Published: September 9, 2025
Satou here. Preparation is important. It can be a hassle while working, but if you don’t prepare properly, you’ll end up in big trouble later. It’s hard to grasp its importance until you fail and learn the hard way.
â—‡
Wearing the artificial skin mask I made during the day at Ivy Manor, I fully activated my disguise skill to transform into someone else. On top of that, I put on a black mask covering my eyes.
Then, I changed the status in my friends list. I changed the name to Kuro, level 50, with the title “bounty hunter.” For skills, I switched to shooting, rare magic, Elvish, and dragon language—completely opposite to my modest stats as Satou. To avoid mistakes during the next disguise, I recorded all these statuses in the memo field. I could have used Nameless, but if people knew “wherever Satou is, so is Nameless,” the disguise would be pointless. So I decided to impersonate a third party.
“Master Satou, what are you doing dressed like that?”
“Just going to deal with some bandits. Leliril, sorry, but can you temporarily protect those captured by the bandits here?”
“If possible, I’d prefer the surface mansion. It’s dangerous down here with all the equipment.”
Ah, I had forgotten that.
I set the return seal plate on the surface.
“Well then, I’m off. Prepare the reception.”
“Yes, leave it to me!”
Ah, Leliril’s crisp response feels a bit strange.
â—‡
The first place I arrived at was a safe villa in District 17.
First, I prepared to capture the bandits and identify the location of the problematic fields.
I marked all the bandits in the labyrinth. There were about 300 in total. About 90% were guilty of serious crimes like murder.
Next, I searched for the fields mentioned by Rudaman. I scouted each district for Doomgrass and Self-Destruction Stem, the main ingredients for the demonic enhancement potion. Some spots had natural growth, but I picked out densely grown places clearly cultivated by humans, and nearby areas where bandits or carriers gathered. There were about three such locations. They were tricky to reach, requiring passage through difficult districts.
Then, I searched for nobles or servants. Lady Gina’s party, the “Moonlight” party, and three other noble parties popped up in the search. Judging by their locations, all seemed to be from the White faction. They were quite serious about their overnight hunting. Gina, who was level 6 when I met her, had steadily leveled up and was now level 9. She must have gained experience efficiently by constantly facing stronger opponents.
Next, I prepared a temporary holding area for the bandits. It would be troublesome to escort them in the middle of the night.
The candidate site was a hall in the corner of District 37. It was a bit remote but had a water source because it was a plant-type monster area. The terrain prevented monster nests from forming inside, and there was only one entrance, so I chose that spot.
I checked the shortest route by my standards. By breaking through two walls along the way, I could reach it in about 20 minutes.
Relying on invisibility and spy skills, I flew near the corridor ceiling using skystride. None of the explorer parties I passed seemed to notice me. Even if they had, they’d probably just assume I was a new kind of monster.
The hall I arrived at was damp, with drops falling from the ceiling.
There was a dense grove of fern-like trees. They seemed to be a type of monster, too. I tried throwing one of the ant legs from my storage, and the fern leaves spun like chainsaws, slicing it to bits. It’s hard to tell if this is fantasy or horror. I’ll have to investigate how the leaves work later.
Between the trees, I caught glimpses of a monster resembling a triceratops. It was orange with transparent horns, occasionally leaking purple electricity—definitely not an ordinary dinosaur. It seemed unfazed by the spinning leaves, crunching through them noisily. Also, two-meter-class dragonfly-like monsters floated around aimlessly.