Surviving without God

The night in the Upper City is quiet. If the Middle City roars with the laughter of adventurers washing away the fatigue of their Labyrinth raids with alcohol and entertainment, and the Lower City is filled with the screams and groans of addicts and gangs, then here only a purified silence reigns.

— ...Not a soul.

Of course, the inhabitants here were not strangers to pleasure either. On the contrary, judging by the level and depth of their indulgences, they would surely surpass any fantasies. It’s just that their secret hobbies were never displayed openly in residential districts.

For the four unfortunate thieves, that was a great stroke of luck.

...Why four?

Because Levain declared that an expert should operate alone, chose the most difficult houses, and disappeared. In the end, Parco, Tarsha, Blanc, and Gunther were left behind. Four novice thieves who had only just started working together.

— First house.

— A-a-a-a-a-a!

— Tarsha, quieter, quieter!

— Hey! What do you mean me? You stepped on my foot with that huge body of yours!

— But why scream like that!

— M-maybe everyone could just focus on the lock in front of them? It’d be embarrassing to get caught without even opening a single safe...

Click—

[Skill activated: Clumsy Sleight of Hand (Lv. 1)]

— Huh?

— Oh?

— W-woah... T-that’s one of Gunther’s many talents!

— Many talents? What talents exactly?

— Well, you see... It’s a long story, Gunther has several secret abilities...

— ...All right, shut up and search everything here. If you find anything strange, report it immediately.

— Second house.

— This time let’s keep it cleaner. Watch your steps, watch your breathing.

— Don’t worry so much. I’ll move like a cat.

— What cat? You move like an elephant.

— Parco, do you actually want to die?

— Ha-ha, well right now I’m “searching” (“dying”)*.

— Oh God... What kind of jokes are those from this uncle.

— A-a safe here! But it’s a triple lock, this will take time...

Click—

[You sacrifice Karma “30” to Alphonse of Red Street]

[The moment your warmth touched the metal, the safe, as if betraying its owner, opened its insides on its own]

— ...What kind of system messages are those.

— Let’s applaud our capable rookie... Huh? Gunther, did you say something?

— No, nothing. But it seems there isn’t much to take here either.

— But there are stacks of checks?

— He’s a high-ranking official. There’s nothing strange about him having that kind of money... Blanc, put it back. You’re from a rich family, why are you acting like this is your first time.

— Third house.

— Haa... nothing here either.

— What exactly are we even looking for?

— Like you don’t know, kid. Signs that these people accepted bribes. For example, suspiciously large amounts of cash, contracts written with special ink, coded letters, gold bars or rare ore, insanely expensive magi-engineering devices, even relics or prayer books of Luthien!

— ...None of that from your list is here. Rather, this house could be called ascetic... Anyway, let’s leave.

— ......

— Huh? Gunther? What’s wrong? Did you notice something strange?

— ...No, let’s go, like Parco said.

And so the quartet of thieves approached the last house. Hiding in the shadows beneath the roadside trees, they caught their breath. At that moment Parco spoke:

— This is definitely strange. If it’s not about money and not about faith, then why did all these people suddenly switch to Luthien’s side? Did someone catch them on some serious blackmail?

He scratched the back of his head, his face full of confusion. Tarsha shook her head and objected:

— ...I don’t know. They were all loners. Could blackmail that doesn’t involve family really be that fatal? Enough to make people who followed an anti-Luthien line for years suddenly become traitors overnight?

— Hmm, well officials always have sins. Other weaknesses could’ve surfaced.

— But their houses were too modest for that. No decorations at all, just like Gunther’s room...

— Eh? Gunther’s room is like that?

— Yeah, the natural habitat of an old bachelor!

— ...Will you focus already?

Still, as Blanc said, all four houses were modest. There weren’t even ordinary defensive magi-engineering devices or golems, so robbing them was ridiculously easy.

— Ugh... I honestly don’t understand anything.

The faces that had been stiff with tension when they climbed into the Upper City gradually relaxed after a fruitless night. Gunther encouraged his companions:

— Let’s check the last house first, then we’ll think. And also...

— Also?

— These aren’t the clues we expected, but I found one strange common factor.

— A strange common factor?..

Curiosity and anticipation awakened in the squad members’ eyes, but Gunther firmly shook his head.

— I’ll tell you when I’m sure. Seraz is running out of time she can buy for us, so let’s finish quickly and go back down.

Gunther looked at Parco and nodded. He read out the information about the final target:

— Lumiel Avenue, 47th Street, house 12-3. Owner — Lieutenant Colonel Ridel Vain of the 4th Mobile Special Forces Unit. This is the place.

— Lieutenant Colonel?..

He had the lowest rank among today’s targets.

— He’s only under suspicion of treason for now.

— What did he do?

— Remember when we were running around the Labyrinth? Back then Seraz’s subordinates, relying on adventurers’ testimony, captured a bunch of Luthien followers. He was responsible for that.

— And?

