Fugitive Poison User ~I Am Somehow Recovering in a World Full of Miasma~ - Chapter 48

Poison-Wielding Fugitive   Chapter 48
“Whew… what happened to staying low-key as fugitives? That was all sorts of wack.”

Veno and I have finally finished clearing the sewers of corpses.
Now I’m resting up in Wayne’s living room.

“… oh, hey, how you doin’? How are things?”
“The workers and merchants in town are saying how things are noticeably better already and that they haven’t seen a single rat.”

Sounds like Rurika has been keeping up with the situation.
And I’m glad things are turning out fine.

‘Those rats carried diseases as well. I am sure the town is now more sanitary than ever before.’

I sure hope so.

“Mu!”

Muu hops onto a chair to give me a shoulder rub.
Aww, thanks, buddy.

“You’ll want to report to the guildhall next.  Before you guys went down, they also asked ‘til when they should close off the sewers or something like that.”
‘The lass’ cooking is still moving around… we should give it about two weeks and see how the land lies.’

By the way, does Arleaf’s cooking… spoil? Deteriorate?
I’m imagining the monsters be like rocks exposed to the element—immobile but yet still holding their shape.
Though they’re food, but technically, they’re monsters. So, I guess it’s not so much spoilage, but “lifespan”?

“We should monitor it for another two weeks, lest any casualties arise.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, and Arleaf, you’ve leveled up quite a bit. Are you going to change into an advanced job?”

I remember she said something about going to the church to find out what classes she could advance into.

“I wanted to do so very much… but however, I found out at the church that all my possible ones are banned.”
“Huh… what kind of jobs were there?”
“Dark Alchemist, Dark Witch, Evil Shaman, Genocider, Evil Druid, and Dark Marionetter. Apparently, they are so notorious that if I were to choose any of them, sirens will sound.”

Their names all sound pretty wicked.
She’s really getting screwed over.

“It’s all Veno’s fault, huh?”
‘I have merely suggested an efficient way to complete the quest!’
“Well… it’s probably because we exterminated them by the roots, right?”

Rurika explains to us why those classes are all considered evil.

‘It might be just that other people had been punching above their weight, so to say. If thou trainst thyself well, perhaps thou may find good results.’
“That would be nice, but…”
“Well, you could temporarily spec into another base job and pile on the experience.”
‘Hold your thoughts. I believe that would be quite wasteful. Thou should utilize the fact the lass is more than twice your level. I recommend thee to borrow her strength and train thyself before she changes to another class.’
“I thought you don’t get that much weaker after a sidegrade though.”

Though you don’t lose everything, you’re back at level 1 and have half of your stats. That means Arleaf would be as strong as someone who’s level 30. That’s what either Veno or Arleaf told me anyway.

‘However, as it stands, she is level 60. Though thy statistics may increase by consuming her cooking, it is no replacement for actual experience. It would not be a bad idea to rely on her.’
“Umm… I would be more than happy to give it my all to help you get stronger, Yukihisa. It’s not like I stop leveling either.”

I guess that’s fine then.
Normally, I’d get some quintessence or exp from being in the same party, but this time seemed to be unusual.

“Not only have I gained many Senses from leveling up, I am strong enough to use some pretty difficult magic too.”
‘Has any skill caught your attention in particular?’
“I have a few I am interested in—Knife Sense, Staff Sense, Dart Sense, Medicine’s Blessing, Magic Handling Assist. There is also Undead Summoner Sense… but it seems to be a sense for rituals that would summon questionable entities.”

I suppose that, like Shamans, it’d be normal for Thaumaturges to be capable of “evil” magic as well.
But I was thinking it’d be more like curses.

“I also now have a skill called Mask Master, but I wonder how one could be more proficient with a mask.”

Arleaf always has a gas mask on when she’s in the miasma.
Maybe that’s why.
But for some reason, after seeing all her skills, she reminds me of some kind of tribal warrior.

‘It is likely the same as Armor Mastery in that thine equipment would be more effective than normal. Perhaps thou art more resistant to the miasma when equipped with a gas mask.’

But she’s a Thaumaturge, not “Tribal Warrior”.

“That would be quite practical, wouldn’t it be?”
‘I have seen cursed masks before. Thou may be able to gain class-specific magics with one of those. However… they all seem to be considered evil.’
“What kind of magic is it?”
‘There is Fetish Enchantment—breathing life into dolls and figures to do thy bidding. As well, Create Undead for granting a temporary soul to the dea—’
“Okay, I see your point…”

That’s totally dark magic, without a doubt.
I can’t imagine anything good if we were to use magic like that.

‘Being so self-conscious would only bring us trouble. After all, living the fugitive life is not easy.’
“Surely you see how those skills would be catastrophic though?”
‘Magic Handling Assist brings to mind an offensive spell that creates a living creature to attack thine enemies. Bats made of flame, predatory fish made of water, or perhaps a swarm of spiders made of air would be possible.’

That sounds a little better.

“Maybe that’s not a bad choice then.”
‘Aye… it may be a little difficult, but why not challenge thyself with it? And of course, as thy ability in magic has increased, even Fire Bullet is rather strong now.’

Maybe Arleaf would be good as a support magic specialist.

‘Dart Sense, as the name suggests, grants proficiency in weapons such as a blowgun. As it is not quite a difficult weapon to handle, thou canst learn it along the way.’

There’s a lot to do, eh?

‘Hmm? It is not as if I have ordered to learn it all right away. Start with the easy ones. A blowgun would be quite effective in a pinch when combined with thine poison.’

Well, it sounds easy enough.