𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎: 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 (2)

【𝙒𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙝. . . . . . . 𝙎𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝. . . . . . . 】

Pshheeew!

The plague factor, exhaled along with his breath, had somehow filled the surroundings.

It was no exaggeration to say that a green fog was hanging in the air as the shop owner and employees guarding the shop appeared.

“Wh. . . What the hell are you doing! Arrest hi. . . Cough? “

Just as the shop owner was about to give instructions to his employees, he suddenly gasped for breath and collapsed on the spot, having been inhaling the green plague factor. The same fate befell the guards who were standing next to him.

Suddenly, the shop owner and the guards were covered in blisters.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.’

Oswald immediately kicked the floor and jumped up.

He broke through the ceiling in one breath and flew up, while countless people watched him. . . It seemed that the commotion had been too loud.

Guards managing the slave market were swarming in from all directions. If he had been a little slower, he would have thought of dismantling the Plague Grimoire and escaping. . . But he might have been caught if he had made a mistake.

In the end, Oswald escaped with the Plague Grimoire still on.

‘𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. . . . . . . ‘

There would be some collateral damage. . . but that was nothing he needed to worry about.

‘𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵. . . . . . . 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵.’

For Oswald, who had to survive until the end and prevent it in order to return home, the harm done to such people was not something he needed to worry about.

Thanks to this, the cursed smallpox, enhanced by the powers of Pleg, the Chaos Evil God of Plague, began to break out in the slave market. The infection spread at an alarming rate, but the people there were completely oblivious to it.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝙖𝐰𝔢𝕓𝔰ṫ̇𝔬𝐫𝔦𝘦𝙨.𝕔𝙤𝘮

Oswald, who had escaped through the path he had come in a single breath, immediately dismantled the Plague Grimoire. Then, he pretended to fall backward, sat down on the ground, and stood up as he watched people emerge through the welcoming wall.

“Did you see that guy who just ran out of here?!”

“Th. . . That weird thing came out and went that way?!”

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!!”

Oswald, who had easily shaken off the pursuit, quickly turned around.

‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.’

Oswald, who had been walking as far as his legs would take him and had lost his way, decided to just go up as soon as he found a manhole.

But. . . . . . .

‘𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦. . . . . . . ‘

Guys with green coats and green hunting caps. . . They were the ‘liberal revolutionaries.’

‘𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.’

This was supposed to be under the capital of the Imperial Empire, which was said to be the strongest in the western continent. . . But it was no exaggeration to say that it was a hotbed of crime. Even the ‘liberal revolutionaries,’ a rebel force that opposed the empire, were roaming around. . . It was no wonder why the empire didn’t control this place.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺. . . . . . . ‘

Perhaps it was because of the vested interests of the countless powerful people who were intertwined in this underground world. The profits from the underground economy were enormous.

Oswald, who had played the villain several times, knew this well. However, even so, it was hard to understand why they didn’t clean it up even in a situation where various risk factors were lurking around for profit.

‘𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.’

Honestly, the goals of the liberal revolutionaries weren’t bad. However, the problem was that the processes they used to achieve those goals conflicted with the path Oswald wanted to take. . . . . . .

In particular, they were radicals who would even join hands with demon worshippers in order to bring down the imperial royal family. They were extreme guys who believed that they could sell their souls to the devil to achieve their ideals and goals, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to clean them up whenever they were found.

‘𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩. . . . . . . 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭.’

Using his high level of Stealth, Oswald followed the ‘liberal revolutionaries’ as discreetly as possible. They were all carrying long cases, two people in front and two in back.

‘𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴?’

Judging by their length, they seemed to be rifles like the Winchester.

‘𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭. . . 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵. . . . . . . ‘

Until now, they had been using handguns like revolvers, and most of them were people who used magic or swords. However, the fact that they were now using guns, which were powerful weapons that anyone could use easily with a little practice, meant that they were starting to operate more aggressively.

After following them for a while, they arrived at a huge terminal where several sewers met.

A crossroads where dozens of sewers met. The ‘liberal revolutionaries,’ all wearing green coats and green hunting caps, were stacking things and moving around busily.

‘𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.’

Oswald made a ridiculous expression as he watched them use the place as a loading dock. The problem was that Oswald was only one person, while they were many. . . He couldn’t follow them all one by one.

Now there were two options left. . . One was to find a way to keep an eye on them all from here, and the other was to let Hecaton know and have them track their movements.

‘𝘉𝘶𝘵. . . 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?’

The empire’s intelligence agency, named after Hecaton, the demigod with 100 eyes, 100 ears, and 100 arms. As far as Oswald knew, their intelligence capabilities were considerable, and they shouldn’t be unaware of their movements.

So why were they running wild despite that?

‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦. . . . . . ?’

There was one thing he could think of. In the later half of the game, there was a time when the empire would wage a war to unify the western continent.

The war intensified, and the nations in the west formed a coalition to counter the expansion of the Imperial Empire and resist the empire. It was reminiscent of World War I on Earth, and this was something that the game creators had intended. In fact, they had stated that they had based this war on World War I.

‘𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. . . . . . . ‘