◈ Episode 382. As Expected, We Are the Arcana Continent.
Iron Castle.
The expressions of the Holy War Allied Forces were gloomy.
“To set foot into that vicious maw.”
The distant ground.
A gigantic hole exuding an intense presence.
Chainworker gazed at Behemoth’s maw.
After Hoyeol declared his intention to enter the Demon Realm.
It was right when he had returned to the adventurers’ world, his homeland.
Chainworker asked the adventurers,
“What do you all think?”
The answer came immediately.
“Of course we have to follow him.”
Nam Tae-min had spoken up as their representative, but the others’ thoughts were not much different. It was hardly worth voicing their resolve. Because never once, while following behind Hoyeol, had they failed to wager their lives.
However, Hisagi added a sobering truth.
“That is, if we have the qualifications to do so.”
Even so, not once had they advanced from the same position as Hoyeol.
They had done nothing but follow the trail he left behind.
For even merely chasing after him had been endlessly overwhelming.
Rustle.
Volswail, who had been crouched in a manner that looked deeply unsettling at a glance, straightened his back. His gruff tone was dwarven, but the sentiment behind his words was not entirely cold.
“Ha! Who could chase after him? Even I can barely keep up. Can’t you tell by looking at me now? Volswail, called the greatest blacksmith in dwarven history. I’m so anxious I can barely sit still, afraid I might produce something that fails to satisfy the Commander!”
Volswail’s self-deprecating jest.
It was the moment a small laugh escaped them.
Chainworker smacked his lips bitterly.
“Indeed, your resolve is no different from ours. In that sense, it is a comfort. But resolve alone cannot overcome the reality we face. All the more so in the unknown world known as the Demon Realm.”
“……”
“To speak plainly, we may instead become a burden.”
No one could refute it.
Because they had indirectly experienced the might of the Demon Realm.
Thanks to Discus, the being of the Demon Realm that had leaped from Behemoth’s maw.
Volswail recalled that fleeting battle.
Clang.
He tapped the corroded helm with his hammer.
“The adamantium has melted away. Shall I give you an easy comparison? This is the second time I’ve seen adamantium melt before these two eyes. The first was when some dragon bastard targeted the Dwarf King’s vault.”
He let out a hollow laugh, as if speechless.
“Yes, they say the deadly poison that skeleton unleashed rivaled a dragon’s breath. And such beings are targeting the Commander’s neck as challengers.”
“That is not all.”
Hisagi held up two fingers.
“The Commander will not stop at merely proving himself against challenges. He is likely establishing procedures to drag even high-ranking demon lords of greater standing to hell.”
Leoni, who had been silent, muttered.
“…Taking care of his own body is already a difficult situation, that.”
A massive coalition.
And Skal had not forgotten the Yunaxus Raid.
If Hoyeol had not appeared.
If his help had not been there.
That day, Skal would not have found it strange to be devoured by the Evil Dragon.
“That’s right. It’s just one disaster after another.”
Clench.
Nam Tae-min balled his fist.
It was not simply because his own weakness was frustrating.
Knowing one’s place is important.
Isn’t that what Mr. Hoyeol always emphasized?
His own weakness was nothing new.
It was because there was something else that bothered him far more.
‘…Will Mr. Hoyeol be okay?’
As had always been the case, he should not have doubted.
But Nam Tae-min had witnessed it.
Or rather, he had caught the scent with a sense of smell keener than any beast’s.
Silver hair long enough to drag across the floor.
The scent wafting from that person was clearly not Hoyeol’s scent.
And. ‘The one who felled Discus was…’ It was ‘him,’ not Hoyeol.
It was only natural to be worried.
Who he was.
Whether Hoyeol himself knew that fact.
Just what had happened to Mr. Hoyeol.
Because he was full of questions.
“……”
Nam Tae-min’s expression, hiding such complicated inner thoughts, was a sight to behold.
Tsk.
So much so that Hisagi could not simply let it pass.
“Even if you make a puppy-like expression, nothing will change.”
“…What? What puppy?”
“All we can do is what we are capable of.”
Having said that, Hisagi excused himself with Chainworker.
He took the floor.
Hisagi spoke bluntly.
“As mentioned, in this Demon Lord Struggle, the Commander will face trials from both sides. From the position of being challenged. And from the position of challenging. He will truly shoulder an enormous burden. If we wish to share the Commander’s burden……”
It was a conclusion that could only be reached because they knew their place.
