Loki’s face.

Loki ran his finger over the liquid on his face.

‘It’s not blood.’

It was a liquid imbued with divine power.

Loki’s gaze looked at the corpses in front of him.

Between the severed surfaces of the troll split to the left and right, only a smooth black liquid flowed, and no bones or organs were visible.

A mysterious ability as if he had forcibly created a monster form by kneading ink.

Loki was intrigued.

“Who is the master who created you?”

Loki moved towards the remaining monsters.

***

Cancun quickly sprinted, cutting down the beasts.

But she lost track of Emma because of the beasts that kept rushing in.

Cancun sprinted and reached a wide hall in the cave.

Cancun paused.

It was a black space.

She reached a strange space where black iron plates were added to prevent bedrock or soil from collapsing in places.

There… people were gathered.

People who were naked or in rags.

Judging from their appearance, they were people from the slums.

Animal bones were scattered around, and an altar was visible in the center.

There, the girl Cancun had been chasing was placed.

“P-punish the sinner!”

“T-the ritual of purification….”

The people trembled in fear, knelt towards the altar, rubbed their hands together, and prayed.

“Appease your anger by eating the sacrifice.”

“Heal our wounds.”

They were begging someone.

They’re not in their right minds.

Are they fanatics?

Then this incident might also be the work of the Black Arbiters [a known cult in this world].

“But the feeling is different….”

Cancun had gone on several Black Arbiter subjugations.

But she had never seen such a bizarre scene.

‘A different force from the Black Arbiters?’

Is it another cult?

‘I should report this to Lord Loki.’

Cancun was about to step back, but she saw people gathering around Emma and taking out ritual daggers.

“Let’s cut it.”

“Into small pieces to make it easier to eat.”

“……!”

They’re not in their right minds!

“Are you trying to eat that child?”

「That’s right.」

Cancun paused.

A voice coming from the air.

「However, it’s not them who are eating, but me.」

Cancun slowly raised her head.

She could see a being floating high in the sky.

No, it looked like it was floating.

White wings and black wings were mixed together.

The flapping of those wings was making the body stand in the air.

A beautiful appearance. The being with a neutral appearance, neither male nor female, was looking at Cancun with an interesting expression, holding a spear in its right hand.

「I can feel the power of a ‘Constellation’ from you?」

And.

「Which ‘Constellation’s’ servant are you?」

It spat out meaningless words.