Osian pondered what to ask first when meeting the Underground Guide.
Although it was difficult to know their identity, it was clear that they had goodwill towards him, so it was certain they would answer if he asked questions.
'They knew I was a knight too. That means they must have information about knights.'
Although he thought the lineage of knights had completely died out, that wasn't necessarily true.
Given Asmer's case, there was an abundance of possibility that other knights existed.
He may not have seen them in Tirna, but if the name of knights continued in places beyond people's sight, there was a high probability it would be in Zero Ground.
'I'll have to confirm that when I meet them.'
However, that expectation changed the moment he saw the Underground Guide.
The Underground Guide who arrived at the scene was not the one Osian knew.
They weren't even wearing the plague doctor mask and wore clothes comfortable for activity.Their build was somewhat small, and they appeared even smaller as they hunched their back.
The notable thing was the large bag attached to their back, from which four brass mechanical arms were moving.
"Got the message. Heard you brought people?"
The newly appeared Underground Guide immediately examined the appearance of Osian and the others.
"Hmm. Doesn't seem bad overall."
"Not just not bad. They're absolutely the best."
Krua corrected the Underground Guide's words.
At those words, the Underground Guide snorted. They thought it was just bravado to make them look good since they brought them.
"Wait, I have a question."
At that moment, Hammond stepped forward and addressed the Underground Guide.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"I am Hammond. As a mana user, I'm quite a well-known fixer."
At those words, the Underground Guide looked back at their followers.
Their eyes asked if anyone had heard of that name, but there was no response.
"Looks like no one knows you?"
"...I'll have you know I bear the alias Blue Eyebrows."
"Blue Eyebrows? Hahaha! That's quite an interesting nickname. But I've really never heard of it. I'm quite sorry about that."
The Underground Guide said they were sorry but their eyes were laughing with amusement.
Hammond's expression hardened, seemingly upset at being treated like a newcomer he had never heard of.
He had been confident enough to have earned an alias, but it meant nothing to the underground residents.
"Right. So what's our Blue Eyebrows friend curious about?"
"...On the way here, I heard the story from those ladies over there. Seems you need manpower?"
"Manpower? Yes, we do need it. But you won't do."
At the Underground Guide's harsh words, Hammond and the mercenaries frowned.
"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you mean we won't do? Isn't even one more person's help valuable?"
The Underground Guide responded to the emerging complaints with a snort.
"Help? Sure, we need it. But you lot don't seem like you'd be any help at all. If anything, you'd just hold us back."
"What?! Are you looking down on us now!"
"Looking down or whatever, just look at yourselves. What can a bunch of defeated soldiers who ran all the way here possibly do?"
"You bastards, you're going too far!"
"What. You want to try something?"
At the Underground Guide's provocation, the guards brought by Adela got angry, and the residents also raised their fighting spirit, not backing down.
At that sight, Krua frowned as if getting a headache.
'I thought they wouldn't get along, but this is worse than I expected.'
Krua, who entered as a resident because he was a criminal, didn't know well, but originally the people of Zero Ground didn't have very good feelings toward the surface.
They were people who had fled after being discriminated against or persecuted.
Moreover, the underground was fundamentally a harsh environment. In the sewers where light barely entered, smelly and dirty, all kinds of waste and sewage from the city accumulated and stagnated.
Criminals thrive in such places, and monsters and beasts also appear.
The Zero Ground residents were the ones most directly exposed to those dangers.
To them, the surface dwellers were pampered pigs who didn't know how good they had it.
As they acted so confrontationally, naturally Hammond and the others also came to view the underground residents with hostile gazes.
They came thinking they would be helpful, but it looked like a fight might break out instead.
Since she was the one who brought them, Krua tried to take responsibility and mediate between the two sides.
But someone moved before her, and that was Osian.
'What is he trying to do?'
Osian walked slowly toward the Underground Guide, regardless of the glaring gazes that were growling at him.
The Underground Guide also narrowed their eyes and stared at Osian.
'What's with this guy?'
The first impression of Osian was very different.
Hammond and the other guards, mercenaries, and fixers each had traces of their various battles left on their bodies or faces.
But Osian was different. He was, how should I say, like a noble young master who had never properly experienced hardship since birth.
From his bright and flawless skin to his sharp nose bridge and jawline, and eyes flowing with dignity.
Anyone who saw him would think he was nothing but the highest person in charge leading them.
But stranger than his appearance was Osian's attitude.
'What's with those eyes...?'
Even in this volatile situation where a fight could break out at any moment, Osian was utterly calm.
Was he confident that a fight wouldn't break out? Even so, it's strange. What if someone with twisted guts pulled the trigger in anger?
'Or does he trust the Slithering Sisters?'
But the Slithering Sisters didn't particularly try to stop Osian as he approached them.
Rather, they seemed closer to watching with curious eyes to see what he would do.
Osian stood in front of the Underground Guide and opened his mouth while staring intently at them.
"Are you the Underground Guide?"
The Underground Guide frowned at the direct tone.
"Hey. Are your ears blocked? From the conversation until now, there's no way you wouldn't know who I am, right?"
"I wanted to confirm. Whether you're really the Underground Guide."
"...Hey youngster. Do you know what you just implied?"
The Underground Guide's eyes sank coldly.
Osian had just questioned whether they were really the Underground Guide. That dealt a huge blow to the Underground Guide's pride.
Underground Guide was a title given to those who knew the paths of these dangerous underground waterways and guided people through them.
