Chapter 74: [Arc 2] Chapter 21: Temple Infiltration: Looking for Advantages

And here I was thinking that my luck was questionable.

"Nothing strange going on here." - Cult member #1

"I'm still not getting why the old goose thinks someone can pass through the Rays of Detection." - Cult member #2

"He's an old goose. You said it yourself." - Cult member #1

"Ah, you're right. It's not like he's the chief priest." - Cult member #2

"That's because the chief is, you know, what do they call it again?" - Cult member #1

"The exception that breaks the rule, was it?" - Cult member #2

Wrong. It's 'the exception that proves the rule', idiot.

These guys suddenly showed up from behind the sculpture, which was a gun turret. Are these guys magicians? They have some black robes with hoods on them, but if I clarify them as magicians just for that, then I'm no better than Mira. Just need to appraise them a little, and... what?

About their classes, one of them is a Soldier, while the other is a Scout. I took a quick look under their hoods, and they look like your regular thugs. You know, the Isekai classic type. The Scout even had a mohawk. Their stats were horrible, and their karma value was the same, and they had some titles and a weird status condition as well.

The title of the Soldier is... [Criminal: Murderer]?! And the mohawk Scout is... [Criminal: Rapist]?! I was expecting some shadiness from a cult related to a criminal group, but not something as in the face like this.

"Do you think our god will be happy with the sacrifices?" - Cult member #1 (Soldier)

"He must be. There's a large variety after all." - Cult member #2 (Scout)

Hmm? They started to talk about something interesting. Sacrifices?

"Kids, women, guards, and even an elf." - Cult member #2

"Yeah, that's true. God will come down to us with all of those, this time for sure." - Cult member #1

"Didn't you say that last time as well?" - Cult member #2

"Said what?" - Cult member #1

"Err, I forgot." - Cult member #2

Yeah, these guys aren't good in their heads, for many reasons. It's not an excuse, but their behavior can partly be explained by this thing. The rest is their own rotten fault, I think:

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APPRAISAL RESULT: Mental Pollution

Type: Bad-Status Condition

Attribute: Heretic

Infliction Conditions:

• Heretic-attribute skills
• Heretic-attribute spells

Effect:

• Reduced mental abilities.
• RES stat reduced by 50%
• INT stat reduced by 50%
• Invalides the acquisition of Criminal titles.

Removal Method: 

• Bad-status removal skill of higher level than that of the caster of the Status Condition.

Description: A Bad-Status Condition that reduces one's mental capabilities overall, and makes the affected party more subjectable towards mental attacks such as hypnosis and suggestions.

Due to not being able to control themselves, the affected party will not be granted any Criminal titles, while under the effect of the status condition.

Another effect of the status condition is that the affected party will find it easier to commit acts of cruelty and in case the caster of the status condition-afflicting skill or spell isn't careful, they can be killed by the affected party due to their close-to-madness-like mind.

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If there's anyone out there that thinks this thing ain't that much, then I would like to meet them. Whoever did this must be related to the criminal group that stole the Disaster of Life, one way or another. Not sure if I want to go against them head-on. Glad that both Mira and Levi got [Heretic Immunity] with [Kin Promotion]. Having them become morally polluted would be bad... or that's only for Levi's case. Mira's mind is as polluted as it can be already.

There's no reason for pitying these thugs then. If the status condition prevents getting new Criminal titles, then it means that the one they have at the moment was something they did before they got afflicted by Mental Pollution. Maybe the world would be happier if I snuff them out? I can't at the moment. There's bound to be other guys inside the temple after all. Causing chaos by killing these guys ain't the smartest of moves.

"Got to go back to the patrol, or else God won't free us from death." - Cult member #1

"Yeah, good point." - Cult member #2

*Screech*

Oh crap! Good thing it's too dark out here. Go, spider thread!

