Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 211

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TL: ALT

Chapter 211 – Successfully Secured

I quickly ran through the first and second floors and headed for the large hole at the entrance to the underwater area where Serika and the others were supposed to be.

If I could complete this Umihotaru dungeon, I could become a Dungeon Master.

Job──────────────────

◇Support Ability

Dungeon Travel

Allows you to teleport to any point in a dungeon you have already completed. Teleportation costs mana coins based on the distance.

────────────────────

I could use this, but I haven’t completed the Umihotaru dungeon yet.

However, I’m only retracing the route I took a while ago, so with my current Agility, it shouldn’t take too long.

I cleared the first floor in a few minutes, and in less than ten, I was near the big hole on the second floor.

Using the Usurper’s skill to search for presences, I found that in addition to Serika and Haitani-san, there were the presences of several other explorers in the large hole.

One of them seemed to be lying on the ground…

“Serika! Are you okay?!”

I asked as I jumped into the room with the big hole,

“Ah, Yuto. You came.”

“Eh, weren’t you on the third floor? Aren’t you here too early?”

Serika and Haitani-san answer.

There doesn’t seem to be any sense of crisis in their expressions.

It looks like they’ve just finished dealing with a problem and are taking a breather.

“Who’s that?”

I ask, pointing at the man lying on the ground.

“Jin Zatsudo. Ranked 3rd in the domestic level rankings… no, 4th. He’s an explorer known by the nickname Salt Pillar.”

“No way… was that guy the one who attacked you?”

So this is the guest Serika talked about on the phone.

I try to make a Detailed Appraisal of the fallen man.

His level is 14409. It’s true that there’s also a description that he’s ranked 3rd in the domestic level ranking. His stats are also quite high.

There’s no point in looking at the stats of the guy Serika has already defeated, so I’ll skip that, but there are probably three points worth mentioning.

First, there is the unique skill.

Skill──────────────────

Salt Pillar 5

Transforms the killed explorer into a pillar of salt and absorbs S.Lv x 15% of one stat, including level and all SP.

Stat Correction:

The owner of the Salt Pillar will always receive the following corrections to each stat.

HP -20%.

Attack +70%.

Magic +20

Defense -40%

Mental Strength -20

Luck -50

────────────────────

It’s a pretty dangerous skill, but the weakness of the person affected by the stat correction doesn’t exactly inspire sympathy.

…No, that’s not true.

In this case, the stats of the explorer killed by the Salt Pillar can be stolen.

Even if they are reduced by the correction, if the base value of the stats is increased, it can be compensated for.

The second thing that caught my attention was that Jin Zatsudo’s name was displayed in red.

A red name―in other words, it means that this guy has killed people in the dungeon before.

Well, considering the effect of the Salt Pillar, it’s probably more natural than not.

And the third point.

In the status that is shown in the Detailed Appraisal, there is a line that says

Status──────────────────

…..

・Current skill effects

“Parasite” Brain Eater Lv.1

…..

────────────────────

I find lines like this.

“…So he’s the same as Clovis?”

“Yuto?”

Without answering Serika’s voice, I use Force Release to cancel the Brain Eater’s Parasite effect.

I heard a muffled sound coming from Zatsudo’s nose, and then a familiar white mass popped out of his nose.

“Whoa!”

“Kyaah!”

The ones who screamed were the inspector and Serika, who were there.

It’s only natural that they were surprised. After all, a white jellyfish-like thing that looked like it couldn’t possibly fit through the nostrils had just appeared.

I will burn the Brain Eater to ashes with my chantless flame.

The Brain Eater itself is a weak monster, so it’ll be easy.

I have a ‘Dried Brain Eater Egg’ as a drop item, but I don’t need it.

“Is that the so-called Brain Eater monster?”

Haitani-san asked with a serious expression, and I replied,

“Yes. It looks like someone put it inside him.”

I think the suspects are limited to a few people.

I thought that the same person might have set up a “strategy” for him, but I couldn’t find any strategy items in Zatsudo’s status.

“The fourth-ranked Red Name Explorer in the national rankings… I can’t believe you beat someone like that.”

“Of course, now that Serika-san is here.”

“Yeah, well… I’m a higher level than him.”

I’ve heard about Serika’s current status.

It seems that she managed to level up a lot when she suppressed the many floods in the city.

Serika’s unique skill, Oath of the Holy Knight, is a skill that increases level or skill every time she saves a life.

Up until now, she seemed to be steadily increasing her level through things like working as a guard and cooperating with the police.

However, when she suppressed the flood in the city center, which is a densely populated area, she was considered to have “saved a life.”

