Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Note
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Girtas.
He might be an old, sickly man now, but he was once a knight renowned across the continent.
The figure up ahead was a doll modeled after his younger self.
However, the one manipulating the doll was undoubtedly Girtas himself.
As a seasoned knight even back then, he had sharp eyes.
'I got careless.' It seemed he'd grown anxious after hearing from Beth that the guards were patrolling floors 4 through 6, searching for something. Still, I hadn't expected to run into someone who knew me right after entering the first floor. A return scroll, no matter where on floors 1 through 3 you use it in the dungeon, sends you to the exit on the first floor. Outside the dungeon in Labyrinth City, it returns you to your lodging. But once you leave Labyrinth City, it becomes unusable. In contrast, a designated return scroll has no such location restrictions. The downside is that you have to pre-register a gate-like location. If you use a designated return scroll from your mansion to enter the dungeon, getting out later becomes the problem. You have to enter and exit the dungeon through the entrance on the first floor. Guards and knights from both nations stand watch there. If you enter with a designated return scroll and exit, you'd look like someone emerging who never went in.
"Why is that, adventurer? Just a light question."
Girtas's eyes gleamed sharply. I erased any hint of panic from my expression and answered first.
"I forgot something at my lodging and was heading back to retrieve it."
"But this is the first floor, isn't it?"
"Yes. If you pass through the gate right behind you and use a return scroll, doesn't it take you back to your lodging?" "Adventurer, this excuse of yours is just... absurd."
Girtas narrowed his eyes and continued.
"For someone doing that, weren't you heading away from the gate?"
"I was just turning back when you grabbed me. But..."
I turned the question on him instead.
"From what the guard said... it seems there's another way to use return scrolls. You're speaking with such certainty, so there must be a good reason for it."
"Is that how it is?"
"If not, then is there another reason you stopped me?"
As I pressed on like I truly had no idea, the conviction in Girtas's eyes began to waver bit by bit.
"But... didn't you just enter the dungeon?"
"I remembered when I crossed the gate. I still haven't gotten an answer, though. Is there really another way to use return scrolls?"
"Haha... this is just..."
Girtas let out a groan. He pondered deeply to himself with a flustered look on his face. 'I win.' I'd seized control of the conversation without showing any fluster. And there was a bonus. From his oddly confident demeanor, Girtas knew something else. That was probably why the guards were searching floors 4 through 6 lately. Girtas thought long and hard on his own, then finally looked up and stared straight at me. Then.
"Impressive." Clap. Clap. Clap. Girtas applauded loudly. Adventurers near the first-floor exit turned to stare, but Girtas kept clapping without a care. ...This is embarrassing. Can you stop?
"I wasn't trying to interrogate you, but if it bothered you, I apologize."
"It's fine."
Girtas gave a light bow and continued.
"Ah, to answer your question... sorry, but we don't know either. We just asked because you were acting suspicious."
Girtas scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"However... that probably doesn't satisfy you. As you know, adventurer, the dungeon is full of unknowns yet to be uncovered."
I knew that too. They hadn't even fully mapped out the first floor. Originally, players filled in the map through quests, but now that it was just me, no way that was happening. Maybe because it had switched to offline mode. There were more people searching the dungeon, and they'd uncovered more spots than before. Still, far more remained hidden.
"And... our guards are pursuing one of those unknowns."
Girtas pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket.
"It's a secret mission I received directly from one of the guard elders. Ah, adventurer, please keep it confidential. I'm just a powerless underling."
Girtas smiled casually. ...Was he still pretending to be a mere underling? He'd been flaunting it pretty openly for someone like that.
"But adventurer, your deductive skills are remarkable."
"No, not really."
"No need to be modest. I've asked other adventurers similar questions, but you're the first to turn it back on me." ...He'd done it to others too? He really did know something.
"So, with that said... could you help our guards? We're hitting a wall with the mission."
"...Sorry."
