Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Man Working at the Resort
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Dobart was positioned at the very front lines, right next to the Volasen Federation.
Even though the term "front lines" would repulse ordinary imperial citizens.
Dobart bore the name of a city of art and travel, always drawing in tourists.
Now, it was Dobart—dominated and occupied by the Harun Empire.
This place had once been a city inhabited by the subraces of the Volasen Federation in ancient times.
When war broke out with the Empire, the dwarves, beastkin, and other subraces had fled, taking the equipment and valuables they'd crafted with them.
But the artworks, statues, and architecture created by Dobart's master craftsmen had been left behind.
As a result, a lifestyle utterly alien to the Empire's lingered on, making it a perennial hotspot for artists, scholars, and travelers.
Wooden and stone buildings in styles rarely seen in the imperial capital.
From the moment you stepped out of the gate, the place was advertising itself as Dobart.
'It's been a while.'
After striking out big time here in the past, I'd had no desire to return.
I'd planned to head straight to the Adventurer's Guild in Dobart upon arrival, but... there was still time to spare.
'The shooting star from the entrance ceremony has to be tied to the hidden piece...'
No harm in checking the hidden piece—which had been empty back then—before visiting the guild.
That had been the point of crossing into Dobart so late in the first place.
I pushed aside the image of Rike filling my head for the moment and blended into the crowd flowing along the road.
Even with all the people, the vibe was nothing like the capital.
Maybe because most were travelers, there was a palpable leisure in the pedestrians' steps and expressions.
-Wow, they really made this by hand?
-I've never seen anything like this...
-The Empire has famous sculptors too, you know.
-Praying here feels like it might actually work...
A statue of a woman praying toward the heavens.
Her gossamer robes seemed ready to flutter away on the breeze, rosary dangling from her hand.
Hard to believe even on a second look, yet it was all part of one solid statue.
One of Dobart's sculptures that inevitably drew every passerby's gaze.
Most claimed it was the work of a dwarf master artisan, but no one could say for sure why he'd chosen a human woman as his subject.
'Almost dawn, and this many people?'
In a typical city, guards would be patrolling in groups by now, with most shops shuttered except taverns and inns.
But thanks to its resort nature, the energy didn't flag even after dark.
...Come to think of it, I'd had the exact same thought the last time I'd visited Dobart.
"Hmm..."
I settled onto a wooden bench in the park, waiting for the crowds to thin.
This was straight out of my old playbook.
The ideal dungeon entry was with no witnesses, of course.
Others' eyes on you.
You never worried about it in the game, but in reality, it could throw a wrench in your plans like this.
I sat there awhile, hoping for even a brief window with no one around.
-Next up, the church district? They say it has a famous statue too.
-We haven't eaten a single bite yet... Let's grab some food before we keep going...
-Dobart doesn't sell regular food—they make chocolate shaped like statues...
...
The group—looked like they were on some organized tour—shuffled off en masse, leaving me alone in the park, save for distant arrivals.
"Yeah!"
I sprang from the bench and headed for the statue.
Stepping over the rope meant to keep people back, I reached out.
Mana cloaked my hand as I gently grasped the statue's solid fingers, raised in prayer to the sky.
"...The goddess desires a hymn of praise."
Ziiing—
The light pouring from the statue enveloped me, depositing me in a long corridor—sealed off behind, open only ahead.
A transfer via symbolic markings and an activation phrase.
Impressive enough to seem miraculous, but really just a downgraded version of the Empire's common gates.
It wasn't far from the park where I'd been, but there was no exit.
I'd have to leave the same way I'd entered—via the statue at the dungeon's end.
'I struggled hard here.'
I advanced step by step into the nostalgic dungeon.
Ahead, my view ended in a T-junction splitting left and right.
Legend had it—more superstition than myth—that from dusk till dawn, the creator goddess averted her eyes from the world to bask in hymns of praise.
A conditional dungeon, accessible only then, crafted by a dwarf utterly obsessed with golems.
Clunk—!
I nudged a golem part rolling across the floor with my foot.
'...Shame. No respawns here?'
The golems lay toppled, stone dust scattered on the floor—remnants of my frantic search for the hidden piece long ago.
