When the city guards finally arrived, I handed off all responsibility to them. The local Guard Captain (apparently, there was more than one Guard Captain in the city) was wide-eyed when he saw all the slaves and corpses, but he quickly snapped back to it. He gave me a resolute nod. “You can leave the rest to us, sir.”
“Thanks.”
My team and I then left the scene of the crime by ourselves. Lance was pretty disappointed that he didn't manage to reach the party in time, but he was easily appeased when Warner told him how it went.
“Wow, I wished I was there to see Mister Bob in action,” Lance said as he turned to me. “How did you even survive being cooked alive? Are you actually immortal?”
I shrugged. “I'm very hard to kill, I guess.” I then turned to Warner. “Say, do you think we can trust that Guard Captain we left at the scene?”
“You don't have to worry about it. Guard Captain Pendern could be trusted. And even if he turned out to be working for the snugglers, they wouldn't risk trying to catch attention to themselves so soon after suffering a debilitating attack. They'll lay low to lick their wounds.”
With my worries assuaged, we made our way back to the City Hall. People gave me the stinkeye when they saw my dirty state, but I didn't give a shit. After experiencing what it felt like to be burnt alive, I had easily mastered the art of not giving a fuck.
While we walked, I finally took the opportunity to look at the wall of notifications I'd been holding off.
[You have slain a Lv.18 Swordsman. Experience gained.]
…
…
…
[You have slain a Lv. 28 Fire Magus. Experience gained.]
The kill notifications went on and on. When I did a rough count, I realized I killed more than twenty people in this single mission alone. Most of them had been at a higher level than me, yet I still outpowered them during the battle by a large margin, which was a little confusing. Weren't levels supposed to indicate how strong somebody is?
I think I might be missing some crucial information about this leveling thing. I better ask somebody about the mechanics of this thing.
[Regeneration has leveled up to Lv.3]
[Physical Resistance has leveled up to Lv.3]
[Congratulations! You are now Level 18.]
[Congratulations! You are now Level 19.]
[Congratulations! You are now Level 20. You are eligible for a Skill choice.]
My eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. Three whole levels? Now that I thought about it, I did feel better overall. More stable, more solid, and much more powerful. I was starting to understand why people were willing to become slayers despite the risk. If fighting and killing shit brought this much experience, then all the blood spilled was worth it.
Until it suddenly isn't, that is. Hard to call something worth it when you drop dead because the risk finally caught up. That's the thing with taking risks: no matter how lucky you get, as long as you keep taking them, the risk eventually becomes a certainty despite its chances being small.
Which was why I hated my new fucking job that requires me to fight. I'd rather be a low-earning street sweeper with no risk of fighting smugglers in their headquarters, but as always, it is what it is. On the bright side, leveling up so quickly like this would make me even harder to kill. I'll just look at my situation as an investment to make myself unkillable in the future.
Yeah, let's look at it like that.
[Please choose a Skill below.]
[General Skill Choices]
1. Minor Poison Resistance - Slightly reduces the effects of poison.
2. Minor Cold Resistance - Slightly reduces the effect of cold.
3. Woodcraft - Provides a boost to proficiency in activities related to basic wilderness survival.
4. Intimidation - People weaker than you become more susceptible to intimidation. Your actions become more intimidating.
5. Axe Mastery - Provides a boost to proficiency in wielding axes.
6. Minor Fire Resistance - Slightly reduces damage from fire.
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7. Minor Pain Mitigation - Slightly reduces all physical pain felt.
[Class Skill Choices]
1. Ignorant Fool - Attacks you receive that you are not aware of deal significantly reduced damage to you.
2. Thick-skinned - You cannot feel physical pain.
3. Masochist - You gain strength proportional to the level of pain you endure.
Damn, my Skill Choices were starting to get long. There were two new General Skill Choices, Minor Fire Resistance and Minor Pain Mitigation, and two new Class Skill Choices, Thick-skinned and Masochist.
Following Lance's advice, I ignored the General Skill Choices and focused on the Class Skills. The moment I saw Thick-skinned, the temptation to select it right away was overwhelming. Who wouldn't want immunity to pain? The entirety of both my past and present lives had been filled with so much pain that I sometimes wondered how I was still sane.
But after experiencing everything I did in this world, from the monsters that wanted to eat me to the motherfuckers in this city who wanted to kill me for stupid reasons, I knew my current power was still lacking. All I wanted was freedom to live my life how I wanted it. And based on how things were going for me so far, I needed a whole lot more power if I wanted to achieve that freedom.
Looking at the two new Class Skill Choices I had, I knew I could only pick one or the other because of their opposing natures. And it was obvious which of the two would give me more strength in combat.
Before I could even spiral down the road of hesitation, I picked the Skill I needed.
