Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Those Left Behind (3)
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Whoosh!
They set up a temporary camp with the ruined house where the red portal had been as the center.
Right after, Regin's group lit a fire and skewered meat over it.
"……Kuh. How long has it been since I last had meat?"
Greg wiped the drool from his mouth as he stared at the meat.
Adventurers usually survived on dried rations, so the smell of roasting meat in the tower made their salivary glands go wild.
'……And they even have seasoning.'
Regin chuckled as he looked at the ingredients spread out on the ground.
They were things Greg had brought—dried powders to sprinkle on food when the rations got boring.
The equivalent of seasoning on Earth, they were the best option in a place where you couldn't properly eliminate gamey smells.
"But it's still a bit disappointing."
The group waited under the moonlight, listening to the crackling sounds.
Greg sniffed the air, savoring the aroma of the golden-brown meat, then spoke up.
His gaze turned to the things tied up nearby.
Squeak……
Two hogs.
At first, the majority opinion had been to eat those hogs, but unfortunately, Regin's judgment had canceled the hog barbecue party.
"Those guys are the real meat."
"What can we do? Hogs turned out to be rarer than we thought."
The hogs, trembling under Greg's gaze, seemed to understand Regin's words and let out sighs of relief.
Squeak—
Instead, they huddled together, hiding as much as possible behind the ruined building.
"But the rabbits we caught instead aren't bad."
The substitute meat was rabbit. The meat roasting now was from rabbits caught nearby.
On the 4th Floor, they served as guides, but here they were just food.
They were the most common and easiest prey to hunt.
'Hogs are fewer in number than I thought.'
Regin had never seen a hog traveling alone.
They were usually ridden by skeleton hog riders, and encounters with those weren't frequent.
It meant he didn't know when he'd find more usable hogs like these.
"Besides, in this place, hogs are still the safest things to ride."
"……Hmm."
"Greg, you enjoyed riding them around, didn't you?"
For now, Regin's group's goal was the 8th Floor.
They hadn't fallen behind schedule, and they had plenty of scrolls left.
There was no reason to get off midway like before.
"If we're going to ride them to the 8th Floor, we need to take good care of them."
Squeak—!
A cry echoed in response to Regin's words.
Regin chuckled and pulled forward a well-roasted rabbit.
"Alright, before we eat, let's have a drink first."
"It's the liquor Greg buried here before entering the red portal. He always brings alcohol when coming to the tower."
"Haha! That's why it's great. We can have a drink on a night like this!"
The alcohol they brought this time was also beer.
Last time, Regin had complained that the carbonation was gone, so Greg had brought a magically preserved barrel.
Honestly, from Regin's perspective, it might have been better to bring something more necessary than booze, but this was Greg's one indulgence, so there was no helping it.
'I can't fully understand the feelings of an explorer like Greg.'
Greg had entered the tower thinking of his daughter.
Some emotions never faded no matter how much time passed, and being in the tower would only deepen that sorrow.
"Alright, everyone raise your glasses."
The beer he'd brought to forget his personal grief.
Greg shared it with the group.
"Let's forget everything for a bit and get some good sleep."
They'd need to stand watch, but one or two drinks wouldn't hurt.
Regin took his glass as well, and their glasses clinked in the air.
Clink—!
The beer sloshed, some spilling to the ground, some splashing on each other.
Even so, everyone's faces wore much better expressions than before.
Some downed their beer in one gulp.
As mentioned earlier, some emotions lingered and never faded.
But thanks to the beer, they could forget them for a very short while.
* * *
"Kuh…… This is the taste."
"Drinking beer makes me miss the Fairy Haven. Their goblin livers are something else, even if they're a bit gamey."
"Puhaha. You know your food, huh?"
Bern and Apelion quickly dropped formalities and hit it off.
Manannan soon joined in the conversation with Apelion.
"……Goblin livers? You eat that fishy stuff as a drinking snack?"
"Ehey. That's what the Fairy Haven is famous for. The subtle fishiness pairs perfectly with beer. Haven't you tried it?"
"I've had goblin liver once by accident, but I couldn't stomach it."
"That's because you haven't had it from a proper place, Manannan."
"……Really?"
"Absolutely! When we get out, let's go with Bern. You'll be hooked after that."
"When we get out this time?"
Manannan's gaze turned to Regin.
"You leaving too, Regin? Didn't you say you're going to the 8th Floor earlier?"
"I have to go up."
"……."
"You go out with Apelion. It's been a while since you went back to the kingdom."
Apelion planned to leave the tower right away.
He had obtained the Saint's Sword, achieving his goal, and needed to regroup anyway.
"What about you, Bern?"
"……I'm planning to leave this time too. We've decided to join Phoenix with Apelion, so it makes sense to go together."
"Oh."
Only Manannan was still hesitating.
He had to part ways again with his friend Regin, whom he'd reunited with after a long time.
It had been a full three months since they last met. He wanted to talk more.
"I'm only going up to the 8th Floor anyway, then heading back to the kingdom."
"Yeah?"
"I have things to do outside, and people to meet."
"Hmm."
Manannan pondered, then nodded.
"Whew, no helping it. It's disappointing, but…… since you'll be out soon, let's meet up outside."
