Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Edelstein (2)
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4.
Run away if there's a big commotion.
It was one of the rules all adventurers knew by heart, and the Abandoned Mine expedition knew it too.
KABOOM!
That was why, the moment that deafening roar erupted, the Abandoned Mine expedition ran for their lives without looking back.
They put as much distance as possible between themselves and the commotion.
Only after the chaos finally died down did they stop and catch their breath.
"Huff, huff."
But even after repeatedly catching their breath, their hearts refused to calm.
'What the hell happened?'
The shock had been far too great.
'What do we do now?'
The surviving members couldn't easily form any plans for what came next.
That was when it happened.
"Viola ran toward it?"
At that news, everyone's expressions could only harden further.
It was incomprehensible.
For the expedition leader herself to charge toward the most dangerous spot?
To break a basic adventurer's rule?
It was shocking in every way, and in that shock, a few spoke up.
"Then who's the next leader?"
Some who were convinced Viola was dead.
No one contradicted them.
She'd plunged into that insane commotion—her odds of survival were practically zero.
On top of that, picking a new leader to replace her was critically important.
The survivors still had work to do.
Surprisingly, it wasn't a hard decision.
The Abandoned Mine expedition was scattered right now—getting everyone together was the first step.
Fortunately, the dilemma didn't last long.
A voice rang out.
- Everyone, gather up.
Viola's voice, amplified through a megaphone item.
Everyone panicked again at the sound.
'Crazy!'
Shouting through a megaphone with Zakum still alive?
It was suicide!
'Deliberately turning herself into bait?'
A few thought Viola meant to sacrifice herself.
'Gather up? Not telling us to run? Could it be a trap?'
Others took her words as proof it was a trap meant to wipe them all out.
Their heads spun in every direction.
But the confusion didn't last.
- Zakum's been caught.
5.
Zakum's been caught—when Viola said that, most of the Abandoned Mine expedition members doubted it.
No way.
That had to be a lie.
But soon, they confirmed it.
"Oh my god."
The traces of what had been Zakum.
And the Mystic Gate existing amid those traces.
By then, no one even bothered asking who or why.
They weren't in any state to.
"I don't know exactly what happened either. But one thing's for sure."
Above all, now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"We can get out now."
Everyone wore the same expression at Viola's words.
Their faces hardened.
"And the moment we step out, hell will unfold."
There were enemies who would stop at nothing to kill them, to make them fail.
There was no way those enemies had left the world outside the Mystic Gate quiet and ordinary.
They hadn't even fully rooted out the traitor in their midst.
"But we have to break through. We have to get out and tell everyone what we experienced."
Above all, everyone here had a duty to reveal the truth.
That was the hardest part.
Death itself didn't scare them. They'd all already steeled themselves for it.
But the burden they now carried wouldn't even allow them to die easily.
"We're heading out right now."
Viola didn't hesitate here.
No amount of deliberation would resolve anything, and the other expedition members agreed with her.
Without the slightest reluctance, everyone stepped out through the exit.
And there, they saw him.
"You came out later than I expected. Let's be quicker next time."
"T-Teacher?"
Thunder Knight Captain Hawk Eye.
6.
The more shocking the news, the faster it spreads.
"You hear?"
"About the Abandoned Mine expedition?"
From that perspective, the Abandoned Mine expedition's story was bound to spread faster than any other.
"And the members? No joke."
"Viola, Hawk Eye's disciple; Reka, Heinz's disciple; even Resistance members!"
The lineup of adventurers alone was extraordinary.
Each one already renowned across the Maple World!
"They said there was a lava zone inside?"
"Worst ever."
Their tales of adventure were on another level from what other adventurers had faced.
"Aside from the boss monster being Zakum."
The clincher was that Zakum had appeared there—everyone shuddered at the fact.
And that was it.
"How the hell did they take down Zakum?"
Nothing else had leaked out.
People could only speculate.
"Lots died, I hear. Must've taken insane sacrifices."
"Or maybe they didn't beat it—just found the exit. Could be a condition."
"Either way, the expedition pulled it off. That's why they made it out, right?"
One of those big names must've done it.
Naturally, no one in the Maple World could have imagined.
"Our role in it isn't mentioned anywhere."
That the ones who'd pulled it off were none other than El Pam's party—and the polearm hero Aran.
"Ah, we took down Zakum and can't even brag about it!"
Dibo vented his frustration.
Not that he meant it.
"You could brag. Just get called crazy or threatened with murder, that's all."
If it got out now that El Pam's party had taken down Zakum, good outcomes were unlikely.
"We didn't take it down, though?"
The ones who'd actually caught Zakum were two.
El Pam and the polearm hero Aran.
El Pam's party had helped, sure—but it was just help. Nothing to brag about.
"I'm just saying."
Dibo knew that full well.
He was only mouthing off out of anxiety.
"So when's the boss waking up?"
It had been a week since they left the mine, and El Pam still hadn't stirred.
"No telling."
Ralph answered confidently.
"Could be a month. Could be a year."
"You sure?"
