Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 20
Episode 20
“Huh?”
The keyword ‘order’ in the oath.
As she said that, Sephia’s hand unconsciously grabbed Dio’s outstretched hand.
Even though it is clear that we must doubt the existence of Dio and be wary of his words.
“Why do my hands do whatever they want…!?”
Sepia felt a sense of strangeness in her actions as she held Dio’s hand.
This may be because it is an action that does not contain her will.
‘It wasn’t a lie?’
Sepia, shocked, hastily shook off Dio’s hand.
“how is it? “Does this explain it?”
“Oh no. “I didn’t know this…”
Sepia’s mind flashed for a moment as she tried to deny it.
The oath of subjugation that began from the moment I held his hand.
I vaguely remember seeing a blue piece of parchment appear in front of me right before I passed out.
Now that I think about it, it looked like a contract made by magic.
‘How can this be… So you’re saying I have no choice but to follow this person for the rest of my life?’
Subordination that requires you to follow orders unconditionally?
Isn’t that like slavery?
Sepia’s eyes wavered uneasily at the difficult reality to accept.
“It may be confusing, but it was the only way to save you.”
“….”
Sephia, recalling the memories of that time, became speechless, unable to refute Dio’s words.
He simply gave himself the opportunity to release the death that had been promised to him.
Accepting it was only his own choice.
“From now on, you must follow my words and act with me. “If you don’t, you will be punished for violating the oath.”
“…Punishment?”
“I’m not doing it because I want to. “The power of the oath that saved you is coming.”
Dio added this to rule out the possibility that Sepia would suffer or die due to a violation of the oath.
Of course, all he talked about was [obedience] and [solidarity], and he never explained anything about [breaking].
There is no need to instill anxiety that you can do whatever you want with the contractor’s life.
“You might have a hard time understanding me right now. “Well, since we have a lot of time, I’ll explain the details slowly.”
“….”
“I’ll take you to River North first. Since you’ll have to stay away from that older brother from now on, you’d better brace yourself. “I’m a wandering mercenary.”
Sepia bit her lip at Dio’s words.
From Sepia’s perspective, it was difficult to fully accept what Dio was saying.
I can’t tell if everything he says is true or false, or a mixture of truth and lies.
However, one thing was certain: the ‘orders’ he gave had no choice but to be carried out regardless of his will.
‘I have no choice.’
It is undoubtedly true that Dio’s intention was to free himself from a terrible curse and save his life.
‘How should I tell my brother…’
Sepia looked worried as she thought about Sigmund, who must be worried about her.
Then he shook his head and made up his mind.
‘No, I can meet my brother again because I am alive.’
okay. That’s enough.
Subordination or whatever, as long as I survive…
I need to have a little bit of trust in the man in front of me right now.
For Sephia now, the only way to follow Dio was the best.
“…i look forward to.”
[Sepia’s trust has increased by 3.]
‘Oh?’
The system notification that seemed to confirm Sepia’s decision caught Dio’s attention.
‘Trustworth has gone up, right? What part did it rise from? Does this mean that Sepia was somewhat convinced by what I said?’
Dio, who had a rough idea of how the reliability system works, gave a short impression.
‘I decided to follow him for now, but I’m still very wary.’
Trust only rose by 3.
Perhaps the system wants to let you know that only when sufficient trust is built can it work together in complete dependence.
‘Still, it’s a very humane system.’
It seems as if they are testing whether to treat subordinates bound by an oath carelessly or to build trust.
After leaving a short review of the system, Dio began to think about future events.
One way or another, now that he has brought her into his dependency, he needs to go through the future together with him.
‘If I could make Sigmund subordinate while we were meeting, nothing would be better…’
Dio started the happy circuit, but soon recognized the absurdity and shook his head.
At the current level, it is almost impossible to conclude a liberation pact with Sigmund.
‘And even if you don’t make a pact, you will be able to maintain a good relationship with Sigmund through Sepia.’
There is no need to waste precious skills by giving up human relationships such as blood relatives.
‘Even if the level rises once more, there is no guarantee that the number of subscribers will increase again. So, I’ll have to be more careful in the future.’
Discovering the Hidden Quest can be considered a stroke of luck.
It would be foolish to expect such luck again.
D.O., who pledged to use the second contractor with great care, postponed plans for future contractors for the time being.
‘The problem of having only one contractor has been resolved… I need to extract as much benefit from Sepia as possible to make up for the lost stats.’
Dio, who had his future plans in mind, immediately began to descend the Tyr Mountains with Sephia in tow.
* * *
In a dark space with only a few candles lit as light.
A thin man with pale skin and cheeks twitching his eyebrows shouted furiously.
“The sacrifice disappeared?”
A dark wizard’s hideout hidden from the world’s eyes.
The head of the place, the warlock Viktor, who had reached the 3rd Circle, glared at the subordinate who reported to him.