It wasn't just about finding paths well. Underground Guides had to have above-basic combat ability. It was unavoidable to survive in the harsh underground environment.
Natural intelligence, spatial awareness ability, and combat power to survive against monsters and criminals.
If anything, Underground Guides were closer to rangers.
It was natural for the Underground Guide to get heated up after having that pride properly hit.
"You look different from the Underground Guide I met before."
But Osian paid no attention to that hostile atmosphere. It was as if he didn't care what was happening around him.
"You met someone before? Who did you meet?"
The response softened somewhat at Osian's words about meeting another Underground Guide.
If he met someone else and confused them with himself, it wouldn't be incomprehensible to ask like that.
"They wore a hot-looking coat and had a bird beak-shaped mask on their face. They introduced themselves as an Underground Guide and showed me the way out."
"You, what did you just say?"
The Underground Guide bared their teeth after widening their eyes at Osian's explanation.
"Say it one more time. Who did you say you met?"
"I just said. A man wearing a coat and a bird beak mask."
"You'll need to think very carefully about your answers from now on."
-Click. Click. Click. Click.
The four mechanical arms attached to the Underground Guide's back each pulled out guns and aimed at Osian.
The movement was so fast and smooth that it was hard to believe they were machines, making it too late for the other companions to react.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
Even Krua shouted urgently trying to stop things as the situation turned strange, but the Underground Guide didn't even respond.
"Answer. Who did you say you met?"
"I've already answered twice. Rather, I'd like to ask. Who is that person for you to react so strongly?"
"Hey you bastard. Don't you remember what I said? Think very seriously. Huh? Want a bullet hole in your forehead? Answer if you don't want to die!"
"The answer."
Osian slightly thrust his head toward the Underground Guide.
"Should come from you."
The Underground Guide was momentarily speechless.
They were instantly overwhelmed by an inexplicable charisma flowing from Osian.
'I was pushed back in momentum? By this youngster from the surface?'
The Underground Guide bit their lip firmly.
"Can't you see the guns right now, you bastard!"
"Guns? What guns?"
"What?"
The Underground Guide only then realized that the arms aiming at Osian weren't moving.
And after a brief moment, they noticed their mechanical arms had been cut off diagonally from the wrist and were rolling on the ground.
"Huh, huuh?"
The Underground Guide was flustered. Since when were the mechanical arms cut off? And since when had Osian drawn the sword at his waist?
'Couldn't see it.'
It clearly happened right in front of them, but it was too fast to properly see.
The same was true for their colleagues lined up behind the Underground Guide.
'He could have cut my neck.'
The fact that they couldn't react until he neutralized them meant that Osian could easily kill them if he wanted to.
The Underground Guide gulped.
Their trembling eyes turned toward the Slithering Sisters watching this situation over Osian's shoulder.
"Well damn. Seems I was the one without discerning eyes."
They finally slowly raised both hands in a sign of surrender.
"I apologize. I'm sorry for calling you a youngster. We were all on edge and acted sensitively."
As the Underground Guide apologized and backed down willingly, their colleagues who looked ready to rush in also took a step back.
"Seeing such an intense reaction, I assume you know each other?"
"From that question, it seems you really don't know. Know each other? There's no way we wouldn't know."
From how strongly the Underground Guide spoke, it seemed the Underground Guide that Osian met was someone very high up in Zero Ground.
'Why was such a high-ranking person wandering alone back then?'
Around when such doubts arose, the Underground Guide took off the bag on their back and started fiddling with various things.
"Wait a moment. I'll make contact."
"So it also functions as a radio? I heard those don't work well underground."
"Outsiders think communications don't work when they come underground, but that's not actually true. We have our own unique communication devices here."
The Underground Guide touched the device several times.
Rather than sending direct voice signals, from the way they were pressing certain buttons periodically, it seemed they were using Morse code.
But whether communication really worked, a reply came back immediately after sending the message.
The Underground Guide's eyes widened after checking the Morse code.
"...I see. Looks like we need to move. Will you follow? There's somewhere we urgently need to go."
"Seems like they're calling for me from there."
"Yes. It won't take too long. By the way, only you can go. Not the others."
Osian turned to look at Adela. If nothing else, since she was the person in charge here, it was natural to at least ask her opinion.
Adela nodded with a sigh.
"...Nothing we can do. It's not like my opposition here would change anything anyway."
"I'll be back quickly."
When the Underground Guide moved, their colleagues parted left and right to open a path.
Unlike their harsh and unique appearances, they showed surprisingly well-established discipline.
'Well, even the organizations in District 45 created strict discipline despite seeming unruly.'
Since they dealt in violence, they needed an even stronger force to prevent it from going in the wrong direction.
Osian followed the Underground Guide toward the depths.
Just as he thought they would keep moving along the passage, the Underground Guide approached a wall and revealed a hidden space there.
The hidden space was an elevator leading to an even deeper underground.
Thinking it impressive they made such a thing, he boarded following the Underground Guide and the elevator descended at high speed.
How long did the darkness where nothing could be seen continue?
Suddenly, along with light that dazzled the eyes, the view brightened dramatically and the scenery beyond the elevator came into view at once.
"Hooh."
It was a collection of massive buildings connected as one from ceiling to underground, like stone pillars.
Buildings of all various sizes and specifications were gathered like a beehive in the center of a huge cavity, and such houses were connected by long bridges along the cavity walls.
"This is Zero Ground."
The Underground Guide said with a voice full of pride.
"By another name, it's also called District 0."