Cleanup
After taking the Clear Heat medicine, the raid members looked considerably better.
But according to what they told me, seeds of heat still remained lodged deep inside their bodies.
It was far too early to rest easy.
"It seems purification will be necessary."
"Purification?"
"Yes. We'll need to borrow the Order's power. Given that the Clear Heat worked, purification should be possible as well. Until then, we'll just have to hold on somehow."
I had already poured everything I had into snuffing out the embers inside my own body, so using Cheong-ui on the entire raid in this condition was out of the question. My consciousness would almost certainly give out before the treatment was even finished.
Besides, with the boss gone, there was still the matter of recovering magic stones from the magic beast corpses scattered throughout the dungeon.
I first layered Cheong-ui over Ren, who would take command of the group. When I placed my hand over his heart, a blue energy hesitated as if wrestling with something, then spread through his entire body.
The seed of heat had been removed.
Ren said we should leave the dungeon for now.
Outside the dungeon entrance, imperial soldiers had set up camp and were standing by. They were there to keep other clans from plundering the raid rewards, and to respond quickly if anything unexpected happened inside.
Ren seemed to intend to go out first, report the situation to the imperial side, and request support from the Order.
Only after that could the matter of rewards be handled.
We quickly backtracked through the dungeon and emerged outside. Several tents the imperial soldiers had established as a base were spread out in a disorderly sprawl.
Among them, a soldier on outer watch spotted us and quickly ducked into the largest tent.
A moment later, the man who pushed aside the tent flap and stepped out was Marquis Tern.
"Y-you've already cleared it?"
The day had grown dark. Even Marquis Tern hadn't expected those who had entered a Catastrophe-class dungeon early that morning to return in a single day.
He was dressed casually, as if he'd been preparing for bed.
Aside from me, Ren was currently in the best condition of anyone present, and he stepped forward to answer.
"Yes, we succeeded. And our losses weren't significant either. But the situation is worse than expected, so we need to take measures quickly."
"You finished the clear, yet the situation is bad?"
Marquis Tern's gaze immediately turned toward the raid party.
He looked around as if searching for someone, then spotted Rice in the middle of the group looking unwell, and his eyes went wide.
"Rice? What's happened to you?"
"Please follow the Deep Night clan leader's words. This is a curse left by the dungeon's boss. We need purification as quickly as possible."
"A curse...? I understand. We must hurry."
There was no suspicion in his attitude as he answered Rice's single remark.
As if it didn't particularly matter, Ren pointed at me and continued.
"This person and I are fine. I'll go to a nearby Order temple myself and bring the priests."
In truth, taking those who needed purification straight to the Order would have been the faster way to get treatment.
But leading people in poor condition over dark mountain paths could itself invite further danger.
So we had already decided, before leaving the dungeon, that they would hold on as best they could with the remaining Clear Heat medicine while Ren brought the priests.
"Very well. The rest of the party should rest comfortably in the other tents. Can I hear the details from this fellow?"
"Hmm..."
When Marquis Tern pointed at me, Ren hesitated and glanced at my face. I nodded to show him not to worry.
"Go ahead."
"Then first..."
As we had discussed while leaving the dungeon, I first approached Bedeia.
She, too, had not escaped the seed of heat, and her complexion was poor.
I layered Cheong-ui over her just as I had with Ren.
Since Ren wanted to take her along to more easily obtain the Order's help, I treated her even though it cost me a considerable amount of mental energy.
"...Thank you."
Her lips moved faintly.
I nodded and let out a short breath.
"Please take care of things."
After pouring Cheong-ui into Ren and then Bedeia as well, I was starting to break out in a cold sweat and feel dizzy. After all, in a single day I had used Cheong-ui on the entire raid, then poured it into myself, Ren, and Bedeia to remove the seeds.
She would know full well why I had gone to such lengths to treat her, so she would handle things well.
While I was treating Bedeia, Marquis Tern was receiving some report from a nearby soldier. It seemed a soldier friendly with the raid party had heard the situation after we left the dungeon and passed it on to the marquis in advance.
So I no longer need to explain separately?
When I approached Marquis Tern, he flinched in surprise. Clear astonishment filled his eyes.
"This man... no, this gentleman handled everything?"
What was with this rapid change in attitude?
I hadn't expected a noble who spoke casually even to the leader of a top-class adventurer clan to so readily use formal address with me.
It seemed you needed the status of being called one of the Five Stars for them to exchange honorifics with each other.
He would have known me only as a mercenary.
Marquis Tern's gaze slid sideways. At the end of that look was Rice, who was just about to enter a tent.
He smacked his lips as if regretting something, then his eyes completely changed. The shift happened in an instant, like an actor changing expressions on stage.
