Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 70
‘Who?’
The moment I spun around, a handsome man grinned at me in greeting.
“What a pleasant surprise to meet again.”
A distinguished figure clad in gleaming Golden Armor.
Lee Jin-seong.
[Name: Lee Jin-seong]
[Royal Knight (3rd Grade Class) Lv.35]
[Innate Abilities 2/4]
-Swordsmanship. Magic.
[Summoner of Bartus]
[Special Property: Crack]
Still, the status window read much the same as before.
‘What in the world could that trait be?’
As I slightly furrowed my brow, Lee Jin-seong flashed a bright smile and gestured to the space around him.
“Ah, so this is your spirit’s domain, Cheol-woo? Even Bartus keeps its guard up in all directions, it seems?”
“Well, it’s a savage city, after all.”
Just as I wondered if he’d caught on to something, the man said something peculiar.
“You’ve already visited the blacksmith in the 6th District? You live up to your reputation, Butcher Char.”
My brow furrowed automatically at those words.
“What?”
I hadn’t killed anyone back then—what butcher?
I’d been ignoring him, but hearing that name from a mouth I disliked made my mood worse.
Perhaps he sensed my expression.
Lee Jin-seong’s eyes widened in apparent regret.
“Oh. If that upset you, I sincerely apologize. It’s just such a hot rumor lately.”
“No, no. I’m sure you didn’t intend to provoke me.”
“Haha. Usually, when someone becomes that famous, many people enjoy it, but you’re quite different, aren’t you?”
When did I end up having small talk with this guy?
Let’s get this over with.
“…I came to get some new equipment fitted for my companion. What brings you here, Lee Jin-seong?”
“Oh, I usually have my items crafted in the 6th District.”
Ah. That’s because he’s a 3rd Grade Class, then?
“By the way, did you just come up after clearing the 11th Floor?”
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“You’ve made remarkable progress in such a short time.”
“…I thought you already graduated from the 10-tier range a long time ago.”
“Ah, well, I grew with support from the Royal Palace, after all.”
Responding calmly to my remark with a smile, he gave a slight bow and passed by us.
“I hope we meet next time under better circumstances. Farewell.”
He left behind nothing but empty chatter.
Yet given our history, my hand naturally drifted toward the Earring.
[Voice waveform registered.]
[Target designated.]
To think I’d register the same person twice in such a short span.
And that turned out to be an extraordinarily wise measure—proven less than five minutes after we left the blacksmith.
-What were those people buying?
-Did they look wealthy?
-Ah, looked like their entire fortune. Hmm.
-Did they happen to sell anything like a Royal Insignia Sword?
-Any other notable details…?
‘He followed us.’
He’d been conducting a background check on us.
Especially his mention of a Royal Insignia Sword made his intentions perfectly clear.
‘Only one day has passed? This quickly?’
The Royal Palace’s swift response sent a chill down my spine.
“Boss, you got the items just fine, but why do you look like that?”
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go find a place to stay first.”
-The Royal Palace already knows Kendrick is dead.
Poong Cheol-woo’s separate message dampened Max’s previously buoyant expression in an instant.
Our footsteps toward viewing a house never faltered.
“How about this place? The previous tenant was promoted and moved to the 7th District — it’s a prime location with excellent fortune.”
The real estate broker, spittle flying as he spoke, was showing us a small, single-story house with a low fence and a modest yard.
“There are two rooms inside, and it even has a toilet connected to the sewage system.”
The latter part of his pitch caught my attention.
“So what you’re saying is, it’s automatic……?”
“Yes, yes. It automatically expels the waste. You just do your business and rinse with water.”
A flush toilet!?
Who could understand the depth of emotion such an ordinary thing could stir in me.
My undergarments and shoes had already surpassed Earth’s level of civilization, but other aspects of daily life still lagged far behind.
A flush toilet, no less!
“However, the deposit is 6 Gold and the monthly rent is 2 Gold, but as you can see, there’s a fence, and it’s close to the 7th District, so patrols are quite thorough…….”
“I’ll take it!”
“Brother……sir?”
“It’s fine. We’ll make it back quickly.”
“Yes. Well, if that’s alright with you…….”
And so we signed the lease and immediately stepped into the room.
Looking at the empty space, I realized something.
“……Do we have money for a bed?”
“We probably don’t, right? We don’t even have money for next month’s rent.”
Now I truly understood we were broke.
