Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Discovery of the Ruins
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Kang Byung-gyu returned after washing up and told everyone about his discovery. Lee Ji-ah immediately showed great interest.
"So, you found some kind of ruin, and even the entrance leading there?"
"To be precise, I didn't see it with my own eyes."
Kang Byung-gyu smiled as he answered Lee Ji-ah's question.
Normally, he would have given in to his curiosity and headed straight there.
After all, he had a personality that suited his Explorer class perfectly.
But at the time, he hadn't been in the right state of mind.
"Shall we go check it out? If it's a ruin, there might be treasures or something! Like legendary weapons or piles of gold coins!"
Lee Ji-ah jumped to her feet, her face flushed with excitement.
She looked ready to dash off to the site right then and there.
"Sit down for now."
Seo Woo-jin held her back.
"Come on, mister! What if someone else finds it while you're being so casual?"
Even though they were receiving full support from the kingdom and lacked for nothing, Lee Ji-ah was practically spitting fire from her eyes.
"Calm down. Ruins aren't the important thing right now."
"It's romance! Pure romance!"
It seemed like it would take a bit more time to calm her excitement.
"I'd like to explore it once, myself."
Kang Byung-gyu subtly sided with Lee Ji-ah.
"I'm against it. The Demon Realm is dangerous enough as it is. Who knows what could happen if we go into a place like that?"
Yoo Hong-seol shook her head.
"Me too. I'm against it."
Seo Woo-jin also opposed exploring the ruins.
As Yoo Hong-seol said, he had no desire to venture into a place rife with unknown dangers.
'If something like Burtel shows up again, we're in trouble.'
If that happened, they wouldn't be able to handle it on their own.
Rudain still hadn't returned, either.
"Oh, come on! With our strength, we shouldn't have any trouble in the outskirts like this. We've got you, mister, and Byung-gyu oppa who's perfect for that kind of thing."
Seo Woo-jin let out a sigh.
'Why am I the mister, exactly?'
He wasn't particularly eager to be called oppa, but it stung to be treated differently from Kang Byung-gyu, who was the same age.
"Did you forget how dangerous it was just a little while ago?"
If Seo Woo-jin hadn't stepped in, the team—drained of mana—wouldn't have overcome it with their own power.
They would have had to rely on the knights.
"But we handled it fine! We've wised up a bit now. If it gets dangerous, you can just help out again, mister!"
Lee Ji-ah's eyes might as well have had the word "romance" etched into them.
"What about the rest of you?"
Seo Woo-jin looked at the remaining two.
"I don't really care either way."
Kim Da-hye raised her hand and said so.
With her blank expression, she truly seemed indifferent to whatever happened.
"And Jin Tae-seong?"
He hadn't said a single word since Seo Woo-jin returned.
When the attention turned to him, he flinched in surprise.
But only for a moment.
Jin Tae-seong shook his head as well.
A clear sign of refusal.
"There we go, then. Two in favor, three against, one abstaining. No ruin exploration."
At Seo Woo-jin's words, Lee Ji-ah and Kang Byung-gyu looked crestfallen.
But there was nothing they could do about it.
Without Seo Woo-jin taking the lead, exploration was impossible from the start.
"Sigh, fine. Can't be helped."
Lee Ji-ah sighed and accepted the outcome.
"What was that?"
It was then.
Rudain, having finished organizing the situation, stood nearby with a curious expression.
"When did you get back?"
Seo Woo-jin asked, startled.
'I didn't sense his presence at all.'
Even after reaching level 19 and growing a bit stronger, he hadn't noticed Rudain.
The other heroes were the same.
"Eek! You scared me! Don't just pop up like that! My heart almost stopped!"
Lee Ji-ah's startled hop was rather comical.
"My apologies. I didn't mean to..."
Rudain bowed his head slightly.
"But may I hear more about what you were discussing earlier?"
"Oh, well, you see..."
The chatty Lee Ji-ah seized the chance to show off her specialty.
It was a talent in itself that she could spin such a long tale about Kang Byung-gyu finding the ruin entrance and their decision not to go.
"Ruins..."
But Rudain's expression was odd.
"Do you know something about it?"
Seo Woo-jin asked cautiously.
Come to think of it, this was the outskirts of Heldein in the Demon Realm.
The Empire had launched multiple subjugation campaigns here and tried to pioneer it.
There was no way the Empire hadn't discovered ruins in such a place.
"No, quite the opposite."
But Rudain shook his head.
"At least, I've never heard of it. I've never even heard tales of ruins in the Demon Realm."
"So that means...?"
"It seems you all are the first to discover it."
Was that possible?
Sure, the people of this world couldn't use skills like Kang Byung-gyu's 'Search'.
But that didn't mean there were no explorers or guides.
Especially for subjugating the forest-filled Demon Realm Heldein, parties always included those skilled in pathfinding, exploration, and adventure.
And yet, it had gone undiscovered until now?
Seo Woo-jin couldn't understand it.
"Could you tell me where it is?"
From the Empire's perspective, ruins were highly important sites.
They held limitless potential.
The transcendent 'Hero Summoning Magic' had been found in ruins, after all.