Wearing a polite smile as he looked at me, he spoke in a gentle tone.
"I'm late in greeting you. To introduce myself properly, I am Marchel Tern. Thanks to the great achievements of our family's ancestors, His Majesty the Emperor personally bestowed upon us the honorable title of marquis and granted us the authority to govern the fertile lands of Tern."
"...I see. I'm Bell. Have you already heard the full situation?"
The marquis shook his head without any hesitation. It was as if he had already erased from his mind the soldier's report from moments ago.
"No. If you don't mind, how about sharing a cup of tea?"
I couldn't readily agree.
Building a connection with a noble of marquis rank might not be a bad choice, but it also carried a high chance of getting tangled in rather troublesome affairs. A cup of tea was unlikely to mean something as simple as the words suggested.
I had never dealt with nobles directly in my previous life or in my hometown, but from what little I knew, it was safer to assume political calculation rather than simple goodwill.
Above all, the fact that he was being excessively formal with a mere mercenary like me was enough to make me question his intentions.
I was about to refuse, then changed my mind and agreed.
Before meeting the emperor, treating a meeting like this as preparation wouldn't hurt.
I planned to casually ask whether a noble of marquis rank knew about the Red Barrier.
"Please, this way to my tent."
Following Marquis Tern's lead, I entered the tent he had come from.
It only looked larger from the outside; at a glance it wasn't much different from the surrounding tents, but once inside, it was clearly a space befitting a noble.
Marquis Tern ordered a young boy stationed there to bring tea, then pointed to an elegant table on one side of the tent and offered me a seat.
"I actually heard vaguely. That you dealt with every magic beast in the dungeon... and that you lifted the dungeon's curse yourself."
"Well... since you already know, I suppose I don't need to explain again."
"Haha, no need to tire your mouth. But I would very much like to hear that heroic tale in detail. As boys tend to be, I've loved such stories since I was young."
In the end, he wanted to hear it.
He was dressing it up as a heroic tale, but as the imperial representative present, Marquis Tern was entitled to know the full details. If he wanted to hear it, I had no choice but to tell him.
I explained without embellishment, sticking only to the facts. The dungeon where the heat steadily rose, the Heatflame species and fire-magic beasts there, the knight-like beasts that appeared afterward. And how all of it seemed connected to something religious.
Throughout the story he maintained a serious expression, yet interjected exaggerated reactions like "Oh-ho" and "My word..." like a child.
It felt like a calculated response meant to win favor, but even I nearly got swept up while explaining.
"My word... you truly are remarkable."
He set down his teacup with a sigh of admiration.
"To clear a Catastrophe-class dungeon with nothing but your fists... that level of mastery is beyond my ability to even estimate."
I belatedly lifted my own teacup, took a sip, and recalled the original purpose for which I had accepted this conversation.
Then I asked casually.
"Do you happen to know about Apocalypse-class dungeons?"
"Haha, already looking that far ahead? Of course, having cleared a Catastrophe-class dungeon so easily, that would be the natural next step."
He propped his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, then continued.
"Apocalypse-class dungeons, also commonly called the Seven Calamity Caves... have long been objects of interest, yet in truth they're like a sore finger that everyone eventually turns away from. Just a few years ago, the atmosphere was building as if people were truly going to attempt a clear, but after one adventurer went out on a preliminary survey and vanished, the mood cooled completely. Of course that one incident wasn't everything, but in the end it all fizzled out."
"That missing adventurer... are you referring to Phon?"
"Oh, so you know. As expected, despite your youthful appearance, you're a seasoned adventurer who's been accumulating experience since childhood."
No. I had only just heard about it from Rice in the dungeon. But there was no need to correct him. That wasn't what mattered.
"I'd like to hear more about the Seven Calamity Caves."
"Hmm... I probably... don't know much more than you already do. The one most frequently mentioned among adventurers is, of course, the Rotten Wasteland. When talk of attempting a clear actually came up, that was the dungeon most often discussed. It's relatively the easiest to set foot in."
Marquis Tern explained that the Rotten Wasteland had once been a lush forest, but was now a dungeon where the entire land was covered in poison-soaked marshland.
It was a place filled with air so foul that merely breathing seemed to rot your lungs, yet the reason it was called the easiest to clear was that there was a reliable method for neutralizing the poison.
If you could just deal with the poison, it was said to be the easiest-looking of the Seven Calamity Caves.
But whether it was the poison... or the reliable method for dealing with it... that wasn't what I was curious about right now.
That talk was merely a stepping stone for my next question.
"Then do you also know about the dungeon wrapped in the Red Barrier?"
"The Red Barrier..."
For a moment, Marquis Tern's brow furrowed.
"Are you referring to the Crimson Land of Original Sin?"