“The treasury is in Novgorod.”


    The group of kidnappers furrowed their eyebrows.


    “Nuvgrod… what?”


    “Novgorod. It’s at the Novgorod.”


    I told them the location of the treasury for the second time.


    Honestly, I just said the name of a random Russian city that came to mind. How was I supposed to know where the treasury of the Demon Lord’s castle was?


    And if I sincerely answered, ‘I don’t know where it is’, I’d probably get butchered and then executed. For now, I had to say whatever I could in order to gain their interest.


    I had to carefully pay attention to the men’s reactions.


    “Novgod, Noovoroud… the damn pronunciation is strange!”


    “Do you not know of it? Here, I’ll write it down.”


    Offering to write it down, I lowered my body and wrote on the cavern floor.


    I didn’t have any writing utensils, but I did shed a lot of blood. Dipping my finger in my own blood, I smoothly wrote the word.


    Novgorod


    Новгород


    First line in English. Second line in Russian.


    I slightly turned my line of sight to see their reaction.


    “Hey, bring the torch closer.”


    “I have no idea…… were there letters like this?”


    They faced each other and started talking.


    “None of us here even know how to read.”


    “Yeah, but the shape is completely different.”


    Okay.


    I generally understood the principle of the language.


    I currently heard everything they said in English. However, when I wrote the words, they couldn’t understand.


    In conclusion, just because I heard everything in English didn’t mean they also heard in English as well.


    There were two possibilities.


    One, the pronunciation was the same but the letters were different. Or two, both the pronunciation and letters were different but for some reason only I perceived everything in English.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Which one was the answer?


    I decided to test it immediately.


    “It’s natural for this to be unfamiliar to you gentlemen. This is ancient demon language. In order to fully secure the treasury, I had specifically used ancient demon language to magically seal the treasure.”


    “Magic?”


    “Yes. The vault will not open to those who do not understand the language.”


    The kidnappers made a commotion.


    The answer was revealed by that conversation.


    We were currently talking in a language completely different from English, in terms of both pronunciation and letters.


    How do I know this? Because I had spoken in foreign languages just now.


    First sentence in English, second sentence in German, third sentence in Chinese, and fourth sentence in French. And yet, these men understood me fully.


    I don’t know by what principle, but the conversation was automatically being translated.


    “Mr. Demon Lord. Do we, uh, need to understand that ancient demon language thing to open the vault?”


    “Yes. Of course.”


    “Hmmm.”


    The man narrowed his brows.


    — Right now this person was trying to kill me.


    He promised to spare my life if I told him the location of the secret vault, but that was a terribly obvious lie. You could tell when someone was lying shamelessly by their facial expression.


    So accordingly, I had to give them a reason to keep me alive.


    “Alright, honorable Demon Lord. I like this fair trade.”


    The man fell for my lie nicely.


    “I think we can be good friends. So, where’s this Nouvogorud, exactly?


    “There’s a secret passage where I was originally at.”


    “The Demon Lord’s quarters? There was nothing there when we checked.”


    “That’s not so. In my quarters, it will only recognize me and open… There’s a secret passage that only opens when I place my hand on it.”


    “A magical device. Okay.”


    The man grabbed my arm and forced me up.


    A horrible pain spread from my right ankle. I couldn’t hold back my scream this time.


    “Aaack!”


    “Oh. Your leg is messed up.”


    The man clicked his tongue.


    “New guy! You support his honor, Mammon.”


    “Roger that, captain.”


    A young man, who I assumed to be the new guy, came over to support me. He had a dagger attached to his belt. The adventurer group captain then shouted.


    “Let’s get moving boys!”


    The group of ten adventurers moved forward through the cave.


    These men seemed to know where the Demon Lord’s quarter was. I was lucky since I had no idea where it could possibly be.


    If they had told me to lead them to my quarters, I’d probably have died on the spot.


    Ding!


    [1. Accept adventurer captain Riff’s offer.]


    [2. Decline adventurer captain Riff’s offer.]


    The first choice shined brightly and then new words rose up. The choice wasn’t selected because I thought of selecting it, but rather, it was selected by my actual actions.


    [You overcame the crisis with cunning eloquence!]


    [Warning! Actions taken during the tutorial will henceforth affect your stats!]


    I got past the crisis.


    In other words, it meant that if I didn’t lie to them, then I really would have been in a fatal situation. The unnecessary remark sent a chill down my spine.


    These people were not joking around.


    To live or to die. That was the question.


    I barely got past the first obstacle.


    By any means, I had to stay alive.