Tadela stared at Eric, who was dealing with the corpses, with a mix of fear and curiosity. A skeleton with intelligence, capable of speaking and communicating—this was something she had never encountered before.
Eric used water magic to clean the clothes he had stripped from the corpses and put them on. He covered his terrifying skeleton with the clothes and then draped a cloak over his skull and cervical vertebrae.
After that, he walked back to Tadela.
"Now, it's time to settle the reward for saving you," Eric said. He had rescued the woman not only out of a sense of justice but also to gain some help.
However, he was a skeleton. His race was inherently opposed to humans, and he couldn't easily trust a human. He wasn't about to entrust his life to a woman he had just met, no matter how attractive she was. He had learned from the succubi's den that looks didn't equal justice.
"Of... of course!" Tadela swallowed hard and continued.
"I'm a merchant, and I understand the principle of equivalent exchange."
Eric also noticed Tadela's reluctance.
"Now, you have two choices," Eric said, extending two bony fingers.
"First, you give me an amount of money that you think is equivalent to your life, and then you leave. We'll have no further connection."
"Second, help me blend into human society. But if you choose this option, your life must be in my hands. Only then will I feel secure."
Eric's speech was slow and his voice was hoarse, as he had just learned to speak. Equivalence was important.
As a skeleton, his life would be at the mercy of this woman once he entered the human world. So, as an exchange, the woman's life must also be in his hands for him to feel at ease.
"I choose... the second one," Tadela said, lifting her head. Her response was beyond Eric's expectation.
"Oh, why?" Eric asked, slightly puzzled.
"I want to earn your favor and get your help. You are more trustworthy than humans. I'm willing to use money and my life as collateral. After all, you won't put me in danger in the short term when you enter human society, right?"
"My name is Tadela Rebi, a merchant from White Bear City."
"Eric, skeleton."
Then, without further ado, Eric extended a finger bone and pressed it against Tadela's neck.
The bone at the tip of his finger began to grow, forming a white bone necklace that settled around her neck. The necklace was shorter than the circumference of her head, making it impossible to remove.
"If you betray me, this necklace will pierce straight through your neck," Eric explained concisely.
"It's a very pretty necklace. Thank you," Tadela said, putting on a relaxed demeanor. But Eric could still sense the fear hidden beneath her calm expression.
"If you're scared, you can still change your mind," he said.
"No!" she shook her head firmly, her red hair swaying like flames.
"That's good," Eric replied.
After that, Eric and Tadela headed towards the town. Eric had already exposed his intelligence to Pound and had killed so many succubi.
If things went as expected, Lucia would definitely be after him. And to avoid being hunted down, the best place to hide was in a human city.
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Through the conversations between Eric and Tadela on the way, he also learned about their current location: the territory of White Bear City in the Mand Principality of the Lantes United Kingdom.
The Lantes United Kingdom was a vast kingdom composed of nine principalities, with humans being the main race. White Bear City was governed by the noble Count Wit.
Without drawing the guards' attention, they entered White Bear City, and Eric finally let out a sigh of relief.
Passing through the seemingly endless tall city walls, they entered the city. The houses were neatly arranged, and the architecture was not too different from what Eric had imagined as medieval style. However, the streets were not as dirty and chaotic as those in medieval times, perhaps due to magic.
The most conspicuous place in the city was undoubtedly the huge tower located right in the center.
"What's that tower?" Eric asked, looking at Tadela.
"Huh? You don't even recognize the city marker tower?" she replied, surprised.
"Did you lose your memory before you became a skeleton?" Tadela looked at Eric as if he were a primitive person.
Eric, who had crossed over from another world, had no memories before he became a skeleton, so he "admitted" to it.
"No wonder," Tadela said, no longer surprised after learning that Eric had no memories from his previous life.
"The city marker tower is the sign of the underground city. There is an underground city beneath each city marker tower. And every town has a city marker tower and an underground city."
"Underground city?" Eric asked again.
"Underground cities are filled with countless monsters and resources. Ninety percent of the magical materials in this world are mined from underground cities. Some high-quality magical items and equipment are also obtained from them.
Even the non-faith-based class change scrolls are discovered in the underground cities.
In ancient times, the intelligent races were quite weak and even on the brink of extinction. It was only after the underground cities appeared and the intelligent races conquered them, gaining opportunities for class changes, that they gradually took a dominant position in the world, relying on the underground cities."
Tadela patiently explained to the "amnesiac" skeleton. Eric listened quietly, digesting the information.
"Although they are called underground cities, they are not actually underground. Many people have tried to dig down from the city marker towers in the past, but they never found the underground cities.
The only way to get to the underground cities is through the city marker towers. However, because the levels of the underground cities extend downward layer by layer, they are called underground cities. It is said that the deeper levels of the underground cities have scenery just like the surface, with skies visible.
Of course, White Bear City's underground city does not have that many deep levels."
"Levels?" Eric asked again.
Hearing Eric's question, Tadela quickly continued.
"Underground cities are divided into different levels based on their floors. The deeper the level, the more dangerous it is, but the resources are also richer. They can be divided into ten levels based on the number of floors. Levels below ten are first-class underground cities, levels below twenty are second-class underground cities, and so on, up to the tenth-class underground cities, which are above ninety levels."
"...Why describe a tenth-class underground city as having more than ninety levels?" Eric asked, intrigued.
"Because no one knows the exact number of levels in a tenth-class underground city," Tadela explained, taking a breath.
"No one has ever completely conquered the deepest level of a tenth-class underground city. It's uncertain whether it's below one hundred levels or just one hundred levels."
"I see, so it's like a monster-killing dungeon," Eric said to himself.
"Killing what?" Tadela looked puzzled now.
"Nothing," Eric replied, looking again at the city marker tower of White Bear City. He still felt a bit strange inside. The existence of the underground cities was like a game.
"What level is White Bear City's underground city?" he asked.
"A forty-six-level fifth-class underground city," Tadela answered.
"We're here, my guild. If you're interested in the underground city, you should check out my guild. My guild mainly collects materials and items from adventurers who conquer the underground cities and wholesales them to secondary processors. We also sell them ourselves."
Tadela led Eric to stop in front of an imposing building. The four-story building had sales and trading windows. Teams of adventurers were coming and going, trading their loot. Rich lady! Eric thought to himself.
"Don't get the wrong idea, this place is rented," Tadela added, noticing Eric's astonishment.
"Oh," Eric replied, not showing any extra emotion.
Tadela then led Eric into the guild.
"Hello, President."
"Good work, President."
"..." The employees at the windows greeted them one by one, their gazes sweeping over Eric, seemingly trying to guess his identity.
"So, why did you go out of the city alone with your status?" Eric asked, feeling puzzled.
"I was tricked," Tadela said, her body trembling a bit.
"And my status isn't that important anyway."
"In White Bear City, the most common people are adventurers and merchants like me."
"The truly high and mighty, the ones with noble status, are the nobles."
By this time, the two had already arrived at the President's office on the fourth floor. She sat in the President's chair, looking at Eric with a bit of presidential demeanor.