The Adventurer's Mission Log

Chapter 11 Sewer

"It's simple. In my team, only Gale can... fight in water. You have amphibian characteristics, and your bloodline must be able to adapt to water currents..."

Reginald didn't directly tell Tenor what he wanted him to do, but instead suddenly brought up something unrelated:

Emperor Romanos originally planned to visit Laghettia by ship in late May, but the governor of Clotus's ban changed Romanos's plans.

"I suspect the Emerald Order's bastards are planning to attack the Emperor." Reginald couldn't help but burst into laughter at this point, because rationally speaking, even if the Emerald Order went all out, they wouldn't be a match for the Imperial Guard, and the Emerald Order clearly lacked rationality.

"So?" Tenor frowned.

He stopped laughing under Ternor's calm gaze.

"The Imperial Guard is not easy to deal with. Even if the Emerald Order empties its coffers, it is impossible to assassinate the Emperor under the protection of the Imperial Guard."

But these lunatics have always been reckless, foolish... and arrogant. Don't look at me like that; based on my understanding of the Emerald Order, they really do intend to do that.

"What does this have to do with our mission? Even if Emperor Romanos were to jump into the River of Gold, it wouldn't be our concern," Tenor retorted, his eyes turning Reginald's face into something repulsive, like a riddle-maker deserving to be torn to pieces.

"Of course it's related! I was able to find their stronghold precisely because I anticipated the Emerald Order's objectives." Reginald said with a hint of smugness.

"After I learned that the emperor was coming to visit, I found traces of them in the city. Combining this with their misdeeds, I deduced their purpose and confirmed my guess after investigating along the river."

They were breeding half-humans and monsters in a small fishing village outside the city, but that wasn't their core base. Reginald wanted to keep them in suspense, but Tenor was already impatiently urging him on.

"You can just tell me the result."

Reginald sighed, frustrated at not getting a response.

"Well, unless you want to get up close and personal with the monsters lurking in the village, I don't recommend you venture into Pusala Village. There are only monsters there."

At that time, you won't get a single gold coin, and you might even lose your life.

The Jade Order's core stronghold was in the city, where they manufactured and collected medicines and transported them to Pusala village.

My spies did not observe the Jade Order transporting supplies to the village by land. Recently, the port has been closed, and ships going out will be intercepted.

Therefore, they might have used teleportation magic to transport medicine to the village, or they might have done so via...underwater.

I tried to counter the spell, but there was no response. They couldn't have moved the supplies using teleportation magic; they could only have done it underwater.

Tenor looked at Reginald with a deep gaze, interrupting his rambling, intellectually stimulating speech, "So, you suspect the Emerald Order has a secret outpost in the port's sewers, and the reagent I need is there. You need me to infiltrate it."

The city's sewer system has drainage outlets at the port, but because they were built a long time ago, they are now completely submerged by the river.

The entire section near the port was nearly half submerged.

If the base is located there, it would not only be concealed, but it would also be able to control aquatic monsters to silently transport reagents to the fishing village, which makes sense from Reginald's point of view.

But there should be a lot of rat-men in the sewers, so the Ronanian must have guessed wrong.

"Yes, I'm glad you could follow my train of thought; it proves your intelligence far surpasses your outward appearance." Reginald didn't gloat for long before somewhat hastily offering another confirmation:

"I searched the entire city, and there's only one place left that I haven't checked. If I'm wrong... the Emerald Order must be hiding in the inner city."

I need you and Gail to go down and look for it, preferably to pinpoint the exact location. I wasn't comfortable with him going alone before, but now you two can look out for each other.

Tenor almost rolled his eyes; in the end, feelings still had to be expressed through exhaustive search.

"Okay, shall we set off now?"

"I appreciate your ability to take action, and if you don't mind, of course you can."

"Let's go! They might be on guard after tonight." Reginald made the decision decisively.

Tenor accepted the commission that had already appeared before him.

[Mission: Investigate the East District Sewers]

[Difficulty: Medium]

[Reward: Shield of Tranquility]

[Status: In Progress]

The reward is a shield that can deflect some magic, including ray-type spells that target him—such as energy rays and incoming fireballs.