Golems were so tough, blades barely scratched them. This had been my first dungeon after scoring the Sterling Warhammer from the holy knight.
Step—step—
My footsteps echoed down the corridor with every stride.
The path deeper in bore clear scars of my old tussles with the golems—fresh nostalgia all over again.
Crude impact marks everywhere.
Inefficient moves I'd never pull now, plain as day.
"Ahem!"
Past that shameful black history—back when I couldn't even wield aura properly—the traces grew of larger golems.
The final one lay with its head and arms shattered, twice the size of the regulars and a different hue.
'Feels kinda empty... I could smash it in one go now.'
No golem worth testing my growth on.
With them all already smashed, I just walked to the dungeon's end.
Empty or not, a proper reward made it worthwhile.
Back as a green rookie, I'd slaved here for nothing—my mentality shattered. Time to claim that day's emotional damages.
Rike's eyes snapped open in bed, and she screamed internally.
A quick scan of her surroundings—no Roman.
'I couldn't even see him off...!!'
Their first mission as lovers, and she'd conked out exhausted, leaving him to go alone.
He might brush it off as fine, but she absolutely couldn't accept it.
"Aah—! Seriously...!!"
As she flailed about on the bed, her eyes caught Roman's discarded clothes.
'Still... it was good... He was happy too.'
Just the thought sent her lips curving up uncontrollably.
Rough yet tender.
He'd shown her both—immiscible as water and oil—driving her wild.
'Sometimes that's nice too...'
Recalling last night made her lower belly ache.
Her body heated at the mere imagining, but she hated the idea of handling it solo without him.
Never tried it alone anyway—positive she wouldn't be satisfied.
Rike rose from the bed and snatched Roman's shirt off the chair, burying her nose in it.
"Snuuuff—haaah—"
His faint lingering scent.
That alone settled her heart.
"Huuuuh... brother..."
Rolling across the bed clutching his shirt, she realized it was time for the academy.
'Gotta go...'
Far better to kill time at the academy doing something than mope alone in an empty house.
The thought of days solo already weighed on her chest like dense loneliness, but she'd adapt.
This was bound to repeat ahead.
No forgetting her duties amid this suffocating bliss.
Training included.
Rike shook it off and donned her academy uniform.
Day's start: at least grab a simple bite. She left the bedroom.
'I wanted to feed him dinner before sending him off...'
The more she dwelled, the heavier her heart grew.
"Huh?"
The chest from the bedroom corner now sat smack in the living room center.
Topped with his scrawled memo: "Use freely."
Click—
"...!!"
Not mere provisions for waiting days—these were riches to idle on for life if liquidated.
Pouches brimming with gold coins to precious potions.
Tons of mystery items too.
'Such a worrywart...'
Rike chuckled, pocketed one gold coin, and stashed the chest back in the bedroom.
Plenty left even after stocking the house.
Her steps lightened by his memo as she headed for the academy.
- ...and so, swords manufactured by detaching the pommel take this form primarily...
'...Should I ask?'
Seria snuck a glance at Rike beside her in class.
She'd seemed fine lately, but today her eyes were vacant again.
As nobility herself, Seria knew of House Skadi.
The vicious rumors and past catastrophe were infamous; she grasped the broad strokes.
At first, she'd fretted over some new crisis.
But there was a flush on Rike's cheeks, her lips quirked in a faint smile.
'Did I imagine it? Is she... smiling?'
First time Seria had seen Rike like that.
Never pried into Rike's private life, given her delicate history.
But right now, curiosity was killing her.
Best not to ask outright—let Rike volunteer it.
If it was genuine joy, she'd probably want to brag to friends anyway.
"Rike—"
"Yeah?"
Rike turned slightly at Seria's soft call.
"Dinner together tonight?"
Last time they'd eaten out was before the Adventurer's Guild trip.
Rike subsisted on milk or snacks for lunch, skipping the academy cafeteria.
Then she'd skipped classes forever; lately, she vanished post-lessons like the wind—no chance to ask.
Seria bolted home quick too, on days with her sister.
Rike pondered briefly, then nodded.
"...Sure. That works."