Episode 375
I made a mistake. Ailak, the director of Block 107, grumbled inwardly. He recalled Topepo's frantic cry back at the warehouse.
"That weapon is something close to a divine relic! If that sword recognized an owner, the lizardman must be formidable!"
"What are you doing now? Why aren't you going over and checking right away?"
Topepo dared to give orders to the director, but Ailak was forced to pretend to obey. The dwarf was a so-called old resident of Block 107 who had been there long before Ailak became director. From what he heard, Topepo had already been around in the time of his predecessor, and even the one before that. That meant the dwarf must've been here for at least decades.
Of course, the monsters hadn't appeared back then. At most, he would've been stuck with odd jobs like maintaining or repairing excavation equipment. That was no longer the case, though. Currently, the existence of craftsmen who could inspect equipment in the labor camp was extremely valuable. The monsters that appear in this labor camp couldn't be fought bare-handed.
Transferring to another block was very troublesome with many things to consider, so moving wasn't as easy as it seemed. However, it was still the case that if someone was willing to endure that trouble, relocation was possible. That meant Ailak had to be careful to some extent.
This place stinks, he thought to himself.
This place was officially known as the lesser race accommodations, but it was called the Monster Cage more often. Ailak wrinkled his nose the moment he arrived. The body odor of various races mixed together and the stench pierced his nose.
Of course, the smell could be eliminated if they lifted the restriction on the number of daily baths for lesser races, but in the desert, water was a very valuable resource. There wasn't enough even for the seven races, so giving it to lesser races was considered beyond a waste.
In any case, Ailak was unwilling to step foot inside due to the stench, so he shouted from outside the cage. "Hey! Clump of rock!"
He was calling to the head of Block 107's lesser race quarters. The name was Stone something, but he couldn't remember it well.
"Can't you hear me? Hey, you monster bastards!" he yelled as he knocked on the crudely-built door, and it rattled like it could fall off at any moment. After calling out a few times, however, even Ailak couldn't help feeling like something was off.
It wasn't strange in itself that the clump of rock hadn't heard him, though. That being was in between a living and inanimate creature, and he often came across as slow and dull-witted. However, he wasn't the only lesser race in this cave. There were plenty here with senses sharp enough to wake up at the sound of an insect while they were sleeping. Yet there was no response.
At that moment, the door opened with a creak. The moment someone appeared in the doorway, Ailak flinched and instinctively stepped back. He stuttered, "Y-y-you, what is this?"
"......"
It was a black-scaled lizardman. The purple eyes that didn't match his appearance were eerie for some reason. Perhaps it was due to his predator's eyes that were vertical pupils stretched into slits. It somehow reminded Ailak more of a snake rather than a lizard.
He seemed to recall that this black-scaled lizardman's name was Luzard.
"What is this?" Lizard asked.
"Eek! I just asked you! What the hell are you?" Ailak asked.
"You mean my name? Or my identity?"
"You! Why? I'm asking why you are crawling out here! I called Stonegan!" It was only after Ailak shouted that he realized the name of the rock tribe individual who was the leader here was Stonegan.
"Why are you calling Stonegan?"
"I have something to say!"
"So what do you have to say?"
Ailak wondered if the lizardman was playing with him. He gritted his teeth and glared at Luzard, thinking he couldn't keep this up for long. However, he soon shifted his gaze away. For some reason, the longer he locked eyes on the lizardman, the more his burned right palm started to throb.
He eventually said, "This is a message for the head of the room. It has nothing to do with you."
In truth, he had intended to find out about the mysterious lizardman from Stonegan. Now, seeing the very same lizardman, he didn't dare to ask personally. There was a possibility that this guy was hiding something, after all. Ailak forced himself to think of it that way.
"Then tell me," Lizard said.
"What?"
"I'm the head of the room now, so tell me."
"What does that..."
The lizardman watched Ailak standing there in a daze and said calmly, "The head of the room here is determined by strength. I fought a fair duel with Stonegan, the former head of the room, and knocked him down. Many of those in this place witnessed the scene."
Ailak was speechless as Luzard concluded. "So now I am the head of this place."
Ailak couldn't help having a blank expression.
***
I'd heard that the rooms had their own rules, hierarchies, factions, and invisible politics. I had just never imagined that the lesser races would accept such a system.
I wondered if it was because I held a subconscious prejudice against them. I thought for a moment and realized it was more expectation than prejudice. I hadn't expected beings who lived according to instincts over reason to easily conform to a system, especially if that system was unjust.
"I-is he gone?" Stonegan looked at me and asked cautiously.
His face had been half-shattered by my punch. I was surprised at how easily he'd broken, but fortunately, it wasn't serious. He'd said it would soon regenerate.
I answered, "He's gone."
"Did he say anything else?"
"No."
That was true. The moment he heard I was the head of the room, the director just hesitated for a moment before turning around and leaving without saying a word.
At this, Stonegan's rock face twisted into a strange shape. He said, "Impossible. That human is usually dying to tear us apart, yet he just left quietly without saying a word? Did something happen between you and him?"
"There was a bit of a conflict," I answered.
I looked around. There weren't many lesser races staying here. At most, there were around ten. That was because not all the newly added prisoners had come here today. This was Block 107, so the rest were probably scattered across the other blocks.
