Today, I cut off a lot of legs. But that’s not important! The stupid tomb isn’t answering me about Mrs. Feathers! Once I get out of here, I’m going to destroy it to find her. If there’s a defensive formation, I’ll find a way to break it down even if I have to throw a whole countryworth of buildings at it! Ah, I’m upset now. How did Mrs. Feathers not pass the second trial? She’s super-duper strong! Grr. “Alright, barkeep. Let’s hurry and clear this stupid tomb to rescue Mrs. Feathers faster!”

“Um, okay.” The barkeep nodded. “It seems like the third trial differs from what Treasure Finder told us. It’s no longer about gathering fifty heads, but it’s climbing stairs?” He walked over to the nearest legless person who was squirming around. “Hey, does your sect know anything about this?”

“The third trial hasn’t changed in—”

Slap!

What? The barkeep just smacked someone with no legs! I thought he was supposed to be a good person…. When did the barkeep get so brave?

“Listen here,” the barkeep said. There was a sneer on his face. He’s not a good person at all! He was tricking me this whole time! Mm, someone who gives a girl alcohol from day until night until she’s drunk wouldn’t be considered a good person in the first place, huh? “I know the third trial hasn’t changed, but your Death Seeking Sect must’ve had members who’ve went beyond it, no? Has a stage like this shown up in the later trials?”

“We’re not allowed to tell outsiders—”

Slap!

“You bast—”

Slap!

“How—”

Slap!

“Stop—”

Slap!

I … think the barkeep really enjoys slapping people. Why is everyone around me either a sadist or a masochist!? Even Mrs. Feathers isn’t normal; her expression when she was burning me to help me train the Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique…. It definitely looked super happy! Hah…. I overheard in the army once that people always flock to others that’re similar to themselves. And now I know that’s completely wrong. I’m normal, damnit!

“Are you willing to talk?” The barkeep pulled out a series of tools that suspiciously looked like torture instruments. I’ve seen Ilya’s. She keeps them in her closet. I’m not sure why she doesn’t just stick them in her interspacial ring. And where did the barkeep get these tools from? I’m sure I checked his interspacial rings for stuff that belonged to me…. Mm? Why would he have stuff that’s mine? Because, if it looks nice, then it’s mine. Maybe the barkeep has another secret interspacial area on him that I can’t detect? Like a rare heaven-defying treasure with an old man’s soul lurking inside of it! Or a book inside his body that can only be read by him! Eh, I doubt it. He wouldn’t be such a wimp if he had stuff like that. Though, the barkeep doesn’t seem like a wimp right now. Did he gain some confidence after becoming a saint?

A few screams and wails and a lot of people later, the barkeep came back to me covered in blood. “For some reason, it seems like the tomb’s been cut short. This staircase is seen in the sixth trial. Perhaps the Death God’s Tomb selected an inheritor and wants to make sure he or she doesn’t die? But either way, none of them knew any details about this trial. They only know that the ancestor of the Death Seeking Sect made it to the eightieth step before quitting.”

“And … how many steps are there?”

“Eighty-one.”

Wow. That’s unfortunate for that ancestor. He almost made it! But maybe he’s fortunate after all. I bet this Death God is like those other two bastards with the whole I’m-going-to-take-over-your-body thing. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for me thanks to Mrs. Feathers and her secret technique. “Mm, let’s see….” Can I fly? Nope. Teleport? Nope. How are these people restricting me when they were supposed to be weaker than me while they were still alive? I don’t get it. This is bullshit! Hah…. Fine. I’ll play by your stupid rules for now! First, I’ll test the first step by grabbing this legless person and…. “Up you go!”

Everyone, including the non-legless people who hadn’t moved when I told people not to move, stared at him. He seemed to be in pain, but that was most likely because he hit the ground a little too hard. Someone from his sect shouted, “How is it?” He had to shout because the step was super long and far away.

“There’s a little bit of pressure,” the legless man said. “There’s also a faint aura of death that I can absorb.”

Seems safe. The people on the first step turned to stare at me as if asking permission to go. And I don’t see why not. “Go ahead.” All I have to do to pass the trial is reach the last step, and there’s no limit on the number of people who can pass.

“You’re not going to collect protection fees from them, Boss?” the barkeep asked.

“No. What if they use their stuff to get the inheritance? Then I can just take it from them later even if I fail.” Aren’t I a genius? After the whole tomb is finished, I’ll collect protection fees from them then! Anyways, onwards to the first step! I made sure to stay behind and let those others go ahead of me. Like Treasure Finder said, there’s no need to be first. If this tomb’s really dangerous enough to beat Mrs. Feathers, then I can’t afford to take any risks! Those people who went ahead, they seem to be completely fine, so I’ll take the first step.

Hmm. Nothing happened. Was there supposed to be a little bit of pressure? What about the aura of death? Oh wells. Second step! And … I’m still walking over there. Why are these steps so large? Hah…. Okay, I’m here. Let’s see…. I’ll let the barkeep go up first. And nothing happened. I feel cheated. At this rate, won’t it be super easy to reach the last step? The trial can’t really be this simple, right?