Pick Me Up!

Chapter 68: Exploration Dungeon (2) (2)

Just before entering, I found a bulletin board next to the entrance.

Various wanted posters were attached to the board. Criminals who had stabbed priests and fled. Thieves who plundered peddlers. Wolves with two heads. Even mutated goblins.

And the most prominent portrait was there.

A silver-haired girl wearing a crown. Her appearance was somewhat faded, but unforgettable.

“That little brat…”

The number of digits for the reward was different.

Even if you combined the rewards for all the wanted posters, it seemed it wouldn’t be enough to match her reward.

Underneath the portrait, the charges were listed.

“Charges: Heresy, Summoning of Demons.”

In addition, charges such as insulting the royalty, murder, arson, theft, and rape were all listed.

At the end, it was written that she was to be stripped of her royal status for committing heinous crimes as an inheritor of a great bloodline.

“Are you also targeting that witch, Hyung?”

I turned my head.

A young boy carrying a backpack looked at me. The backpack was partially open, and it was filled with wanted posters.

“Your dreams seem grand, but it won’t happen. Even the most powerful people on the continent couldn’t find her after searching everywhere. If you’re a bounty hunter, you must know that, right, Hyung?”

With familiar gestures, the boy took out a wanted poster and began attaching it to the board.

“Why are you calling that little girl a witch?”

“Of course. She’s supposedly incredibly powerful. They say she sacrificed the hearts of newborns as offerings. Dozens of them. She’s said to use forbidden dark magic.”

“Forbidden dark magic?”

“They say it summons evil beings. I don’t know the details, though.”

Having finished attaching the wanted posters, the boy turned around.

I grabbed his shoulder.

“Hold on.”

“Yes? What? I’m busy.”

“I want to hear about it.”

“I’m working here. I still have a long way to go to meet today’s quota.”

I silently handed him a gold coin.

The boy’s eyes widened as he accepted the gold coin.

“W-What…?”

“Give me the detailed information.”

“Ahaha, this looks quite expensive… but…”

“If you don’t want to, forget it.”

I reached for the gold coin to take it back.

The boy shook his head and tightly gripped the gold coin.

“Alright, alright…”

“Where do you want to talk, Hyung?”

“Inside the inn.”

“Got it!”

The boy stumbled into the inn, muttering to himself.

I followed him inside. The room was ready, and I ordered a place for two people. We took seats at a corner table on the second floor of the inn.

“What kind of story do you want to hear?”

The boy grinned and pocketed the gold coin.

He bit it and gently wiped it with his palm.

Observing the soldier and the boy, to them it seemed to have much value, but for us, it was just a thousand gold. An amount that could be obtained by making a round of the lower floors.

“Tell me about that witch.”

I said while sipping a peculiar-tasting beverage.

The boy began to explain in detail.

“Her name is Priasis Al Ragna. She lost her title, so it’s just Priasis now. She used to be the empire’s heir to the throne…”

The basic information was the same as what I knew.

However, there were a few discrepancies in some parts.

“The reward was issued a year ago?”

“Yes, exactly a year ago. That’s when the order was issued by the sect. Do you want to see the wanted poster again?”

The boy took out Priasis’ wanted poster from his bag.

At the bottom of the wanted poster, there was a seal with a cross and what looked like wings.

‘A year ago.’

It hadn’t even been a week since I had separated from Priasis on the 15th floor.

I had seen the seal on the wanted poster before. It was the pattern inscribed on the armor of the guys I had killed.

I asked the boy about a few more things related to the princess, but he replied that he didn’t know anything beyond what he had already said. I didn’t expect any more information from a mere child.

Taking all the information into account,

Priasis had been wanted right after escaping the city. She had wandered around various places for the past year. She seemed to be alive somewhere. If she had been captured and killed, the wanted poster wouldn’t still be circulating.

“Next.”

I spoke.

Of course, I didn’t plan to end things here.

“Yes, next.”

“Has there been any monster intrusion in this city?”

“Intrusion… yes, intrusion. Ah!”

The boy clapped his hands together.

“I was somewhere else before that, so I don’t know well, but I heard rumors. Goblins swarmed into the city. It might have been about two years ago?”

“So?”

“They managed to repel them somehow. I heard a lot of people died, but thanks to the church’s intervention, things were settled.”

Of course.

Two years had passed.

After confirming that there was no one nearby, the boy whispered to me.josei

“This is another rumor, but there’s a story that the mastermind behind the intrusion was a witch. Normally, monsters don’t engage in such large-scale activities.”

I chuckled thinly.

Everything bad had been connected.

It’s easier to explain this way.

“Any other unusual incidents happening?”

“Well… that’s a bit vague.”

“Anything is fine. Just tell me anything.”

“There have been outbreaks of an epidemic. Monsters are rampaging. The weather seems to be getting colder. Among them, the most peculiar thing is the dungeon, of course.”

The boy opened his mouth.

“It must have been a few years ago. Ancient ruins suddenly started popping up all over the continent. We call those places dungeons. But these places are really strange. Normal people can’t enter because of an invisible wall.”

An invisible wall.

I knew what it referred to.

“Looks like there are people who can enter and those who can’t.”

“Exactly. This is also a rumor, but at the end of the dungeon, there’s a strange stone. If you obtain that stone, you can gain special power.”

“Power…”

There is only one stone that could grant special power.

The Advent Stone.

It was the source of the heroes’ third ability, following stats and skills, imprinting.

“There’s probably one here too.”

“Really? How…?”

“I will know when I see it.”

It was swarming with mercenaries.

After finishing my drink, I stood up from my seat.

“Guide me. I’ll pay you for it.”

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