"The boss pushed too far to send that warning. It'll hit harder than he thinks. Unless you've weathered hundreds of mana shocks, waking in under a month is impossible."
"Really sure?"
This time, everyone eyed him skeptically.
"I'll bet a thousand mesos it's at least a month."
But at those words, they had to concede.
If Ralph— of all people—was wagering a thousand mesos, it meant he was dead certain this time.
That was why.
"So this is where you were."
"Huh? Boss?"
When El Pam appeared, everyone froze solid.
Ralph froze the hardest.
He'd bet money on it, and the boss woke up in just a week?
"H-How are you awake?"
It was only natural to wonder.
"Woke up on my own."
El Pam gave only a curt explanation.
He had no choice.
Explaining that he'd endured hundreds of mana shocks would take a long story.
Above all, El Pam had no time to waste on explanations.
"Something more important."
Everyone's expressions hardened at his words.
Everything El Pam's party had done so far was enough to shake the Maple World.
But this was on another level.
The gathered heavyweights were different. Even Aran had joined the raid.
'There's a traitor.'
The biggest issue, though, was the betrayer among them—among those they'd deemed fully trustworthy.
Black Mage followers embedded in the heart of every group!
It was fatal, and removing them wouldn't be easy.
'And yet we succeeded.'
The gravest problem was that, regardless, El Pam's party had thwarted their schemes and plans.
An obvious point, but those whose plans they'd ruined would come collecting payment.
"Ralph."
El Pam approached Ralph then and held out his hand.
Everyone else tilted their heads at the gesture.
Ralph was different.
More grim-faced than ever, deadly serious, he handed a thousand mesos onto El Pam's palm, and El Pam took it.
Everyone else stared in stunned silence.
"Boss, that's the more important thing?"
Dibo's follow-up question got its answer from elsewhere.
"Free mesos are important. Naturally."
The phantom thief Phantom—he'd appeared without a sound and was now seated, eyeing them all.
Everyone jolted in shock again.
They weren't surprised Phantom had slipped in quietly.
The greatest thief in Maple World history—if you spotted his approach, that'd be the real surprise.
The shock was the timing.
"Were you waiting, knowing the boss would wake?"
As Ralph said, with El Pam possibly sleeping a month, showing up this quick meant he'd been waiting.
"Do I look that free? Huh?"
Of course not.
"Not here to see your face. Just dropping off an item."
He'd come for another reason.
"That thing from Crise you asked about."
To deliver on El Pam's request.
"Sorry, but I analyzed it—full of tech I can't make heads or tails of."
Phantom's expression soured as he spoke.
And rightly so—the phantom thief was a master thief and a genius engineer.
It made sense, in a way.
In the Maple World, one thing countless engineers poured their souls into was security tech—and Phantom cracked it more perfectly than anyone.
That wasn't all.
What Phantom stole wasn't limited to treasures. Valuable knowledge was fair game too.
Even the phantom thief couldn't decipher this tech?
"All I could figure is it's Black Wing tech."
But El Pam got it from Phantom's next words.
The Black Wings ruling Edelstein—their tech was unrivaled in the Maple World right now.
And El Pam knew firsthand how terrifying it was.
Either way, at this point, even Phantom couldn't dig deeper.
He'd lost power, and above all, there was a centuries-long gap.
"And only one person can properly crack it."
If he wanted answers, he'd have to go to them.
"Who?"
"Cheki, leader of the Resistance mechanics. No one else."
Everyone gaped at the phantom thief's answer.
"The Resistance? So we have to go to Edelstein?"
"Impossible."
"Not impossible. Just insane."
"Exactly!"
Edelstein.
It existed in the Maple World, but unlike other places, it was extremely closed off.
The reason was simple.
"You can only get there by airship."
Access was highly restricted.
"And Black Wings have it locked down tight!"
It was under intense surveillance too.
It hadn't always been that way.
Until a few years ago, Black Wing oversight existed, but adventurers could come and go freely with enough money.
Not anymore.
They shot down any suspicious airship—security was that ironclad.
Even Resistance members risked their lives going in and out.
Needless to say, the Black Wings wouldn't roll out the welcome mat for El Pam's party!
"We can't go there!"
"Don't worry."
The phantom thief had an answer.
"I'll take you."
Even then, El Pam's companions' faces stayed grim.
They knew Phantom was amazing, but how could he just waltz into a place reachable only by airship?
At their expressions, the phantom thief grinned.
"No place I can't go—except the past. So, El Pam, what's your answer?"
El Pam answered the question.
"I'm going."
No reason to hesitate.
'Found Aran's item too. Nothing left for me to do here.'
Time to leave the Elnas Mountains.
'Even without that, Edelstein was my next stop.'
Above all, Edelstein was one of El Pam's destinations.
A perfect convergence of opportunities.
"Good."
That was when it happened.
Whummm!
A fierce wind howled outside the building where they stood, and at the sound, the phantom thief flashed a grin more confident than ever.
"Allow me to introduce: the Maple World's finest airship, Crystal Garden."