I turned down his request for help. I was curious about the details, but getting involved with him needed some thought. The guards' motives were hard to read, so better not to act rashly.
"Ah... that's a shame. If you change your mind, please let me know."
Girtas bowed regretfully, stepped aside, and added, "Then, until next time."
I walked past him toward the boss room on the first floor. Until next time. Something about those words felt off. Like he planned to seek me out again. Even if he knew about the designated return scroll, it wasn't a huge issue. No obligation to explain where I got it. Still... the fewer people who knew about an escape item like this, the better. So, despite the hassle, I walked all the way to the sixth floor. No helping it while Girtas had me on his radar. --- Tzzzzz— A beam of light shot toward me from in front of the massive floating brain. I immediately countered with Splitting Ray, deflecting its magic. A brief clash of power ensued, but soon enough, my ray pierced through it. Compared to when I'd last encountered it with Beth, my level was higher... and above all.
『Berca's Third Ring』
― The third ring of the primordial transcendent, Berca. Magic Power stat +10% when equipped.
With my magic power boosted by 10%, the Splitting Ray's power had surged dramatically.
Pierced by the Splitting Ray, it staggered feebly and crumbled without blocking my follow-up attack.
[You have defeated the Brain of Enlightenment.]
[Experience gained.]
『Shrunken Brain Fragment』
― A fragment shrunken after losing its mana.
"This is it."
Once it was defeated, an item dropped.
One of the five materials needed to encounter the sixth-floor boss.
I'd already collected the other four, so now I had them all.
Just needed to complete the gimmick to summon the boss.
I stowed the brain fragment safely in my inventory and headed to the sixth-floor exit.
After walking to the third floor, I used a return scroll to go to the first floor, then left the dungeon.
Using another return scroll afterward brought me back to my mansion.
"Ah, adventurer, you're out?"
"......"
Girtas. He approached me right in front of my mansion like he'd been waiting.
He must have stood there all day, waiting for me to emerge...
"...I believe I already refused."
"I'm sorry, adventurer. My situation is so desperate that I had to come find you like this."
Girtas pulled something from his pocket.
A small note.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you just take a look at this? Anything it brings to mind—tell me, no matter what it is."
He promised not to bother me again if I just checked it, so I took the note.
When I looked at it...
It was in Korean.
"Does anything come to mind?"
---
Girtas handed the note to the man and watched his face intently.
The man showed little emotional fluctuation, but the moment he saw the writing on the note, he flinched involuntarily.
'He knows what this is!' The man examined the note closely. As if he could read it. Girtas had thought something was off about the man from the first time he saw him. Even when he'd tried to use a return scroll in the dungeon. He'd urgently called the other elders and convinced them to show the man the note. Afterward, the man handed the note back to Girtas.
It was writing that existed nowhere.
"Does anything come to mind?"
Girtas kept his eyes fixed on the man's face as he asked, but.
"......"
There was no reply from the man.
'Still playing dumb, huh.' With no choice, Girtas continued. The guards had a few more notes like this. All in cipher-like script, but one exception.
That one was readable numbers.
4 and 5.
What those two digits meant was still unknown, but the guard elder had concluded they referred to underground dungeon floors.
Based solely on the note's content, they'd searched from the fourth floor through the fifth, and even the sixth just in case.
But this man might know what it said.
"It's on floors 4 and 5, isn't it?"
Girtas posed his trump question.
'Come on. Tell me. The way to transcend time itself!' The guard elder was aging even now. Time was equal for all, so he awaited death like a man with days numbered. Then, they'd discovered it. That deep in the dungeon lay a way to transcend time. The man's response was slow, but Girtas waited patiently. The wait wasn't boring. His dearest wish might come true right here—how could it be? But.
"It's an intriguing script, but I really have no idea."
The man just shook his head.
"...Is that true?"
"Yes. Well, if that's all."
The man left slowly. Girtas watched his retreating figure in silence.