"Sounds good."
"By the way, the 8th Floor…… that's inside the castle, right?"
"Yeah."
"……Damn. Getting inside the castle before me. That's more frustrating than parting with you again."
"You're going with Apelion anyway, so you'll catch up. Right?"
Apelion chuckled and nodded.
"Well, after reorganizing once, we'll climb again. We need to set a goal…… but I think we'll reach the 10th Floor by then."
"Apelion, you've been to the 10th Floor before, right?"
"Yeah. I was invited to the Phoenix Guild there, and that's where I first met our leader."
Apelion stared blankly into the distance for a moment.
Memories of explorations with Elsilva flashed through his mind.
They'd spent about a year together, but she was the most reliable and trustworthy person he'd known.
"From the 10th Floor on, there are a lot of tricky bastards. Honestly, I pushed too far for my level back then……."
Recalling those days, stories flowed easily.
Apelion and the gladiator duo bantered back and forth, sharing old memories.
Regin sipped his drink and listened in.
'The 10th Floor scenery I know isn't much different.'
At the same time, he cross-referenced their stories with his own knowledge.
You couldn't take stories from those who'd been to the 10th Floor at face value. There might be differences from the game.
He needed to focus when they shared details like this.
'Greg's info has its limits.'
Right now, they roamed the whole map on their way up, but from the 10th Floor, that wouldn't be feasible.
They'd have to fight tooth and nail even with monsters right in front of them, making it hard to clear just one route.
Even Greg had only one route through the 11th Floor.
'Honestly, it's as big as or bigger than here—definitely not small. But no one has the leeway to explore every corner.'
That's why he needed stories from multiple people. Then compare and analyze with his own info.
To minimize variables when they reached the 10th Floor.
"Did you spend a lot of time on the 8th Floor?"
"Hmm. I hunted there occasionally. It's where GranTulas live."
"Ah, was it for the webs?"
"Yeah. GranTula silk is used a lot for bowstrings. High mana sensitivity and doesn't break easily."
"To make bowstrings from GranTula webs…… you'd need to hunt a ton, right?"
"Kukuku. That's why I gave up. It just wasn't working out. And GranTulas aren't easy to catch."
"True."
"Especially as an archer indoors—it's not the strongest class. Tsk. The spaces are tight, and they move so nimbly; I kept hitting walls instead."
"Puhaha. That tracks."
Regin smiled briefly, then looked at Apelion and continued.
"Then, did you ever go into the Room of Portraits back then?"
"Room of Portraits?"
"Yeah."
"No way. That's a tough one. I'd rather do the Banquet Hall. But why? ……You planning to go there?"
Regin nodded.
It was their next destination.
"……Well, I wouldn't exactly recommend it."
"What's the Room of Portraits like that it's such a big deal? I haven't even heard rumors."
Greg asked, reading Apelion's expression.
Regin had explained it once, but not what made it so tricky.
"If you're solo, maybe, but for a party, it's rough. Especially for a well-synced team like yours."
"……?"
"I haven't been in properly myself, so I can't say for sure, but from the rumors…… it's where the most disappearances happen."
"……Disappearances?"
"Yeah."
Apelion nodded and continued.
"They say once you go in, you might not come out. No bodies found either."
* * *
After the meal and drinking session ended.
Regin and the group lay down at the camp to prepare for sleep.
With so many people, the watch shifts were relaxed.
Just as Regin thought he'd finally get some solid rest and closed his eyes—
"……Regin."
"Yeah?"
Greg, blinking up at the sky, spoke.
"You're really going into the Room of Portraits?"
"Hmm, yeah. We have time. No need for resupply either."
"……You knew about the adventurers who go missing?"
"I knew the rumors."
He'd hoped Apelion had been in, to cross-check info.
Unfortunately, he hadn't.
It ended up just being rumor talk.
"If those rumors are true, doesn't that mean you might go in and not come out?"
"Hmm."
"Well, if you go, I'll follow. But aren't you scared?"
"Yeah?"
"Honestly speaking."
Greg kept staring at the sky and continued.
"I think your talent is precious."
"……My talent?"
"Yeah. It's rare to see someone grow this much in such a short time."
"Hmm."
"But even rarer is someone who never gives up, no matter the situation, and always finds a solution."
"……."
"The qualities of an explorer, you could say. Someone I cherished always said that. Those explorers have the most potential."
"……."
Regin could guess who. It was probably something his daughter had said.
"So if you disappeared, wouldn't that be a shame?"
Regin looked up at the sky, lost in thought for a moment.
'……I thought he'd be afraid of disappearing.'
Who wouldn't mind the possibility of vanishing? He'd assumed Greg was worried about that.
"I'm not indifferent to life, but if I have to die…… I came in resolved to die here. I'm not afraid."
Greg chuckled as he said it.
"Besides, isn't it a place others avoid? I can't not go."
He'd come for his daughter's memory in the first place, to complete her unfinished explorations.
He was more worried about Regin and Seria, who might vanish, than his own life.
"Well, it's just a rumor I've heard."
No need to persuade him then.
Regin chuckled and looked at Greg.
"There are people who've returned after being trapped in the Room of Portraits. I heard how."
He wouldn't have even considered going without a solution.