-You have an obligation to pay taxes.
Lady Detra, hanging above the stage, repeated the same words like a broken radio.
Because the blossom had swallowed half her head, the sight was even more bizarre.
Creed stared blankly only at the hem of the dark-green dress that swayed in the air from time to time.
‘Anyone would be shocked if someone they knew ended up like that.’
One by one, the people swept up in the aftermath of the calamity staggered to their feet.
Their eyes were as hollow as dead fish.
It was because the calamity of greed had taken root.
Clench.
Creed made a fist.
The back of her white hand trembled.
“Those people are finished, aren’t they?”
“......Yes. You should hurry and get away too.”
“If we pull her away from the plant, somehow......”
“It’s already too late.”
I shook my head.
The people who had participated in the auction had been too close to the calamity for there to be any chance to do anything.
No matter how much I told people driven mad by greed to run, they had not listened.
Wer lifted a forepaw and shouted.
“Ritak, let us hurry and catch it this time too!”
I shook my head once more.
“We have to pull back.”
“Will it not expand its power if we leave the monster as it is?”
“Even so, not now.”
Each calamity’s domain had a field effect that interfered with battle.
The theme of this calamity was greed.
To set foot on its land, one had to pay a fitting price.
-Taxes, taxes......
The price was none other than money.
The calamity of greed became a merciless collector, gathering taxes from those who set foot inside its domain.
‘As things are now, I won’t even be able to stand properly.’
If things had gone according to schedule, I would have been able to steadily increase my wealth before the calamity erupted.
After all, hadn’t I made Elixirs of Luck in advance before coming to the city to tackle the gambling den, and raised my credit rating quite a bit as well?
I had also been in the middle of gradually clearing the nearby dungeons.
However, the calamity sprouted far sooner than expected, and I had not gathered enough wealth to make certain I could kill it.
‘Too many things have changed from the original story.’
Who could have known a boss fight would break out in an underground social club the protagonist had not even been able to attend?
I could not recklessly charge in under these circumstances.
This was the moment to take one step back and look at the board from a wider perspective.
Creed, who had been looking up at Lady Detra, whispered.
“Angela......”
Her voice, calling that unfamiliar name, was frailer than ever.
Perhaps it was the name or nickname Lady Detra had used before her marriage.
After all, they had said they used to be friends.
‘To think they were close enough for her to imagine even these circumstances.’
The story had likely twisted because I had become too deeply entangled with an NPC I was never even supposed to meet.
It would be hard to say it was only because of Creed.
It was probably more because I had jumped into the affairs of the Bies Guild, Yoanes, and his sister Jacqueline.
As a result of every incident becoming tangled together by the roots, even Lady Detra and the calamity had been dragged out.
‘......Enough. This isn’t the time for useless thoughts.’
Clench.
I bit my lip once.
It was not something I could undo now.
“Let’s pull back and regroup.”
One step, then another.
Creed slowly stepped backward.
After turning around, she began running toward the underground waterway without hesitation.
It was the maze-like passage we had entered while following the black mask.
However, there was no need to worry about getting lost.
“This way!”
Wer began guiding us.
True to his role as a guide, he led us toward the exit without hesitation.
Slide, scrape......
However, the greedy collector did not seem inclined to give up easily.
When I glanced back, thick plant roots were following behind us.
“Damn it......!”
Whrrrk!
Each time the roots moved, a sound of cutting wind rang out.
Even hearing it roughly, I could feel a chilling speed.
“Don’t look back!”
“You should run properly yourself!”
Creed shouted coldly and shot forward.
Her shawl, which had in an instant moved far enough away that I could not reach it even if I stretched out my hand, fluttered vigorously.
To think she could run that fast even while wearing high heels sharp enough to stab someone to death.
The others who had participated in the auction were already far ahead as well.
‘At this rate, I’m the one who’ll get caught......?’
It was horrifying.
I gritted my teeth and ran while looking only ahead.
Tap, tap, tap!
How long had we run?
At some point, all I could hear was the sound of running feet.
When I looked back, the roots were gone.
“The roots don’t seem to be coming up the stairs.”
