Chapter 34: Heading to Deadport

Walking along the narrow path toward Deadport, Airoma kept asking Lucas again and again.

Since learning the truth yesterday, Airoma had been repeating the same question to Lucas every so often.

Eventually, Lucas grew tired of answering and simply ignored her, letting her ask whatever she wanted.

Seemingly realizing she’d get no different answer, Airoma wisely fell silent.

The path to Deadport was narrow and muddy—so concealed that if one didn’t look carefully, they wouldn’t even notice a trail existed here.

Lucas and Lina waded through the muck with uncertain steps, each step a struggle.

As for Nori, although her special ability kept her feet clean of mud, the sensation of stepping on the wet sludge was unpleasant, and she kept frowning the whole way.

Moreover, the closer they got to Deadport, the stronger the fishy stench became—like hundreds of fish left to bake under the scorching sun, their smell thick and pungent.

“Has this smell always been here?”

Lucas covered his nose and asked Airoma.

“Yeah, you’d better cover your face. It’s really disgusting.”

Airoma suddenly pulled out a piece of cloth from somewhere to cover her mouth and nose, then handed out a few extra pieces to the others.

She said that, but the fishy stench was so strong that even wearing these masks didn’t block it out entirely.

They pressed on down the path until a broken bridge appeared ahead, spanning the opposite bank.

The bridge was long since shattered, completely cutting off Debis Harbor from Deadport.

“This bridge used to be the only way from Debis Harbor to the docks. But after that disaster, to prevent monsters from crossing over, people had no choice but to blow it up.”

The gap between the broken sections was quite wide.

Lucas could leap across it in one bound, but Nori and Lina lacked such jumping ability.

Why did Airoma bring them here?

Was it on purpose?

Below the bridge was a chasm about four or five meters deep.

There was nothing nearby to climb or hold onto.

Falling down here would mean no chance of climbing back up with bare hands.

“This used to be a river, but after the disaster, it slowly dried up, becoming what you see now. But on the bright side, thanks to this riverbed, the monsters in Deadport can’t get past here.”

“You’re right. But how do we get across?”

Lucas asked.

Airoma led them onto the broken bridge and kicked at something protruding near the gap.

Only then did Lucas notice a retractable ladder set beside the broken bridge. Airoma’s kick had released it, sending it down.

“Go down below,” Airoma pointed at the ladder. “We have to take a detour.”

Lucas jumped off the bridge and landed smoothly, Airoma following close behind.

Nori and Lina climbed down the ladder.

After confirming everyone was on the ground, Airoma lifted the ladder to keep some distance from the earth.

“All right, let’s keep moving.”

Scattered across the dry riverbed were numerous rotting corpses.

Most had decomposed to bare bones, emitting a strong fishy stench—the source of the foul odor.

Nori approached the bones and let out a startled cry.

No matter how she looked at the bones, they didn’t resemble human remains.

But she couldn’t identify what kind of creature they belonged to.

Lina picked up a skeleton whose spine was hunched, but otherwise almost human.

The skull, however, looked strange—definitely not human, but some kind of creature’s.

If Lucas’s guess was correct, these were the bones of the monsters Airoma had mentioned.

“Sigh, it’s nothing strange. Ever since people moved away from Deadport, those monsters appear here in the riverbed from time to time. To keep those who come to collect black pearls safe, some people come here now and then to clear out the monsters.”

The bones were piled high like a mountain, clearly showing the number of monsters inside Deadport was not small.

No wonder Airoma refused to lead them through at night.

The ruined infrastructure of Deadport meant total darkness at night.

Surrounded by monsters in such a place, even an ordinary person would despair.

Airoma led the group along the riverbed.

After passing the monster bones, a muddy path sloping upward suddenly appeared before them.

“This is the road to Deadport,” Airoma pointed to the muddy trail.

“Little brother, from here on, you have to protect me well, okay?”

Lucas sighed inwardly.

This girl was too scared of death.

Even Nori, who had heard about her own death before, wasn’t this dramatic.

The buildings of Deadport had long since crumbled into ruins, with abandoned ships piled haphazardly, teetering on the edge of collapse.

The air was thick with the stench of rotten fish, and the mud beneath their feet made every step uncertain.

By all means, this was no place for people to live.

Deadport was not small; from here, it was still quite a walk to reach the seaside.

The sun was high in the sky, its heat only intensifying the rotting smell.

At this point, even masks couldn’t block out the odor.

“Where are you headed? I know this place well.”

Airoma patted her chest confidently.

“To the seashore where the boat lanterns appeared.”

At Lucas’s mention of the destination, Airoma’s expression turned uneasy.

“L-little brother… you can’t be joking, right?”

“Joking? Do I look like I’m joking?”

Airoma pointed toward the sea.

“That place means crossing through the entire Deadport. We’re still at the outskirts, which is relatively safer. But the deeper you go, the more dangerous Deadport becomes. Little brother, maybe you should reconsider?”

“Lead the way. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Lucas assembled his saw spear while Nori gripped her bow.

Flanking Airoma on either side, they took on the role of her bodyguards.

“Alr-right…”

Though Deadport had been deserted for years, the path surprisingly wasn’t difficult.

It seemed that many people had come before to collect black pearls, forming a trail.

“Hiss…”

Nori suddenly gasped sharply.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to have stepped on something.

Lucas and Lina looked at her as she dug into the mud and pulled out a small black sphere.

“Oh? A black pearl.”

Airoma leaned in.

“Hmm… but this black pearl isn’t fresh. Even if you took it to the market, it probably wouldn’t sell for much.”

“Oh? Then tell me, where can you find fresh black pearls?”

Lina asked with sudden interest.

Airoma glanced around cautiously, then started searching through the abandoned buildings nearby.

“Ah, here, there are some here.”