However, it cannot block non-single-target magic such as rain of fire falling from the sky or magical swamps that alter the terrain.

It also possesses magical resistance; only high-level spells can penetrate it.

Tenor was quite satisfied; he always lacked the ability to break spells.

Before they could even rest, around midnight, a group of people, fully armed, rushed into the sewers again.

At first, they outnumbered each other and the only obstacles in Tnor's way were filth and stench, but when they reached the flooded section, only he and Gale were able to move forward.

Reginald handed the magic mirror to Gale and whispered instructions in his ear, while Tenor stared at the murky, foul water.

He couldn't help but think that "not good at water combat" was just an excuse, and the truth was that no one wanted to go into such dirty water except for him, an outsider, and Gale the big oaf who didn't mind.

Seeing Gale take off his clothes, grip the axe, and plunge into the water, he couldn't help but turn back to look at Reginald, who was watching them.

"Magic can help us get through this."

It wasn't Reginald who provided the answer; the doctor replied earnestly, "Please be vigilant at all times and never trust magic. The winds of magic originate from evil forces, and are chaotic and unruly."

If something goes wrong during the spell, the demon will appear right next to us.

The moment the word "demon" was mentioned, everyone in the group became alert.

A true demon is far superior to the nobles who were possessed in the hall earlier.

Without asking any more questions, Tenor gripped the stick tightly and rushed into the water.

The footsteps of the people on the shore turned into muffled sounds underwater, and the firelight was swallowed up by the thick sewage, leaving only darkness.

His mutated bloodline was indeed familiar with water; he subconsciously adjusted his metabolism, feeling that he could hold his breath underwater for a long time.

Even in murky, dark water, visibility is still very good.

He chased after Gail, swimming faster, and within seconds they were side by side.

Occasionally, bubbles would rise from other directions, and he was unsure if there were only two living creatures in the water.

When the cold hand suddenly grabbed his ankle, he was not surprised at all, and calmly poked it with the stick.

The hand gripped him tightly. Just as he was considering whether to enter his alienated form, Gail, who had sensed the abnormality, swam over and cut off the hand with her dagger.

At this moment, both of them realized that it was a corpse—not as troublesome as a water ghost, but simply a corpse resurrected by magic.

Its appearance is good news—the Emerald Order's stronghold is indeed in this area.

Before long, the water became shallower, gradually allowing people to walk in it, until finally the water only reached their ankles.

Tenor and Gale exchanged a glance, then picked up their weapons and advanced while covering each other.

The dripping sound of water droplets falling into the water from the dome and the rushing sound of flowing water were amplified by the muffled passage. As the two moved forward with a faint airflow, other sounds gradually appeared.

"...Damn rat!" An angry female voice seemed to be spat out from between her teeth.

"...Shh! Don't speak, it might not be gone yet." Another male voice spoke in alarm, barely audible.

"Heh, if it hadn't left, we'd be dead already. That lowly beast! If the divine messenger were here, how could it have been allowed to run rampant!"

"You're right... but we'd better leave here, it's not safe here anymore... we need to find a new base."

"Useless! Do you expect me to help you carry this filthy stuff?"

"Lisa! You..." The voice trailed off.

The female voice did not reappear.

Thinking they had been exposed, Ternor and Gale rushed quickly toward the corner of the passage and into a vast underground hall.

Corpses lay scattered on the ground, but some experimental tables, chairs, and reagent bottles were still intact, with only a few broken. The signs of a fight were not obvious, and all of them were fatal with a single blow.

Those overturned tables, chairs, or medicine bottles looked more like they were accidentally knocked over by the victims in their panicked escape or hysteria.

Three steps to the left of Tenor, by the oil lamp in the corner against the wall, lay the freshly made corpses of a man and a woman.

They remained in the same posture as when they were talking, their expressions showing only the terror of their final moments.

What had just killed them? But there were only Tenor and Gale in the hall; at least the two of them couldn't find a third living creature.