Chapter 172
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: The Hero's Footsteps
Rescued from the crowd by Chris, I reunited with the other three members of her party.
"Rain~!"
The pink-haired mage, Beimerung, rushed over to me. I took her hand and tilted my head in confusion.
"I just got out. How are you all already here?"
"Hm? Haha, it was only a few minutes, but I guess so."
The only drop was a single Divine Stone, so it wasn't like I lingered after clearing it.
"You don't usually keep your system message and area chat windows open, do you, Rain?"
"No, I don't."
"Why don't you check the chat window? We've got something to brag about this time."
Beimerung grinned, and Chris smirked along with her. Puzzled by their reactions, I opened my system window, including the area chat.
[Chris's Attack Squad has succeeded in the first-ever clear of the elite dungeon, the Basin of Heaven and Earth!]
- Whoa
- Huh?
- First clear!!!
- As expected, the elite dungeon was cleared on day one.
- How'd they do it? How'd they beat the red and blue lamias?
- But it's not the no-name party?
- The no-name player had a monopoly on first clears for a while lol
- It's Chris's squad.
- Chris's Attack Squad, release the strategy!
- What, did Death of Death finally get kicked? To make room for Whitey?
- Nah, Death of Death went in with them.
- I saw Whitey go in alone.
- Whoa, so Chris's party got the first clear before Whitey this time?
- Chris! Chris!
- Four people beating one should be obvious, but why does this feel so amazing? lol
"Oh."
Fighting demons and monsters, I sometimes forget that this world is a game. I simply use the weapon called the system to defeat the enemies before me.
First Clear. It wasn't a title I was obsessed with. It's just that I had always cleared every dungeon first by simply doing what needed to be done.
But this time was different.
The Basin of Heaven and Earth, consumed by demonic energy.
The hero's party that first defeated the 'Nightmare Fusion'—the congregation of all impure thoughts—and purified the Basin of Heaven and Earth was...
Chris's Attack Squad.
My eyes sparkled as I looked up at Chris.
"That's amazing, Chris."
"It was a defense-style dungeon, and there were four of us. Until now, we were always slower than you, even in 12-man raid dungeons."
I shook my head.
"I'm a special case. In a way, your party has always been the one to get the first clear."
It was the truth.
In game terms, I was an outlier, a bugged player.
For them to clear it before me was truly a remarkable feat.
"So, what do you think? With this, do we qualify as the Hero's companions?"
Chris looked at me, a hint of sorrow in her eyes.
"Ah."
I could read her thoughts.
Chris understood, to some extent, the sense of duty I carried.
The Hero of the past also had companions.
Without the Saintess, she would have long since fallen from her wounds. Without the knight, she would not have progressed in her swordsmanship. Without the elf, she would have had no spiritual anchor, and without the dwarf, she would have had to bear the brunt of every demon's attack alone.
The Hero, fragile in both mind and body, was protected and nurtured by her companions.
But now, I was a hero walking alone.
I knew. Now that I had people who cared for me, there was no need to insist on playing solo.
However.
I gazed out beyond the Basin of Heaven and Earth, at the endlessly stretching gorge, my eyes filled with a distant longing.
"At the end of this gorge, there's someone I have to meet alone."
"......."
Chris fell silent.
*
Several days passed after the first clear of the Basin of Heaven and Earth.
During that time, Chris ran dungeons with Rain and diligently offered carries.
Since 'Divine Stones,' the main farmable item from the basin, were tradable, the carry business wasn't booming. However, there were still quite a few passengers who used the service for their daily quests and first-time clear rewards.
At the entrance to the basin, Chris gave Beimerung and Cherni their instructions.
"You two take good care of Rain today. She'll be logging on soon."
"You took a long break for the first time in a while. You said you were going to do something other than run dungeons, right?"
"Yeah. I want to delve into the lore of the Astria Continent. You know, like hidden quests? I want to try finding something like that."
"Heh, I heard there aren't any special rewards for that. Guess you're not just a dungeon rat after all, Chris."
"Shut up. Everyone needs to refresh now and then."
