Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Collector (3)
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7.
Celestial Crise.
The adventurers' longing for that place, undiscovered for a hundred years, was still burning hotter than ever.
"Celestial Crise definitely exists somewhere!"
And then there was one incident that fanned those flames even higher.
"Michaela's glasses are the proof!"
It was Michaela's glasses, which had fallen into the Maple World just ten years ago.
True to their name, the glasses were engraved with "Michaela," made from materials used only in Crise and crafted in Crise's unique style.
What was astonishing was when they had been made.
"They're a recent creation! Undeniable proof that Crise still exists!"
They were less than ten years old.
"The Adventurers' Association said so!"
And it was none other than the Adventurers' Association that vouched for this fact.
Of course, the most decisive reason was this.
"Only the giants who lived in Celestial Crise would wear glasses several times larger than normal ones!"
The glasses weren't made for ordinary people.
That's why no small number of adventurers set out once more to find Crise.
And the place where they gathered was Orbis.
Since it was a hub for airships, it was also where all sky-related information converged.
Some adventurers, flush with cash, visited Orbis daily by airship.
Others, obscenely wealthy, even bought their own private airships to get there.
In every way, adventurers invested no small effort—and time—into finding Celestial Crise.
"One hour?"
Yet El Pam claimed he could find Celestial Crise—the place no one had discovered in a hundred years—in just one hour.
"Boss, I know it's not polite to say this, but I have to. Have you lost your mind or something?"
It was the kind of statement that could only be seen as utterly insane.
El Pam knew that.
"My head's fine."
He knew how unbelievable it sounded.
'I was shocked when I first heard it, too.'
Even El Pam had been stunned when he learned where Celestial Crise was.
"Celestial Crise is here."
With those words, El Pam pointed to one spot.
"Pardon?"
His companions followed his finger with their eyes—and their expressions grew even more blank.
"Yeah, right here."
El Pam's finger was pointing straight down at his own feet.
It made even less sense.
"Ah!"
But soon, El Pam's companions all came up with the same hypothesis at once. And they realized.
"Boss, you don't mean...?"
"Yeah. Crise is below Orbis."
Those words still sounded absurd.
But they weren't entirely impossible.
Orbis was the city above the clouds, so naturally, there were vast clouds beneath the city.
And according to the adventurers who had discovered Celestial Crise in the past, it existed within those clouds.
Which meant Celestial Crise could be right under Orbis.
'Then no wonder they couldn't find it!'
If that was true, it explained why adventurers hadn't found Celestial Crise in a hundred years.
Like the proverb: the darkest place is under the candlestick.
No, even worse.
You could at least check under a candlestick if you wanted.
But under Orbis? Impossible to inspect.
Airships mostly flew above Orbis and landed.
'The Orbis Tower.'
If you had to find a way, you could climb the Orbis Tower connecting Orbis to the Elnas Mountains and peer down—but ever since the magic stone in the Orbis Tower allowed quick travel to Orbis, hardly any adventurers bothered climbing it.
And any who left the tower to scout below Orbis? Only lunatics.
That wasn't the end of it.
'Only a fragment of Crise remains.'
From what El Pam had heard before returning to the past, Celestial Crise had been largely destroyed by some incident, leaving only a portion behind.
Meaning it was smaller now. Even harder to find.
"Wow, if that's really true, that's incredible."
In any case, everyone seemed to grasp El Pam's explanation, nodding in understanding.
"Wait a second."
Then Dibo raised a question, as if realizing something.
"Hey, Boss. So how do we get there?"
How to reach Celestial Crise below Orbis.
Of course, it wasn't a question born of ignorance.
"Just as you all guessed."
Everyone knew.
"We jump from Orbis."
8.
Adventurers who saw the city above the clouds, Orbis, for the first time all shared the same question.
"How the hell does such a massive city stay afloat on clouds?"
The answer was surprisingly simple.
The clouds supporting Orbis weren't ordinary clouds.
To be precise, they weren't clouds at all.
They were more like an ocean.
That's why, with a few tools, you could walk on the clouds holding up Orbis.
You could even swim through them without tools.
Of course, no one recommended it.
"The ocean has no end. But the clouds under Orbis do. At their edge lies a fatal drop."
Swimming through the clouds was more dangerous than any adventure.
In fact, the Adventurers' Association had designated Orbis's cloud sea as a forbidden adventure zone.
That was an extreme measure.
The same association assigned adventure ranks even to Sleepywood Forest, where Balrogs appeared.
Yet they outright banned it?
Meaning it was even more dangerous.
Of course, it wasn't just the danger that prompted the measure.
"It's not an adventure."
An adventure meant discovering the unknown or achieving what no one else could.
That's why no one called falling off a cliff an adventure.
Swimming through Orbis's clouds was the same.
The Adventurers' Association didn't recognize suicidal acts as adventures.
What El Pam's party was about to do was exactly that.
"Boss, honestly, I still think this is insane."
That was why his companions were worried.
"Even if Celestial Crise is below Orbis like you say, finding it is a whole other thing, right?"
Sure, it might be there.
But was finding treasure in the ocean easy just because you knew it existed?
Especially when you didn't know where?
That was precisely El Pam's point.
No, even worse.
"Yeah, the ocean lets you see roughly with your eyes open, but this is clouds. Even wide-eyed, you see nothing."
