Chapter 41
1.
It was a much more anticlimactic fight than I'd feared.
In fact, it had been an experiment to see how effective Growth Acceleration really was....
“Not really sure.”
By the time I let loose Death Sentence without holding back, the fight was already over.
The guy who'd been trying to dodge it with evasive maneuvers was sent to hell in no time.
Maybe Death Sentence was popping off more often than it had with Sunming.
And I can fire it in all directions now.
“How do mages even grow stronger in the first place?”
I mean, it can't just be EXP from killing eighteen 8th-rankers.
Since it's a death-type power, do I get stronger the more people I kill, the way death powers get stronger from dying a lot?
“Still, I've gained some knowledge.”
One thing became clear from that battle.
First, the more closely the sign I designate resembles the shape of my mana, the stronger it becomes.
A slash needs crescent-shaped mana, like a crescent slash.
A bullet needs bullet-shaped mana.
If I want to snap a neck, I need to coil around the target's neck.
Second, it's vulnerable to cover.
After all, Death Sentence is the act of manifesting the 'death' I imagine.
Clothing hems can be cut because they're part of that death image, but the battlefield itself was left with almost no trace.
If I'd fought inside a warehouse with plenty of cover, the result might have been different.
And finally, third.
“I, Cedric. Plain as day, the king of the 7th rank. Proof complete.”
I now had combat power that couldn't be compared to a measly Level 1 enhancement.
In this barbaric world where strength is everything, I had the power to protect myself.
If I made full use of Growth Acceleration and learned magic from Mama Ceres....
Maybe I could become a 6th-rank fixer
by the time this premium period ends?
For now, I had work to do.
“Phew, dust.”
I thoroughly searched the filthy office.
Unlike Arbel's room, which smelled fresh thanks to its natural air freshener, this office packed with bachelors was filled with a damp, stale stench.
“I miss Arbel's warm, sweet smell.”
Arbel was probably asleep by now, scratching his belly.
Lucky bastard.
My haul from the raid was five packs of cheap cigarettes, a ledger, 20,000 Bios in all, and two canisters of synthetic oil.
“They really had nothing.”
Can't be helped.
Outlying fixer offices like this are often attack targets, so they keep only the bare minimum of supplies.
The only thing I salvaged was a burgundy leather long coat that fit me perfectly.
It was heavy and awkward to move in, but man, it looked cool.
“Where the hell is the thing? I should've left one alive!”
After flipping over the sofa and even tearing up the floorboards,
I finally found a paper-wrapped item hidden deep in the attic.
It gave off a suspicious smell from a mile away.
“Heave-ho.”
When I peeled off the paper, I found a huge glass jar packed full of a brown, ointment-like substance.
“So this is the British Empire's star export....”
It weighed about 10 kilos.
When I opened the lid, a sweet smell, like medicinal herbs being boiled down, hit my nose.
“Should I skim off half and sell it?”
If I put it on the F-Sector black market or sold it to addicts, it could make me a nice bit of pocket money.
I didn't have to think about it for long.
Getting marked by the organization and dying because I handled the goods like an amateur was the textbook definition of a cliché.
Besides, I still had plenty left to squeeze out of Yiming.
“Next, cover up the evidence?”
I stuffed the large jar into the bag I had brought with me.
Then I doused the corpses strewn outside with the oil I'd found in the office and held a joint funeral for them.
The bodies burned well, wrapped in acrid smoke.
The smell of roasting meat mixed with the stench of burning and was pretty vile.
-Sizzle
I lit a cigarette and threw the cheap pack I'd gotten from the raid into the flames.
Under the roaring fire, the cigarette pack shriveled black in an instant.
“Whew. Go be reborn in paradise.”
That was the limit of the kindness I could show others.
This is the Necropolis, a great place to live.
2.
When I returned to Chwihongru after retrieving the goods,
the office was crowded with gang members in all sorts of outfits.
Wondering what the fun spectacle was, I walked over.
“Mmph! Mmmph!!!”
A naked man was bound to a chair covered with a tarp.
“Slice up this one, then that one, and feed him to the dogs. Cut off his head and hang it in the gambling hall.”
“Yes, boss!”