[You have gained Masochist Lv.1]
“Fucking hell,” I muttered.
“You alright, Bob?” Lance asked.
“Not in the slightest,” I said. “But it is what it is.”
“Hearing smart words from you feels weird,” Warner said.
“I only know a few, so I try to make them count.”
When we finally arrived at the City Hall, we were quickly ushered into a bathroom where we were told to clean ourselves. As much as I wanted to just meet with Camille and be done with it all, I knew it was unreasonable to speak with the Governor while wearing only a blanket around my waist and drenched in liquid diarrhea.
It took me an entire hour under a shower of steaming hot water to completely remove the smell of sewer on me. Thanks to the soap that the City Hall staff gave us, I now smelled like flowers and sunshine. The staff even handed me another set of my Constable uniform, but this one wasn't armored like the previous one and was just plain cloth. Too bad.
I met back up with my teammates outside the Governor's office. Both of them were also cleaned up and looked sharp in their armor, sans the helmet.
“Took you long enough. Let's be done with this,” Warner grumbled as he nodded at the door guard, who quickly let us in.
Camille was busy with paperwork when we entered, but as soon as she saw us, she put a pause on her work. “Good evening, gentlemen. The mission went well, I hope?”
“Went as well as it could,” I said as I took the seat in front of the desk. “You didn't tell me the contraband I was seizing were child slaves, and neither did you tell me there'd be more than half a hundred smugglers in there. We had to storm them with a two-man team.”
Camille nodded at me. “I didn't tell you about the child slaves because that intel had come from an unconfirmed rumor. Slavery is the worst crime someone could commit in the Empire and invites immense scrutiny from the central government if they get even a single whiff of it. I wanted to keep it under wraps for as much as possible until it turns out to be true, and to be frank with you, I do not trust you enough yet. You could be a spy from a neighboring province, for all I know.”
“Fair enough,” I shrugged. “But Warner seemed to be very sure of the presence of slaves when he told me about it though, before we even stormed the base.”
Camille's head snapped towards the old man, a frown on her face. “You told him about the slaves before the raid?”
“I had to, lass,” Warner said nonchalantly. “When we entered the warehouse, I heard the conversations between the smugglers underground. They were about to transport the slaves to another location, and Bob here was adamant about waiting for reinforcements before storming the base. If we waited for longer, we wouldn't have reached the slaves in time, so I convinced him to begin the raid right away by revealing the presence of the children.”
“You heard a conversation from deep underground?” I asked. “That's a mighty fine set of ears you have.”
“It's a Skill.”
“Remind me not to fart anywhere near you.”
Camille sighed as she massaged her temples. “That is alright, then. My primary worry was Bob inadvertently spreading false rumors of slavery in the city, but now that it is a confirmed truth, it should be fine.”
“How did the smuggling den even grow so large in the first place? That was half a hundred people. You've got a literal army of slavers down there,” I asked. “Are your Guard Captains even doing their jobs? How could they miss fifty children in large cages coming through the gates?”
“The smugglers have most likely found or dug an entrance from outside the city into the old sewers,” Camille replied with a frown. “But you're right, the smugglers have influential contacts within the city, and it's your job to apprehend them.”
“Got any leads?”
“We are almost certain that the smugglers and various criminal activity in the city are funded by Lord Carmen Grayshield,” Warner answered. “He's the father of the boy who tried to kill you outside the Slayer's Guild.”
“Grayshield? Isn't that your name too?” I asked Camille, who gave me a small smile.
“Indeed, Carmen Grayshield is my uncle. But do not mistake him as someone I hold dear. He has long been a thorn in my side, and I would gladly see him walk to the gallows for all the crimes he has committed.”
“Why is he still free, then?”
“Simple. He is the richest man in the city,” Camille said. “I may be the Governor, but that does not make me the sole and absolute authority in Shieldhold. Carmen Grayshield holds a lot of sway over the City Guard and other government officials, making it difficult to apprehend him and collate evidence of his crimes.”
“Then how the hell do you expect me to arrest a man you can't even touch?”
“By virtue of your position,” Camille said. “A Constable is no simple position, Bob. It comes with the authority to investigate any government body or agency in this city for any signs of corruption. With your authority, we could investigate Carmen's illegal activities to our heart's content.”
“Then why didn't you appoint a Constable all this time, then? I bet Warner would've made a good one.”
The room was silent for a short moment as Camille gave me a sardonic smile. “I already had Constables in the past, many times. They're all dead now.”
“What?!”
And then it hit me. My job as a Constable was to sniff out corruption in all government agencies within the city. That basically meant that I just turned all of them into my enemies by virtue of my job.
“Those before me were all assassinated, weren't they?” I asked, already knowing the answer to my question.
“Congratulations,” Warner said behind me. “You just found out why I refused to be Constable.”