Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Ancient Ruins Arben (4)
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"Ah."
When she came to her senses, she was back in her hometown.
"S-Si, Sion?"
Just moments ago, she had definitely been with Sion.
Looking around, no matter how many times she checked, it was the slum where she had been born and raised.
'Come to think of it, Sion had said back then...'
[If you pass through the final room, the trial will come...]
The dungeon's trial was said to create an illusion of the situation the participant feared most.
Which meant this was definitely an illusion.
Fortunately, Cloe was at least aware that this situation wasn't real.
She knew to some extent that it was thanks to her trait called 'Half-Demon.'
'To break the illusion... I have to shatter it somehow to return to reality.'
She had no idea exactly what she needed to do, but Cloe decided to try something—anything.
Maybe if she thrashed around wildly, it would break on its own.
That reckless judgment led to Cloe's bold actions being neatly halted by a single voice.
"What happened, Cloe?"
The owner of that voice was the one person Cloe had longed for the most.
"...Uncle?"
For Cloe, an orphan of the slums, he was her benefactor who had helped care for her frail body.
Until she met Sion, he was the only one she could call family.
Seeing the face of the benefactor she thought had died brought chaos to Cloe's mind.
'Illusion... it's an illusion...'
It was definitely fake.
Uncle hadn't returned after that day and had surely lost his life somewhere.
This was probably just an illusion created by the trial.
She couldn't let herself be fooled by something like that.
She couldn't... but.
"Have you eaten?"
"...No."
But, but...
"...Not yet..."
"How's that? Uncle's cooking skills haven't rusted yet, have they?"
"...Yes."
The underground dungeon's illusion was excessively vivid. To perfectly recreate the bland taste of Uncle's soup, which had no savoriness at all—just pure blandness. It made it even harder to accept that this scenery was an illusion.
She could still feel the alien sensations rejecting the hallucination, thanks to her 'Half-Demon' trait. But the nostalgia for the person she had desperately missed was making her delusionally mistake the illusion for reality.
More precisely...
'I don't want to go back to reality...'
Even if it was an illusion, it was so comfortable and good that she didn't care. She hadn't had much ambition in life to begin with. As long as she could live a normal, human life, magic or skills didn't matter. As long as she could live normally with Uncle.
[Someday, I want to become strong enough to stand by Rion's side.]
'Ah.'
What would happen to Sion if she stayed trapped in this illusion?
Sion had seemed really sorry about something. It didn't particularly hurt that Sion was hiding something from her. It would be a lie to say there wasn't even a little disappointment, but she believed Sion would tell her the truth someday.
But if she didn't leave here...
Wouldn't she be taking away Sion's chance?
"I'm sorry, Uncle."
"Huh?"
The Uncle in the illusion was as cheerful as ever. Smiling needlessly, performing unnecessary acts of kindness. There must have been some ulterior motive, but now it was impossible to know.
"You told me to wait in Prifre, but I couldn't."
She couldn't wait endlessly for an Uncle who never returned, no matter how long. If he had really been alive and come back to their hometown looking for her, these were the words she wanted to say.
"But... I met a good person."
A strong, quiet person. Someone so strong they didn't need anyone's help, yet so precarious they couldn't even fend for themselves without it. A kind person who avoided others but couldn't ignore them.
"So, don't worry about me."
She no longer needed Uncle's help. She had grown strong enough to survive on her own, and she had a reliable companion by her side.
"And remember, you told me to be careful of people whose eyes glow?"
Uncle's warning about people with vast magic power having a glow in their eyes.
"You were right. They were really strong."
Just as he said, Sion's strength—with stars swirling in her eyes—was beyond imagination. Now that she was her master, there was no reason to be wary.
"Goodbye, Uncle."
With no lingering attachments left.
She would only move forward.
As the words "passed the trial" rang out, the surroundings began to fill with thick fog. What emerged afterward was a black room similar to the previous ones.