Yiming, who'd been lighting his cigarette with a blank expression, spotted me and came over with a bright smile.
“Lowen!”
“Big brother! I found the goods.”
“What, you already finished?”
“Didn't I tell you? I said I'd be back before the liquor got cold.”
“Wahaha! Lowen, you're really something! A real gem! A big one at that!”
“Of course. In my younger days, I was a hero who brought in foreign currency.”
I flashed my pearly whites and set the heavy glass jar down with a thud.
Yiming burst out laughing heartily, as if he hadn't just been terrifying a moment ago.
“Hey, you guys. Did you just cut up that bastard?”
“Huh? We only cut off one of his arms, sir.”
“Let him go. No blood should be spilled on an auspicious day like this.”
“Yes, sir!”
The gang members, still looking baffled, untied the man they'd captured.
“What did he do wrong to end up like that?”
“He came to my gambling hall and got caught palming the bottom card.”
“Hmm. Should we just cut him up then?”
“Should we? Hey, guys! Just cut him up again!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Mmmphhh!!!!!”
After sending the scam gambler off to a better place and letting them clean up, I gave a rough report of what had happened.
Yiming nodded with a pleased smile, like a father watching his three-year-old daughter listen to a storybook.
“Come to think of it, is this your first time handling work for the organization?”
“That's right.”
“Well, well. I can't not give my cute little brother a gift!”
“Really, big brother?!”
“That's right! Follow me!”
I really like this guanxi culture.
No need to refuse gifts when they're handed to you.
The gift itself is an act that raises Yiming's standing while also recognizing me as one of his people.
Refusing it would be rude, and all I had to do was react with the right amount of enthusiasm.
Yiming led me to a room with a huge safe.
It was called a safe, but it was basically the size of a whole room.
“Lowen. This is a truly precious item. Even I only managed to get hold of one.”
Really?
My heart had been pounding ever since he brought me to the safe.
He was really going to give me something that precious for such an easy quest?
Ha, the more I looked at Yiming, the more he seemed like a decent guy.
In this Necropolis, shiku—corpse decorating, the latest trend—or cross-dressing and collecting women's clothes without causing trouble for anyone else is honestly a pretty damn wholesome hobby, isn't it?
“B-big brother.”
“Open it. It's fine to check it here.”
What Yiming handed me was a wooden box about the size of a Bible.
I opened the box, brimming with anticipation.
Inside was...
“What... is this?”
“The Geumri family's precious jewel, the young master Li Xingfei's underpants.”
It was a pair of panties woven from airy nunsarang silk.
“How is it? It was really hard to get.”
“…….”
...Ha, how am I supposed to deal with this idiot....
I stared at Yiming's bashful smile.
“Why? Don't you like it?”
But this was a gift Yiming was giving to his little brother.
If I showed that I didn't like it, I'd be spitting in Yiming's face.
Ha....
This is exactly why I fucking hate guanxi culture.
It's a primitive, trash culture like absolute garbage.
But that's one thing.
“Ssssssnnnnffff!!!!!!”
I immediately buried my nose in the panties.
“Wow! Big brother! It smells like peonies!”
“Right?!”
“I've never received such an unforgettable gift in my life!”
“Right?!!!!”
The scent really was nice, so they must use a good fabric softener.
If it fits me later, I'll have Arbel wear it.
3.
That night.
“Didn't I tell you not to come unless it's something absolutely necessary?”
Ceres greeted me with obvious displeasure.
I'd even managed to loosen her up a bit, and yet today she was in mama mode again.
Well, I do find her like this more familiar, but hadn't she said she wanted to loosen up?
I thought she'd be in her Ines form at home.
“It is absolutely necessary.”
“What is it?”
“I wanted to see you.”
-Thwack!
“Ow!”
Anyway, I got to come inside in exchange for taking a flick on the forehead.
Well, I know that much.
It's better to keep my contact with Ceres to a minimum, and if this secret tryst got back to Yiming, I'd be the one in danger.
But this run assumes that I can return after death.
I'd given up on the idea of saving Arbel in one go.
If I get caught, I'll just die once.
Of course, that didn't mean I'd come to see Ceres without thinking it through.
“You're asking if I have any magic besides Death Sentence?”
