(EP-161.1) Night #2
161 – Day and Night #2
To be honest, I often wandered the streets at night.
Of course, this was when I was in Angmar Kingdom.
The reason being, to avoid everyone’s prying eyes as I engage in some less-than-honorable activities.
Like gathering information on nobles who opposed me, and trying to find their weaknesses. Simply, things that must not be seen by others.
Usually such dirty work was done under the cover of the shadows of the dark alleys. Just like the night I met the Assassin Kalira.
Though, even disregarding that, the idea of ‘wandering around at night’ = ‘bad’ wasn’t new for me.
Even before I became Theo Gospel, the time when I was the ordinary Lee Seong-eum, I felt a strange sense of immorality in walking around at night.
Perhaps it was due to the teachings I received in the orphanage and at school.
━Don’t fool around and go home early.
Regardless of where you are, teachers never appreciated students wandering the streets late at night. Therefore, they encouraged students to return home early.
That was why I had never been out past 10 pm until middle school.
Then once I became an adult, I was able to go to facilities like PC Bangs and jjimjilbangs that were still open after midnight.
Also, when I was a freshman living alone, I could feel a sense of freedom breathing in the morning air as I went to and from the 24H convenience store.
I felt like I was doing something wrong.
There was a sense of guilt for doing something that shouldn’t be done.
Of course, someone might say, “What’s the big deal about roaming at night?” But that was how I felt back then, at least.
In reality, I didn’t derive much excitement from wandering at night anymore. It was probably because I’d grown older and had various experiences.
So, why am I making such a fussy self-reflection now? It was because I felt the nostalgia of my youth as Narmi led me through the streets.
Finally, Narmi dragged me into a dark alley. After looking around, she opened a manhole cover nearby and pointed at the ladder beneath it.
“Should I go down first, or would you like to?”
I was not sure what lay beneath this hole, but it didn’t seem like Narmi was trying to trick me or lead me into a trap.
“I will go first.”
So I mustered up the courage and reached out to the ladder. As I made my way down, the tapping synced up to a rhythm. Narmi soon followed after me.
Then Narmi said from above.
“Ah, don’t look up! I’m wearing the school skirt right now!”
“Okay, got it.”
Tadak. Cheolpeok.
When I finally stepped down with my foot, I could feel the damp, sticky ground through the soles of my shoes. It was unpleasant.
—Light.
I activated the most basic Rank 1 lighting magic. A glowing sphere emerged from my palm, illuminating the surroundings.
It looked normal.
By that, I meant it really was just an ordinary sewer.
An underground sewer filled with the squeaking of rats and discarded items like trash and scrap metal. That was my initial impression. There were a lot of sewers like this in Angmar.
A group called the Black Robes took over the sewer and ran all sorts of illegal activities, prompting a large-scale crackdown. I didn’t know if Reinhardt had worked it out.
Then Narmi touched down and said as she fixed her skirt.
“How is it? Can you manage? It’s a bit damp and musty here.”
“I’m fine, it’s not unbearable.”
Rather, I was more surprised that Narmi was in this sewer. After all, she was the daughter of the Draco Family from which she was raised in a beautiful flower garden, adorned with flowers and dew, and butterflies.
However, thinking about it more, Narmi was a necromancer who guarded graves, buried corpses, and possessed a talent for black magic and necromancy. Necromancers and sewers were in the same ballpark.
“Then follow me closely! There might be traps along the way!”
“All right.”
* * *
Anyway, I never would’ve thought that such a dungeon-like underground sewer existed near the main building of Ark.
Moreover, Narmi seemed quite familiar with navigating this place, as if she had been here many times before and already had extensive experience.
“This way!”
Narmi was like a passionate adventurer.
It was utterly jaw-dropping seeing the sight of all kinds of traps and gigantic monsters lurking in this sewer.
—Bone Spear.
Chwaaak.
As I watched in amazement, a bone spear formed at the tip of Narmi’s fingers and pierced through the body of a giant rat-like creature with ease. It was both impressive and terrifying to witness.
Tuktuk.
I asked while prodding the corpse of the rat-like creature, which was as big as my torso.
“Why is a rat this big?”
“I’m not sure either.”
“I see…”
“Well, as far as I know, it’s because of some kind of magic circle.”
“Magic circle?”
“A growth enhancing magic or something. I heard that there’s something like that somewhere in Ark, and creatures affected by it grow this large.”
Growth enhancing magic.
Come to think of it, most of the monsters appearing around Ark were abnormally large creatures, from giant ants to helicopter-sized Hercules wasps, giant rats and cockroaches.
If it was due to a magic circle’s influence, it would make some sense.
If such a convenient spell really exists, I wonder if small fairies or a Half-Fairy like me can also grow taller.
182cm, Theo Gospel.
That would be cool.
However, my daydream did not last long.
ㅡCheucheucheu.
Peudeodeodeok.
A cockroach as big as my body flew towards me.
“Ueak, sht, that surprised me-!”
Caught off guard, I couldn’t help but swear as I fell on my butt. Narmi, who found my reaction amusing, chuckled and reached her hand out.
“Are you afraid of bugs?”
“What about Narmi-nim, aren’t you scared?”
“I’ve often made Gu (insect poison)! And there are a lot of insects like centipedes and locusts in the cemetery. So bugs don’t bother me. My sister is afraid of them, though.”
I wondered what she meant by Gu then I remembered something I had read in a book before.
It said that if you kept poisonous bugs together in a jar, they would devour one another and create a potent toxin or a Gu spirit that would bring upon a curse.
“You’ve made Gu?”
“Yeah, I’m keeping it at the villa! But my sister hates it. They’re cute if you look closely. Would you like to see them later? They have good temperaments.”
“Oh, I see…”
It was a bit unsettling.
As I pondered why Narmi had brought me to this underground sewer teeming with bugs, light slowly started to emanate.
“We’re almost there!”
Narmi accelerated her steps.
I also quickened my pace, following right behind her, before I soon got flashbanged by blinding light. By this point, I had been more accustomed to the darkness of the sewer, so the sudden brightness made me frown.
Edited by: faker