"You're here?"
There stood an elf with water-blue hair and a black-haired troublemaker.
"You're the third. For reference, Sion hasn't come out yet."
"Hmph, she's too slow. As expected, I'm more suited to be Rion's disciple—"
"Rion hasn't come out yet either?"
"Ah."
Sion still hadn't passed the trial.
Even hearing that, Cloe didn't waver much. Not just Cloe—no one showed much reaction.
"Haaah!"
They all believed Sion would pass it without much trouble.
"S-Si... no, Rion?"
Seeing Sion appear before her with a guttural scream, Cloe desperately suppressed her surprise. Recognizing Edelra was in front of her and correcting "Sion" to "Rion" was the bare minimum composure.
"Hoo... hoo... That was a truly horrific nightmare..."
What kind of illusion had she encountered to be drenched in cold sweat like that?
Cloe's curiosity swelled, but she held back from asking. After today, the conversation the two of them needed to have wouldn't be short anyway.
"Am... I the last one...?"
"Yeah."
With Sion as the last, the party had all passed the trial.
The moment for the dungeon's rewards had finally arrived.
"This is...?"
Golden orbs of light were drawn into each party member's hand.
The lights soon took the form of objects, gradually revealing their shapes.
It was said to grant the most desired item in object form.
Thanks to Sion's efforts, they had passed without much difficulty, so she hadn't expected much from the rewards—but she couldn't help being a little excited.
"A bracelet?"
Edelra's share was a bracelet.
"I got a dagger."
"Mine's a ring."
Cloe and Linie received a dagger and a ring, respectively.
"I... got a mask..."
And finally, Sion received a rabbit-shaped mask.
"No idea what abilities these have."
They were clearly artifacts with extraordinary powers at a glance, yet their abilities couldn't be discerned.
"...I'll appraise them."
In the end, Sion, the only one who could appraise, stepped up to check the rewards.
"Me first! Check mine first!"
The first in line was Edelra.
"Hmm... Oh? This is a new ability I've never seen..."
Edelra's bracelet wasn't some artifact with simple magic.
"The bracelet has... an exquisitely embedded casting assistance function. With this, you can cast magic at staff-level even without a staff..."
A piece of jewelry that seemed like a staff lightened into bracelet form.
"Really?!"
Even setting aside the convenience of not needing to carry a staff.
For Edelra, who had always admired Sion, it was a precious item that let her fight like Sion.
"P-Please check mine too."
Edelra clutched the bracelet to her chest, overjoyed.
Seeing that, Cloe thrust her dagger toward Sion as if she couldn't lose.
"This seems like a dagger enchanted with attribute-imparting enchantments..."
The dagger Cloe received was a weapon enchanted to bestow attributes.
"Just infuse a bit of magic power, and it performs at magically enhanced levels..."
Infuse magic into the dagger to grant elemental attributes through it as a medium.
Though it used magic, it was perfect for Cloe, who preferred close-quarters combat.
"...Then, could you check mine too?"
"Sure..."
The last in line was Linie.
Linie had initially planned to skip the appraisal, but the performance of the previous two rewards had turned her head for a moment.
'How did she even know about a place like this?'
A bracelet with casting functions and a dagger that could impart attributes.
The value of just those two items was beyond imagination.
For Linie, it only raised questions about why Sion hadn't shared this dungeon during their Demon King Subjugation Party days.
"Uh, well..."
Of course, not all rewards were special.
"It... changes the wearer's appearance... to look human..."
"...Hah?"
Linie's ring was an artifact containing polymorph magic to make the wearer appear human.
"I don't need crap like this."
Of course, the ring's owner didn't seem too thrilled.
"What ability does Rion's mask have?"
"Yeah, I'm most curious about that one!"
The only one left unidentified was Sion's rabbit mask.
"Hmm... It's nothing special..."
Sion chose not to reveal the rabbit mask's ability.