“……Let’s just sleep rough for now and head straight to the 12th Floor tomorrow.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to train?”
“There’s no money.”
……
We couldn’t even afford a cheap straw bed, let alone a luxury sleeping platform that circulated Mana while you rested — the kind noble families used.
Only then did I realize how thoughtlessly we’d spent everything.
‘Lee Jin-seong. That one troubles me too.’
But even that plan couldn’t be executed immediately.
That very day, before sunset, a Knight from the Royal Palace came looking for us.
“Ko Cheol-woo. And Max, from the 11th Floor, Golden Acre. That’s right?”
A stiff-faced Royal Knight appeared before us with dozens of soldiers at his back.
[Clement]
[Senior Knight (3rd Grade) Lv.33]
[Innate Abilities 2/2]
-Swordsmanship. Defense.
[Knight of the Bartus Royal Family]
[Authority]
“That would be us, but……?”
“Come with me. We’re conducting an investigation into the disappearance of the Golden Acre administrator.”
Knight Clement turned around without further explanation.
As if he assumed we would naturally follow.
His presumptuous attitude rankled.
“Brother, sir?”
“Let’s go. What choice do we have?”
-Remember what I told you.
To Max’s grave nod, my reminder — conveyed through the spirit — had been received.
8th District Security Force Investigation Room.
“Name.”
A heavy voice echoed through the dark interrogation room, where not a sliver of sunlight entered and only a single lamp burned.
“Ko Cheol-woo.”
“Place of origin.”
“Korea.”
“From Bartus.”
“9th District, Jerik Martial Arts Hall.”
I’d heard of it.
It’s a standard interrogation technique — start with easy questions in a tense atmosphere to get the subject talking.
“Your Class and specialty?”
“Spearmaster. I use the spear, and I also handle spirits to some degree.”
The moment I delivered my prepared answer.
The woman standing beside Clement, dressed in a robe and pressing down a black veil, shook her head.
The moment their eyes met, Clement’s expression hardened with terrifying force.
And then he kicked me square in the chest.
A wet crunch.
“Ugh!?”
Bang.
Crash-crash-crash.
I slammed into the wall and tumbled across the floor, and in that instant the dark room flashed yellow before my eyes.
‘Damn it all.’
When I’d entered the interrogation room, I’d had no choice but to shed most of my equipment, and even if I’d kept it all, that kick didn’t look like something I could have blocked.
But the real problem was.
“To tell lies even after stepping into an interrogation room—you’ve got guts. Get up!”
It was the certainty carried in Clement’s words.
That woman beside him must have some kind of lie-detection ability.
[Aselnia Bartus]
[Truth Seeker (3rd Grade Class) Lv.39]
[Innate Abilities 3/3]
-Detection. Biomancy. Mana.
[2nd Princess of the Bartus Royal Family]
Hell? A princess?
“Clean up the spirit. If you use another spirit without permission, it will be considered an act of resistance and you will be punished immediately.”
Seeing that Clement said nothing in response to the woman’s words, I was certain now.
Her class was obviously Special Class. A very unusual name indeed.
And on top of that, 3rd Grade Class.
‘Hell. What do I do?’
Hiss.
The only Artifact they hadn’t confiscated—as the purification function of the Undergarment eased the pain to a dull ache, I rolled my head frantically and slowly got to my feet.
“Well. If you’d asked me to answer in detail or to show you my status window, that would’ve been enough, sir.”
“What the hell…?”
“I use Spear Mastery too, and I use spirits. I was just trying to explain it in an easy-to-understand way since my class name is unusual.”
At my hurried addition, Clement’s brow furrowed and his gaze shifted to the side.
Then the princess, Aselnia, nodded.
“Your class name is unusual? Don’t tell me you have a Special Class?”
“That’s not it.”
“There are many witnesses who saw you take down five 2nd Grade Classes. And yet you’re saying it’s not a Special Class?”
“Yes. It’s not.”
What people generally call a Special Class refers to acquiring a 1st Grade Class of Supreme or Rare Grade rank.
Super Rare was only spoken of in legends.
‘I’m the first 1st Grade-Unique Grade there is.’
I hid the truth inside a lie, answering with the shortest possible response to a serious question.
Fortunately, Princess Aselnia nodded once more.
“Then how does your combat power make any sense…?”
Clement tilted his head in confusion.
Seeing that, I had no choice but to make my gambit.
“As you can see, I don’t even have a Mana Tattoo. Here, here—I can show you everything.”
