Is It Wrong For An Assassin To Be In The Dungeon? V1 (Danmachi Fanfic)

Chapter 13: Morgue Raid

Midnight. All is quiet. The magic stone lamps along the streets of Orario are lit and candles burn in some of the windows, but by now most of Orario's citizens would have already retired, with the exception of the laughter and hollering of drunken adventurers echoing from the taverns. 

Everyone sleeps, except me.

This mission, given to me by Ryuu, is a peculiar one. Search a dead body for information? Very strange indeed. I can do that with living people, with torture and all that, knowing the weaknesses of the body and mind. But a dead body? As far as I know, dead men tell no tales.

Walking along the deserted streets, I glance at every passing alleyway, wary of the shadows that lurk inside. Ryuu said the people I'm messing with are part of a large and organised crime group, not just a band of misfits out to make an easy living. Though they assume yours truly as a 'has-been', I can't let my guard now, especially at this time of night.

Walking further away from the city streets, I enter through a metal gate towards the city graveyard, marble tombstones erected as far as the eye can see. With so many tombstones in sight, it isn't hard to imagine how many people have thrown away their lives getting killed in the Dungeon just for money, glory, fame. All materialistic desires, yet none can be satisfied, only subdued momentarily.

"The Dungeon will just snatch you up and eat you in the blink of an eye..." Eina's words echoes within my mind. It seems that these poor souls weren't good enough. It's sad, but it is a but a long and hellish road to take on the adventurer's job to be rich and powerful, and they have chosen to take that risk, and simply paid the price for it.

As I past the rows of marble tombstones on my search for the morgue, I catch a glimpse of a faint moving light in the distance.

"Bloody stars!" I thought to myself as I take cover behind a tombstone belonging to some John Doe. The engravings on the tombstones have faded badly to the test of time and the weather, making it hard to read the engravings. These gravestones aren't really well maintained as I expected it to be. 

Peeking over the tombstone I catch sight of a middle-aged man in a brown cloak patrolling the area, with a lantern in one hand and a spear in the other. Apparently, there has been cases of body snatching occurring many years back in Orario, their purposes unknown. This resulted in the formation of guard duty at the cemetery. Even so, in my opinion, they should have appointed at least two or three more guards to be able to repel enemies effectively, because a gang of robbers could just have waited and ambushed the guard, overpowering him.

The guard looks around, swaying his lantern in all directions to get a good look of the surroundings. He then looks up and studies the moon. According to information I have gathered prior to this mission, the cemetery guard usually clocks out around third watch, when robbers are too drunk or tired to be active. He then lifts the lantern to the front of his face and blows out the candle, calling it a day.

"Good timing." I thought to myself as the cemetery guard hastily walks out of the cemetery through the gates and down into the streets. He was lucky he decided to leave, and my hands stay clean for the time being. 

I get up from the tombstone I was hiding behind from and quickly apologized to the grave. Graves are to be respected, regardless of its occupants. We consider tombs and graves to be the resting ground of spirits, under the oversight of the Gods themselves. Any crime or misdeed its occupants may have committed in their heyday will be left for THEM to decide, not us. So we will leave them alone.

Dusting off the dirt and mould that got onto my coat, I pulled my hood over my head and headed straight into the heart of the cemetery.

HALF AN HOUR LATER...