Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: 59. Blue (4)
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6.
El Pam's party.
Right now in the Maple World, they were the source of all sorts of debates.
"El Pam's party? They're just con artists!"
At the very least, half of the people who heard the name dismissed them as frauds.
That was how it was.
"Otherwise, their titles don't make any sense, do they? Huh? You think it's possible for a group like that to pull it off?"
The feats they had accomplished were so extraordinary that they could only be written off as scams.
Which meant El Pam's party had gone through all kinds of experiences, and thanks to that, they weren't fazed by just anything anymore.
At the same time, they had learned a lesson from it all.
Even in the worst moments—even the instant they were captured by Hontail—they must never lose their focus.
"El Pam's party is disbanded."
But before El Pam's words, everyone couldn't help but lose theirs.
"D-Disbanded?"
They were the type to die as members of El Pam's party, even if it killed them. That was the mindset of El Pam's party.
Disbanding? They had never even dreamed of it.
"That's right."
Yet El Pam repeated himself.
"As of this moment, El Pam's party is disbanded."
They hadn't misheard.
At that point, Dibo and the others stopped making shocked faces.
They didn't resist, either.
In truth, they had felt it—not just vaguely, but clearly.
That El Pam was acting differently from usual. That he was using them as decoys.
'We can't help anymore.'
From the way El Pam was acting now, his companions could see they were no longer of any use.
And if they couldn't help, then from that moment on, they were no longer companions.
'This is for our sake.'
Above all, they knew.
'The boss is disbanding the party on purpose, for us.'
El Pam's declaration right now wasn't to abandon useless companions. It was a choice to save them from needless death in the crises ahead.
So no one could say much of anything.
"You've all worked hard. And thank you."
There was only one thing they could say here.
"Boss, we're still together until we get out of the exit, right?"
Showing a bit of reluctance.
El Pam nodded at Dibo's question.
"That's right."
"Then we'll stick with you to the end."
They all showed their will to remain part of El Pam's party, even if just a little longer—Dibo included.
But sadly, the time they had left together wasn't long.
They soon found it.
"There's the exit."
7.
The moment they stepped out of the exit, El Pam spoke.
"Someone from the Cross Hunters will come to guide you. You've worked hard. I'm grateful we were in the same party."
That was it.
El Pam said nothing more.
His companions didn't either.
"Yes, boss. Thank you for everything."
Dibo and the others bowed their heads, and that ended the conversation.
Even after El Pam left, no one called out to him.
They knew better.
"He's leaving pretty cold-heartedly."
"Well, we'll see him again soon anyway."
That El Pam's disbandment declaration wasn't real.
Above all else, El Pam had disbanded the party now because he thought his companions were in danger.
"Once we reach 6th Circle."
If they reached a point where they weren't in danger anymore, the party would reform anytime.
"We didn't follow the boss just to hold him back in the first place, right?"
Even if not, El Pam's companions had no intention of just receiving help and care from him.
Even if El Pam hadn't disbanded the party today, Dibo and the others would have made their own decision.
Not to leave the party, but at the very least, to ask for time to get stronger.
"Easy for you to say. If reaching 6th Circle was just a matter of hyping yourself up, everyone would be 6th Circle by now."
Of course, that didn't make reaching 6th Circle easy.
"So what are we supposed to do? Goldie, you got some way?"
"I've got one, if I have to say."
"You do?"
"I'll go beg my master. Something's bound to come out of it, right?"
Luckily, in Mineru's case, she had Captain Kairin—a more reliable backing than anyone.
"You guys are the ones I'm worried about. Got any ideas?"
Around then, Dibo spoke up.
"I've got one too, obviously!"
"Really?"
"Of course. I'm gonna go get some training."
"Training? From who?"
"Who else? There's only one person in the Maple World right now who can teach me."
"One person? No way?"
"Yeah, I'm going to see the polearm hero."
At that, Mineru gave him a look like it was ridiculous.
"Hey, like she'd even deal with you."
She said that, but the chances that the polearm hero Aran would grant Dibo's request were surprisingly high.
For one, Dibo had proven his qualifications by using Aran's skills.
Plus, he could make plenty of connections through the phantom thief Phantom.
That left two.
"Don't worry about me. Kiri, what about you?"
"I'm going to see my master too."
One of them, Kiri, had a way as well.
"Who's your master?"
"Mikhail. It's him."
"Oh, Mikhail? That should be plenty. Huh? Wait, what? Who? You mean Knight Commander Mikhail of the Cygnus Knights?"
"That's right."
"Kiri, you were Mikhail's disciple?"
"Not much of one, but yes."
The moment they heard that, Dibo and Mineru went blank-faced.
They knew Kiri's background wasn't ordinary.
But they never imagined it was none other than Cygnus Knights Knight Commander Mikhail?
