Wastewater and Corpses

Footsteps sounded in the darkness, far too many to belong to just one or two people. They did not even seem human, so faint and fragmented were they.

Along with the footsteps came sounds like barking. From the commotion alone, it felt like a whole pack of dogs was charging at them in a frenzy of barks.

A pack of feral dogs in the sewers?

Wait, were there really feral dogs in the sewers?

Feral dogs would not use arrows, would they?

A string of questions instantly flashed through his mind, but whatever they were, opening with an arrow meant they clearly came with ill intent.

Pei Renli rubbed his neck and hastily traced three runes. The magical defense created by the spell known as Mage Armor wrapped around him protectively.

Eve beside him immediately cast a protective spell on herself as well. For a moment, aside from the illumination of Light and Dancing Lights, the magical glow of spells being activated also lit up the surroundings.

In battle, stacking armor on yourself took priority over dealing damage. After all, DPS that could not stay standing dealt no damage at all.

Kaya rushed to the front like a whirlwind and drew her longsword. Koura also took half a step back, removed the shortbow from her back, and aimed toward the stirring sounds in the darkness.

After a while, the footsteps gradually stopped, though the doglike calls could still be heard in the darkness not far away, like whispered chatter. All Pei Renli and the others could see were countless glittering eyes in the dark.

Eve, who had already used a defensive spell, made a gesture from afar. One glowing orb from her Dancing Lights swiftly drifted over, illuminating the creatures hidden in the darkness.

To their surprise, the things were neither people nor dogs, but upright-walking lizards that stood roughly as high as an ordinary person's calves.

When the bright light drove away the darkness around them, the little lizards visibly panicked. Yet they remained where they were as if gathering their courage, their claws trembling slightly as they held crude spears and makeshift bows and crossbows.

Seeing what they were, everyone visibly relaxed. Koura even lowered her shortbow and grabbed Pei Renli's cloak again, saying excitedly, "Look, look! Kobolds!"

"I see them! Let go!"

These upright-walking little lizards did not have dog heads. They were called kobolds because their cries sounded very much like dogs barking.

Strictly speaking, they counted as intelligent creatures, but their intelligence was generally as hopeless as goblins', and when it came to fighting, they might not even beat goblins one-on-one.

Kobolds usually lived in caves. Surprisingly, they could be considered excellent miners, capable of excavating extremely intricate and sturdy cave systems.

An environment like the sewers was also a kobold favorite. In most cities with sewers, there were rumors of kobolds lurking within them.

Kobolds living in the sewers would occasionally sneak into residents' homes under cover of night, stealing shiny tableware or food to fill their bellies. When discovered, kobolds would not resist, but flee at once. They knew very well that they could not hurt people, because that would bring down a large-scale extermination on them.

All in all, they were a group of little lizards that were somewhat bad, but not bad to the bone.

Kobolds had become rare in the wild. Their habitats had been squeezed out by monsters such as goblins, and many adventurers had never even seen one. There had even once been an absurd rumor that encountering kobolds brought good luck. That was why Koura looked so excited.

Naturally, Pei Renli had never seen one either. Everything he knew about kobolds came from monster compendiums in the library.

Faced with a group of barking lizards, Kaya did not find them particularly remarkable. Gripping her sword hilt, she called out to them, "Do any of you speak Common?"

Kobolds could learn Common, after all. They counted as intelligent creatures and were capable of communication. There were even rumors of kobold mages, though nobody knew whether that was true.

But perhaps the group they had encountered was a pack of idiots. Kaya shouted twice, and the only response she got was another chorus of barking.

At that moment, Pei Renli stepped forward. To the others, he let out a low, muffled growl like some sort of beast, a sound that hardly seemed human.

Amazingly, after that growl, the kobolds abruptly quieted down quite a bit.

Eve, whose tone rarely changed, asked in a slightly surprised voice, "You actually know Draconic?"

"Just a little, just a little."

Since it was difficult to explain where his ability to understand any language with ease came from, Pei Renli could only toss out a few modest words.

Kobolds claimed they had been born from the blood of Tiamat, the Queen of Five-Colored Dragons, but that had never been proven. It felt more like these little lizards were simply bragging.

Still, the kobolds' language truly was Draconic. Those doglike barks could be regarded as an extremely heavy accent...

The reason Eve was surprised was that while Draconic was one of the required subjects for mages, that applied only to its written form. Draconic pronunciation was exceptionally difficult, requiring a certain degree of talent and long periods of practice.

From Pei Renli's first day at the academy, his classmates had suspected that even if he was not the son of some noble family, he must have come from a scholarly household or something similar.

