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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Barbarian Warrior Hiding His Face
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I first assessed the surrounding atmosphere.

It was a secluded alley, where even the sun was hidden by the shadows of buildings.

One might expect them to sense something amiss upon entering such a deep part of the alley, but they obligingly followed me.

“Hey, you male. Stop while we’re being nice.”

“If you just cooperate, no one has to get hurt.”

I heard their voices, spouting lines like common, third-rate thugs, and feigned a shudder, as if startled.

“W-Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who we are.”

*Shing—*

They drew sharp daggers from their waistbands.

[Zelvin LV.11]

[Merci LV.9]

They weren’t a significant threat, but…

“H-H-Heek!”

I reacted with surprise anyway.

I’d learned one thing from my battle with Deluna: these subtle mind games.

The more the opponent sees me as a pushover, the easier it will be to induce their complacency.

In a way, this strategy is only possible because I have a Status Window. Their pretense of weakness wouldn't work on me.

“Heh. Look at him flinch. You’ve got a way of getting a woman’s loins stirring.”

“If he looks decent once we take that helmet off, we could sell him as a slave or a man-lover.”

“Idiot. Why would a man hide his face? He must be ugly as sin.”

“That’s true. Still, he’s got a good body, so there’ll be plenty of demand.”

Seeing them already debating how to exploit me, it seemed my cowardly act worked perfectly.

They chuckled, gradually approaching me.

My opponents were menacingly closing in, holding sharp weapons and spouting threats of rape and selling me as a man-lover.

To facilitate smooth communication, I pulled out an appropriate means of dialogue.

‘This much should count as self-defense, right?’

With a justification secured, all I had to do now was swing my axe.

***

“P-Please, let me… let me go…”

Zelvin, marked with axe blows across his body, rubbed his hands together, pleading profusely.

Next to him was Merci, presumably his companion, but she couldn’t plead as earnestly as Zelvin.

She’d rolled her eyes back and fainted almost immediately after the axe hit her thigh.

“Well. That depends on what you do.”

“H-Heek…”

I pointed my axe at the terrified Zelvin and asked,

“Why did you follow me? Were you trying to avenge Deluna? What exactly are you guys? Who ordered you to follow me?”

“O-Ordered us? Who?! What nonsense are you talking about?!”

“Hmph. Trying to deny it, are we?”

I pulled out the Confession Dispenser, pointing it at Zelvin, who stared at me with a bewildered expression.

A little poke with this, and whether it’s a man or a woman, they’ll shriek in agony and give me the answers I want.

“W-Wait! I’ll talk!”

As I moved to press the Confession Dispenser into his neck, Zelvin immediately opened his mouth, his face turning ashen.

It truly was effective.

“It’s a perfectly natural and obvious female way of thinking to want to devour a man if one is present…”

He was just spouting nonsense, so maybe not. Perhaps a harder jab would yield better results.

“What the hell are you talking about? Who told you to say that? I asked who ordered you!”

“W-Well, if you *must* find someone who ordered us, it was our own wombs. We just purely wanted to do something to you…”

“……What?”

Something was off.

Aside from my head spinning from his words, the conversation had felt disjointed and off-track for a while now.

‘They didn’t come to retaliate after seeing Deluna, who had the same Puppet Curse… they just followed me for no reason?’

I cautiously spoke the name of the curse.

“Puppet.”

“...?”

“The 86,574th Puppet. You. And she’s the 88,574th.”

“...?”

Zelvin’s face became even more blank. He looked like he didn't understand a single word I was saying.

“Puppet…? Are you talking about a puppet show? They sometimes have street performances in the Outlaw District. I often go to watch them; they’re fun.”

“No, not that kind of performance—”

Just as frustration was about to overwhelm me, a possibility flashed through my mind.

‘These bastards. Could it be they don't even know they're cursed?’

But then, my head tilted in confusion.

‘No, how could they not know that?’

It wasn’t just because I had a Status Window.

Explorers, or whatever they are, who venture into the Labyrinth, obtain blessings or curses with rare probability. The Labyrinth bestows blessings and curses equally upon all.

And blessings and curses are verified at a temple.

Explorers typically check for curses diligently every time they return from the Labyrinth, so it’s impossible for them not to know if they’re cursed.

Even when I worked at Diana’s inn, drunk explorers would constantly chatter about what curse they got today and how their lives were screwed.

‘While there are cases like my Question Mark Blessing, the Puppet’s Curse shouldn’t be one of them.’

The Question Mark Blessing didn't even show its detailed contents in the Status Window.

On the other hand, the Puppet’s Curse showed its details like a normal blessing or curse.

Then it should appear in a temple’s appraisal too…

‘Appraised it, but didn't tell them?’

Seraph Adeline appraised and immediately wrote the results on paper, making them easy for others to understand.

But would all priests do that?

Adolf’s face came to mind. With priests exiled for sodomy, could all priests really follow the rules?

Among so many priests, could I be sure there wasn’t even one Puppet?

No, aren’t blessings and curses received in the Labyrinth in the first place?

