Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Ruins Village (2)

The streets of the Ruins Village were thick with the mingled smells of countless dishes.

Anagin sniffed at the air, then stepped into a makeshift building at the three-way intersection.

Of all the many eateries, this one gave off the most delicious scent.

With Ponytail clutching his stomach in tow, Anagin took a seat at an empty table.

“Sit.”

He gestured to Ponytail, who was still standing.

Perhaps his battered stomach was still smarting, because the man winced as he asked,

“If I don’t sit, are you gonna hit me again?”

“Yep.”

Anagin nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ponytail grumbled.

“I thought you were a greenhorn, but I really bit off way more than I could chew… Look, sorry, but can’t we go somewhere else?”

“Nope. The food here smells the best.”

Anagin said, glancing toward the half-open kitchen.

Burly cooks bustled back and forth, preparing all kinds of dishes—freshly baked bread, meat stew with bones and meat boiled down to richness, rice stir-fried in oil and simmered in broth, fried fish, seasoned roast chicken.

Of all the streets lined with food stalls and restaurants, this place smelled the best, so this was where Anagin had walked in.

*After a journey like this, I deserve to eat something good.*

“Whoa, you’ve got one hell of a nose. Finding the best restaurant just by smell?”

“If you already know, why ask? You don’t like good food?”

“That’s…”

As Ponytail wore an awkward expression, a woman who looked like an employee approached.

“Kleptis?”

Orange-haired with vivid freckles and a generous chest, she called out to Ponytail. Ponytail greeted her with a stiff smile.

“Oh, hey—”

*Smack!*

Before he could even finish, the woman swung and slapped him across the cheek.

“Ouch.”

Anagin let out a sound of surprise, and Ponytail muttered, “Yeah, I deserved that.”

Something was clearly going on between them. Not that Anagin cared.

“Would you like to order?”

Whether it was sheer professional dedication or not, the employee asked Anagin for his order as if she hadn’t just slapped a man.

It was his first time in a place like this, so he took a moment to decide what to order. *What do I need to eat to make sure word gets around that I ate well?*

“Hmm… one of everything.”

“One of *everything*?”

The employee asked again at the unusual order, and Anagin nodded. After three days of nothing but dried rations, he wanted a proper meal.

“Add some liquor too.”

Ponytail naturally tacked on the order while rubbing his red, swollen cheek.

The woman nodded, then slapped Ponytail’s cheek one more time before leaving.

*Smack!*

A crisp sound, and the air turned awkward. Ponytail stroked both his flushed cheeks and opened his mouth.

“Actually, she and I—”

“Don’t care. Don’t tell me.”

Anagin waved a hand to cut off Ponytail as he tried to explain his situation.

He apparently had some story, but Anagin didn’t care in the slightest.

“That’s harsh. You hit me in the stomach out of nowhere too…”

“It hurts me too, you know. I hate hitting people.”

“If you’re gonna lie, shouldn’t you at least make it convincing?”

“It’s not a lie. I hate it because it’s hard not to beat someone to death.”

Anagin said something terrifying as if it were nothing.

Ponytail instinctively understood that he meant it. He’d really, truly bitten off more than he could chew.

“Ha, then why did you hit me?”

“Because if I didn’t, you’d keep scheming. I put up with the hassle and hit you anyway. No need to thank me.”

“Scheming? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Then why did you take my coin purse?”

In an instant, silence fell over the bustling restaurant, and Ponytail’s face went pale.

“Hand it over.”

Anagin spoke kindly, palm outstretched.

“Uh… if I run, you’ll hit me, right?”

“Curious? Try running.”

Ponytail looked into Anagin’s eyes.

He got the feeling that running would be very bad for his health. So he obediently returned Anagin’s coin purse.

“I really did bite off more than I could chew… But I wasn’t lying about knowing a lot around here.”

“That’s why I only hit you. Normally, I’d have ripped your hand off.”

Not cut off—ripped off. Ponytail was terrified because it really seemed like he would do it.

“Please spare me.”

“Answer my questions, then.”

“What do you want to know?”

Anagin got straight to the point.

“First, explain that. That not just anyone can enter the Ruins. What did you mean?”

It was what Anagin was most curious about. He’d heard the Ruins had no owner, so he didn’t understand how entry could be forbidden without permission.