“Hah, whew. If it keeps increasing its size like this, it’ll eventually crawl up the walls, though.”
“Really? Then let’s keep running.”
“J-Just a little slower......”
I breathed hard, my shoulders heaving.
Creed merely exhaled in short breaths with a hand on her waist.
“I was running at your speed.”
She was the woman who had trampled a grown man in the gambling den the instant I first met her.
I had expected it, but her skill was anything but ordinary.
“Kekekeke......”
Wer clicked his tongue and looked back and forth between Creed and me.
It was unfair to compare me to a named NPC.
Her base settings were different from the start, were they not?
‘Still, I don’t plan on staying weak forever.’
I glanced down at my waist.
The Kukri of Absorption I had won at the auction.
At least I was fortunate to have obtained this thing.
If the calamity had erupted before that, I would have wanted to cry.
The situation was not the worst.
I drew in a deep breath and moved my feet again.
Tap, tap, tap!
For a long while, only our footsteps echoed through the waterway.
However, the higher we climbed, the more a murmuring sound began to mix in.
“The exit is close!”
“Then why is it so noisy?”
The loud chatter could be heard from far away.
Resounding music rang out as if it would reach all the way underground.
‘Is there some kind of festival going on?’
Creed covered one ear and shouted.
“The people who went ahead are at the exit!”
The people gathered at the exit were only peeking outside.
Just then, the bear mask who spotted us greeted us.
“You were late, so I was worried, but you made it out safely.”
The cheek that had been struck while he tried to stop his companion was already swelling badly.
Was he really in any position to worry about someone else looking like that?
“Fine. But why are you stopped here?”
“As you can see, there are too many people.”
The bear mask pointed outside with his thumb.
The secret door the black mask had guided us through.
The instant I glanced outside through the gap.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
The cheers that burst from the people in the plaza all at once shook the entire waterway.
The crowd filling the whole street, merrily singing and chattering, were all wearing bird-beak masks.
-The Purple Rose Knight happens to be going on stage this evening.
The image of the child who had proudly said he had come at dawn to claim a spot rose clearly in my mind.
Even in the middle of the day, there had been quite a lot of people in the plaza, but it seemed the number of people joining after finishing their work was far greater.
It was practically a festival.
“I thought it would be troublesome if the door leading underground from the plaza was discovered.”
At the bear mask’s words as he scratched his cheek, I clicked my tongue without thinking.
“This isn’t the time to worry about that.”
“Of course, we do not know what will happen to this gathering from now on, but......”
“The calamity is coming up!”
“Th-That grotesque plant, you mean?”
The group of participants gathered at the entrance jumped in alarm.
“Let’s hurry and run!”
“That’s right. What use is keeping the secret now?”
BANG!
The person at the very front opened the door.
A secret passage had suddenly been revealed, and a group of masked people poured out.
However, because most of the people in the plaza were busy swaying their shoulders to the merry music, they did not notice.
For the participants of the secret gathering, that was a fortunate thing.
Even so, the bear mask opened his mouth with a stunned expression.
“......Did you say a monster is coming up?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what are we supposed to do about all these people......?”
There had only been a few dozen people in the underground social club at most.
Even the evacuation of that many people had not been perfect.
The crowd gathered aboveground filled even the streets that had been deserted earlier.
There were so many that I wondered if every person in the city had come out.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
“There’s no helping it.”
“What? Are you saying it is fine if all of them are attacked by the monster?”
The bear mask shouted loudly and puffed up his chest as if enraged.
Since he was a fairly large man, he truly looked like a bear.
But one should listen until the end.
“No. We have no choice but to deal with that monster before it crawls out.”
“......Y-You?”
“Then who?”
I shrugged lightly and gripped the kukri in a reverse hold.
The handle fit snugly into my palm.
“Ritak! Did you not say we needed to regroup?”
“We don’t have time to take it easy anymore.”
The sun had already set.
Festival lights brightened the dark streets.
It was too late to go to the administrative office and borrow money.
A sigh escaped me by itself.
“Creed, I’d like to ask you a favor.”
“I’ll put it on your debt, so tell me.”
“......Even at a time like this, your calculations are thorough.”