What exactly is it a puppet *of*? Whose puppet is it? A puppet of the Labyrinth? Or someone else? A group? An organization?

‘…No. That’s too much of a leap in logic. Let’s calm down.’

Thinking about the enemy quickly compounds my worries.

I took a deep breath and cleared my head.

Anyway. It seemed he didn't know when or where he got the Puppet’s Curse, much like me when I got the Question Mark Blessing.

Let’s set aside information I can’t immediately figure out and check the information at hand.

“You two. You’re outlaws, aren’t you?”

Judging by the way they were talking earlier, they were definitely not ordinary explorers.

I pressed down on the Confession Dispenser as I asked, and the answer immediately spilled out.

“Y-Yes…”

“Then how were you sitting so openly in the Explorer’s Guild?”

“The Explorer’s Guild building only prohibits branded individuals. So, if you’re not an outlaw whose name is widely known or has a bounty on their head, you can briefly visit the Guild. B-But I’m not in that category…”

Zelvin pulled out a wooden tag with a peculiar engraving from his pocket.

“I-I was an outlaw. Now I’m going through the rehabilitation process. I’d been holding myself back until now, but you tempted me with that body of yours…! Ugh!”

When I asked about the rehabilitation process, he explained that it was a procedure where those who couldn’t endure outlaw life would pay a bribe to the Guild to obtain a new identity and return as explorers.

“If an engraving is stamped on your ID tag, that’s proof that you were an outlaw who’s been rehabilitated.”

‘Just as I thought of the Explorer’s Guild. They really are money-crazed bastards.’

How was this any different from a criminal with an ankle monitor bribing the police to remove it?

It was just pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.

“Then, by any chance, do you know someone named Deluna?”

“Ah. I know her. She was a contemporary in the rehabilitation process. She progressed quickly and didn’t cause any trouble, so she graduated early, but it seems she fell back into crime and failed, as I saw earlier.”

“Then do you know about the Bloods Clan she was part of?”

“Bloods? As if I could forget those bastards. They’re notorious for doing dirty work in the western Outlaw District. They’re bad apples, with slave hunting as their default.”

Zelvin seemed very angry, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

“Especially their clan leader; she’s quite capable. Her name is Vesta, and they say she was once even a 16th-floor explorer.”

The 16th floor is the mid-levels. Quite deep within the mid-levels, too.

—Do you know who’s above me? Huh?! Do you know?!

I had thought Deluna’s dying words meant she knew the existence of the Puppet’s master.

However, after hearing these guys’ words and seeing their unawareness of the curse, I had to reconsider.

‘Was she just talking big because her clan’s boss was somewhat capable?’

—Slaves are meant to be used like this. Lady Vesta gave this one to me for that very reason.

Come to think of it, didn't Densi also say that some Best or Vesta person gave her to him?

“P-Please, I’ve told you everything. Now put the axe away… We were wrong…”

Zelvin spoke with a desperate voice, as if begging to be let go now.

Even after the interrogation, I hadn’t gained much. To fill this empty feeling, I felt I had to get something.

“If you commit a crime, you have to compensate the victim. Let’s settle amicably for ten silver coins.”

“W-We’re the only ones who got hurt, what kind of nonsense is that? And there’s no way we have that much money!”

“What? You want to go through the rehabilitation process all over again?”

“W-What kind of thug is th—!”

“What? You want to go back to being an outlaw? Should I let you go back?”

As I brandished the axe, Zelvin looked at me with a face that said, ‘What kind of asshole is this?’

“...Ugh, if I pay, you’ll definitely keep your mouth shut, right?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Aargh! Let go of me! You demon!”

It was a bit wasteful to let these guys go already.

Though there was no immediate information to extract, they were still cursed individuals.

Ultimately, we compromised and reached an amicable agreement for five silver coins. I decided to at least find out where they lived, so I could investigate their curse further if a means arose in the future.

“...Sad Cat Inn. Room 105. Merci lives there too.”

“If your residence changes the next time I come looking, something very interesting will happen.”

“...Understood. You demon.”

As I subtly raised my axe, he quickly picked up Merci and fled.

I watched them go, lost in thought.

What was the commonality between Deluna and these guys?

All three were explorers who had gone through the rehabilitation process.

‘Meaning, all three were outlaws in the past.’

Based on the information I had now, my guess was:

The western Outlaw District. There’s something there.

And it’s something seriously unsettling.

***

The next day.

Jeremy, Densi, and I met at the Explorer’s Guild to settle our compensation.

And the moment I saw Densi walk through the door, I could only clutch the back of my neck.

“Densi, what…?”

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

I called out to Densi with a trembling voice, and she looked up at me with a blank expression.

[Currently Bound Slave]

[Densi LV.7]

[Currently Held Blessings and Curses by Densi: 3]

[◆ The 1,389th Puppet’s Curse]

—Densi has become the 1,389th Puppet.

—All stats +1 upon maximum condition fulfillment.

“What the hell did you bring back with you…?”

“???”

Despite my quiet question, Densi only gave me a bewildered look.

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