Everything in the clouds was just blinding white.
It was practically the same as walking blindfolded.
And that wasn't all.
"We don't even know what monsters might be in here."
Another reason Orbis's cloud world was terrifying: monsters lurked within.
Encountering monsters when movement was already tough?
"Sometimes Junior Balrogs show up, too."
And among them, even Junior Balrogs.
Winged Junior Balrogs had attacked airships in flight over the Maple World plenty of times.
From a high-flying Junior Balrog's perspective, airships were prime prey—and annoying targets.
Worst-case scenario in every way.
El Pam knew it.
"Normally, it's impossible."
Even he couldn't discover Celestial Crise in such conditions.
Even with see-through magic, it was the same.
Piercing this vast cloud expanse at once was beyond El Pam's current abilities.
It might even make his head explode.
Combat was the same.
No matter how skilled El Pam was, controlling telekinesis properly while moving through clouds wasn't easy.
He could manage it.
But not with enough certainty to stake his life—and his companions'—on it.
"Boss, so what do we do?"
"No problem."
"Huh?"
But El Pam wasn't worried.
"We have a companion."
"A companion?"
At those words, Dibo and the others exchanged glances.
'Us?'
'We'll help?'
No matter how they thought about it, they didn't see how they could be useful here.
"Not you guys."
Of course, El Pam's companion wasn't them.
"Mano's here."
Kyuu!
The snail pet Mano.
"This guy?"
Everyone tilted their heads at his appearance, but El Pam was different.
"There are sure to be items in Celestial Crise. And nothing's a surer compass than Mano, who tracks items."
"Ah!"
They understood with that explanation.
"Wow, you're right!"
Kyuu!
"Yeah, you're amazing, truly amazing!"
Mano's value went beyond what they imagined.
That was why El Pam had been shocked when he first got Mano.
A snail pet that found items? That trait alone was invaluable to any adventurer.
Especially since no adventurer could replicate it.
'The Collector had no choice but to take the bet.'
That was why the Collector Vivre had accepted El Pam's wager.
Of course, El Pam knew.
"Even with a compass, the path won't be easy."
Orbis's clouds were vast beyond measure.
"Crucially, reaching Celestial Crise isn't our goal."
Above all, what Collector Vivre had demanded from El Pam wasn't an adventure.
"It's retrieving Michaela's glasses."
Finding an item that might or might not even be there.
With their resolve steeled, they threw themselves toward Orbis's clouds.
Kyuu!
Guided by Mano, they swam swiftly through the clouds.
It wasn't easy.
Moving was harder than expected, first of all.
Similar to swimming underwater, but different.
Breathing was an issue, too.
Unlike water, you could breathe, but the oxygen was thinner than on the ground since it was clouds.
The pressure of seeing nothing was more oppressive than imagined.
'You could plummet to your death any second.'
Above all, the terror of possible death kept everyone on edge.
Ordinary adventurers would be crushed by that tension and fear, dying on the spot.
In fact, most adventurers who ventured into Orbis's clouds didn't die from falls—they succumbed to hyperventilation or mental breakdowns from the strain.
But El Pam's party was different.
'Well, this isn't the first time we've nearly died.'
Having faced death countless times, the fear of it held no terror for them.
Thanks to that, they stayed tense but moved without issue—and soon arrived.
"Ah!"
Swimming through the endless clouds, they discovered land hidden within.
A world utterly unlike Orbis.
"It's Crise!"
The moment Celestial Crise, hidden from adventurers for a hundred years, revealed itself.
An ecstatic moment.
Any adventurer would tremble in awe or lose their mind without it being strange.
But El Pam's party was different.
Instead of cheers, they harbored tension.
They hadn't forgotten.
'We came here for an item.'
The title they wanted wasn't "Discoverer of Celestial Crise," but "Finder of Michaela's Glasses."
'No relaxing now.'
And that it wouldn't be easy.
That was the moment.
El Pam's eyes narrowed.
Starting with him, Dibo and the others' eyes sharpened like blades.
They sensed it.
"Boss."
Someone was coming here.
At that, everyone went on high alert.
El Pam did the same.
Someone might be here.
'A place untouched by the outside world for a hundred years.'
The problem: the chances they were friendly to outsiders were extremely low.
'Could be Black Mage followers.'
The newcomer might be highly dangerous.
It wouldn't be strange.
The abilities of Black Mage followers surpassed what adventurers could imagine.
They might have to fight for their lives right away.
With such resolve, a woman appeared before El Pam's party.
She had brown hair, green eyes, and wore a white dress in a style rare in the Maple World.
"Oh my, who might you be?"
The woman who appeared looked shocked to see El Pam's party.
As if seeing them for the first time.
Still, El Pam's party didn't let their guard down.
It could be a ploy to induce carelessness.
Above all, she resembled a human in appearance but had one striking feature.
'She's huge.'
A gigantic stature, several times larger than a normal person.
Of course, that didn't mean they had to assume hostility.
No need to greet goodwill with enmity.
"Hello?"
So El Pam smiled more brightly than ever.
"I'm the adventurer El Pam."
And beneath that smile, he prepared.
Ready to cast magic and attack at any moment.
Fully prepared.
"Adventurers? It's been so long! I haven't seen an adventurer in ages!"
The woman who appeared before El Pam's party said.
"My name is Michaela!"