Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: How?
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How?
The sight that greeted me upon entering the dungeon was Rozia, with wings, pulling Mine out of the pit while holding her.
“Ah, Haribal. You're here.”
Seeing Pasha and the male student who seemed to be her follower nearby, it looked like Mine had come here to rescue the two of them.
Wow! Mine saved two people!
I could have been surprised, but I wasn't particularly.
‘She must have used Raphael.’
Mine's Abyss Core [Raphael]'s ability was the power to summon combat-support familiars.
In the original story, she summoned a small paper angel, and the familiar would trail after party members, dealing damage or healing.
‘Raphael's familiar manifested in Rozia's form, huh.’
It wasn't surprising at that level anymore.
If the angel form Mine imagined was Rozia, it wouldn't be strange for it to turn out like that.
In fact, over the past month, I hadn't once told Mine to use Raphael.
To ease her burden?
No.
‘That thing's crap.’
It was better to use other cores than Raphael.
It wasn't for nothing that Mine's main setup was Lumen & Kalligo.
Raphael's familiar AI was no better than a larva.
It would deal damage when healing was needed, heal when damage was needed.
It even arbitrarily continued attacking when it should stop, triggering the boss's mechanics countless times.
And yet it guzzled holy power like crazy.
Why the hell use something like that?
On top of that, Mine had Arts like Divine Benedictus with similar effects.
So in the original, Raphael was nothing more than a variety show plaything.
‘Still, I should praise her.’
I have some tact.
Right now was the time to praise her for using that power of her own will and coming into the dungeon herself.
“You okay? Any injuries?”
“Yes. I'm fine.”
Mine reached out to Pasha.
“Pasha, Mar. Are you alright?”
“What the hell is that…?”
“It's the power of my Abyss Core.”
“You mean something like that was possible? Even back then?”
“……”
Pasha slapped away the offered hand.
“Why save me now? Hypocrisy? Pity? Or is it atonement from your high horse?”
“……I.”
“Then why didn't you save my dad back then?! You could've done it then too! With power like this… why the hell…!”
Pasha's rage-filled voice mixed with sobs.
‘She knows that already.’
I'd heard about Mine during counseling.
Normally, once you enter the boss fight in an Evil God's Dungeon, you can't get out.
Yet Mine had been able to leave because opening the boss room door had been a literal accident.
Moreover, Pasha's father had volunteered for reconnaissance knowing full well the undead dungeon had many unknowns.
For his family alone.
‘Adelin told the bereaved families the truth about the incident.’
So Pasha directing her resentment at Mine was unfair to her in some ways.
But Mine accepted all the blame calmly.
“…Pasha's right.”
“……What?”
“Back then, even though I had the power, I couldn't do anything. No, I didn't.”
No.
Even if Mine could have used Raphael back then, its power would have been weak, unlike Rozia's now.
So in reality, there was nothing Mine could have done in that situation.
But her guilt stemmed from ‘didn't’ rather than ‘couldn't.’
“So it's natural for you to hate me.”
“……”
“But I won't run away anymore.”
“……What?”
“I'm going into the dungeon. Even if I'm scared, even if I'm afraid, I'll keep going in. So no one else has to lose someone precious like you did and grieve.”
Mine extended her hand again.
“……Liar.”
“Yes. It was a lie. Back then. But…”
She looked at me this time.
“I'm done with that now.”
“……I, I didn't even get to say goodbye to Dad.”
“The Evil God's Dungeon interior doesn't change. Especially an undead dungeon. Maybe… if we go in there, some items left by your father and the others might still be around.”
Pasha's eyes widened at those words.
“……Really?”
“Yes. If your father's belongings are left, I'll do my utmost to find them, whatever they are.”
Mine extended only her pinky from the offered hand.
“This is a promise. My first promise to you, Pasha.”
“……”
“So, Pasha. If I bring back traces of your father… will you give me a chance to apologize properly?”
There was no reply.
Instead, Pasha grabbed Mine's pinky with her trembling hand.
At that moment, Mine's body collapsed right there.
“Mine!”
I rushed to the fallen Mine and supported her.
At the same time, Rozia's form scattered into the air.
“Th-this… what's…”
“She just exhausted all her energy. Activating a core's power takes a lot out of you. If you're not trained enough, just using it can make you collapse.”
“……I see.”
“If a kid uses it recklessly, it could even be life-threatening.”
It was true.
The results of her training by entering and exiting dungeons over the past month had just saved her life.
Pasha's eyes darkened upon hearing my words.
She finally realized it.
That there was nothing Mine could have done that day. That she had been unreasonable.
Pasha stared at Mine, who still held her hand.
Soon, she too collapsed on the spot as if her tension had snapped.
‘She must be exhausted too.’
Mar had passed out long ago.
Wait, hold on.
Two girls and one guy.
How was I supposed to get all three back to the dorms by myself?
With no choice, I dragged the three out of the dungeon, and by then, outside was pitch black.
Squinting, I could barely make out the tiny light of the tram stop beyond the horizon.
Fucking far.
‘Wonder if I can make the last tram.’
“Sigh.”
Sighing as I prepared to drag the three along, a familiar voice came from beside me.
“So, they're okay?”
Whoa, startled me.
Turning toward the voice, there floated a sun brighter than the moonlight.
“Instructor.”
“Call me sis when it's just us.”
It was Adelin.
“All they did was deplete their energy, so they'll be fine. Mine seems to have healed Mar's wounds too.”