"Conflict? Did you rebel against the director?" Stonegan asked.
"Rebel?"
"I can see that you are a warrior with pride, so it must be hard to accept the mistreatment here right away. But I can say with certainty that you have made a mistake. At least in Block 107, that human is the law."
"Why?"
"He is the director."
"Is that all? Does the director have the right to punish other prisoners?"
"It is similar. You saw it too, didn't you? When I was first assigned to Block 107, he released the electric currents of this necklace."
Ah. That, I thought. Judging from what he said, it seemed that this guy had suffered something similar. But rocks are supposed to insulate rather than conduct electricity, right?
"Who knows? It seems that there are conditions," I said.
"Conditions?"
"Enough about that, I want to ask you something else. Tell me about the basic life and rules here. How much freedom is guaranteed? Can I stop by another block?" I changed the subject.
"Why another block?"
"I want to see the directors over there as well. If they are at the level of that guy, it isn't worth seeing," I said with a smile as if my body was itching for action. This time, the setting that Luzard enjoyed fighting had been added for the sake of a smoother mission.
"Directors, hmm..." Stonegan thought.
"Have you seen any other directors?"
"I've seen them from a distance while meeting the quota."
I almost asked about Gustav's appearance, but I stopped myself. I couldn't trust this rock man yet. I also didn't know how much influence Gustav had. Digging around and getting caught would severely limit my range of action.
The presence of the Dark Pope had been revealed, but I still hadn't given up on pursuing Gustav. After all, he also had the ability to summon demons. It would be a disaster if I focused only on the Dark Pope and let him slip away, allowing the demon king's descent to occur.
I also had a strong feeling that Gustav probably wasn't in Block 107. After all, someone else was the director here. He was probably running things in another block. After all, he was called Big Boss even among the western gangs. This labor camp had such a structured system that he would naturally hold power.
"To answer you for now, you have no right to visit other blocks. I don't know what kinds of beings might be lurking there. At most, I run into prisoners from other blocks during joint operations, but there is no chance for a private conversation," Stonegan answered. He paused before continuing, "However, there is a way to see the directors of other blocks."
"What is it?"
"You can become a director. Then you can participate in the director's meeting held once a month. All the directors in the labor camp attend the meeting."
"Hoh." It was easier than I thought. I smiled inwardly, although I outwardly maintained a solemn expression. I asked, "How can I become a director?"
"It is impossible," Stonegan answered.
"Why?"
"In order to become a director, performance is the top priority."
"Performance?"
"Of course, it is to defeat monsters and excavate artifacts. Based on that, they compile results every quarter. Only the head of the room with the highest performance in that block can become the director."
My energy was raised a bit after hearing that. I had assumed that lesser races weren't even given the qualification to compete. Apparently, that wasn't the case. If it was just performance then this wasn't bad for me.
I asked, "Why is that impossible? Isn't it a problem that can be solved by just accumulating results?"
"First, there are under two weeks left until the next harvest date. Your becoming the new head of the room doesn't erase our previous achievements. However, the difference between Ailak's room and our room is already huge."
"How huge are we talking?"
"As of now, Ailak's room has 107 points."
It didn't seem like that much to me.
"We are at three points," Stonegan continued.
Wow. I was a bit surprised, but as Luzard, I maintained my composure. I remarked, "It is roughly thirty times, then. Still, it is amazing that you can only achieve results like this with that much strength."
Most of the lesser races here were desert orcs and they didn't seem physically weak. Simply surviving this long was proof enough of their basic capabilities.
"That—" Stonegan was interrupted the moment he opened his mouth.
Rumble!
The ground trembled as if an earthquake had occurred, and the shabby lesser race room creaked. Sand poured between the roughly tilted roof, making it look like a sand shower. Fortunately, the earthquake stopped quickly.
"What is going on?" I asked.
"The rift has opened," Stonegan said with an expression that was as hard as rock. Of course, he was a real rock.
"Rift?"
"Yes. Judging from the progress, it is somewhere around here. It seems to be in the area of our Block 107."
"Good. If we go out and fight, can't we get a good result?"
"No. Our turn is a bit later."
I shook the sand off my body and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Our role isn't to fight the monsters that emerge from the rift. In the first place, we can't do that. We don't have equipment." Stonegan's voice was bitter. "So we just wait until prisoners from other blocks have come to hunt the monsters. Then we search the corpses for artifacts."
I almost laughed. It was no wonder they had only collected 3 points so far.
They can't fight because they don't have weapons? I thought. I heard the reason, but it wasn't convincing.
I wasn't defending the director or anything. I just believed that whether one was a lesser race or a human, they could fight unarmed with the right tactics. Of course, not knowing the enemy's level could make that demand unreasonable.
So for now, I made a decision. I started to move.
"Where are you going?" Stonegan asked.
I replied, "To look for monsters in the labor camp. If I get the chance, I can try to earn us some points."
"Do you have weapons?"
"Weapons? Yes," I said. I looked around and picked up a small stone from the ground. I belayedly realized it had broken off from Stonegan's face.
"Huh?" Stonegan looked at me with a puzzled expression.
I told him, "I will just borrow some of this."