「Straf… Don't you think we should head back?」

「Why? We haven't seen anything weird or creepy yet.」

Straf looks over his shoulder at the frightened Cycelia behind him. Her large eyes watch every shadow and cautiously observe every crevice they pass.

「I think it would be a good idea to keep it that way, Straf! Half the lights are broken here!」

Cycelia points to the flickering wall lamp, blinking into life for just a split second, before extinguishing again.

「Lia, calm down. If it comes to it, I'll just make some torches and we'll walk out at a leisurely pace.」

「Straf, please! Can't we just leave!?」

Cycelia grabs onto Straf's shoulders as she pleads. Straf clicks his tongue and rubs the back of his neck with his hand.

「Fine. But on the condition that we see a creepy or weird thing, alright?」

Straf turns around and sighs, and asks Cycelia as she anxiously grimaces. She looks down, tapping her fingers together.

「…Promise?」

「Yeah, fine. We see one demonic tentacle pit or some ominous growth, and we just turn back and leave.」

Straf shrugs, and continues walking into the ever-deeper darkness. Cycelia's head perks up.

「Huh!? Demoni- Don't you think if we find something like that, then we should probably get rid of it!?」

Cycelia runs in front of Straf, and points her finger into the darkness ahead as she asks.

「But I thought you wanted to leave and not explore, or adventure, or whatever you'd call this?」

Straf tilts his head as he's mildly perplexed.

「I do! This place is creepy! Dark! Damp! I\ve felt like someone is watching me ever since we stepped down here! But… But if we find something really bad here, we can't just leave and act like it's not our problem! It could get worse if we don't deal with it!」

Cycelia waves her hands about and pouts from sewer-induced stress, staring at Straf with puppy princess eyes.

「Why not? It's only our problem if we make it our problem.」

「Straf! Even if there is a usurper on the throne, my father left me with a duty! This kingdom is mine and I need to take good care of it!」

Cycelia places her hand on her chest as she insists in a raised voice that echoes off the walls. Not shouting, but not quite an indoor voice, she looks at Straf with a serious face.

「By we you mean me, right?」

Straf asks, raising his brows as he looks down at Cycelia, walking with his hands in his pockets.

「Well… Yes… Could you do that for me, Straf?」

Cycelia gets a little self-conscious, and fiddles with her medallion. She looks down, pouting as she looks for the impudence to make such a request of Straf.

「Sure thing. Just point me at them and I'll kill and destroy for you, Lia.」

Straf shrugs, and smirks. Cycelia stops in her tracks as she's surprised by Straf's brazen statement, and he walks past her.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

「Y- You'd really kill at my command, Straf?」

Cycelia asks, then catches back up to Straf.

「Yeah, sure. You just have to ask.」

Straf shrugs again, glancing momentarily at Cycelia.

《Heh… Heheheh… Is he joking? Would he really cut someone down at my whim? Wait-》

Cycelia thinks, as she begins to quietly chuckle to herself. She stops, as she arrives at a realization.

「…Anyone?」

Cycelia cautiously asks, in a meek, hushed tone.

「Yeah, just about anyone- Hold on, is this a set-up for a getback at Lily- Hm?」

Thud.

「Ow.」

Cycelia grunts as she bumps into Straf's back in the darkness as he abruptly stops.

「Huh. Look at that.」

Straf humms and says as he notices a dark side room next to them.

「Straf, don't go in there!」

She exclaims in a pleading tone, nervously biting her lip and clenching her fists as Straf walks in.

「Nice instincts, Lia, but you got the genre wrong.」

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Cycelia, turned towards her slightly as he examines the room.

「…What is this? Magic circles?」

Cycelia timidly walks into the room after Straf, watching her back. She looks at the complex, red-colored runic circles scrawled on the floor with something.

「You tell me. It looks like we've got the classic case of an evil cult settling into the sewer.」

Straf shrugs, looking at the individual runes inbetween the circles. His gaze drifts to the geometric shapes drawn in their center.

「An evil cult!?」

Cycelia's barely visible green eyes snap open as she loudly echoes Straf's comment.

「Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. Let's continue.」

Straf shrugs, then walks out of the room. Cycelia doesn't delay in the slightest to leave the darkness of the ominous runed room behind her.

…

They continue onward, and the failure rate for the lamps increases. Only a fourth of the lamps they pass is lit, down from a half. Cycelia nervously whimpers, groans and moans with furrowed brows as she sticks close to Straf.

「…I can't believe adventurers willingly go down to places like these.」

Cycelia says as they pass another non-functional wall lamp.

「Yeah, what a bunch of dummies, aren't they?」

Straf scoffs, side-glancing towards Cycelia.

「Straf! Don't say that! They do valuable work!」

Cycelia pouts, chiding Straf with a raised voice.

「Come on, Lia. They go into the sewers and kill rats. You call that valuable work? Couldn't they, I don't know, till the fields? Bake bread?」

Straf shrugs his hands, smirking at Cycelia.

