Chapter 45: We have another plan
Before the Keeper brothel showed any hostility toward Carl, her husband quickly reacted and raised his hand, signaling for everyone to stop — preventing any unwanted conflict.
"I-I’m fine..."
Weber leaned himself against the edge of the table and, with the help of his wife and daughter, managed to sit up. He lifted his tired eyes toward Carl.
At that moment, Carl finally let out a sigh of relief and lowered his guard. Lucky for him — if Weber had really died, it would’ve been hard to deal with all the hookers surrounding him.
Carl scratched his head a few times and muttered,
"Don’t scare me like that."
Weber rubbed his forehead to calm himself before replying slowly,
"I... I saw it... somewhere inside the temple."
Carl and the brothel keeper exchanged curious looks, waiting for Weber to explain further.
Weber clenched his teeth, struggling to dig through the blurry fragments of his memory. After a long effort, he finally spoke,
"A... a hand... no, more precisely — a dragon’s severed hand."
Silence filled the hall for a moment.
"A dragon’s severed hand? What do you mean?" Carl rubbed his chin, lost in thought as he tried to make sense of Weber’s vague clue. But all he could picture was a severed hand. Without the proper context, it was impossible to piece together Weber’s memory and form anything coherent.
Weber’s wife seemed just as confused as Carl. She asked softly,
"Is there... something more?"
But seeing Weber’s pain, she gently added in a soft, caring voice,
"If your head hurts too much to remember, then don’t force yourself."
Weber frowned, his face tightening in agony, but after a few seconds, he spoke again,
"That... severed hand was inside a huge crystal block... I can’t remember more... it’s too vague, too blurry."
Carl pressed his temple and sighed.
"That’s enough... thanks for trying."
He sat down with a weary motion, crossing his legs and rubbing his chin, sinking deep into thought — trying to piece together the scattered fragments of information into something accurate and useful.
From what he’d heard, it was clear that the dragon’s severed hand was the core of all the trouble that had happened to Weber. The hand might be either something extremely important... or just a treasure hidden within the temple of the Stoker class. It seemed like a mysterious, secret thing — something no ordinary person should ever touch, see, or even know existed inside the temple.
"Precious treasure..." he murmured.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he corrected himself,
"No... if I think about it differently... it’s a forbidden treasure — a part of a holy creature."
Carl’s lips curled slightly at the corner.
Killing or dissecting a holy creature for any reason was a grave sin. Anyone involved would be punished under the laws of the world.
And even though such acts could bring short-term benefits — like enhancing someone’s potential — the perpetrators would suffer the holy creature’s curse for two or three generations afterward.
Take that Venom guy, for instance — the one Carl had killed in the first dungeon. His entire family had been cursed for five or six generations because of his ancestor’s sins.
"Well... it’s pretty trivial compared to something grand. Not worth such actions," Carl muttered under his breath.
Then, turning slightly, he asked,
"What do you think, my wife?"
[System notice]: I’m uncertain... Let’s think about a temple — a place that’s supposed to be the center of the Stoker class’s realm. Everything there must be grand. It’s not just about some holy creatures. Although they’re quite useful for some, in this world, where those sins happen relatively often...
Carl rubbed his chin.
’’You mean... I should think deeper? But... I can only imagine something related to holy creatures, nothing more.’’
[System notice]: Yep... I’m thinking about one, but it seems impossible in reality. I can’t say anything unless I see it firsthand. However, it could be anything — even a mere lizard’s hand or something else. Also, they use a crystal block to preserve it in its original state. I’m guessing it’s for some kind of business.
Ting!
[Side Quest]:
– Investigate the temple of the Stoker class.
– Reward: ??
– Join the student council.
– Reward: ??
Carl scratched the back of his head and sighed, dismissing the glowing system screen in front of him. When he looked at the mission list, he couldn’t help but notice the temple investigation was ranked even higher than joining the student council.
’’One more mission, huh.’’
’’And we still don’t have any solid info, just tiny clues.’’
Carl nodded to himself, then turned to Weber.
’’I’ve got no idea how to deal with your problem... but what I can say is — what you saw is something you were never supposed to see, no matter if you were right or wrong. And now, I’m starting to think everyone here might be a criminal like you, after hearing all that.’’