The city was hot even at night.
The heat of the crowd was sweltering too.
But goosebumps prickled all over my arms.
“Please request support from Yoanes. She should have gone to the guild.”
“Is that enough?”
“Could you also tell her to bring as much cash as possible when she comes?”
“All right. Anything else?”
Creed’s voice was kind.
Even so, unease began to creep up inside me.
‘Is it all right to keep asking her for favors?’
The situation was urgent, so there was no choice.
The preparations were already lacking as it was.
I had to gather everything I could.
“......There’s an adventurer who entered the city not long ago. Please call him too.”
“What does he look like?”
“He’s a big, dark-looking bastard, and until recently he carried a greatsword around......”
“I understand.”
Creed nodded.
Her attitude said that much explanation was enough.
“Anything else?”
“That’s, um.”
The second calamity, Avarita, was lurking underground.
The moment I went down, the boss fight would begin.
The only chance to replenish supplies was now.
I stood at a crossroads.
Perhaps this would be the last choice I could make between two options.
‘Is it die now or die later......?’
Both were choices I truly did not want to pick.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“......Lend me some money.”
Creed burst into a high laugh.
The bag she readily handed over was heavy enough to make my shoulder ache.
***
“Ritak, why do you keep rubbing your arms?”
“I feel strangely cold.”
The torches lighting the passage were not warm.
The goosebumps on my arms simply refused to fade.
No matter how I thought about it, I felt as if I had walked into a mire of my own accord.
“It is all because you lack exercise.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Is your body not lacking heat?”
I gave a halfhearted shake of my head.
There was no point arguing, because it would only return to his exercise-solves-everything theory.
Besides, this was not the time to be chatting.
“Shh.”
I raised my index finger in front of my lips.
Slide, scrape.
The sound of something crawling along the floor.
The noise that gnawed at my nerves grew closer and closer.
At last, the calamity’s roots appeared.
In the wavering light of the passage, their writhing movements were clear.
I raised my knee.
CRUNCH!
The trampled root began writhing madly.
A dense violet energy also rose from it.
Smoke without form could not be held down like a root.
Whrrrk!
Dark energy surged up along my ankle.
A ringing voice spread through my head.
-This is private property. You have an obligation to pay taxes.
The domain had widened while I was aboveground.
I still had a long way to descend before reaching the calamity’s main body.
‘I hope the money I borrowed is enough.’
Click.
I opened Creed’s bag.
Gold coins were stacked neatly in ten rows across and ten rows down.
It was an amount I was frankly scared to count.
Vanus usually circulated as silver coins.
A single gold coin was worth 1,000 vanus.
‘......100,000 vanus.’
This should be enough.
I glared into the darkness.
Plant vines were surging there.
-Pay the price.
The ringing voice changed in an instant.
It was the start of Phase 1.
The calamity’s domain effect had been applied.
“Guhh......”
My breath choked off as if someone had seized my throat.
My vision dimmed in an instant.
I quickly pinched a coin with my fingertips.
One gold coin.
TING!
The coin I flicked up with my thumb vanished into the air as if melting away.
“Haaah, hah.”
At the same time, my airway opened.
The first domain effect of the calamity of greed, Avarita, was Collection.
One had to pay a price for every resource on the land where it had taken root.
If one did not pay the price, one could not even breathe, let alone move.
It was a field effect that seemed to insist even the air belonged to it.
‘1,000 vanus per minute.’
Money was draining away just to breathe.
If I did not finish this quickly, the expenses would hurt.
And even that was only if I was lucky enough not to suffocate to death.
“Kehk, keck.”
Wer flailed inside the bag.
Before I knew it, the violet smoke had risen to my waist.
‘......So it’s 2,000 vanus per minute.’
I placed one gold coin in Wer’s paw.
It was an expense that had not existed in the game.
In a boss fight, I had never once paid attention to whether a helper character lived or died.
Perhaps even if I left him as he was, Wer might not die.
‘Not that I intend to leave him be.’
Clink, clatter.
I poured a handful of vanus into the bag.
“Tell me if it isn’t enough.”
The budget was tight.
A battle twice as harsh as expected had begun.