“Hmm, can I ask one question before I answer? By any chance, did you notice something strange about this place?”

“Your food’s here.”

Before Ponytail could give his answer, the employee arrived carrying a tray piled high with food and liquor.

There was rice simmered in broth after being stir-fried with meat and vegetables, roast chicken with a sharp, tingling aroma, meat stew packed with chunks of meat, golden-fried fish, boiled beef and pork. And liquor on top of all that.

The dishes filled the empty table to the brim.

When Ponytail reached for the food, Anagin rapped his hand with a wooden spoon.

“Ow!”

Ponytail looked at him mournfully, as if asking how he could do this over food.

Ignoring the look, Anagin piled roast chicken and boiled meat onto the rice dish and shoveled it in as he answered.

“It’s too big. This village.”

Ponytail whistled.

“*Wheeoo*—! Say what?”

“I said the Ruins Village seems too big.”

“Oooh, smart. For a greenhorn? Who’d you hear that from?”

“I’m the one asking questions.”

“Ah, my bad, my bad. Anyway, you’re right. It’s strange for a village this size to spring up around a Ruins that was just discovered. The scale is just too big.”

So Anagin’s hunch was right. Which meant there had to be a separate reason the village was so large.

“This place is a bit different from other Ruins. In a good way. There’s a lot of money to be made. Gold, silver, jewels—that kind of thing. That’s why all sorts of riffraff are flocking here.”

Anagin already knew that Ruins with valuable treasure were common enough. The problem was…

“The more treasure a Ruins has, the more dangerous it is, isn’t it?”

“That’s the common sense, yeah, but I told you—this Ruins is different. All that comes out are weak-ass Monsters, and even those are just another treasure of this Ruins. Strong Monsters are a threat, but weak Monsters are money. Though if you can kill them, even strong Monsters are money too.”

Anagin roughly understood what he meant. This Ruins was a massive slab of meat—low risk for what it gave out.

“Other than that, the inside of the Ruins is supposedly labyrinthine and complex. Besides that, there’s nothing particularly dangerous.”

“So the guys in front of the Ruins entrance are the ones who’ve staked their claim on the honey pot?”

“Quick on the uptake! Yeah, they’re a pack of dogs monopolizing the honey. Truth is, they’re not Ascetics or anything. Half mercenaries, half bandits.”

“And people like that are occupying the Ruins?”

Anagin asked, finding it strange. If that was all, couldn’t you just beat them down? Even if it was hard for ordinary people, wouldn’t an Ascetic have no trouble?

“The problem is who’s behind them.”

“Who’s behind them?”

“Diodia.”

“Who’s that?”

“Figures! You’re not from around here, are you? He’s pretty famous. Along with the Bander Peddler Band.”

The name of the man he’d killed not long ago came up. It should have felt strange, but Anagin was only puzzled. *That bastard was famous?*

“Diodia is a Giant. One who wields the power of giants—a monster ordinary people can’t hope to match. But that’s not actually why he’s feared.”

“Then why?”

Anagin asked without much interest. But Ponytail’s next words sparked a flicker of curiosity.

“He has a backer. It’s only a rumor, but they say his backer is a disciple of ‘Erysichthon.’”

“Erysichthon? Who’s that?”

“Good god! Did you live alone on a mountain somewhere? You don’t know Erysichthon? The patron of traitors? Of criminals? The king who devoured a nation?”

Anagin said nothing. So the guy sounded like a big deal—so what?

Ponytail could only marvel.

“Man, I’m shocked. I figured you were clueless about this part of the world, but not knowing Erysichthon? If you want to live long, you’d better remember that name.”

“So the point is, because that guy’s behind him, everyone leaves him alone? Diodia?”

“Well, yeah. The Ascetics around here are nothing special. The merchants have to pay protection money, but since the Ruins keep producing money, they don’t really care.”

After hearing the explanation, Anagin pushed the fried fish and boiled meat toward Ponytail.

Ponytail let out an impressed “Oh…” and dug into the food.

“Are Ruins usually this full of treasure? Enough to occupy one?”

“It is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Ponytail nodded, washing down boiled meat with wine.

And for good reason—a Ruins was not an infinite source of bounty. There were countless Ruins in the world, but just as many had been sealed shut.

The reason was that the wealth, God’s blessing, magic tools, and such inside a Ruins disappeared once someone claimed them. Yet this Ruins kept pouring out wealth. As if someone were refilling it.