*splat*

"Damn, the door's stuck." - Cult member #1

"Must have gotten stuck completely now." - Cult member #2

"That's it, I'll tell the high priest about this." - Cult member #1

"Didn't you talk about that before?" - Cult member #2

"Err, talk about what?" - Cult member #1

"Err, I forgot." - Cult member #2

While those two were looking at the door, which had been glued stuck by a small amount of sticky thread on the hinges, I snuck behind them and entered the temple. I just need to find an empty room somewhere to change back to human form. No way I'm gonna investigate this place as a slowpoke Grey Demon, nor am I gonna walk around naked as a Kur Kigal either, even if it's in human form.

---

After some stealthy crawling, I found an unlocked warehouse and slipped inside.

Okay, Dark Blood set, check. Orimaru, check. Raoul, check. Mirage Mantle, in bandanna mode and wrapped around my arm, check. All green, let's mess up some cultists!

Not that I can do that unless I want to challenge a whole temple's worth of them. There's also the strange technologies they are using, which means they must have at least one Migrant, or someone related to one, amongst their numbers. And anyone that has read an Isekai-story knows how bad those guys are.

My current goal now is to locate that control center for the alarms outside, or whatever they use to control those. I'll also need to find out if I can either commandeer those turrets or render them useless. No matter how powerful I am, there's no way I can withstand a shower of bullets from those things. 

Then, there are the sacrifices they mentioned. They could be slaves or whatever, but the most likely scenario is that they're kidnapped from somewhere. If they are, then there goes the plan of filling the whole temple with poison dust. The guys in charge at the city is gonna blame me for all of it, even if I got rid of the vermin (cultists) in the same swoop. 

And again, I'm not sure if these guys are evil at all. It may only have been the first two guards that were an exception from the rest, but I'm seriously doubting it.

The fact that I'm in dire need of information doesn't change, so the only thing to do is to ransack the whole temple, without being detected, I may add. And what better way is it to start this investigation than to empty this warehouse for anything important? What are all of these things anyway? I only checked if there was someone inside here when I came in, but I didn't investigate what's on the shelves or crates.

Good thing I picked up [Trap Detection], after Jack's recommendations. Like one could guess from the name, this skill makes it easier to locate traps. It's easy to level up as well, or maybe the security lasers outside gave a good chump of proficiency, as the skill's already at LV5, getting me the ability to discern what type of traps it detects.

Said skill told me that there wasn't anything funny about the warehouse, and I don't see anything strange here with [Magic Sense] either... okay, I was wrong. This thing is as strange as the gun turret outside. 

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Item Name: Six-cylinder Revovler

Rank: D-

Type: Revolver (Gun)

Durability: 65/100

ATK: 85

Weight: 20

Ammo: 0/6

Requirements:

• MP: 10 (Cost)
• Bullets (Ammo)
• [Shooting] LV1 or higher

Description: A revolver that can store 6 bullets in its chambers. Uses mana instead of gunpowder to projectile the bullets.

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An beaten-up revolver. Another item made by Migrants. I double-appraised the Gun-part, and it seems that this type of item is still rare to find on Terra Sol. And the whole warehouse is filled to the brim with it! Including stuff like the revolver, there's modern handguns, sub-machine guns, regular machine guns, shotguns, rifles, even stuff like a musket and a freaking Gattling gun. Where did they get that one?

And more importantly, why are they keeping all this stuff in an unlocked warehouse? This place is covered with a thick layer of dust, so there's probably not been many people here for a long time. Don't these guys know the worth of this stuff? Despite having gun turrets placed outside? They way they have stuffed all the different bullets into a single barrel may prove me correct here.

Well, if they don't want it, nor seem any practically interested in even checking up on this stuff, then I'll just take it for my own. There's no way I'm gonna let them have this arsenal at hand.

---

Sometime later, with half a warehouse worth of firearms in my storage, I continued the investigation of the temple. Why just half? Because I wouldn't have space left in my storage if I did take everything with me, that's why! 