After all, his skin was far too pale, and his palms bore none of the calluses left by physical labor. Thus, the other three were surprised rather than puzzled that he knew Draconic, assuming it was the result of an elite education received in childhood.

Pei Renli growled a few words, and the kobolds opposite him responded with barking of their own. This conversation that looked, at first glance, like chickens talking to ducks somehow actually worked.

Still, being able to communicate made things much easier.

"These kobolds attacked because we accidentally entered their territory. Relax a little. Being too tense will provoke them."

After explaining that to the others, Pei Renli spoke in Draconic again.

"We mean no harm. We are only passing through. Could you send a representative to speak with me?"

To everyone else, the kobolds were merely barking, but to Pei Renli, it sounded like a huge crowd answering all at once in chaotic chatter, enough to make his head ache.

Another heated discussion erupted among the upright little lizards, but before long, a kobold holding a spear—at their height, it counted as a spear—walked out.

"Sha Sha is the representative. You can speak with Sha Sha."

This kobold named Sha Sha had scales different from the others: pale green scales, with a slight hump rising along his back like a hunchback's, as though wings were waiting to grow beneath it.

Under certain special circumstances, kobolds really could grow wings. Their language was a heavily accented form of Draconic precisely because they were blood-related to dragons.

The matter of dragons could wait. Seeing this, Pei Renli said:

"We're chasing someone who fled into the sewers. Have you seen them?"

"Sha Sha hasn't seen them."

After all, they had already strayed far from their original direction. It was only natural that these kobolds had not seen the person.

Pei Renli was about to ask where the nearest exit was when he heard Sha Sha say:

"But Sha Sha knows a place with lots of humans. Miserable, noisy sounds often come from there, and they make Sha Sha very scared."

Miserable, noisy sounds?

Could the human trafficking organization be keeping people in the sewers?

Those words caught Pei Renli's attention, and he immediately pressed further:

"Tell me more."

"Sha Sha doesn't know the details. Sha Sha and the clan usually don't dare go near there. Also, ever since those humans arrived, they often discharge highly poisonous wastewater near Sha Sha's territory. Many hatchlings died because of that wastewater."

The hatchlings the kobolds spoke of were not actual dragons. They were simply accustomed to calling their newborn children hatchlings.

After all, these creatures had always taken great pride in possessing dragon blood.

Hearing that, Pei Renli was thoroughly puzzled.

What was this about poisonous wastewater? Wasn't this just a case of human trafficking?

Besides, at the current level of productivity and technology, industrialization was impossible. And even if it were possible, there would be no reason to build a chemical plant in the sewers.

Where exactly was the poisonous wastewater coming from...

"Sha Sha and the clan tried to resist, but the humans were too strong. We couldn't beat them."

Those words pulled Pei Renli out of his brief thoughts, and he continued asking:

"Have there been any wastewater discharges or miserable screams lately?"

Sha Sha scratched her head with a claw.

"Seems like no. There haven't been any sounds these past few days. Some wastewater still flows down, but there's much less than before."

"Can you take us there?"

As he spoke, Pei Renli reluctantly dug a copper coin from his pocket, swiftly drew a rune on it, and attached a Light spell to it. The coin now seemed to glow on its own.

He shook the coin in his hand.

"If you take us there, it's yours."

The lizardfolk immediately erupted into an eager discussion. Pei Renli's offer was especially tempting to them.

Kobolds liked shiny things. Even a shard of glass would be treated as an unparalleled treasure, so a copper coin bearing a Light spell was more than enough to fool them.

It was clear that "sparkly and shiny" held an enormous temptation for kobolds. After only a few words of discussion, the timid creatures quickly reached a decision, and Sha Sha declared:

"We agree. Sha Sha can take you there, but Sha Sha won't go inside. Sha Sha needs your promise."

"All right. I promise you'll only need to lead the way."

As he spoke, Pei Renli tossed over the copper coin, prompting the kobolds to scramble over it.

"How did the negotiations go?"

The others could not understand what Pei Renli had said to the kobolds. Seeing that the conversation seemed to have reached a conclusion, Kaya hurriedly asked.

"Although these kobolds haven't seen the person we're chasing, they seem to know where the human trafficking organization is keeping its victims."

"Could they be holding people in the sewers?"

"That should be it."

Koura looked at Pei Renli, who was pinching his chin with a frown.

"Isn't that good news? Why do you look so troubled?"

"Because I don't think this is as simple as human trafficking."

At first, Pei Renli had thought this mission would be very simple—just catch a lackey and call it a day. In fact, everything had gone smoothly at the beginning.

But the developments afterward had started to feel wrong, especially when he recalled all the details from not long ago. To be honest, Pei Renli had the feeling that he might have been swept into some troublesome affair...

He dearly hoped he was overthinking it.