*Flash!*
Chris's body was enveloped in light as she used a Capital Return Scroll, and she soon vanished from the entrance of the Basin of Heaven and Earth.
Chris was in a very advantageous position to explore the world's lore. As a perk for being in the vanguard for the Tree of the Abyss, she was already acquainted with the emperor of the Alpharion Empire.
Raising favor with such a major empire was incredibly difficult. Access to the imperial castle's information was not something an ordinary player could easily obtain.
Returning to the lavish guest reception room inside the imperial castle for the first time since the imperial ball, Chris, who had requested a private audience with the emperor, was met by his hearty laughter.
"Haha! Master Chris of the Red and White guild. It's good to see you after so long."
"Hehe, have you been well, Your Majesty?"
"I'm the same as always. I heard you performed great deeds in the purification of the Basin of Heaven and Earth in Erin's Gorge. Truly remarkable."
After chatting with the emperor over tea for a short while, Chris got to the point.
"Well, this might sound a bit strange, but I enjoy studying history. Does the imperial castle happen to have any records from over a thousand years ago?"
"Hmm? Were you a historian in your original world, Lady Chris?"
"Ah, not exactly. It's more... a pure curiosity, you could say."
Chris averted the emperor's gaze, feigning nonchalance.
The emperor's eyes curved into a smile.
"I understand. To you adventurers from the stars, this world must certainly seem wondrous. ...Hmm, but for someone so close to the Great Mother to be curious about this world's history... Is she not the living history of this continent herself?"
"There are... various circumstances. It's a bit difficult to ask her directly."
The emperor laughed again before beginning to explain the repository of knowledge held within the Alpharion Empire's castle.
"The largest repository is the imperial library. Many records from the war between humans and demons a thousand years ago remain. However, there are almost no records of the Hero's party from that time. I imagine that is what you are most curious about, yes?"
Chris looked slightly surprised.
As expected of the emperor of a great empire.
He was sharp enough to have a good idea of what Chris wanted to know.
That was right.
Chris was trying to follow the Hero's footsteps.
Rain's suffering, her sense of duty, her heartache—it was all connected to her past on this continent.
Of course, Rain, who trusted and relied on Chris deeply, would tell her anything she asked. But seeing Rain clutch her chest in heart-wrenching sorrow whenever she confronted her past, Chris couldn't bring herself to ask directly. It might mean digging into the wounds Rain suffered from losing her companions.
The companions who were with Rain.
Chris wanted to know about them.
She had met Igraine herself.
In the northern snowfields.
There was probably something related to Rain's past at the end of Erin's Gorge as well.
And Rain was trying to face it alone.
Inevitably, she would suffer great pain, just as she did at the Tree of the Abyss.
Before that could happen.
"I have to find out."
Rain didn't stop her from trying to understand her past. In fact, she seemed to hope for it, deep down. But she never brought it up herself, likely because the pain of remembering tore her apart each time.
In that case, Chris would find out herself.
Then, she would face it together with Rain.
*Tap, tap.*
Chris walked alone down the wide imperial hallway.
The hallway she had once walked with Rain, lined with the portraits of past emperors of the Alpharion Empire.
'If you wish to know, go to this place. Of course, you may not learn everything, but you might find a record written by someone who was with the Great Mother in the past. You, who danced with the Great Mother, her precious one.'
The emperor had said this with a warm smile.
She didn't know what the emperor was misunderstanding, but it seemed he remembered the two of them dancing together at the imperial banquet.
In any case, thanks to that, Chris had been granted access to a place only the royal family could enter.
A luxurious corridor. A wide passage. Magnificent portraits touched by the hands of imperial artists.
At the end of it, the portrait of the first emperor and Rain's portrait stood side by side.
It was the second time Chris had seen Rain's portrait.
"He said there was something behind this."
Remembering the emperor's instruction to keep whatever she learned here to herself, Chris felt around the narrow space behind the large portrait of the first emperor.
Her fingers found it. Something like a handle.
Just as the emperor had told her: three times to the left, two times to the right.
*Rumble.*
With a low rumble, the portrait of the first emperor swung open like a door.
A secret passage in the imperial castle revealed itself before Chris's eyes.