’’Here’s my advice: forget everything you just said. Don’t even think about it.’’
The scale of these matters was far beyond what a common student like Carl could handle — especially now that he was no longer the heir of the Ryan Family. Fortunately, the soldiers wouldn’t suspect the person who knew about Weber’s information, since no one was aware that Carl possessed a holy creature — one said to be closest to the god patron.
That was the reason he could access fragments of Weber’s memories thanks to use Cobb’s mana to open partly Weber’s sealed memory
Weber and the brothel keeper exchanged uneasy looks — one in despair, the other frowning.
’’W-What do you mean?’’
Carl scoffed.
’’How stupid... It’s simply to be a secret of the highest realm of the Stoker class. Now I get why they’re so desperate to capture him — even if it means wiping out this whole town, a golden goose for the Ortega family or not.’’
’’In short, your husband’s information about what’s inside that temple is extremely dangerous.’’
He gave a half-smile. ’’My job here is done. As for your husband...No forget it since it’s obvious.’’
Bam!
A loud crash echoed through the brothel doors, making Carl frown and tense up.
’’MASTER! I HAVE AN EMERGENCY REPORT!’’
A hooker from the second floor jumped down and rushed to the center of the hall, where Carl, the brothel keeper, and Weber sat.
’’Master, our town’s surrounded by a mana barrier! And worse — countless monsters are breaking through it from nowhere and attacking! At this rate, the whole town’s gonna be wiped out!’’
Carl froze upon hearing that.
The brothel keeper’s face tensed.
’’What rank are they? And how strong’s the barrier?’’
The hooker stammered, panic in her voice.
’’Around Rank F to C! And the barrier’s tough — it could probably withstand a Rank C strike. Plus, it keeps regenerating right after each hit... I think there’s mana being fed into it from somewhere behind.’’
Silence filled the room.
The information from the hooker nearly made everyone fall into despair and powerlessness. No one could believe that the Commander’s speech in advance was true. And even the existence of countless monsters from unknown places was here.
"Curse it... Didn’t he say the town would be wiped out when the sun rises? And it’s only 3 A.M. now. Too early."
Carl gritted his teeth, moving his eyes as he said,
"Any more news?"
The hooker paused for a moment before replying,
"The monsters are just rampaging the town walls, but at this rate, the first defense will be destroyed soon, and they’ll reach the center of town. It’s just a matter of time."
Carl raised one side of his brow.
"What good news... Our death is coming."
He turned his attention toward the keeper of the brothel and Weber.
"What do you want to do now? Give up, or fight to find a way to survive?"
The keeper of the brothel took a long breath and stood up, looking around at all the hookers in the place.
It seemed everyone was just waiting for an order from their master.
Eventually, she shouted loudly,
"EVERYONE, PROTECT OUR TOWN... WE WILL WIN!"
***
Standing on top of one of the town’s buildings, Carl yawned and assessed the monsters rampaging along the town walls.
"Indeed... at this rate, this town will be wiped out."
It was understandable, looking at the current situation. The more monsters died, the more would come, and even stronger than before. He had no idea how many monsters would arrive, but the Commander had said they would wipe this place out—which meant the number of monsters would be enough to erase everything without leaving a trace only to hide any information about the secret dragon’s severed hand forever.
"So... what do we do now?" Roy stood by Carl, asking. His expression was tense, showing worry about what was coming—whether they would survive or meet their end.
Carl shrugged.
"What a question, kid... But this time, I don’t know... no, wait... I’ll figure it out soon. If the worst comes to worst, we can flee to the brothel’s basement and wait for everything to finish."
Roy frowned.
"But if we do that, we’ll be captured. And... are you sure they’ll leave space for our life?"
Carl rubbed his chin.
"Maybe... they’ll leave space for me... but you? I suppose that’s nearly impossible. Anyway, when our lives depend on the enemy, anything can happen."
"No... I think they’ll kill everyone. However, we have an advantage: we don’t have responsibility to protect this place while most of the town’s soldiers are fighting the monsters. Just wait—I have a plan."
Ting!
[System notice]: Check your knife that I had rewarded you with.
Carl slightly raised the corner of his lips as he looked at the system screen.
"Now... we have another plan."