It seems that whether or not the Oath of the Holy Knight is activated also depends on the situation, even if it is the same flood suppression.

It seems that the flood Clovis caused was that dangerous.

“Zatsudo has been a problem for a long time, so we had already thought about how to deal with him. Well, we didn’t have to use any tricks.”

Haitani-san puts her hand on her glasses, smiles, and lifts her lips.

She’s scary.

“It’s a red name, isn’t it? Why was it left unchecked?”

“The Salt Pillar has been a red name from the very beginning. That’s why he got away with so much.”

“What do you mean? I thought red names were captured?”

“Only recently have red names been accepted as evidence in court.”

“Even then, red names can only be used as evidence if there is sufficient circumstantial evidence. For example, a person who was not a red name at a certain time becomes a red name at a time when a murder is suspected, and there is no other person who could have had contact with the victim… It takes a special situation like that.”

“There were a number of people who became Red Names before there were any precedents and were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Zatsudo was one of them, and there were rumors that he was already a Red-named murderer who kept killing people in the dungeon.”

“Oh, I see. So even if someone who was already a Red-named murderer kills someone else, it won’t be used as evidence for a new crime because he’s already a Red-named murderer.”

As long as you don’t get caught for your first crime, even if you kill a lot of people after that, your Red Name can’t be used as evidence.

“It’s a blind spot in the system. I’d been keeping an eye on him for a while, but then he just walked in here and told me to let him through. When I refused, he attacked me… and this is what happened.”

Serika then makes a mysterious gesture, quickly waving her arm, slightly raising her knee, and slightly lowering her elbow.

I’m sure she did a quick attack and then a heavy blow to finish him off.

“Oh, well. Then there was no need to rush.”

“That’s not true.”

Haitani-san shakes her head.

“Why not?”

“Serika-san will be happy.”

“H-hey, Hisui-chan!?”

“W-well… then it was worth rushing over.”

I smile wryly.

“What is this Zatsudo guy up to? Surely he doesn’t belong to the Men’s Association, does he?”

“No, he doesn’t seem to be. It seems that his goal was to protect Kiriko Kandori―or rather, to secure her.”

“So he didn’t come to annihilate her, did he?”

“I think that was an option for him as well. After all, his Salt Pillar is perfect for destroying evidence.”

“I see.”

When it comes to unique skills that can also absorb levels, I think of Junko Tozaki’s Level Drain.

Unlike Zatsdo’s Salt Pillar, Level Drain does not require the target to be killed.

In terms of not becoming a red name, Level Drain is more convenient to use.

However, while Level Drain requires the target’s consent, Salt Pillar does not.

In a way, it could be said that it’s more convenient if you don’t care about ethical issues.

Well, I’m sure Junko Tozaki didn’t even think about the ethics for a second.

The only difference is whether you kill and take them or leave them alive and squeeze them dry.

“So, thanks to Yuto, we were able to capture Kandori-san, the members of the Men’s Association, Sakurai-kun, and even Jin Zatsudo alive, right?”

“Jin Zatsudo was actually Serika’s achievement, not mine, but it’s true that capturing someone who would have been killed is a great thing.”

Zatsudo would have been killed by the Brain Eater Parasite if he had really been in a tight spot.

Because Serika captured Zatsudo so easily, the Brain Eater probably didn’t immediately sense a threat to its life and missed the chance to kill Zatsudo.

The people who implanted the Brain Eater probably didn’t think that I would find a way to cancel the Brain Eater’s Parasite effect.

Also, Kandori, who was supposed to be protected by Zatsudo, taken away by him, or killed if all else failed, was captured alive.

The fact that I was able to solve Yamato’s “strategy” will also work to my advantage.

“So we can interrogate Kandori, Yamato and Zatsudo, right?”

Well, that’s the job of the police.

I’ll probably hear from Minazawa-san later.

“Do you think you can corner Seiji Tozaki, who is plotting things behind the scenes?”

He is a candidate for the Diet and the chairman of a large corporation.

Recently, he has been talked about as a man who is well-liked by the Prime Minister.

With the testimony of such a collection of oddballs as Kandori, Yamato, and Zatsudo, there is a possibility that the matter will be politically hushed up, isn’t there?

“It is true that it may be difficult to arrest and prosecute him as the mastermind,”

Haitani-san said.

“But the law is not always the only way to judge.”

“What do you mean, Hisui-chan?”

“Don’t you remember? It’s election time now. Even if the information is unverified, if this case somehow leaks out and is picked up by the media, it could be a fatal blow to Tozaki.”

Haitani-san said, her glasses shining.

That’s why she’s so scary.

