Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: General Quest (3)
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A green cave where you could get seriously hurt if luck wasn't on your side.
A red cave where you'd need a stroke of luck just to make it out alive.
The gap between the two was enormous.
And it was the kind of info that was hard to come by unless someone clued you in.
“Charlie?!”
A few of those waiting at the base of the cliff rushed up the stairs in a panic.
“Charlie!”
Thud thud thud.
They pounded on the iron door, but it showed no signs of opening.
Yuri blinked at the events unfolding in the distance.
“Did that guy really just die? He only went in a minute ago?”
“He’s dead.”
Theresia’s face was utterly emotionless as she stated it with complete certainty.
She gazed at the red cave and continued in a flat tone.
“Too hasty. And stupid.”
Theresia could say that because she’d seen so many people meet the same end as the 50th Cohort had just moments ago.
It had been the same with the 49th Cohort.
Lots of them challenged the green cave, gradually adapting and gaining confidence.
And inevitably, they all arrived at the same thought.
[If I can handle this... maybe I can try the red one?]
But there was no more foolish or idiotic misconception.
‘Stupid. If the quest difficulty jumps from two stars to seven, there has to be a reason for that.’
Overinflated confidence and a sense of superiority clouded judgment and made them overestimate their abilities.
Not a single one who challenged the red cave came back alive.
Just like that 50th Cohort guy who’d died today.
As Theresia stared at the tightly shut red cave, Yuri’s cynical voice rang out.
“Tch, yeah. What the hell gave that idiot the confidence to go in there? Moron.”
Theresia glanced back at Yuri with a faintly surprised look.
“…You okay?”
“With what?”
“A person just died?”
“So?”
“You’re not shocked?”
“I am, though?”
“……”
Theresia stared steadily at Yuri.
Sure, Yuri had shown some surprise at first.
But he’d adapted to it weirdly fast.
And his reaction wasn’t “Oh my god, a person died!” but more like “He really died, huh?”
Yuri smirked under Theresia’s unwavering gaze.
“What, should I freak out and wail, ‘Oh no, a person died, whatever shall we do!’?”
“That’s not what I mean, but……”
“One of the requirements to become an official knight candidate was writing a last will and testament. Anyone can see that means ‘take what the academy gives you, but be prepared to die for it,’ right?”
Yuri had done the same.
He’d prepared thoroughly and staked his life on it, which was how he’d taken down Greta the tiger and claimed her hide.
If Yuri’s preparations had been even a little short.
Or if his skills had been even a bit lacking.
He wouldn’t be standing here alive and breathing right now.
‘And yet……’
Yuri’s eyes drifted to the people milling around in front of the red cave.
“Guys charging into a seven-star quest with no plan, no thought. Or the idiots cheering them on. Those are the real morons.”
“……”
“It’s tragic that a life was lost, sure. But mourning every reckless death like that……”
...He’d already seen too many deaths.
Countless people dying in that burned village.
Even the lives he’d taken with his own hands.
Back when he wandered the continent, Yuri had been involved in others’ deaths, directly or indirectly, just to survive.
That was why he couldn’t grieve easily over death.
But he didn’t voice any of that inner turmoil.
“……?”
Theresia tilted her head at his trailing off, and Yuri brushed it off vaguely.
“It’s nothing.”
“……?”
“Well, if you die, Tetsha-senpai, I might shed a tear or two.”
“…Gee, thanks.”
“So, screw those guys. Where to next?”
At his question, Tetsha pointed to one side with her finger.
“There.”
Her finger indicated a small wooden makeshift building.
“Let’s go.”
Yuri took the lead and started walking.
Theresia watched his back for a moment before following.
By the time she arrived, Yuri had already figured out what the building was for.
‘So that’s what Tetsha meant when she said I was in the rankings.’
A man was dozing in a chair inside, arms crossed.
Behind him, the wall of the building was covered with small wooden plaques.
Yuri examined the finger-sized wooden pieces and the writing on them closely.
‘Rank, cohort, name, and score?’
Ranks went up to 100th place.
Since the quests hadn’t been around long, all the current top ranks were from cohorts below the 35th.
Yuri scanned the names in the rankings.
Then a soft exclamation escaped his lips.
“Oh? Tetsha-senpai, not bad?”
Theresia’s name held the second spot among the hundred plaques.
【2nd Place / 49th Cohort / Theresia Winchester / 198 Points】
Yuri’s admiring gaze shot straight to the top.
【1st Place / 48th Cohort / Gunter……】
That’s when he tilted his head.
“Gunter?”
For a split second, an honest boy with a similar name flashed in his mind.
But seeing the family name attached put that thought far away.
【1st Place / 48th Cohort / Gunter Rider / 199 Points】
“…Rider? No way, that Rider?!”
Yuri blinked at the familiar yet uncommon surname.
Theresia’s voice came from behind him as she approached.
“Yeah.”
“…Yeah as in?”
“The Rider you’re thinking of.”
Sure, there might be other people or families with the Rider name somewhere in the world.
But anyone hearing “Rider” would first think of one person.
‘Sword Lord, Luke Rider.’
Yuri whipped around to Theresia, eyes wide.
“For real? That Rider? The Sword Lord’s? So the top guy is the Sword Lord’s grandson?”
Theresia let out a small chuckle at that.
“Half right, half wrong.”
“What’s that mean?”
“He is the Sword Lord’s Rider, but not his grandson.”
“Huh?”
“His son.”
“……?!”
Yuri blinked, wondering if he’d misheard.
“Son...? How old is he?”