The interesting part was that no one pointed this out.

Not the ones occupying the Ruins, not the merchants, not the outsiders visiting this place.

“Everyone just chalks it up to the Ruins’ nature. The gods made the Ruins, so if wealth keeps springing out, well…”

Ponytail trailed off and shrugged. Anagin, unconvinced, downed a mouthful of cloudy meat stew.

Part of it was that he couldn’t believe the Ruins had such a bizarre trait—but he also couldn’t believe that the gods, lazy as they were, had made the Ruins at all.

Well, brooding over it wouldn’t produce an answer, so he dropped the thought immediately.

*Clink. Clink.*

The sound of dishes knocking together rang out as the food on the table steadily dwindled.

Anagin scanned the bustling restaurant and kept asking questions.

“Forget the Ruins for now. Anything else worth knowing?”

“That’s too vague. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“There were a lot of kids near the riverbanks.”

“The kids hawking? What’s strange about that? Kids have to do something to get by.”

“It’s strange that they’re *all* kids.”

He could understand that many of the hawkers were children, but it was odd that they were all children.

“They said you only have to pay them half wages, so they asked to be hired. All those little ones by the river were abandoned by their parents.”

“Abandoned?”

“Midnight flits. It happens sometimes. People who abandon their kids and leave. The Ruins Village is good for making money, but not everyone actually makes good money. Some of them are in debt. When that happens, they run fast. Fast enough to abandon their kids.”

Anagin thought of the children he’d seen on the way here. The kids hawking by the river, the kids begging in the village.

There were too many for something that “happens sometimes.”

“Ah, now that I think about it, there is a strange rumor. There was a little kid who said a monster suddenly appeared and swallowed his family and their whole wagon in one go.”

“Shouldn’t you have led with that? I even shared my food with you.”

“That’s cheap of you, holding food over my head. I told you anyway, didn’t I? Besides, that kind of thing isn’t worth mentioning. There’s always a ghost story or two wherever people gather, and this is near a Ruins where Monsters come out.”

Ponytail argued his case forcefully, as if he felt wronged.

“But why are you even asking about that? Judging by how you’ve got zero interest in my tragic love story, you seem like the type who doesn’t listen to useless crap.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

“A bad feeling?”

“Sometimes, the smart ones among beasts pull tricks on people. This place has exactly that feel. A nasty thing acting nasty.”

“Your vocabulary is killer. I’ll admit it.”

Ponytail sneered, but Anagin paid him no mind and kept eating.

By the time they’d cleared every last dish the employee brought out, several towers of empty plates stood on the table.

At the sheer volume of food consumed, a few people—including the employee—looked over in awe.

“That’ll be?”

“Including liquor, eight olive silver coins…”

“Hey.”

Anagin called to Ponytail. The timing was so ominous that Ponytail’s face darkened.

“Damn? What the fuck? Don’t tell me you’re gonna make *me* pay? I’m so broke I get an allowance from a woman!”

The employee glared at Ponytail as if she had a bone to pick with him.

“It’s not that. You know where they sell Ruins exploration gear? Any good ones?”

It was an out-of-nowhere question, but Ponytail, relieved that he wasn’t being asked to cover the bill, answered.

“Haah, thank god. If you go straight left from here, there’s a place called the magic shop.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Anagin took sixteen silver coins from his purse and gave half to the employee and half to Ponytail.

Ponytail asked, confused.

“What? What’s this?”

“Information fee.”

Anagin answered briefly, then rose without hesitation and walked out of the restaurant.

Left sitting alone, Ponytail silently watched Anagin leave, then noticed the employee glaring at him and quickly vacated his seat.

He didn’t want to lose the information fee he’d just received.

---

“What? Oil, or something that burns well?”

The magic shop Ponytail had mentioned was a squat purple tent.

There was a stand in front, and old wooden boxes were stacked densely behind it.

Anagin bought Ruins exploration gear there, listened to instructions on how to use each tool, then placed an additional order for oil.

Highly flammable oil, or something similar.

The old man who owned the magic shop—wearing a purple pointed hat and cloak—asked,

“I’ve got some, but why?”

“Because there might be something to burn.”

“Huuuh?”

At the answer that made him wonder if he’d heard correctly, the old man furrowed his brow.

