I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Chapter 310: The Disease That Grows Feathers on the Philtrum 5

TL/Editor: raei

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Infiltrating the Harpy Empire was easier than expected.

Even easier than lying down and eating rice cakes.

“…No one’s paying any attention to us.”

“At this rate, we probably didn’t even need the robes.”

The harpies didn't care at all about humans in drab gray robes.

Now that I think about it, it makes sense.

These imperialist harpies probably didn’t realize they were inside the tower.

They didn’t know there were adventurers fighting their way up from the lower floors, nor did they know that the Temple Knights were fervently trying to spread the Goddess’s teachings.

All the harpies of the Empire knew was that there were lowly but skilled slaves hiding underground who could be exploited and that they could lure wandering adventurers.

Just like wild animals who had never seen humans before might approach out of curiosity, the harpies of the Empire had never experienced a threat from humans, nor had they ever faced a crisis within the Empire.

Their only enemies, as depicted in their murals, were the tentacled monsters emerging from underground.

“Still, it’s more peaceful than I thought.”

“Yeah. They’ve shackled the stone dwarves and enslaved them, but there haven’t been any incidents in the streets. Their disposal methods might be cruel, but there doesn’t seem to be any abuse.”

As a result, instead of feeling like we were infiltrating, it felt more like we were tourists in a foreign country where the language was barely understood.

We could thoroughly explore our surroundings.

The first thing that stood out was, of course, the buildings constructed by the stone dwarves.

Whether to accommodate the harpies or not, the wide-open windows and roofless designs were quite striking.

Despite being rectangular and elongated, the buildings looked less like villas or apartments and more like artificial nests built for wild birds.

The harpies flying in and out through the open roofs and windows never seemed to consider coming down to the ground, as if the roads were meant only for inferior beings.

The next thing we noticed was the small number of humans and shackled stone dwarves.

Since the harpies were all flying, the ones using the roads were naturally all dwarves and humans.

Most were shackled stone dwarves, with only a few humans in robes like us.

“Hey, new faces.”

“…?”

While surveying the city, the first one to speak to us was not a patrolling harpy but another adventurer dressed in a robe.

Like us in our gray robes, he wore a jet-black robe pulled down low.

His face was completely hidden except for the area below his chin, but he made no effort to conceal his adventurer status, as the hilt of his sword protruded from the robe at his waist.

Given that he was wandering alone, he must have been confident in his skills.

He was probably not intermediate but rather a high-level adventurer who had been recruited by the Empire.

“Are you guys here to make a quick score too?”

“A quick score?”

“Come on, don’t play dumb. You’re not seriously here to obey the tower monsters, are you?”

Maybe he thought we were beneath him because we were moving as a group, or maybe he was just naturally cocky.

He kept smiling slyly like some back-alley thug, rather than a proper adventurer.

After listening to him, it turned out that he hadn’t been kidnapped or recruited by the harpies.

He was just pretending to be recruited so he could make a quick score with the harpies’ giant mana stones.

On the 43rd floor, giant mana stones made from harpy unfertilized eggs were traded for enormous sums.

However, because of the trade between the harpy kingdom and the supply caravans, adventurers couldn’t intervene.

So, some adventurers had this idea:

Couldn’t other harpies also make giant mana stones like those?

"You’re a party of five, so if you join us, we'll be exactly twenty."

"Fifteen others are already here?"

"Yep. They’re all pretty skilled too. They're capable of exploring the 46th floor safely enough. So, what do you think? As I said, I doubt you came all the way here just to genuinely submit to some harpies."

A total of fifteen high-level adventurers had already slipped into the harpy city before us while exploring the 46th floor.

Unlike the intermediate adventurers who were seduced and kidnapped by the harpies, these adventurers had entered the city boldly through negotiations with the recruiting harpies, receiving "treatment befitting their skills."

-Wait, these guys got here before the player, lol.

-So Han Se-ah is a bomb-loving maniac trying to blow up the city, and these guys are petty thieves looking to steal valuables?

-An explosive terrorist who opposes slavery? Humanity's future looks bleak.

-The Goddess is probably shedding tears of blood watching from the heavens.

-Lol, this is turning into a local crime movie in no time.

Our party members were surprised by the unexpected information.

But we felt it was worth hearing them out, so we accepted the suggestion to follow the man in the black robe.

He seemed sure that we'd listen to their story and naturally guided us.

The adventurers were not gathered where we had been, but in a cave at another location.

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Raei Translations

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"Alright, it's safe here, so don't be tense. The noble chicken-heads never come to these filthy places where the sky isn't visible."

"Found anyone useful? Hm, a whole party this time?"

As the man in the black robe sat down on a rock with a cackle, a welcoming voice echoed from deeper inside the cave.

Judging by the aura, there were no intermediates, only high-level adventurers who had reached the realm of superhumans.

They were skilled enough to roam the 46th floor at will, searching for anything valuable.

From the man with the sword to those openly tending bows and daggers, the fifteen adventurers varied from warriors to archers and rogues.

But unlike us, they didn't seem to have crossed over as a fixed party, instead keeping a vague distance from each other.

They must have come to the 43rd floor on a mission and headed straight for the 46th floor after hearing rumors about the Harpy Empire.

"Since you came as a party, does that mean you've got a mage?"

"Not just a mage, there's a priest too."

"Heh, a priest? A priest came all the way here?"

"We came for an exploration mission. Did you guys sneak in first because of the mana stones?"

They showed interest in our party, possibly because they weren’t a fixed group but moved based on requests.

Even high-level adventurers can't easily ignore a city full of harpies, so they were probably desperate for a skilled mage.

It's common sense that having even an intermediate mage mixed in is better for disrupting enemies than twenty scattered high-level warriors.

"…Use a light spell."

"Hm? Oh, got it."

To prove our point, I nudged Han Se-ah in the side, prompting her to use a light spell.

I didn't call her name to prevent anyone from associating the name "Hanna" with the hero party.

The rest of the group also seemed to realize that everyone was covering their faces with robes and refrained from calling each other by name, just exchanging knowing glances.

The adventurers didn't seem to mind this and gathered around the light spell that illuminated the cave.

"Hm, the purity of her mana is really good. She's definitely a skilled mage."

"So, are we sticking to the original plan? Every man for himself?"

"I agree. It's only natural that the most skilled get the biggest share. I think it's fine to let the five of them have the best spot."

Friendly guys, neutral girls, grumbling guys, and irritated girls—all sorts of characters talked amongst themselves, excluding us.

Since there were fifteen people gathered, it seemed their opinions weren't entirely unified.

They were all high-level adventurers who walked with their shoulders held high, so it would be hard for them to listen to others and change their minds.

Still, I wasn't keen on staying here much longer.

After assessing the situation, it seemed the issue was how to distribute the loot.

Harpy mana stones weren't just lying around on the streets—the Empire must have them stored somewhere.

Given that the harpies had the intelligence to form an empire and enslave the stone dwarves, a race of skilled craftsmen, they would surely understand the value of a giant mana stone.

So even if twenty adventurers caused chaos together and then fled underground, they were still squabbling over who would go where and who would benefit.

Some wanted to head toward the caves for an easy escape, some wanted to go to the location most likely to have the mana stones, and some were thinking of stealing other valuables instead of the stones.

As expected, adventurers of the Middle Ages could quickly turn into thieves when the situation changed.

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