— Just yesterday there was a completely unbelievable escape attempt, and it succeeded. Because the pursuit was badly organized, they lost everyone. Since then he’s been suspected of betrayal.

— ...Sounds suspicious. Let’s shake him down.

The house of Lieutenant Colonel Ridel Vain was located in the cheapest rental district of the Upper City. Usually servants of high officials # Nоvеlight # lived here, or civil servants like him. The problem was something else...

— Damn it, is this a townhouse? I thought the Upper City only had mansions.

Tarsha clicked her tongue. Searching houses like these was far more difficult than private cottages. The buildings stood wall to wall, separated by only a single wall, so any vibration or sound could be heard by the neighbors.

“One wrong step and the whole block will wake up.”

They had to be extremely careful. Gunther took a deep breath and pressed his palm against the wall.

Crrr-ack—

The cold stone, covered with night snow, burned his palm. Perhaps because of that chilling touch, a strange ominous premonition arose in his chest.

— There’s not much space, so only Tarsha and I go inside. Parco, Blanc — stay on lookout. If things go bad, distract them.

Everyone nodded silently. Gunther clenched his fists.

— Let’s go.

.

.

.

— ...Here.

Breaking through the front door was impossible due to the townhouse layout. The entrance led directly into a corridor connected to neighboring apartments. If they tried to pick the lock there, the sound would definitely carry.

So they aimed for a window. In the inner courtyard, among piles of junk, there was a small window with a double frame and an iron grate. It was a good thing Parco stayed outside: with his build he would never have squeezed through.

— Tarsha.

— ...Doesn’t look like there’s magical protection.

— Excellent.

[Special Ability: “Lizard’s Wall Walk” active. Time remaining: 120 sec.]

Climbing the wall, Gunther touched the grate with his fingertips. At that moment—

Creeeak—

The sound of scraping metal rang out frighteningly loud. Both of them instinctively froze and held their breath.

— ......

A moment later a light flashed in the window of the neighboring house and then went out again. Several coughs were heard, and silence returned.

— Damn, my heart almost jumped out.

Suppressing his breathing, Gunther felt along the grate’s fastenings. Finding a rusted spot, he slowly, very carefully began to press.

Creeeak—

The nail slid out with a groan, leaving a gap.

[Alphonse of Red Street is sweating profusely]

Even now they could hear someone turning over behind the wall. The thought that the slightest mistake in applying force would expose them made sweat pour down their backs. But Gunther clenched his teeth and did not loosen his grip.

Click—

— ...Done.

— Good, let’s go.

As soon as the grate gave way, they bent down and slipped inside like shadows. The interior was sparse: ordinary furniture, simple utensils. Yet in the absolute darkness without a single light source, all of it looked strangely threatening.

— Tarsha, light.

— Mm.

A tiny flame appeared at the tip of Tarsha’s finger. For a moment the darkness retreated, revealing the room.

And then both of them froze.

— What... is this?

The floor, the walls, the ceiling — everything around them was covered in viscous slime. In the light it shimmered with a translucent sheen, streaks trailing along the walls. As if a gigantic larva had crawled here, leaving behind the path of its movement.

A stench like mold hit their noses. Their breathing caught, nausea rose in their throats. Tarsha involuntarily stepped back. The small flame trembled, casting bizarre shadows across the slime.

In that dreadful silence Gunther spoke first:

— Looks like we finally found something.

— ...Seems so.

— The safe is over there. I’ll handle it, you check the inner rooms.

— O-okay...

Tarsha looked pale. It was unexpected: the woman who hurled lightning in battle now hesitated before these filthy traces. But there was no time for leniency.

Gunther immediately knelt before the safe. Feeling the cold metal handle, he focused all his attention in his fingertips. But before he could demonstrate his skill, Tarsha’s quiet voice called out:

— Gunther, you should look at this.

...She stood in front of the study. Traces of something resembling vomit stretched from the threshold into the room. Half-rotten, as if corroded by stomach acid, they had lost their clear outlines. Yet their twisted contours evoked unpleasant associations that were hard to explain.

Gunther stared at them silently. From the clues available it was difficult to determine exactly what had happened in this house. But this dirty, sticky feeling was familiar to him.

“Luthien...”

The connection between the house owner and them seemed obvious.

...And then—

— You don’t understand my feelings at all!

— No, I understand everything!

— Really? Then tell me what you’re apologizing for!

— Well, that’s...

Outside, Parco and Blanc suddenly began their noisy act. That was the signal: someone was approaching. With high probability it was the house owner — Lieutenant Colonel Ridel Vain.

“We have to leave.”

Originally the mission had only been reconnaissance and searching. Confrontations were to be avoided at all costs. Causing trouble in the Upper City would bring endless consequences.

But—

— Gunther.

Tarsha called the hesitating Gunther.

— What do we do?

Step—

Footsteps sounded from the direction of the entrance hall. A steady gait, without the slightest hesitation, quickly approaching them.