I made sure to take all the bullets with me, so they can't use the rest of the guns. I also placed sticky threads inside the interior of the remaining guns, so that they turn useless without cleaning them.

Anyway, back to the corridor then. I've been walking for a while, but I've found nothing special. Having [Auto-Mapping] helps a lot, but not when I don't know where I should be heading for. Nor detecting the patrols that's right in front of me either! Hide!

While focusing on using [Stealth] and [Silence] even more than I did when I was moving around, I hid in the shadow of one of the Greek pillar-like things that decorate the corridor and waited till the two guards passed.

"It's almost time for the ritual, wasn't it?" - Cult member #3

"Yeah, at midnight." - Cult member #4

These aren't the same guys as those who went outside, but they share their mob-like faces, status condition, and that they can't stop themselves from blabbering. A side-effect from Mental Pollution?

"Wanna bet on who's getting sacrificed first? My bet is on the Adventurers that played guards." - Cult member #4

"I'm thinking that the elf back there at the cells is gonna be the one." - Cult member #3

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"Hah! He's too scrawny to fulfill the god." - Cult member #4

"That's the point, he's like the appetiter." - Cult member #3

"Got a point. And it's 'appetizer'." - Cult member #4

"What is?" - Cult member #3

"Forget it." - Cult member #4

As the guards kept on walking, I was digesting what they had talked about. Don't need to be a genius to see that they are evil as it can be, with this human-sacrifice thing, and the strange status conditions all the guards are afflicted with. Didn't Skvalv mention something about that? That only the gods with bad personalities accept sacrifices like that? In that case, this whole cult is ready for the takedown then.

But, should I believe the words of some mentally ill guards? That elf they talked about should know more about this, more than me anyway. 

---

After looking through some more doors, I finally found the cells. How nice of them to put up a naming plate on the door. Wonder what all the cultists are doing on at the moment. They haven't kept an eye on the rest of the temple, except those four guards I've encountered to now.

As I was thinking that, [Trap Detection] picked up a signal. At the top of the door. Don't tell me it's the classic chalkboard eraser?! Like no way in hell that's true!

When I focused more on the top of the door, I saw the trap like I had been equipped with some thermal sensor, only for traps. The one in question is a doorbell. Quite harmless, but it will warn the guard about someone coming in. And, it will drop the anvil that's above the door.

I want the chalkboard eraser instead. When the doorbell rings, it cut off a small rope, which will drop a sharp blade on the thread holding the anvil, making it fell straight on whoever's opening the door. This needs some delicate handiwork.

I first checked the corridor before I started, to be sure that I wouldn't be caught in the act. All clear here, so let's go. I carefully opened the door, being careful that I didn't trip the alarm, and sent in several threads in with [Thread Control].

I bound the line that would lead to the anvil being dropped down so that it would stay in place even if it was cut off by the doorbell. For the all-important doorbell, I simply padded the inside of the bell with threads. If the clapper can't hit the cup of the bell, then there will be no sound after all.

That should do it. I'm running [Silence] at full, in case the anvil falls anyway, or the door squeaks. I already have the escape route ready on my mental map, so three, two, one!

*-----*

...... Nothing falling, no sound, I'm in!

---

The room with the cells... wasn't all that jail-ish as I'd expected. At most, this is a storage room for cages used to contain monsters.

This place was a simple temple before, so it wouldn't have a jail of its own then. Or maybe they have, but uses this place as some sort of solitary confinement? 

After closing the door, I started to look after the guard, or jailer perhaps? I found him on a desk that was located around a corner after the entrance of the room, that was made by the empty cages here. He hasn't noticed me, as he's preoccupied with the newspaper he's reading. And the rumored elf is... there! In a cage across the jailer's desk. 