Anyway, Kiri was set too.
Now just one left.
"Ralph, you?"
Even as they asked, everyone thought the same.
That Ralph would go find another party here.
From Ralph's perspective, unlike the others, he had no one to get help from.
And even if he did, given how he'd acted so far, there was no reason for him to push for anything.
No reason to do something that didn't pay.
"I'll find some way and come back."
"Huh?"
So everyone was shocked at what came out of Ralph's mouth.
"Come back? You're not going to another party?"
"Why would I?"
Ralph questioned their reaction instead.
"There's no party in the Maple World that makes more money than this one. So why should I go to another?"
Everyone couldn't help but chuckle at the question.
It was so very Ralph.
At the same time, it was reliable.
When it came to money, Ralph always delivered results like no one else.
"Well, sounds like there's nothing to worry about after hearing that."
Anyway, everyone had a plan.
It really wasn't anything worth fretting over.
Even if things didn't go according to plan—even if they didn't reach 6th Circle—that was it.
It wouldn't threaten their lives.
That's why, at this moment, everyone was only worried about one person.
"I just hope the boss is safe."
8.
Cheki.
He was the busiest executive in the Resistance.
Every morning, without fail, he handed out balloons to kids in the park. No exceptions.
That was the role Black Wing had given him.
The moment he strayed from it, he'd draw Black Wing's suspicion.
It was a role he had to keep, no matter what.
After finishing that, he had to move on to research and repairs.
For one, Mechanics—one of the Resistance's core forces—needed constant repairs, and there weren't many who could do them.
His other job was research.
Studying the machines Black Wing made was incredibly important to the Resistance too.
It was a nonstop grind with no time to breathe.
Because of that, even fellow Resistance executives rarely got to meet him easily.
"You're back."
For him to accept El Pam's meeting request meant he saw it as more important than research or Mechanic repairs.
And it was.
"How was Blue grade?"
The request he'd given El Pam's party had conditions that, to Cheki, seemed impossible to clear.
If it had been ordinary adventurers claiming success, Cheki wouldn't have believed them.
No time for such lies.
But El Pam's party was different.
Cheki acknowledged it. That he wasn't your average adventurer.
Honestly, if not for the Resistance's situation, he'd have recruited him without a test.
The fact that he was testing him with the intent to recruit was proof of how highly he rated El Pam's party.
"It wasn't hard."
"Is that so?"
Of course, the moment he heard that, Cheki let out a laugh.
He figured it was bravado.
"Yes."
Swoosh!
But the instant El Pam showed the six rings on his wrist, Cheki's smile stopped.
'6th Circle?'
The meaning of a 6th Circle adventurer was beyond words.
Moreover, El Pam wasn't just any 6th Circle.
Just a few days ago, he had been 5th Circle.
Going further, El Pam had been an adventurer for less than three years.
'Already?'
At that ridiculous growth speed, Cheki couldn't help but think.
'Is he going to reach 7th Circle like this?'
7th Circle.
That was a whole other realm.
Just one such being would be enough to change the outcome of the countless wars ahead!
Anyway, now even Cheki had to change how he treated El Pam.
"Did you know this was a test?"
"Yes."
"Then this'll be simple. You pass. More than enough. From now on, we'll move together—you and your companions."
"No companions."
"Pardon?"
Cheki was shocked again by what came next.
"I disbanded the party."
"Disbanded?"
"They can't keep up with me. So I disbanded it. I can't force danger on my companions."
At that explanation, Cheki's eyes narrowed.
Not because of El Pam's boldness.
It was because El Pam's words made it sound like he knew the dangers of the Mystic Gate they were about to tackle.
If that was really true, it was a huge problem.
It would mean information had leaked from within the Resistance to El Pam.
So Cheki asked.
"Do you know what we'll be tackling going forward?"
"No. I just figure if the Resistance is rushing to recruit an outsider like me, it won't be easy."
At the follow-up explanation, Cheki asked no more.
He didn't have the skill to tell if El Pam was lying or telling the truth right now.
And above all, El Pam was right.
"Fine."
At this point, the Resistance needed El Pam's help.
"So now, I'll tell you what the Mystic Gate we're about to tackle is."
He had no choice.
"The Mystic Gate we're tackling is a Blue grade 300-man gate."
Not just any Blue grade—a 300-man Mystic Gate!
For El Pam, who had just entered Blue grade, it was like suddenly being thrown into hell.
And it wasn't hell just for El Pam.
It was hell for the Resistance trying to clear this Mystic Gate too.
It was an utterly reckless challenge, of course.
That's why El Pam realized.
"What's in there?"
There had to be a reason worth this reckless challenge.
"You're not challenging it just because it's a 300-man gate, right?"
At the question, Cheki said.
"Hyperion's helmet is in there."