「Well…」

「You mean to tell me that the world really becomes a better place with each rat slain? Just breed a few cats and throw them into the sewers. Puss in boots and his guild would do it for free.」

「Well… That is one way to deal with it…」

「It's the cost-effective way, Lia. What kind of an idiot goes around killing rats in sewers-」

Straf look at Cycelia, cynically smiling. He stops in his tracks when he feels a familiar sensation set in. Straf looks forward, and he sees massive rat teeth heading for his throat as a rat as big as a large dog is leaping off the wall at him.

On an instinct, he punches the rat out of the way with the back of his hand. The flow of time is restored to normal, and a horrible noise of an over-inflated basketball exploding echoes off the other walkway, across the channel between them.

「Huh!? What was that!? I could have sworn I just saw something in front of you Straf!」

Cycelia clutches onto Straf's shirt out of fear with her eyes wide open, frightened by the loud noise.

「It was just a rat, Lia, don't worry.」

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Straf shrugs, and continues walking.

「It couldn't have been! It couldn't have been a rat, Straf! It was too huge, and black, and it was flying in front of you! It was huge! I think this sewer is haunted Straf!」

Cycelia exclaims as she clutches even tighter onto his shirt.

「I'm telling you, it was just a rat.」

「Then… Then where did it go?」

She asks, nervously biting her lip.

「Dunno, into the darkness somewhere, can't be bothered to check. At this point I just want to see if we'll have to backtrack all the way back, or if there is perhaps a convenient secret way out.」

Straf shrugs, and they continue onward…

…

No more than 15 minutes later, Straf and Cycelia arrive to a large, circular room with piles of trash and debris scattered all around it. It is dimly lit, as less than a half of the lamps within the room work, and most of the light comes from the connecting tunnels all around.

「…What is this place? Some sort of cistern?」

Cycelia looks up at the tall ceiling veiled in darkness.

「Maybe? That would make too much sense. It has to be something else…」

Straf furrows his brows as he thinks.

「But if it's a cistern, why is there no water here? And how did those piles of trash get here without water?…」

Cycelia looks at the mountain of trash across the room.

「Got it!」

Straf snaps his fingers.

「Huh?」

「It's a boss arena!」

Straf announces with smug satisfaction in his voice, and the huge pile of trash in front of them moves. A black, furry body rises from the assorted piles of wood, rotting pieces of food and other assorted items.

「Ah! Aaahh! Ahhh!!」

Cycelia grabs onto Straf, pointing at the gigantic black rat that rose from the trash. It stands up on its hind legs, sniffing around the room. It's tall enough for its head to disappear in the unlit darkness above. Cycelia tries to say something coherent, but can only shakily point her hand at the huge rodent.

「Whew. Well, that's a relief. We'd be in real fucking trouble if it had horns, though. Real bad.」

Straf exhales, and smirks as he watches the rat with his hands on his hips.

「Do you need help, Straf?」

Lily asks, holding her folded parasol in her hands.

「It was you!? You were giving me that bad feeling!?」

Cycelia shouts, completely on edge as she looks at the vampire girl that appeared beside Straf completely seamlessly. Lily only returns a smug grin towards Cycelia, showing her fangs.

「Ah. How long have you been here, Lily?」

Straf asks, looking down at the little vampire.

「I've told you, haven't I? I've been here from the start, though a little out of the way.」

Lily replies, looking up at Straf with her scarlet eyes.

「Fair enough. I don't really need help, it's just a big rat, but-」

Straf looks at the giant rat, and the rat notices them. At the same time, dozens and dozens of dog-sized rats flood out of an adjacent tunnel.

「Actually, do you mind taking care of those? Just to spare me the trouble while I deal with the bigger one.」

Straf asks as he looks at the stream of rats heading straight towards them.

「R- Rat! Rats! Rats rats rats!」

Cycelia shouts, pointing at the oncoming tide of rats.

「I am aware, Redwing girl… I will handle them, Straf. I will keep an eye on her, you can rest easy.」

Lily sighs with frustration, glaring at Cycelia over her shoulder. She looks to Straf, and nods before turning away towards the rats.

「Alright then. I might want this one out…」

Straf mumbles under his breath as he opens his [Portable Storage] and pulls the blessed iron sword out while walking towards his gargantuan opponent. Lily places her folded parasol on her shoulder, and spreads the clawed fingers on her free hand apart as she approaches the rat horde.

Rrrrip! Splash! Crack! Splash!

Lily turns into a black blur, barely visible itself in the darkness of the sewer. Bones crack, and blood splatters into the air as her sharp claws rip and tear through the soft, furry bodies of the rats. Some of them attempt to fight back by leaping at her with teeth bared, but they too are soon mangled into a shapeless mass of bloodied flesh, and scattered across the bricks

While Cycelia is conflicted between relief and abject terror as the little twin-tailed vampire massacres the rats, the room-sized rat lunges at Straf, kicking apart its trash den into tiny bits. Its maw opens, and its yellow teeth home in on Straf's relatively tiny form.

Slash. Slash.