“That's a relief. I was worried.”
Why was she here?
The question was brief; Adelin effortlessly hoisted Mine and Pasha over her shoulders.
“Let's head back before it's too late. We should make it just in time.”
Adelin giggled and walked into the darkness.
‘Yeah. Better move.’
I piggybacked Mar and followed her.
I had a mountain of questions, but we walked in silence, merely following the moonlight.
How long did we walk?
Just before reaching the tram stop, Adelin broke the silence.
“By the way, how'd you get here so fast?”
“Mine left me a message. When I didn't hear back, I was sure it was the dungeon.”
“No, that's not what I meant.”
She turned from facing the tram to look at me.
Her gaze was one I'd never seen before, filled with suspicion.
“How'd you get here so fast?”
Oh, crap.
⁎⁎⁎
After confirming all the students had returned to the dorms, Adelin stopped by the instructor's office to sort her documents.
‘An Abyss Core's power, huh.’
After counseling ended, she'd seen Haribal heading to the tram stop with a grave expression.
She knew her disciple well after watching him so long.
He only made that face when something bad was happening.
Just like every day during his three-year stagnation.
‘I followed just in case, and…’
Haribal arrived at the stop and paced impatiently, checking the Angel Plains tram schedule.
‘Angel Plains is where that dungeon is. No way he skipped my offer for a meal to go dungeon diving?’
Wow. A wall.
Even Adelin, who favored him as her disciple, was sick of this dungeon addict.
What the hell had she raised?
Even as his master, wasn't this crossing the line?
At this rate, he'd just earn resentment from girls his age.
He might not even get a proper romance.
‘Guess there's still a lot I need to teach him.’
Thinking that, she looked back at where Haribal had been.
‘……What.’
He had vanished without a trace.
She, who ranked in the empire's top three in martial prowess, had lost his presence?
‘What happened?’
No matter how much she searched around the stop, there were no signs of Haribal.
In the end, after waiting over two hours, she headed to Angel Plains and encountered her disciple there.
She'd taken the fastest tram possible, yet he was already done with everything and exiting the dungeon.
Impossible, time-wise.
Haribal brushed it off as his Abyss Core's power.
His eyes said it wasn't a lie.
It could be.
She didn't fully grasp a core's potential either.
But she'd known for a long time that Haribal's core came from Cecilia.
She'd confirmed it herself.
His core, Rene, was the standard-issue type distributed to imperial troops.
‘Nothing outstanding.’
Fine. Assume Haribal's ability is spatial movement.
Then a very serious problem arises.
Haribal, along with Alicia and Mine, had subjugated the cult's bishop, Elevre Han.
The empire conducted a thorough investigation on her.
They scrutinized her face, actions, and traits based on Alicia's testimony.
Yet strangely, there were no records of her entering Ronwood.
No tram logs, no Christoph records, not even land or sea routes.
She'd literally dropped from the sky.
And the same for Marias.
The empire concluded.
The bishops possessed spatial movement abilities somehow.
Dropped from the sky.
Adelin immediately thought of Haribal.
In her life, Haribal had also dropped from the sky.
‘But Haribal's ability is spatial movement too…’
Before she knew it, she held the dungeon conquest report for Haribal and Cecilia's puppet dungeon.
The report was well-done.
Cecilia must have worked hard; other instructors praised it unanimously.
But Adelin sensed inconsistencies.
[Defeated mid-boss Alain…]
[Passed the choir…]
[Defeated final bosses Roze and Lirian…]
The two reports omitted the ‘how.’
Combat details were there, but the flow felt unnatural.
‘Shall I test it?’
Adelin closed her eyes quietly, and the Temple of Rest unfolded in her mind.
Mental Image Training.
A feat possible only for geniuses among geniuses.
The giant knight Alain appeared before her, facing Haribal and Cecilia.
Battle begins.
‘……Hm?’
How to put it.
The rhythm was off.
Subtle gaps between attacks.
Actions that shouldn't connect did, and ones that should were severed.
‘According to the report, those two couldn't have beaten the boss.’
The report could be wrong, but at least by Adelin's judgment.
The issue was this sense of incongruity wasn't new to her.
She'd felt it long ago.
From the moment she first saw Haribal.
His sincere sword swings were ones even she couldn't dodge.
Adelin leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling.
‘Haribal's abilities include spatial movement and combat support. At least two.’
Core abilities?
Or innate?
“…No idea.”
Suddenly, she realized she knew nothing about her disciple.
Come to think of it, she'd never entered a dungeon with Haribal.
Never seen how he fought inside one.
Until now, it had been to accommodate him.
Adelin immediately raised her core.
“Crus. There's that special training schedule during academy break, right? Can you cancel all of it?”
She contacted her old adjutant.
“Oh, sorry about that! Something more urgent came up. No. I have some personal investigating to do.”
She didn't suspect Haribal of being a cult lackey.
He was currently leading the empire's Evil God Dungeon conquests more than anyone.
Doubting the one who'd cleared two abysses already didn't make sense.
But just in case.
‘If even that's all planned…’
Even as she thought it, Adelin couldn't help sighing.
Because the Haribal she knew was such a good disciple.
At the same time, she knew better than anyone.
Blind trust was mere illusion.
Only after confirming with her own eyes and still not doubting could it be true trust.
Thus, she made her decision.
“I'm going on a trip with my disciple during break.”