Chapter 772

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 772: Inheritance Trial (2)

The workplace of Planetary Shipmaster Jeong Yeongwoo.

It was by no means an incorrect statement.

Was it not true that at every single moment, he had faced perils both great and small, growing himself through them, and securing the operating funds for the Earth Ship?

Therefore, even this encirclement he had run into while coming to seek the legacy of Yugui Moga was merely a part of his ordinary daily routine.

Though, of course, for Parina, it was something she could only comprehend with her head.

『They’re increasing without end. There are twice as many as before.』

While Parina looked all around with her massive fists clenched, Yeongwoo was looking down at the bandit collapsed on the floor.

“I don’t necessarily intend to see your blood. As long as I find what I want, I plan to leave this place quietly.”

At that, the bandit curved his single eye and smirked.

—You still seem to be under the illusion that you have bargaining power. There are only two things you bastards can do.

Then, he repeated what he had said earlier.

—Die on the spot, or bring money.

“…You’re not the type that words work on.”

Then again, what need was there for conversation in a meeting between bandits and robbers?

The stronger side would take everything.

Kudududu……!

Before long, a ferocious presence poured down right above Yeongwoo and Parina’s heads, and soon, the real business began.

Kwajit.

Just when it seemed a faint rupturing sound could be heard from somewhere, a long iron needle pierced through the ceiling and descended.

Shweeeeeeek!

“Looks like you’ve been having quite some fun with this all this time.”

However, if there was a difference from the attack just a moment ago, it was that the number of iron needles this time was rather large.

Shwishit!

In an instant, more than a dozen iron needles burst forth above Yeongwoo and Parina’s heads, and at this, Yeongwoo hurriedly ducked his upper body while swinging Bastard upward.

And with its blade extended to its maximum length, no less.

Kwagwagwagwat!

As the crimson magic sword cut into the ceiling, the bandits’ presences began to scatter to the left and right.

They were making evasive maneuvers in their own right.

However, because the speed at which Bastard swung was twice as fast as the bandits’ reaction speed, deep blue blood soon poured down from the crevice in the ceiling.

Chwaaaat!

Then, this time, iron needles shot out from inside the walls on the left and right sides of the mountain trail at a speed as fast as sewing machine needles.

Kwakwakwakwat!

“Crazy.”

At this, Yeongwoo reached out his hand to retrieve Bastard, while simultaneously smashing one of the walls with Aratubank.

Kwaaaang!

—…Huh?

—……!

It was also at this moment that Yeongwoo’s eyes met those of the bandits holding iron needles beyond the collapsed wall.

And then, right after, their necks were sliced clean off all at once by Bastard, which had returned to Yeongwoo’s hand.

Kwasat!

Along with a long red trajectory, as the heads of seven bandits tumbled to the ground, those ambushing inside the opposite wall forcibly smashed through the wall and swarmed out.

Thinking that just thrusting iron needles from inside the wall wouldn’t offer a solution, they had boldly attempted close-quarters combat.

“The words about those noble family bastards dying off here must not have been empty talk.”

Valor that did not fear a strong opponent, and even the judgment to rapidly adjust tactics.

In truth, their profession was merely bandits; they were still warriors of the battlefield.

—Die!

—Attack from all four sides!

A swarm of bandits gathered darkly from inside the collapsed wall, and next, the fissure in the ceiling split completely open as bandits jumped down from that direction as well.

In effect, they were completely surrounded.

Then, Obstruction of Justice finally raised its index finger.

× Aren’t there a bit too many? Can’t be helped, I’ll have to lend a hand.

And then, spewing fire from its index finger, it began punching holes into the foreheads of the bandits, starting from the ones who had approached within arm’s reach.

Ta-ta-tang!

At that, the bandit who had initially been pinned to the floor by Parina bared his teeth while covered in his comrades’ blood.

—From the looks of it, you don’t seem to be folks who came to tour the ruins; just what on earth did you come here looking for?