Straf swings the iron sword at the teeth. The rat's head recoils to the side as its teeth disintegrate into dust.

Slash!

Straf disappears from the front of the rat, and reappears next to it. He holds his sword pointing up and away from the huge rodent, and its body vertically splits in half, and a large splatter of blood shoots upward.

《Level up. Attribute points gained.》

「Tsk, for fuck's sake…」

Thud!

Straf clicks his tongue and the giant rat falls to the ground dead and limp, with its front half sliding a little past right where Straf was standing. A brief shower of blood rains upon Straf and the bottom half of the rat's mangled body, but Straf remains impeccably clean. He turns around and walks towards Cycelia, who was watching him this whole time.

Ba-dump.

《He's. So. Cool.》

Cycelia stares in awe as swings his sword downwards to the side, shaking the rat's blood off and violently splattering it across the brick floor. He throws the sword back into his [Portable Storage], grimacing a little as he walks up to Cycelia with his hands in his pockets.

「Ah. I see you are done already, Straf. You never fail to impress.」

Lily turns around, looking at the dead rat with a smirk. A massive rat jumps at her neck from behind, out of the darkness.

「Die and don't waste my time.」

Lily's glare snaps to the threat, and she snatches the dog-sized rat out of the air by its throat. She cracks its neck with one hand, before she even finishes her sentence. She throws the rat's corpse away with excess force, and it bounces multiple times before slamming into a wall.

Lily's cold glare and frowning face immediately twists into pleased smile when she looks at Straf. It turns into a less than pleased grimace when her eyes drift to Cycelia near him.

「What now, Straf?」

Lily asks, but he continues pensively grimacing.

「…Straf?」

Cycelia softly asks as well, with a mildly concerned tone.

「Hm? Yeah?」

Straf blinks, momentarily snapping out of his wandering mind.

「What do we do now? Do we head back, or?…」

Cycelia asks timidly, intimidated by Lily's envious glare. She notices something in the distance, and walks away from them.

「Well… I kind of wanted to find out what's with the ominous circles, but…」

Straf shrugs, then sighs as he looks at the dead rat.

「Straf, take a look at this…」

Lily says, holding a piece of paper in her hand as she stands near a desk and a chair placed near the wall, almost camouflaged amidst the trash. Straf and Cycelia walk up to her.

「Day 1, I have managed to get away unnoticed with the grimoire, for now, the sewers shall be my base of operations as I come up with a plan. Day 2, I have decided on attempting a rat sacrifice, the circle is already in place, and now I only need to test my theory.」

Lily reads the paper's contents out loud. Straf listens with a slanted mouth and his hands on his hips, while Cycelia fidgets with her medallion.

「Day 3, my theory was a dead end. I have decided I will instead enchant the rats and send them to the surface, but as soon as I was done with the first batch, I've seen adventurers or somebody else up on the higher levels. Day 4, my plan to enchant the rats was a complete failure. They are too wild to control, and too aggressive towards me. I have to abandon the rest of my plans, and most likely the sewer.」

Lily continues reading. Straf and Cycelia look at each other, and Straf shrugs.

「Day 5… No entry. This is a journal of some sort. Who could have written it? What is the grimoire he mentioned?」

Lily lowers the paper and throws it back onto the table.

「Maybe it's just an ages old environmental storytelling.」

Straf shrugs again, sighing.

「It can't be old. The paper is fresh, and the ink isn't faded.」

Lily shakes her head, and glances at the paper again.

「Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll crop up again. Do you know a secret shortcut to the surface, Lily, or do we need to walk all the way back?」

「I wouldn't call it a secret, but… There. The exit tunnel to the lower parts of the city is there.」

Lily points towards one of the dark tunnels, indistinct from the others.

「Huh? How do you know that?」

Straf furrows his brows at the little vampire. She tilts her head incredulously.

「Hm? The light from the surface- Ah… You can't see it. Just another perk of being a vampire, Straf. You should consider my offer again.」

Lily raises her brows momentarily in confusion, before scoffing in amusement. She smugly smirks as she replies to Straf.

「No thanks, last time I checked you don't need to drink blood to check a map.」

Straf says, as he walks up to the rat's corpse and crouches down, looking at something on the floor.

『Ring of Thermal Hysteresis』

[Magical]

Prevents rapid temperature swings inside and on the surface of the wearer's body. The larger the difference, the more gradual the change in temperature.

「Oh. Here's something mildly fucking useful at last. Now I'll be wondering what the worm dropped…」

Straf says as he puts the ring onto his middle finger.

「What is it, Straf?」

Cycelia asks while she and Lily walk up to him.

「Just a little magic ring. Not very useful, but not useless either.」

Straf shrugs, and puts his hands in his pockets, then starts walking towards the exit tunnel Lily pointed out.

「A ring!? It must have eaten somebody…」

Cycelia covers her mouth with her hands, furrowing her brows.

「No, it- You know what, it'll be simpler if you just assume that. Let's leave.」

Straf's party follows the partially-functional wall lamps, as they walk down the exit tunnel…