“We simply need to take the challengers upon ourselves.”
Demon Lord Struggle.
Even kings would be at each other’s throats.
Even excluding Buer and Gamigin.
Hoyeol must target a whopping eight high-ranking demon lords.
Meaning he had no time to be tripped up by mere challengers.
“Now that is a welcome plan to hear.”
The Holy War Allied Forces did not hesitate.
They moved to preemptively trample the sprouts of challengers.
It did not matter which demon challenged the Ten Seats.
Nam Tae-min intoned, putting on airs like someone else.
“Inferior breeds are incapable of knowing their place.”
Hoyeol’s teaching.
“Even insignificant demons like imps will annoy the Commander. There’s nothing we can do about those in the Demon Realm right now, but… those on the Arcana Continent are a different story, aren’t they?”
There were still demons holed up on the Arcana Continent.
The Holy War Allied Forces intended to hunt them down one by one.
“So, all that’s fine, but……”
Nam Tae-min’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you have to be my partner, of all people?”
“It must be because harmony is important.”
“Harmony? Don’t tell me you think we suit each other?”
“It is a troublesome matter for me. However, I am the only one with cold rationality who can endure your impulses, which are no different from a beast’s. I am used to it, so I will not accept any separate thanks.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
Forget it.
Talking more with that snake-like bastard would only be tiring.
Nam Tae-min clicked his tongue and looked around.
Let’s see……
From wagon wheel tracks stamped into the ground to horseshoe prints.
“Still, I see signs of people.”
To think he had revived the Arcana Continent, which had been heading toward destruction.
This, too, must be the dignity of the Commander who had saved the Arcanians.
It was the moment Nam Tae-min was shaking his head.
Hisagi spoke coldly.
“You must be aware of the level of enemies you can handle. For demon-type monsters, up to level 700. Boss monsters are as previously agreed.”
Hisagi held up a gear the size of his palm. [Radio - Iron Castle]
“I know. Anything beyond that is impossible with just us.”
The evil dragon, Yunaxus.
Perhaps because they had poured their full strength into that desperate battle.
They could make a fairly accurate estimate.
Soon, the two entered the ruined village. [You have entered the collapsed village, ‘Pullum’.]
“……”
The expressions of the two, who had been bickering, hardened.
Black, dried bloodstains were visible everywhere.
The Arcana Continent had not been safe.
It was a sight that served as a reminder that it was in the midst of reconstruction after collapsing so tragically.
“It doesn’t entirely feel like someone else’s problem.”
If they had not cleared the pouring rifts.
Reality would not have been spared from such a state either.
It felt as if their loosened tension was being pulled taut once more.
Thud, thud.
“We may be able to find traces of demons here.”
Hisagi surveyed his surroundings, spear at the ready.
Classes: Demonic Spearman and Barbarian.
They were not demon hunters, so they could not track a demon’s scent.
Scrape, scrape.
“……!!”
However, they were the ones who ranked first and second in the player rankings, excluding Hoyeol. A noise that grated on their extremely developed hearing had reached them.
Click.
There was no need to exchange glances.
The two held their breath without either needing to go first.
They moved toward the source of the sound.
Rustle.
The one who arrived first was Nam Tae-min.
Nam Tae-min moved secretly yet swiftly, like a feline predator.
Where his muscles stopped was a tavern that had been reduced to ruins like the rest of the village.
‘…The smell of blood.’
But from within.
Different from the smell of dried blood.
A relatively fresh scent of blood wafted out.
Scrape, scrape.
In the ruins, reeking of blood.
A being capable of making such a strange metallic sound.
Who else but a demon?
Bang!
It was the moment Nam Tae-min kicked the door and stormed the tavern.
Hard on his heels.
Hisagi’s snake-like eyes widened as he entered through the broken window.
Scrape, scrape.
“Wait, this is a crucial passage right now.”
“…?”
A man was sitting at the table. His face retained such youthful features that he seemed closer to a boy than a man. Looking closely, he was passionately writing something with an old-fashioned quill pen.
At his calm demeanor, Nam Tae-min apologized without even realizing it.
“…Well, sorry about that.”
Glare.
“What?”
Hisagi glared at Nam Tae-min with snake-like eyes.
This was not the Emerald Hall of the Magic Tower.
It was a look that asked what courtesy he was bothering with.
Hisagi asked,
“You, what are you doing in a place like this?”