“Two years older than me, so I think he’s eighteen this year.”
“Eighteen, and he has a son?”
Yuri pictured the Sword Lord’s face.
‘Wait... how old is the Sword Lord this year?’
He didn’t know exactly, but he recalled hearing the man was past ninety, nearing a hundred.
And yet, not a grandson, but an actual eighteen-year-old son.
‘No way... Grandpa’s still got it?’
The Sword Lord was the Sword Lord for a reason.
Meanwhile, as Yuri marveled anew at the Sword Lord’s prowess.
Theresia continued.
“Gunter Rider. He’s the Sword Lord’s youngest son, said to have inherited his blood most purely... and the Black Dragon Token Master.”
Yuri’s eyes locked onto Gunter’s name at the mention of Black Dragon Token Master.
It was the first time he’d seen another Black Dragon Token Master besides himself, so it was fascinating.
And at the same time, it made perfect sense that Gunter Rider was one.
‘The one who inherited the Sword Lord’s blood most purely......’
That meant he’d inherited the Sword Lord’s monstrous talent as well.
Who else could receive the Black Dragon Token if not someone like that?
Yuri turned to Theresia.
“That score... is 200 the max?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
199 out of 200.
And Theresia right in front of him had 198.
The moment he realized that, fierce competitive fire lit in Yuri’s eyes.
“Is there some separate registration process here for quests or anything?”
“Nope.”
“Number of attempts for the green cave?”
“Unlimited.”
“So I can just go for it right now?”
“Do what you want.”
Theresia shrugged slightly.
There was more info she could share, but looking at Yuri’s eyes, it didn’t seem necessary right now.
No, even if she explained, it probably wouldn’t register with him at the moment.
As if to prove it, Yuri strode quickly toward the cliff.
Step step.
Yuri positioned himself in front of the green cave.
He scanned the surroundings.
‘That’s the timer for measuring records.’
Above the cave entrance hung a bizarre clock with 120 markings.
‘One hand, 120 markings... one per second, total 120 seconds?’
The scale was easy enough to figure out.
But one thing puzzled him...
‘What’s that?’
To the left of the cave, next to the button that activated the recording clock, a strange slot caught Yuri’s eye.
A thin rectangular hole about two finger-widths long, with a broad pedestal below it.
He couldn’t guess its purpose at all.
‘Whatever, I’ll find out as I go.’
With no hesitation, Yuri pressed the button to start the clock.
Click.
The moment the small mechanical sound rang out, he dashed into the cave.
No sooner had he entered than two paths greeted him.
The left one was blocked by an iron door.
‘Anyone can see they blocked that on purpose to force you right.’
Judging so, Yuri headed straight into the right passage.
After just a couple of steps.
Scrape.
The floor where he’d stepped sank in.
And then.
Groooan—thud!
An iron door dropped suddenly, sealing off the entrance to the passage he’d entered.
At the same time, the ceiling of the passage split slightly left and right, revealing small glowing stones inside.
As if to say, “Follow the light.”
Normally, Yuri might have admired the expensive glowing stones even here.
But he had no time for that.
Time was ticking even now.
Yuri sprinted along the path lit by the glowing stones.
And obstacles began appearing one after another to hinder him.
Whoosh.
An iron ball on a chain flying at his head.
Rumble.
A wooden barrel rolling swiftly at his ankles.
Pew pew.
A dozen arrows shooting from behind.
Scrape!
Sharp spear tips popping out from spots along the passage.
Traps activated all over, targeting him at every turn.
Each time, Yuri deflected or dodged them cleanly.
His speed was so fast it seemed like he knew exactly where the traps would come from.
Slice!
Dodging an iron ball dropping from above, Yuri gave a puzzled look.
‘This is tougher than I thought? Is a two-star general quest usually this level?’
The traps triggering one after another were sophisticated and tricky enough to justify that.
Their lethality wasn’t that high, but let your guard down and you’d get badly hurt—or if you were really unlucky, killed.
Of course, none of that applied to Yuri.
Whoosh.
Clang!
He casually swatted away a weight aimed at his solar plexus and soon reached the U-shaped turnaround point.
‘25 meters to here.’
Without slowing, Yuri whipped around the turnaround and kept running.
Traps triggered on the way back too, but he slipped through effortlessly.
Finally, the end of the passage.
‘It’s open.’
The left passage exit, which had been closed on the way in, was now wide open.
Yuri charged through without pause and burst out of the cave.
Skreech.
Sliding out at full speed, he stretched his arm and hit the clock stop button.
Tap!
‘How many seconds?’
Yuri looked up at the clock.
The single hand was stopped at the 19th mark.
And he wasn’t the only one who saw it.
“…19 seconds?”
A voice sounding faintly dazed.
Yuri turned toward the sound to see Theresia standing there with a blank face.
He trotted over to her side and asked.
“So, Tetsha-senpai, once you do this, how do they score it?”
Theresia snapped out of it at the question.
“Oh, the score... it comes out here in a bit......”
She pointed to the small rectangular slot with the pedestal.
It was exactly the one Yuri had been curious about.
And the moment she pointed at it.
Rustle—clatter.
A folded scrap of paper suddenly popped out of the slot and fell onto the pedestal.
Theresia picked it up and finished.
“...It tallies up like this.”
She unfolded the paper.
The number written on it made her body twitch and freeze for a moment.
Meanwhile, Yuri, now clued in on the slot’s purpose.
“Oh ho? So that’s what it’s for. How many points did I get?”
He leaned in close to Theresia’s face to check the score on the paper.