From Entos to the Imperial Capital

As the group returning to the empire began to move,

"Wait a moment—"

a petite, lightly equipped woman and a notably tall, heavily armed man dashed in, running despite their feet sinking into the snow. They looked like seasoned adventurers, at least.

"Phew～ Made it just in time. Hey! Isn't that Alex? Long time no see."

They seemed to know each other.

"Alek, the one who's late... that must be..."

"Yeah, seems like it. I just found out myself. No wonder the guild tried to avoid us—after all, who would've thought it'd be you guys?"

As Alek said this, he started moving the dog sled. Incidentally, we were leading the way because I was using my scouting magic to keep watch, and if we spotted enemies, Alek would launch a preemptive attack.

The sled sped forward with force. I asked Alek to make the introductions.

"Let me introduce them. These are people I've teamed up with a few times during my adventures in the kingdom. The smaller one in the back is Clara Adkins. The taller one over there is Kenny Gordon."

The woman named Clara stood proudly, while the man named Kenny bowed his head.

"Is that it!?"

The woman named Clara shot back at Alek.

The man called Kenny was about two meters tall—quite massive, with an extremely muscular build. His hair was a dull golden color, and despite his large frame, he seemed hesitant and timid. He carried a large shield and a short sword, clearly a tank type.

Symmetrically, Clara appeared petite, perhaps around 150 cm tall. She was slender, with vivid chestnut hair. A large bow and arrows were strapped to her back. The weapon was embedded with magic stones, clearly a magical artifact.

She also seemed clearly a rear-line type. Extremely energetic and lively, she was quite the mirror image of Kenny here.

"I'm Sato Taro. Alex and I came here on a guild mission."

Clara and Kenny introduce themselves, responding in a manner that matches their appearances.

"So, what was it again? Guarding a noble, right? Royal nobles must've been a real pain—stiff and stubborn, weren't they?"

Clara asks.

"Back then, I was just a kid, so I wasn't asked to do anything unreasonable. Besides, why are you asking about that?"

"Normally, the guild branch chief told me. I haven't seen the guild branch chief this excited in ages."

Was he really that fired up? That much?

"Why were the two of them on the ship bound for the Empire?"

Once again, Clara answers.

"Isn't it obvious? They're heading to challenge a dungeon."

"A dungeon? Was there a new dungeon in the Empire?"

"It was discovered recently! You're from the Empire, yet you don't know about it?"

"Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing something like that... I'd been constantly traveling to Akau Village, so I never had the time to pay attention."

I remembered the battle I'd fought against the monkey monster. Ever since that creature had appeared, people had been saying there must be a new dungeon somewhere.

"Of course, if you're an adventurer, you've gotta take on a dungeon. If you defeat the monsters and sub-humans inside and grab the high-purity magic stones deep within, you'll make a fortune—and you'll also get a percentage of the profits from dungeon development. So not doing it would be a real loss."

So that's how the system works. I was only interested in magic stones and didn't pay much attention to dungeon exploration. Now that I think about it, it makes sense everyone wants to become adventurers.

"What about Alek and Taro?"

A dungeon? I never even thought about that.

It does seem like one could earn a lot of money that way. But I have other things I must attend to. First and foremost, I need to find the Hero's Diary. Following its contents will tell me when he arrived here, and what happened to him.

If it's possible, I'd love to try returning to the original world.

Lately, I've been thinking not just about returning, but whether we could establish a way to travel back and forth. After all, I've made friends here, and even picked up a disciple who followed me on his own. It would be lonely to go back to the original world and never return.

"I'll pass on that. I've got other things I want to do. Luckily, I'm not short on money right now."

"I'll pass on this one too. If it's a dungeon, it'll likely be a long-term endeavor, so I think I should get myself properly prepared first."

"You're always training, though. Still going to do it?"

"Yes, it's something that should always be done. Especially this time—I really feel that way. You might be able to shoot your bow more powerfully if you trained too."

"Arrows aren't shot with strength, man."