Since they’d already seized all my equipment, I stripped off the clothes I was wearing and tossed them aside.
Everything except my underwear.
“You. What the hell. Are you resisting right now!?”
“I’m just trying to prove it properly. You keep not trusting me.”
“Ha……”
“That’s enough.”
Clement was at a loss for words, and then the veiled woman—the princess—let out a soft laugh, and at her words, he sighed and nodded.
“…Sit back down.”
“Yes, sir!”
As I sat on the chair she pushed forward, embarrassment crashed over me belatedly.
And there was a woman right in front of me too.
‘Well, what does it matter. I pulled it off.’
I’d been worried they’d tell me to show my status window.
If embarrassment replaced that, it’s a win.
And.
‘That’s not a woman. That’s a lie detector. Damn it.’
At least there was one saving grace—judging by her reaction, her skill wasn’t flawless either.
Just as lie detectors on Earth aren’t admissible as evidence in court.
Right. If it really were like a lie detector, what was the principle behind it again? Probably….’
Yeah. I’d heard it measured pulse and heartbeat.
I didn’t know the magical theory, but the skills and magic in this world seemed to follow physical laws in their own subtle ways.
‘Please.’
A low hum escaped me.
I tried desperately to regulate my blood flow and heartbeat using the water spirit inside me, while keeping my expression under tight control.
Glancing around, thankfully she didn’t seem to notice me moving the spirit within my own body.
Well, it wasn’t like I was transforming or anything—I was just asking Poong Cheol-woo to adjust my heartbeat a little.
Because of that.
“Did you kill Kendrick Howard, or have anything to do with his death?”
I could answer immediately to the sudden question.
“No, I didn’t!”
-Main body. Why is your heart racing like this…!
So you’ve got to help me control it.
I watched her carefully as Poong Cheol-woo, seeping through my body, struggled to regulate my pounding heart.
“Hmm? An immediate answer? So you already knew he was dead?”
My heart felt like it dropped at the follow-up question.
Damn.
“Yes!? No, absolutely not! You were pressing me, so I just answered right away!”
Even as I spoke, my heart hammered terrifyingly.
-Really. How pathetic, trying to do something with these guts… Ah, this is the main body’s fault. Damn it.
Poong Cheol-woo tried his hardest to hide it.
The moment I made eye contact with veiled Aselnia and saw her sneering through that veil, I felt like everything was crumbling into an illusion.
But then she nodded.
“…Hmm. You’re right. Someone like you couldn’t possibly do something like that.”
…What?
‘It worked! I’m alive!’
-Nice!
At least she didn’t seem to notice Poong Cheol-woo moving inside my body.
My heart, which had nearly burst from my throat, settled again, and I forcefully managed my expression before a sigh of relief could escape.
Just as I thought.
A lie detector isn’t perfect, so the related magic probably isn’t either.
“I heard you had friction with Kendrick Howard. What was it about?”
The first thing that came to mind was when I’d just been summoned, but that wasn’t the point right now.
‘You told me to test it!’
If I said something like that, I’d be immediately exposed.
“I saw him demanding a bribe at a restaurant we’d entered. When I confronted him about it, I fell out of favor.”
That passed too.
“Why did you leave Golden Acre early yesterday, before the knights came looking for you?”
“Did something like that happen? I just left early to do a Quest.”
That passed too.
“You didn’t see Kendrick Howard or the knights in the jungle? The giant poisonous centipede?”
“I didn’t see anything. Ah, I heard a loud noise in the distance once, so I avoided that area entirely.”
That passed too.
The more lies I told, the more my mind settled.
I’d learned that a lie detector could be turned into a defense.
In fact.
‘Dispel suspicion and it becomes belief.’
The princess’s ability was actually helping me now.
But then.
When I saw the veiled princess’s gaze shift to my discarded equipment, my heart sank once more.
That’s when a fatal problem I’d forgotten about came rushing back.
‘My equipment!’
If they knew about my synthesized gear?
Not only would the goblin’s stash be ransacked immediately, but I’d be executed on the spot.
Even if I got lucky and lied that it was my own ability and they believed me, after that I’d become a slave in the royal dungeon, spending my days synthesizing items.
‘I was so focused on not getting caught, I forgot about this. Damn it.’
When Clement came looking for me, wouldn’t it have been safer to leave all my equipment at home?
The longer the princess’s gaze lingered on my gear, the more cold sweat began to pour down my back.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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