“Yes.”
That was my real purpose.
In this premium route, I have a total of three lives, each lasting twenty days.
If necessary, I can use the remaining warding talisman charges to die two more times.
If I were to label them as new first runs, second runs....
I decided to devote this first run entirely to training.
No matter what I did from here on out, if I wanted to survive in this shitty place, Cedric's power-up event was mandatory, right?
I set my goal at roughly a 6th-rank fixer.
“Have you already mastered Death Sentence? If you run before you can walk, you'll trip. Don't get cocky and focus on the basics.”
“It's not cockiness. I've already used it in real combat twice.”
“In real combat?”
Ceres raised an eyebrow and took me to the workshop.
“Show me.”
“Then I'll use it with getting praise from Lady Ceres as my goal.”
“Now I don't feel like praising you.”
-Swoosh
I showed Masquerade Cedric's signature move: the Death Sentence barrage.
Dozens of straight lines sliced sharply through the room.
The mannequin I'd summoned as a sparring target was instantly reduced to a shredded heap and rolled across the floor.
“...What do you think?”
Ceres's reaction wasn't shock, praise, or even a 'Wow, you're talented!'
“Aha ha ha!”
“Mama?”
Showing her neatly aligned teeth, she laughed for a long time, then wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
“Sorry, sorry. I've lived long enough to see something this funny.”
I was shocked.
It was the first time I'd ever seen her laugh this hard.
“So Death Sentence can be used like this too?”
“Isn't this how it's usually used?”
“No. If you could do something like that, it'd be at least 1st-tier, so there's no reason to use 0th-tier magic.”
Mages really have no sense of romance.
How was I supposed to resist such an insanely cool technique?
“The last time I saw it, your image was excellent, but the technique was rough. Now it seems to fit together nicely. Though compared to the depth of your mental image, the precision of the technique is still lacking.”
She smiled with satisfaction.
“How much have you practiced?”
“Real combat is the best practice.”
When I answered Mama Ceres honestly...
“...Only twice?”
The smile vanished from her face.
“Anyway, you can't practice this without people around.”
Or could I?
Don't tell me the default way to practice is by chopping up vagrants?
Had I still not adjusted to the Necropolis and made some kind of rookie mistake?
After a moment of silence, Ceres nodded.
“Good, whatever. If you've gotten used to it, that's enough. Today I'll teach you how to assign another sign.”
“I've already tried that.”
“What?”
“You mean something like this?”
I sent bullet-shaped mana at the mannequin just as it was about to regenerate.
-Pow!
With a bursting sound, the mannequin collapsed again and trembled violently.
“And this.”
I fired a round, sphere-shaped mass of mana at it.
-Crack!
The mannequin, which had just gotten back on its feet, burst like a bug stepped on underfoot.
Ceres narrowed her eyes and asked,
“Can you do it in another way too?”
“I can, but....”
“You can?”
“Yes, I can, but the power is pretty underwhelming. Why is that?”
Against the stubbornly reviving mannequin, I tried snapping its neck this time.
Every sign I'd experienced in death worked well on others too.
But this one in particular wasn't working well, so I was planning to ask about it....
-Crk-crk-crk!
“Huh?”
This time, it definitely worked.
Its neck spun about 290 degrees, showing off a cervical twist that would have killed any human instantly.
With a dazed expression, I sought wisdom from Mama Ceres.
“Why is it working all of a sudden?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“It wasn't working well earlier.”
Could this be 'Growth Acceleration'?
Was that what the 500% boost to all proficiency gains meant?
“Khh...! This is it!”
“Yes, that's it! The easy-mode, click-to-win genius necromancer Cedric!”
“This is the kind of genre I wanted!”
“Lady Ceres. Praise and head pats, please.”
I shrugged, a little puffed up with pride.
“Hold on. Let me take a look at you.”
Ceres suddenly started fumbling to pull off my clothes.
“Lady Ceres, should we shower first? I sweated a lot.”
Our Mama Ceres!
Since when had you become this bold?
“Hush.”
After groping me for a while, Ceres let out a dry laugh.
“That's right.”
“What is?”
“It's been engraved. An imprint.”
“An imprint?”