“That…”
Suha, who had fully received Victor’s anger, trembled in fear and stuttered.
“Say it again.”
Black magic is magic that requires sacrifice in exchange for great power.
Among the offerings required for sacrifice, the most valuable thing is none other than ‘life.’
Among those lives, human life can be considered the best sacrifice for a warlock.
For this reason, black magic, which took the lives of countless people, was considered taboo in the world.
But is the sacrifice prepared while being treated like that now saying that that stupid subordinate has disappeared?
Among the offerings, was there ‘sepia’, which was said to be an expensive gemstone?
When Viktor asked again, the warlock who had delivered the news to him did not dare open his mouth.
“Try saying it again!”
“Hi!”
Clink!
The glass that Victor threw shattered right in front of the frightened subordinate.
“That…”
Suha, who was receiving Victor’s anger, was soaked in fear and sweat poured out like a flood.
I wasn’t reprimanded simply for delivering bad news.
This is because he was a warlock whose job it was to manage the sacrifices of the thieves’ den through slave traders.
In other words, any problems that occur here are your own responsibility.
Suha trembled at the thought that if he kept quiet like this, he would be killed by Victor.
But in order to survive, I had to say something.
“Well, when I got there, all the thieves were already dead…”
-Chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
“Gagging!”
Black chains emerged from within Viktor’s robes and began to bind the warlock’s limbs.
“Even though you know what kind of sacrifice it is, you manage it like that!?”
Victor screams and becomes angry.
Victor, who can use 3-circle black magic, cast a whopping 4 stacks of black magic on the sacrifice.
The warlocks assisting him knew how much effort he had put into it.
The reason he puts so much effort into the sacrifice.
This is because through this ceremony, an explosive level of hierarchical growth was possible.
‘With a sacrifice of that level, the 5th circle would be an instant, but if I took the time to gather my strength, I could have even surpassed the 7th circle…!’
Discovering Sepia’s abilities was by chance.
The area where the sacrifices needed for the recent sacrifice were searched for was River North.
Although River North was a large city with good security, there was still a hidden underworld that committed crimes.
Viktor contacted the underworld of Rivernos and purchased slaves, and in the process, learned of the existence of Sigmund, the guardian knight of Rivernos.
The reality is that not only major figures in Rivernos but also the underworld are paying attention to the existence of Sigmund.
In order to do something big, Victor also needed to investigate Sigmund in detail.
In the process, they discovered that Sigmund’s younger sister existed.
‘I didn’t really care at first. I was just approaching to see if I could create Sigmund’s weakness.’
The more Viktor recalled the incident, the more he couldn’t hold back his anger at the situation that had just happened, and the more he trembled.
‘The power of sepia is special. It was a talent at the level of an archmage.’
If he had not recognized Sepia’s power, there would have been no reason to kidnap her despite the obstacles that were Sigmund.
Viktor, who kidnapped Sepia and saw with his own eyes the vast amount of mana within her body, could not forget the joy he felt at that time.
The mana inherent in Sepia was a type of mana that Viktor had never seen before.
No, maybe it’s not mana.
It is Viktor’s first time experiencing a sacrifice at the level of an archmage, so it is no exaggeration to say that he does not know.
However, one thing that can be certain is that Sepia’s body contains an uncontrollable power, whether this mana or something else.
Victor judged Sephia’s power to be an inexhaustible talent and assured her that if she took advantage of it, she would achieve remarkable growth.
I just ran so far for today’s ceremony.
Victor’s sky-high anger finally began to explode at the thought that all of these plans were in vain.
“Huh huh! Victor! Please give me one more chance!”
Puzzle –
In the world of warlocks, there is no such thing as one more time.
Immediately, the chain of Viktor’s sword twisted the warlock’s neck, and he was killed instantly.
Boom –
The warlock, who had become a cold corpse, fell to the floor.
The other warlocks under Victor who were watching this trembled.
Among the continent’s most powerful criminal groups, warlocks cannot be left out.
Moreover, although Victor was skilled, his ruthlessness was notorious even among warlocks.
bang-!
A new warlock opened the door and entered the hell where Viktor’s punishment was taking place.
The warlock urgently shouted out a message before Viktor’s gaze could reach him.
“We have found the location of the sacrifice!”
The warlock immediately kneels in front of Viktor and gives him a map.
Warlocks always left trace marks on the clothing their sacrifices were wearing, just in case.
Through this, Victor took over the map that accurately pointed to the target’s location and unfolded it with anger.
“We haven’t gotten far from the thieves’ cave yet.”
Viktor took rough steps, handing the map down to the chest of the warlock next to him.
“Everyone follow me!”
If the offering ends up somewhere out of reach, the plan goes completely awry.
Victor, anxious, decided to take action himself.
“Whoever took the sacrifice, I will cut it down with my own hands and kill it!”
Survive as an SSS-level warehouse character