“Are you going to leak the information somewhere?”

“When you do this kind of work, you can make connections. I won’t make any trouble for Kurashiki-san.”

“I mean, is it okay from the guild’s point of view?”

“Do you think I’ll put Serika-san in danger?”

“…Well, that’s true. That was a stupid question.”

I looked back at Haitani-san, who was staring at me and smiled wryly.

Then Haitani-san lowered her eyes and said,

“But…”

With a voice that was unusually hesitant, she said,

“This simultaneous election for the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors is very suspicious. It seems that someone else is waging an information war.”

“An information war… isn’t that what elections are to some extent?”

“Even so, this time it’s different. The case of the Okutama Lake Dungeon collapse that Kurashiki-san solved… It hasn’t come out yet that Kurashiki-san was the one who solved the collapse of the dungeon, but the fact that nuclear submarines from the US, China, and Russia were mobilized and fired missiles was leaked to Bunshu.”

“To be precise, the US, Russia, China and North Korea were mobilized, and except for the US, the other countries fired missiles.”

As a result, public opinion in Japan has suddenly boiled over, and there’s a huge commotion on both the left and the right.

“But even if Bunshu has a reputation for scoops, how could the most important national security secrets be leaked to a weekly magazine?”

“There are rumors that it was the crew of the Aegis ship that intercepted the missile, or the personnel of the anti-aircraft artillery unit on the ground who leaked the information…”

“That alone wouldn’t be enough to know that the missiles from each country would turn the cities around Okutama Lake into a scorched earth.”

That’s true.

The usual assumption would be that they would shoot the missiles into the collapsed dungeon.

After all, hardly anyone knows that dungeons increase their “gravity” by swallowing people’s souls.

Even if the Aegis destroyers and anti-aircraft batteries mobilized to intercept the missiles were driven by righteous indignation and leaked confidential information in defiance of the gag order, I doubt they were given that much detailed information in the first place.

“So you’re saying it was leaked from somewhere close to the heart of the administration?”

Isn’t it jumping to conclusions to say it was Seiji Tozaki?

“I think it’s possible that Seiji Tozaki leaked the information.”

Haitani-san said, looking at my expression.

“But only if the goal is to bring down the current government by stirring up public opinion.”

“But the current feeling of public opinion is that your own party is going to win in a landslide, isn’t it?”

“Yes. If the only issue being discussed is security, then the opposition party, which has a strong left-wing influence, has no chance of winning. However, the current Prime Minister Orimura is also a member of the left faction of his own party, which favors a policy of cooperation with other countries. It is believed that he will inevitably be forced to step down as party leader after the election because he has suppressed information about nuclear missile attacks on mainland Japan by China, Russia and North Korea under pressure from the US.”

“I don’t think so, but are you saying he’s after the job?”

“I don’t know. Objectively speaking, there are probably few politicians as unpopular as Seiji Tozaki. But the question is whether he sees himself that way.”

Seiji Tozaki is the founder of the Rakan Group, which is often criticized as a typical example of a “black company.”

There are also rumors that he buys votes in the political world by spreading money around.

While it’s not hard to see why people think the dovish Prime Minister Orimura is unfit to deal with a nuclear emergency, that doesn’t mean the entrepreneur Tozaki is strong on national security either.

If he’s not popular with the people and out of touch with the times, I don’t think he’ll be able to get the Prime Minister’s job, no matter how much information he leaks.

“Well, he seems to be the kind of guy who has his own view of the world. It’s possible that he’s just dreaming about it without realizing how others around him see him.

If that’s the case, the nightmare of Tozaki becoming Prime Minister just by being left alone may not come true.

The sensible citizens and Diet members will probably work to get rid of Tozaki.

It looks like we can trust this country’s democracy a little more.

“If you want to wage an information war, let’s give the game away. It is an undeniable fact that the source of the trouble between the Men’s Association and the Women’s Association this time is Genron.net, and that the management company is under the influence of Rakan. We can also add the suspicion that they sent Salt Pillar, who has long been suspected of murder, to destroy the witnesses.”

“Depending on the testimony, there may be an even bigger bomb.”

For example, the word “Cold House” that Yamato talked about.

I also know from his own mouth that Kandori is a follower of Tozaki.

By the way, the way the Brain Eater “parasites” on Zatsudo is exactly the same as when it was Clovis.

Clovis was the main culprit behind the collapse of the Okutama Lake Dungeon, but it is almost certain (in my opinion) that Tozaki was the one who facilitated it.

Haitani-san explained, her eyes shining dimly.

“I can’t leave it like this anymore. I’m going to completely ruin Seiji Tozaki as a politician.”

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