“Can you sell it, or can’t you?”

“Well, selling it’s fine by me. I was planning to leave soon anyway. How much do you need?”

Anagin set down the entire coin purse he’d received from the Monster Butchery. He’d spent a fair amount on the restaurant bill and Ruins exploration gear, but it was still heavy.

“As much as this will buy.”

“You planning to set something on fire?”

Anagin shrugged. As if to say, *If I need to, I will.*

“Wait a moment.”

The old man pulled a staff from his coat and tapped the wooden boxes behind him.

[Bring out the Slippery Oil.]

The wooden box vibrated in response to the command. The old man opened the lid and took out twenty amphorae of oil.

“Hup! This is sensitive oil—the same stuff that goes into the torch sets I sold you earlier. It catches fire too easily, so I only sell it in small amounts. Want me to split it up for you?”

“No need. Can I put it in my bag?”

The old man nodded.

Anagin unhesitatingly lowered the bag slung over his right shoulder and packed the amphorae inside.

With an ordinary bag, the opening wouldn’t be big enough to fit them, but Anagin’s bag was a subspace bag.

As soon as the amphorae drew near the opening, they shrank as if by magic and slipped neatly inside.

“It’s none of my business, but have you gotten permission from Diodia’s gang to explore the Ruins?”

“Why would I need permission for that?”

Anagin asked, as if he couldn’t understand the question. Rules those people made up for themselves…. Besides, that might not even be the important part right now. Well, Anagin didn’t particularly care either way.

The pointed-hat old man, now convinced he’d sold goods to someone out of the ordinary, was about to advise him to be careful—but Anagin left before the old man could even open his mouth.

He’d bought everything he needed, so there was no reason to stay.

And so Anagin set off walking toward the mountain behind the village, where the Ruins were.

“Hey! Hold on! Where are you going?!”

Ponytail, who he’d parted ways with at the restaurant, had come looking for Anagin again.

Not that he’d asked out of genuine curiosity.

If Anagin had bought exploration tools at the magic shop and was heading in this direction, there was only one place he could be going.

Even so, he’d asked to confirm it.

“The Ruins. More importantly, why are you following me?”

“You just ditched me out of nowhere. And I’m curious. So why are you going to the Ruins all of a sudden?”

“I came here because I had business at the Ruins in the first place.”

“Even so, most people rest a day first. They don’t rush like this.”

“Just because. There’s something I want to check.”

His tone suggested it was no big deal. But he didn’t tell him what it was he wanted to check.

His drive was incredible. Ponytail asked, looking genuinely curious,

“Then let me ask one more thing.”

“Why should I? To a petty thief, no less?”

“Oh, come on! I told you what I was curious about, didn’t I?! I tried to steal your money, but it ended as an attempt.”

“You lunatic—is being an incompetent petty thief something to brag about?”

“I’m an excellent thief! That guy who slapped me knows I’m her kept man, but she still doesn’t know I’ve been skimming little by little from her money.”

“You really are a piece of shit, aren’t you?”

“Ugh, come on. Just tell me! I’m curious now. I told you mine, didn’t I?!”

“I paid you an information fee too, didn’t I?”

No sooner had he said it than Ponytail handed back the eight silver coins he’d received.

“Here, this settles it, right?”

Anagin hadn’t expected that. He stared at him for a moment, then answered.

“What are you curious about?”

“What are you going to do about Diodia’s gang? Without their permission, they’ll attack you inside the Ruins too.”

“You get their permission for me instead. You said you could.”

“That was a lie. I was planning to take the money and bolt.”

“Ah, damn…. I should’ve hit you harder.”

“Too late for that. So, what’s the plan? You’ve come this far, so you must have some insane plan.”

“A plan? I’ve got one.”

As Anagin answered confidently, armed men standing guard at the mountain entrance came into view.

The men in leather armor, armed with nothing but spears, were lounging around—until they spotted Anagin and slowly rose from their spots.

Just from that, it was clear how peaceful duty here had been.

*Thud-thud-thud!*

Anagin sprinted toward the guards. Then he leaped. Without touching down, he drove a flying kick into the guards blocking the entrance and slammed them into the wall.

“Head-on. Brazenly. With force.”

Having knocked the guards unconscious, Anagin stated his plan.

Ponytail was impressed.

“You lunatic.”