Chapter 3

He had brought them here to collect the loot from the mountain hideout.

Loot searches had become far more important than when this world was just a game.

Neither monsters nor humans revived or respawned anymore.

Once you died, that was the end.

The same applied to loot.

Still, searching such a large hideout alone was inefficient, so he had asked for help.

Of course, he didn’t trust these country bumpkins.

“You can take necessities for your village or small pocket money-sized items. I won’t stop you.”

Ian looked each young man in the eyes with a cold gaze.

As though memorizing their faces.

“But if something looks valuable, bring it to me without fail. Especially if you can’t tell whether it’s valuable or not.”

Ian lightly stroked the militia captain’s sword, which now belonged to him.

“For reference, the thing I despise most is people repaying kindness with betrayal. I hate it enough that I wouldn’t even want to breathe the same air as them.”

He said it to intimidate them.

Though it wasn’t entirely empty words.

Looking at the youths swallowing nervously, Ian added,

“Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“We understand!”

The youths shouted in unison.

Ian gave a slight nod.

“Dismissed.”

The young men scattered in all directions.

Their eyes gleamed like hyenas.

“Don’t get too distracted by treasure. Keep a tight grip on your weapons. There might still be survivors hiding around.”

Adding the warning, the tavern owner leisurely followed after them.

“Innkeeper.”

Ian called out to him.

“Yes?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“Well, sure.”

The tavern owner walked over willingly.

Though he had more fat than muscle, he still had an imposing physique.

If Ian had chosen the knight or barbarian warrior class, maybe he would have ended up with a body like that.

‘Then maybe fewer people would’ve underestimated and attacked me.’

“Looks like you need someone for heavy labor,” the innkeeper said.

Ian turned around and replied,

“You also seem more capable than those villagers when it comes to finding valuables.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Weren’t you in the military? You look like someone experienced with looting.”

The innkeeper snorted.

“To be exact, I used to serve in Bell Ronde’s regular army. Sharp eyes you’ve got.”

Ian shrugged.

Ever since the game days, taverns had been places frequently visited for quests.

And almost every tavern owner had either been a thug or a soldier.

Honestly, people unlike that probably wouldn’t even dare run a tavern.

This owner gave off the vibe of a veteran sergeant nearing retirement, so Ian had guessed the latter.

It was simple deduction.

“We’re here.”

Ian stepped deeper into the hideout.

At the very end of the mountain camp was the clearing where he had cut off the kobold chief’s head.

“So that’s the chief?”

The innkeeper pointed toward the center.

A huge battle axe.

And a headless gray-black body.

The chipped sword discarded in front of it was the one Ian had been using.

“Yeah. We’ll search this bastard first.”

Standing before the corpse, Ian muttered.

The innkeeper let out an impressed sound.

“This isn’t my first time seeing a kobold chief, but I’ve never seen one this huge. No wonder its head was massive.”

The kobold chief’s body was nearly as large as the innkeeper’s.

Ordinary kobolds were about the size of children, so its growth had been abnormal.

It even wore armor and several ornaments.

Though the armor was little more than patched leather, and the accessories were mostly necklaces made from animal fangs and claws.

“You can tell by its face, but it was still young. It would’ve grown even bigger.”

As he spoke, Ian crouched down.

“I couldn’t tell at all. Still, if it got even bigger, that would’ve been terrifying.”

“Yeah. It would’ve raided the village. Most of you would’ve died.”

“Well, probably. But you sound awfully certain.”

“The militia was pathetic.”

In truth, Ian had seen it happen in the game.

When the game became reality, the flow of time changed as well.

Even though he arrived here over a year after falling into this world, it was still much earlier than when he had visited this place in the game.

Back then, the kobold hideout had already become a tribal stronghold dominating the forest and threatening nearby villages.

That kobold chief had eventually become a great chieftain ruling over several other chiefs.

Since Ian had wiped them out before that happened, it had been relatively easy.

Though the experience reward was much lower.

‘Hopefully the loot didn’t get downgraded too.’

Ian removed the chief’s ornaments one by one and inspected them.

“…There it is.”

His eyes lit up.

Thankfully, the loot was still the same.

“What did you find?”

The innkeeper, crouching blankly nearby, asked.

Ian held up a necklace.

“A valuable item.”

“To me, it just looks like a creepy red eye-shaped stone.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Ian put on the Bloodstone Necklace.

A rare accessory that increased Strength and Stamina by 1 each, and Mental Power by 3.

Half the reason the chief had been far calmer than ordinary kobolds was probably because of this necklace.