Tch, a dude. My motivation sunk with 120%. The poor guy's bound by so many chains, it looks more like a ball of chains, with an elf head on top of it. He looks so pitiable, that I managed to work up some enthusiasm to save him, but am I sure that he's not a cultist that's playing possum? The patrolling guards from before mentioned him specifically, so this could be a trap... whatever. Nothing that a small dose of poison dust can't fix.

With that in mind, let's save mister elf for now. The chains are locked with a padlock, so the keys should be with the jailer. And that guy's... as bad as it can get. [Criminal: Rapist], [Criminal: Burglar], and [Criminal: Murderer]? It's a triple set. Guess I'll be doing the world a good deed in more ways than one. There are not many people that can check this guy from inside here, so it will take some time before they discover that he's dead.

I'll just check the elf as well, to be sure this ain't a trap.

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Carion Verde

Race: [Forest Elf]   | Level: 21

Karma Value: 76

Skills: 17

Titles: 2

Skill points: 0.6

Condition: Hungry

 

Main Class: Earth Mage LV35

Sub Class: Statue Maker LV2

Sub Class: none

 

HP: 46/77   | MP: 1/182   | SP: 2/73

STR: 44   | VIT: 35   | MAG: 190

RES: 129   | SPD: 51  | DEX: 91

INT: 125   | LUC: 105

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SKILL LIST

Ability Skills: [MP Enhancement LV2] [MP Reduced Consumption LV4] [MAG Enhancement LV3]

Magic Skills: [Earth Magic LV50] [Basic Magic] [Quick Chant LV4]

Crafting Skills: [Statue Creation LV4] [Clay Creation LV14]

Passive Skills: [Staffmanship LV6] [Magic Talent LV31] [Mage's Wisdom LV16]

Resistance Skills: [Earth Resistance LV4]

Perception Skills: [Mana Detection LV41] 

Leadership Skills: [Party LV12] [Cooperation LV20]

Racial Skills: [Natures Blessings LV7]

Elements: [Earth Element LV29]

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[Title Page]

[Monster Slayer]   [Undead Slayer]

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He doesn't look like a bad guy, but aren't his skills too specialized? Or is it me who is too much of an jack-of-all? He's not a criminal, no problems there, and he's soon to die of hunger, from what I can see from here. Not on my watch. I've not come all this way, only to lose my only clue to the stuff that's happening in this temple.

I snuck behind the jailer and drew Orimaru. As someone may remember, one of Orimaru's skills is [Assassin Blade], which lets me coat him with poison, amongst other stuff.

After that, there's not much to say; I used [Stealth] and [Silence] to keep myself hidden, then when I was behind the jailer, I slashed his neck with the poisoned Orimaru, and killed him in an instant, like for real. It went so fast, it turned out anti-climatic.

After removing the corpse from the desk, I searched it and found the keys to the cells, I mean, to the cages. While searching, I also found some preserved food, which didn't have stuff that gave mental pollution. I checked for that.

With food and keys in hand, I opened up the elf's cage and went in.

"Want some help there? In exchange, give me the info about this place, and those guys.", I said, pointing towards the corpse of the jailer.

"......" - Elf

Crap. The white in his eyes is showing. I moved the preserved food I had taken from the jailer towards the elf, and...

*Snap!* *Crunch, crunch, crunch...*

Y-yikes! He almost bit my fingers! 

"*gulp* H-huh? Where is this place?" - Elf

"... Think you got kidnapped." - Garami

The elf looked over the room, at the corpse of the jailer, then at me, and finally at himself.

"... Guess I am. I'm asking just to be safe, but you aren't the one who kidnapped me?" - Elf

"No, the one who's gonna save you in exchange for help with these cultists." - Garami

"Don't think I have any other choices here, besides I'm already in deep shit due to them. I'm in, just give me something more to eat." - Elf

"... Not 'release me from these chains first'?" - Garami

I said so, but I still gave him the rest of the food I had taken, while looking for the right key to the chains. Shall I think of it as having gotten a helper with some loose screws, or having gotten a helper with some balls on him?

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