Clara raised both hands and confronted Alex, chattering all the way to the harbor.

At the harbor, after weeks, the ship—supposed to be completely destroyed—had been patched together and repaired, though it looked like a patchwork.

I really hope we don’t get attacked by that shark monster again.

Clara is excitedly staring at the large ship. Kenny is desperately trying to hold her back from falling into the sea. With the weather good and the captain saying they should set sail right away, there was no time for rest—quickly stuffing their belongings, they immediately left the harbor.

A few days later, we were out on the sea. As usual, the winter ocean was rough. Waves crashed into one another, producing loud, heavy echoes. But we’d grown accustomed to it—neither I nor Alex was fazed anymore.

Kenny looked relaxed, his expression light and cheerful. Though he didn’t speak much, he responded clearly and appropriately. He had firm opinions and was easy to talk to.

As for Clara… she was throwing up. She was violently sick.

"Uppp... eeeeee..."

Covering her ears, trying not to hear the sound.

"By the way, why did Taro have so many degraded magic stones?"

"Ah, well. I thought maybe degraded magic stones could still generate magical energy."

"Even though they're degraded... I don't really understand..."

"Magic stones fade evenly over time with use, losing their effectiveness. But some degrade even without being used."

"It's a water magic stone, yes. But in the end, it's still degraded, isn't it? Even if you put it back in water, a degraded water magic stone won't activate its effect anymore."

"That's right. When we broke apart the magic stone, the degraded water stone had already stolen color from the stone attached to Rin's body, then faded again. It's clearly degraded. But I thought this one might be different—it could possibly be used in another way."

"Another way of using it?"

"For example, controlling the wind... something like that."

"True, that would be amazing if it were possible. But how about it?"

"I couldn't do it. More like, it's still under investigation. At least with just this one, I couldn't make it work."

"I see. Well, things don't usually go that smoothly, do they?"

"True." "Geeeee... wha—"

Even as they spoke, an unpleasant sound cut through the air, interrupting the conversation.

"Ah, I'll use it then."

"That seems like a good idea."

After that, the nausea seemed to subside, though Clara remained completely paralyzed.

The ship was nearing imperial territory without incident—only about one more day to go.

It felt strangely anticlimactic after being attacked by that monstrous beast on the way there.

"Hm, what's that?"

A faint shadow appeared on the horizon.

"That's an uninhabited island. Though, it's ridiculously large."

The crew will teach you.

Was there really an island like that? Come to think of it, I was throwing up since around that time, my consciousness growing hazy.

I feel like I'm becoming suspicious and paranoid because of the giant monster.

Why would a large island be uninhabited, I wonder?

Alek murmured a simple question.

"The currents are too complex to approach, and despite its massive size, there's nothing noteworthy to be found. To top it all off, monstrous and sub-human creatures are rampant. Under these circumstances, who would bother with settlement?"

"I see, so the Empire is at a loss with it, then."

Indeed, no one would want to go near such an island.

As they chatted, the sun began to set.

Tomorrow, we reach the Empire.

It will be the first thing we do after stepping off the ship.

"I-I had the worst experience ever... I'll never get on a ship again! No motion sickness pills needed!"

"But thanks to that, your nausea has gone down, right?"

"I don't want either experience! It felt like tiny bugs were crawling all over my body. The worst feeling ever. I'm glad it's over... Wait, Taro, were you able to use magic? And that one was totally new to me."

"It's a secret. I don't want to get dragged into anything dangerous."

I have a feeling the trouble level increased again because of magic.

I made sure Clara and Kenny kept quiet about it. I couldn’t afford to be dragged into anything worse.

Many people were heading to the capital, so we traveled in a large group. It made us move slowly, but it was safer, and we enjoyed the journey’s end at a relaxed pace.

When we arrived at the capital, Clara and Kenny said they’d head straight to the dungeon and parted ways with us.

The guards assigned to William went to the guild and each gave their reports. It felt oddly nostalgic, even though not much time had passed.

When we approached the receptionist to give our own report, Alec was called by Graham.