The innkeeper stared at it uneasily.

“You seem to have exceptional judgment. Doesn’t look like there’s anything for me to do.”

“There is now. Strip this bastard’s armor.”

“…So it really is heavy labor after all. Fine.”

The innkeeper lifted the chief’s corpse.

“Miserably heavy,” he muttered while skillfully removing the ragged armor.

Ian placed a hand on it.

It was equipment whose information could be checked, but its performance wasn’t anything impressive.

And it looked difficult to repair.

“You can take the armor. It should fit you perfectly.”

“You sure? Guess my tavern’s getting another decoration. Thanks.”

The innkeeper’s hands moved energetically as he untangled the messy knots.

Clearly, he already considered it his property.

Ian smirked inwardly and added,

“And take that axe too.”

“…Really? To me, these seem more valuable than that necklace.”

Not at all.

That battle axe only looked intact on the outside. A few more clashes and it would break apart.

“Don’t misunderstand. They’re not free.”

Hiding his true intentions, Ian spoke calmly.

The innkeeper tilted his head.

“While I stay in the village, I want you to bring me jobs.”

“You mean requests like exterminating kobolds?”

“Yeah. Big or small, doesn’t matter. As long as the rewards are good.”

That was the real reason Ian had called the innkeeper separately.

Before falling into this world, he had read guides listing essential side quests, but he hadn’t seen all of them.

Even though his mind had become sharper, it didn’t magically give him knowledge of things he’d never read.

But he couldn’t personally search for every quest either.

So he planned to make work come to him instead.

Somewhere among those jobs, there would surely be quests.

Or at least clues.

If the price for that was a set of ragged armor and a nearly broken axe, then it was a profitable deal in every way.

The same logic applied to letting the village youths keep some loot.

“How unexpected.”

The innkeeper stared at Ian for a moment before speaking.

There was a trace of admiration in his voice.

Ian chuckled.

“What, did you think I’d just freeload and eat food all day like that militia?”

“Even if you did, I couldn’t stop you. I just thought you’d leave quickly. A man like you doesn’t seem like someone who’d stay buried in a backwater village.”

“I’ll leave once I’m done here.”

Unless he wanted to remain a doomed character forever.

Ian intended to clear as many quests as possible.

Even if it led to different outcomes than the story he experienced in the game.

“Understood. Gladly. As long as it’s not something trivial like finding someone’s cat.”

“Even that’s fine. If I’m allowed to kill it and bring it back.”

Laughing, the innkeeper removed the armor.

He handled it carefully while organizing it.

Clearly treating it as a prized possession.

Ian looked over the chief’s exposed body.

Then his gaze fixed on the center of its chest.

“As expected, it’s here.”

Embedded in the middle of the chief’s chest was a fairly large black orb.

The thick veins bulging around it still hadn’t settled.

This was the best loot obtainable from the chief.

“What’s this now? A cursed orb?”

The innkeeper muttered again.

Ian nodded.

“Something like that.”

“Good heavens. Lu Sola…”

The innkeeper closed his eyes and muttered the name of a god.

“Dagger.”

Ian held out his hand.

With a disgusted expression, the innkeeper handed over his dagger.

Without hesitation, Ian stabbed the dagger into the chief’s chest and dug out the orb.

The heavy black sphere gleamed slickly despite being covered in blood.

Something ominous seemed to squirm inside it.

Turning his gaze away, the innkeeper asked,

“What kind of curse is inside that thing?”

“It contains corrupted mana. A massive amount of it.”

“…Are you saying this chief used black magic?”

“The one who implanted this thing used it. This was basically a terminal. When the time came, it would’ve submitted to the being that granted it power.”

Now that the chief was dead, it was merely condensed essence made of corrupted mana.

The innkeeper frowned deeply.

“So someone wanted these creatures to spread?”

“Yeah.”

“But why would anyone do something like that? Some black mage driven insane by the Black Wall’s madness?”

“That’s none of my business. It’s over now, so forget about it.”

Besides, that black mage bastard was destined to die by Ian’s hand someday anyway.

Ian thought to himself as he wiped the blood from the essence.

Corrupted High-Grade Mana Essence.

If he were a black mage, this would’ve been a priceless treasure usable immediately.

Every character in Aquilonia could choose “Corruption.”

It was content added in the first DLC expansion pack.

Knights became dark knights.

Barbarian warriors became berserkers.

Mages became black mages.

Scouts became assassins.

Priests became ancient priests.