At this, while ruthlessly swinging Bastard toward the bandits, Yeongwoo shot a glance toward him.

“Yugui Moga.”

—…What?

“I came to find the legacy of Yugui Moga. I heard it’s hidden somewhere around here.”

—……!

Hearing Yeongwoo’s words, the bandit’s mouth fell wide open.

The great bandit, Yugui Moga.

Not only was it a name impossible not to know as a fellow bandit, but the fact that her legacy was hidden here on Pareshik was an open secret within bandit society.

“You know it as well, don’t you? That Yugui Moga left behind a legacy here.”

—…Any bandit knows that. But wouldn't there be a reason why not a single soul has been able to claim that legacy?

“Isn’t that because no one with the proper key has ever appeared?”

As Yeongwoo took out the token of the Monstrous Ship Solution from within his clothes along with these words, the bandit on the floor tilted his head.

Naturally, having never obtained the Monstrous Ship Solution, he didn’t recognize its token either.

However, like the bandit he was, he was very quick-witted, and figured it out before even a few seconds had passed.

The fact that, at long last, a proper guest had visited Pareshik.

—A key! It’s a key! Yugui’s key has finally appeared!

Simultaneously with this outcry, a momentary silence fell, and soon, all the bandits present moved their hands to their waists as if by prior agreement.

Seuk.

There was a device shaped like a small bead there, and a moment later, when the bandits poked their respective beads with their fingertips, a tremendous noise burst forth.

Keeeeeeeeeing!

“Khhk!”

It was a sound so piercing that one's brow furrowed on its own.

At this, Yeongwoo pointed his sword at the fellow pinned to the ground and asked.

“What is this? Are you announcing to the whole neighborhood that the key has finally appeared?”

Then, the bandit gave a low laugh and spoke.

—You know well. This is Pareshik. Whoever seizes anything becomes its new owner. Therefore…….

“Today, on Pareshik, someone will come to possess Yugui Moga’s legacy. Because the key has finally appeared here, after all.”

As Yeongwoo picked up the line just like a local, the bandit opened his eyes wide with a thoroughly surprised expression.

—You bastard… Are you really the inheritor of Yugui Moga?

“The outcome will tell.”

No sooner had Yeongwoo finished these words and plunged his blade into the bandit’s neck than Obstruction of Justice, catching his drift, shot dead the rest of the bandits still left standing alive one after another.

Ta-ta-tang!

“A deathmatch will start soon.”

『Deathmatch? What is that?』

Parina tilted her head at the unfamiliar term, and at this, Yeongwoo answered while rummaging through the corpses strewn across the floor.

“The guy who just died said it. Whoever seizes anything becomes its new owner. That’s the law of this neighborhood.”

『…And so?』

“So now, the bandit groups that were occupying the other mountains will soon cross over here. Because the fact that the key leading to Yugui Moga’s legacy has emerged has been made known.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Of course, it was merely Yeongwoo’s conjecture to the end, but given the circumstances, it had to be right.

Yugui Moga’s key was a sort of special-grade event that all the bandits on this planet had been waiting for.

And according to the bandits’ way, whoever held the key at the final moment would become the owner of the legacy.

This was a rule agreed upon by all bandits of Pareshik, and it was likely what Yugui Moga, who had been a bandit in life, had intended as well.

In the world of bandits, one could not become the legitimate owner of that legacy simply by obtaining the key.

‘Literally an inheritance trial.’

While Yeongwoo was looking at the token still held in his hand, Parina pointed at the mountain trail crowded with corpses and spoke.

『Another whole bunch of fellows like these are coming? Then shouldn't we move quickly?』

However, in the meantime, Yeongwoo was once again searching through the corpses on the ground.

Because apart from the iron needles they had been holding, everyone was wearing a weapon at their waist.

Although most of them were scrap-metal weapons retaining only traces of their grades, at any rate, they were things that could be registered in the compendium.