“What am I doing, can’t you see? I am writing a history book that will leave its mark on the Arcana Continent. So do not feel slighted. I am far too busy to spare any attention.”
“Huh?”
They had wondered if he was a demon worshiper writing curses in the ruins.
But he was unexpectedly in the middle of writing a history book.
Nam Tae-min whispered,
“Should we believe that?”
Before Hisagi could answer, the boy spoke.
“Well, there were those who paid the price for not believing my words and writings. Didn’t the two of you rush here after smelling the blood they spilled? I imagine you smelled it well. It seems the scent of a Frost Barbarian wafts from one of you.”
“…!”
Nam Tae-min flinched.
Hisagi glanced at Nam Tae-min.
Nam Tae-min protested his innocence.
“…Why are you looking at me like that? I washed today, okay?”
Nam Tae-min looked directly at the boy.
His gaze remained fixed on the paper where the quill pen danced.
It seemed he had truly identified him through scent alone.
And his place of origin, at that.
They could only conclude that he possessed profound knowledge about Barbarians.
Thus, it was suspicious.
Time on the Arcana Continent flowed four times faster than in reality.
There was no way this boy could know information about Frost Barbarians.
Thinking so only deepened the suspicion.
‘How can a brat like that write a history book?’
A sage of the eastern capital.
Hisagi’s mind worked several times faster than Nam Tae-min’s.
Meaning he did not trust the boy’s words, which were full of loopholes, in the slightest.
Hisagi quietly tightened his grip on his spear.
‘Letting your guard down against a demon is forbidden.’
So that he could thrust his spear at any moment.
It was the moment Hisagi was sharpening his inner mana.
The boy finally set down his quill pen and opened his mouth.
“Good. It is concluded. How about it, would you care to read it? Well, you gave no inspiration in its writing, but I must properly pay you for waiting quietly… He trailed off as he shifted his gaze.”
“Could it be, are you adventurers?!”
Nam Tae-min and Hisagi met the boy’s eyes.
Clear.
So clear and sparkling that it was rather frightening.
But to the boy, their reactions were of no importance.
“Adventurers I’ve only heard of in rumors! I’ve always wanted to meet you. I’ve heard the rumors circulating the world. They say you possess the miracle of resurrection? Come, can you show me that miracle too? Well, I can help with the dying part!”
He was making a proposal filled with a madness that suited those clear eyes…!
Nam Tae-min and Hisagi.
The two men were trying to put distance between themselves and the boy.
The boy flinched.
“Oh my, look at my mind. Yes, it is only natural there should be give and take before asking a favor. Let’s do this! I’ll show you my masterpiece first, so you tell me stories that only adventurers can!”
Once again, the two’s opinions did not matter. Because the boy shoved the manuscript of what he called the great history of the Arcana Continent straight at them.
“Even if you show us this, we have no intention of cooperating……”
The days when Arcana was merely a game were only a few years ago in real time.
What kind of absurd request was he making?
It was the moment Nam Tae-min tried to speak.
“This is…?”
Hisagi paused.
He couldn’t help it.
Because he had seen.
In the history book the boy had written, that name.
To be exact, that epithet.
Of the endlessly deep darkness.
“It seems.”
The corner of Hisagi’s lips rose.
“It seems pride has led us to you.”
At those words, the boy, Lorentzk, reacted.
“Pride has led us……”
He abruptly grabbed Hisagi’s hand.
“Now I see, you are brimming with romance!”
*Returning to reality after a long time.*
To think it was back to the grindstone immediately after sparring ended.
Fortunately, there was no backlog of work at the Magic Tower.
It was thanks to the new Tower Master, Marcello, handling the chief’s duties in his stead.
I realized anew just how much that cat had been coasting.
Next time I meet Jesse, I’ll have to nag him until his hat falls off.
Swish.
I sat in the office chair and immediately called for Hiel. Even though I had returned to reality, I could not completely stop caring about the Arcana Continent. Because it was the Commander’s role to monitor the movements of the Holy War Allied Forces every moment.
But.
“My lord. I have good news.”
Good news, in the plural, Hiel.… Why is it that worry comes first instead?
I had steeled myself even before hearing it.
It’s always beyond imagination.
I didn’t know we would meet like this.
Putting aside how glad I am to meet him.
Lorentzk, you…!!
Whose permission did you get to write a history book.
No, to think you’re writing such a dark history book?!