According to the guides, not only skills but also choices and quests changed.

And corruption was still possible now.

The reason Ian hadn’t chosen it was because the moment you embraced corruption, your level reset to zero.

Not knowing the future skill trees also played a role.

And he had no idea how his relationships with major characters would change.

There were more than enough reasons to avoid it.

Anyway, what mattered now was the fact that once purified, he could use this essence too.

Whether directly or as material for crafting something, it would save his life at least once.

‘Which priest in Agel Lan could purify this again?’

Ian tucked the essence into his clothes.

Or rather, he pretended to and moved it into subspace storage.

The inventory window that used to have twelve default slots in the game had now turned into a small dimensional space.

It was still tiny, so it couldn’t even hold many weapons.

Still, it was a personal vault that could never be stolen from.

“Looks like we’re done with this guy.”

Ian stood up and handed the dagger back.

The innkeeper accepted it with a conflicted look.

“So where to next?”

Ian pointed toward the hut behind the clearing, the only one with a somewhat proper structure.

“Now we loot this bastard’s house.”

The innkeeper’s eyes brightened again.

He immediately took the lead.

“Let’s go already. I’m curious what a kobold chief hoards.”

More like curious about what scraps of profit would fall into your hands this time.

Ian leisurely followed behind him.

The loot gathered by the village youths filled an entire cart and overflowed beyond it.

Scrap metal. Logs. Broken weapons and armor.

Even kobold corpses that were still in relatively decent condition.

Most of it was junk Ian wouldn’t have spared a glance at if he had come alone.

Ian selected only the most valuable items among them.

A few mana stones and silver coins.

Though they all fit in one hand.

“This much… isn’t bad.”

Each item was worth more than all the junk combined.

For profits earned without time or effort, it was excessive.

There was even a mana stone found in the chief’s hut, so overall, the search had been successful.

“Even so…”

Some things still needed checking.

Ian turned his head.

The village youths stood in a line.

Every single one had bulging pockets.

‘They sure stuffed them well.’

Ian slowly examined them one by one.

The youths froze like frogs before a snake whenever his gaze landed on them.

Because Ian’s eyes were flickering ominously.

Arcane Vision.

A mana detection skill.

Though it was only Level 1, it was enough to identify objects containing mana.

“……”

Just like now.

Ian stopped walking.

A green glow shimmered clearly inside one youth’s bulging pocket.

Whatever it was, it definitely contained mana.

Ian looked at the young man’s face.

He looked foolish, and his complexion was unusually pale.

Rather than anger, Ian felt bitterness.

After all those warnings.

“How can someone be this stupid?”

“E-Excuse me…?”

The youth trembled as he asked back.

At least he seemed aware he had done something wrong.

Ian’s thoughts were brief.

He drew the sword at his waist.

Most fools in this dark age only learned lessons after blood was spilled.

“Take everything out of your pockets.”

Only then did tension spread across the group.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the trembling youth.

The young man’s lips shook again.

“What… what are you talking about…?”

Without replying, Ian raised his sword.

Just as he was about to cut the boy’s throat immediately.

“…?”

Ian’s brow suddenly furrowed.

The mana in the youth’s pocket was shining brighter.

And the mana seeping into his body was becoming clearer and clearer.

Ian looked at the youth’s face again.

Pale complexion.

Shaking lips.

Unfocused eyes.

“…So he wasn’t even in a condition to reason from the start.”

“W-What… what d-do you… g-ghk—!”

The youth’s voice turned distorted, like metal scraping together.

His wide-open eyes turned purple.

Purple mana burst from his entire body.

“H-Hiiik!”

“This crazy bastard…! Johnson?!”

The surrounding youths recoiled in horror.

Crack. Crunch.

With sickening sounds of bones breaking, the young man’s arms and shoulders twisted into grotesque directions.

It looked like some kind of mutation process.

‘Disgusting as hell.’

Of course, Ian had no intention of waiting for it to finish.

Shhk!

Ian’s sword flashed again, drawing a sharp arc.

Just as the blade was about to sever the youth’s neck.

Clang.

The youth’s backward-bent hand grabbed the blade barehanded.

The sword cut more than halfway through his palm, yet he didn’t seem to feel any pain.

No, he was actually grinning.

His eyes, swirling with purple mana, stared directly at Ian.

“You’re quite impatient. Trying to take my head immediately.”

A strange metallic voice emerged from his mouth.

Ian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had thought it was merely possession by an evil spirit or a curse.

“Seems we have an uninvited guest.”