So it was no wonder Rudain was curious—not for personal greed, but for the Empire's benefit.
"Byung-gyu."
Seo Woo-jin nodded slightly.
Meaning it was okay to tell him.
"Oh, it's over here...!"
Kang Byung-gyu excitedly explained the location in detail.
No, he was even sketching a map.
Probably in hopes that the knights might join for the exploration.
And Rudain fully met those expectations.
"Would you mind if I joined you?"
Rudain asked.
But his gaze was directed not at Kang Byung-gyu, but at Seo Woo-jin.
* * *
"Let's move."
Baek Si-woo sheathed his sword and said so.
"Can't we rest a bit? I'm kinda tired."
Kim Tae-jin spoke with a weary look, but Baek Si-woo shook his head.
"Resting in a place like this will get you sick."
The surroundings were piled high with monster corpses.
It wasn't a metaphor.
Hundreds of monsters truly formed a small hill.
"What sickness? How's a hero gonna get sick?"
Their bodies, far transcending human limits, were strong enough to crush ordinary pathogens.
Even if they did fall ill, they had a 'Saintess'.
One blessing from Seong Yu-ra would heal something like that right up.
"Still feels gross."
Well, that was true.
No matter how accustomed they got, resting amid stacked corpses was another matter entirely.
It was revolting.
"Let's move while we have some leeway. If more monsters swarm, it'll just delay us."
"Yeah, yeah."
Kim Tae-jin sighed helplessly and started walking.
"But I wonder if they handled that thing okay earlier?"
"Probably. Only one signal flare went up. If there were more issues, we'd have seen more."
As Park Jin-han wiped the blood from his body and asked, Kim Tae-jin shrugged and replied.
"Still kinda curious, though. Si-woo, wanna swing by that way?"
It was far too late to help.
But Baek Si-woo, who still hadn't shaken his worries about them, spoke up as if he'd been waiting.
"Let's do that. We're not headed anywhere specific anyway, so we can check on what happened while we're at it."
Baek Si-woo looked to his friends as if asking if that was okay.
They all nodded.
There was no reason to object now.
"Which way was it?"
"West, I think. I-I remembered just in case."
"Thanks, Tae-eun."
Baek Si-woo's smile made Im Tae-eun's face turn bright red.
"It was pretty far, so let's hurry. We need to get there before nightfall."
They still had plenty of stamina and mana left.
But the repeated battles had worn them down mentally and physically.
They desperately wanted to find a suitable campsite and rest.
"Today, we'll just check that out and turn in early."
In this team, Im Tae-eun handled reconnaissance.
For now, a small 'dragon' scouted from the sky and relayed information.
"This way..."
Im Tae-eun pointed in one direction, and Baek Si-woo headed that way.
How long had they traveled?
"Hm?"
Baek Si-woo sensed someone's presence ahead.
"Hold up. Someone's up front."
Im Tae-eun confirmed it too and halted the group.
"Another team?"
There shouldn't be anyone else in the Demon Realm besides them.
'One of the heroes or knights, probably.'
Baek Si-woo's guess was correct.
"Seo Woo-jin."
The first person he saw was Seo Woo-jin.
For some reason, his clothes were a total mess.
He didn't seem injured, but he'd clearly been through hell.
"Oh? It's the 'Sword God'! Hi there! Fancy meeting you all here?"
'Lee Ji-ah, was it?'
Baek Si-woo bowed his head to the woman waving enthusiastically.
"Tch."
He heard Seong Yu-ra click her tongue beside him.
She clearly wasn't pleased with the situation.
Worried she might pick a fight, Baek Si-woo quickly spoke up.
"Are you coming from where the signal flare went off?"
His question was quite apt.
They'd been heading there out of curiosity in the first place, so even Seong Yu-ra held her tongue and waited for the answer.
"Ah, that situation's over. Dark Elves showed up."
"Dark Elves?"
The other four, excluding Baek Si-woo, grimaced.
They were probably thinking of Gerald.
The monstrous figure who appeared when their confidence was at its peak.
Since Gerald was a Dark Elf too, their reaction was understandable.
"Thanks to the instructor and the knights, we wrapped it up without much damage."
Baek Si-woo inwardly sighed in relief at Seo Woo-jin's words.
He'd been worried something big had gone down, but it was resolved safely.
"But isn't the rule that knights don't interfere with heroes' business unless it's an emergency? You look like you're traveling together now."
Then, Seong Yu-ra spoke sharply.
Her gaze lingered on the instructor, Rudain, standing beside Seo Woo-jin.
It was certainly a sight that could cause misunderstanding.
"Ah, well..."
Seo Woo-jin and Rudain both looked troubled.
Seizing the moment, Lee Ji-ah answered excitedly.
"We found something, and we're on our way to check it out!"
"Found something?"
As Baek Si-woo stared in confusion, Seo Woo-jin sighed and spoke.
"Ruins."
"Ruins?"
"There are ruins in a place like this?"
His friends wore expressions much like Lee Ji-ah's.
Fantasy world and ruins.
The anticipation they evoked was greater than expected.
"...Mind if we tag along?"
And Baek Si-woo was no different.