“Wait. All of these are ‘equipment’……?”

The number of bandits collapsed throughout the mountain trail area was about seventy.

Therefore, the weapon compendium collection rate that could be gained from them was also.

“Good grief.”

Yeongwoo, who had searched through the corpses one by one and found the scrap-metal weapons, soon felt his weapon compendium collection rate increase drastically.

Pwaaaat!

[Weapon Compendium]

〔478〕

Because he had gained a collection rate of a whopping 72 in one go.

‘An appetizer gives a weapon collection rate of 72……? Truly, the legacy of a Great One is different.’

While Yeongwoo was marveling and checking if there were any weapons left over just in case, an unusual vibration soon arose from outside the mountain.

Dududududu……!

Just as Yeongwoo had predicted, the other bandit crews that heard that piercing signal sound earlier had begun their advance.

At this, Parina swung her fist to smash the mountain’s outer wall, then poked her head out to survey the outside.

『It’s immense.』

“How many are there?”

『I don't know. Hundreds?』

“Then the weapons they’re carrying must be at least several hundred as well.”

However, it was uncertain whether they could deal with all several hundred war-veteran bandits here in an area that was gradually turning into open ground.

“We need to head further inside. Let’s find the legacy first, and slice up the bandits on our way out.”

『In any case, that seems like a wiser decision than standing still here.』

Parina soon nodded her head, and Yeongwoo immediately raised the token high above his head.

Seuk.

Then, a thin holographic line extended out from the token, pointing toward the upper part of the mountain trail.

It must mean that Yugui Moga’s legacy was hidden up there.

“Let’s go. Those bastards will be thoroughly familiar with the terrain here, so they’ll be able to catch up to us in an instant.”

Finishing these words, Yeongwoo slotted Bastard back into his waist, then began to sprint at high speed along the mountain trail.

Papat!

Then, Parina also surveyed the rear once before leaping over the corpses following Yeongwoo.

『So many lives dying off like this every day? The normal universe is truly a dreadful place.』

Unless a universe-scale catastrophe took place, celestial bodies were entities that had no reason to lose their lives.

So for Parina, everything she had just seen was fascinating.

Even the conversation her husband and the bandit had shared a moment ago.

『In a universe like this, just what kind of beings can survive until the very end?』

Because Parina murmured this way, Yeongwoo was about to say ‘a Great One,’ but then closed his mouth.

Thinking carefully, was it not reality that even Great Ones lost their lives when swept up in a great war?

And the Solution token, the proof of ‘perished greatness,’ was right inside his hand.

So, Yeongwoo changed his answer.

“Well. If it’s someone whom no one can predict, maybe they could survive in any situation.”

『Unpredictable? Are you introducing yourself right now?』

“Rather than introducing myself, it’s closer to a wish.”

The moment Yeongwoo gave a low laugh, the holographic line guiding him finally bent sideways.

Toward what outwardly looked like a normal wall, no less.

“Is it this way?”

Having confirmed this, when Yeongwoo kicked the wall surface and shattered it, a descent passageway hidden beyond the wall was revealed, floating transcendent text in the empty air.

「This path is permitted only to the one who possesses the token. However, the right to challenge belongs to anyone.」

「If you can fill your empty hands with valor, dive in. There shall surely be glory for the worthy.」

At this, Yeongwoo, who had examined the text thoroughly, shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s saying that if you don’t have a token, make up for it with your body.”

And then, holding the token of the Monstrous Ship Solution in hand, he boldly leaped into the passageway.

Taaat!

Then, Parina, left behind alone in the rear, asked in a flustered voice.

『W-What about me? Am I supposed to wait here?』

At this, Yeongwoo, who had grown far away in that short span, sent back a sound closer to an echo.

“Do you have no confidence to fill your empty hands with valor……!”

『That crazy bastard.』

How could Parina just sit and listen to that quietly?

In the end, she valiantly leaped into the passageway as well.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]