Chapter 270: Tragedy That Changed Everything

"The place where that incident happened might already be clear to you, but it was a mana pool, a place where magical energy wells up endlessly. It’s hidden in the underground dungeon beneath the Demon King’s castle. During the battle, I fell into that mana pool. When I woke up, I’d returned to ten years earlier."

"Huh? That’s it? Wasn’t there some kind of trigger, or did something happen?"

"We’d been fighting nonstop, and I was completely exhausted by that point. Besides, this happened ten years ago, so my memories of that time are hazy. I don’t remember the details clearly myself. But Viktor, you abandoned the battle partway through at that mana pool and disappeared somewhere."

"Huh...?"

"I don’t know why you did that. I thought you’d abandoned everyone and run away on your own. They were my companions, though perhaps you didn’t consider them yours. But now, I suspect you might have found something."

Viktor looked puzzled as he waited for Igor to continue.

But what could he possibly have found? Could it have been...

"Qiu Tailang?"

"That’s just my guess based on all the information I’ve gathered so far, but I’m certain someone was there. I think I saw someone who had erected a barrier around the mana pool to contain its magical energy. And the monster guarding that person was a dragon."

Apparently, the battle had been exceptionally fierce. Igor’s fighting style was that of a berserker. He threw away all restraint and lost himself completely in combat. Then, before he realized what was happening, he slipped and fell into the mana pool. That was the last thing he remembered.

"When I came to, I was wearing a tuxedo, and my wife was standing beside me in her wedding dress. I thought it was one of those life-flashing-before-your-eyes moments people supposedly experience just before death. After all, that moment had undoubtedly been the happiest time of my life."

But that vision never ended.

At first, Igor thought it was a dream. He treasured the happiness of reliving those precious moments, believing he would eventually wake up. However, as the same peaceful daily life continued indefinitely, he gradually realized that something was wrong.

"Every day was happy. I’d returned to the time I’d always wished I could revisit. But as the same days kept repeating, I realized that if things continued like this, the same tragedy would happen all over again."

The tragedy would repeat itself? What exactly did that mean? As Qiu Nuoya pondered the question, he finally arrived at an answer.

It had to be the incident ten years ago when Igor fled the royal capital. The tragedy Igor had experienced was undoubtedly the one in which he lost his companions and was torn away from his family.

"Ten years ago, I was riding high on life. I’d married a lovely woman, and I’d just been promoted to Rank B as an adventurer. I was so full of myself that I thought there was nothing I couldn’t do. I worked hard, eagerly taking on guild requests so I could provide for my family. Of course, making money as an adventurer meant accepting quests to hunt monsters and gather materials in dangerous areas. But I’d gotten so carried away that, even though I’d only just reached Rank B, I was already taking on one dangerous Rank A quest after another."

Igor continued, explaining that the incident had occurred several years into that life, just when everything seemed to be going smoothly and he had even welcomed a child into the family.

A mysterious dungeon had appeared in a mountainous region on the outskirts of the kingdom. Monsters had begun pouring out of it, making the area dangerous. In response, the Adventurers’ Guild had issued a request to destroy the dungeon core as quickly as possible and make the dungeon disappear.

Since the dungeon had only just been discovered, there was a good chance its valuable items had yet to be claimed. Igor’s companions were practically buzzing with excitement.

Naturally, Igor was just as eager to explore the dungeon as the others.

There were hardly any dungeons near the royal capital. The few that existed were either extremely small or well-managed dungeons that had already been thoroughly explored.

Finding treasure was little more than a dream, and Igor had never actually challenged a proper dungeon before.

"Even so, I thought the work would be the same whether we were inside or outside a dungeon. Hunt monsters, collect materials, and sell them for money. I’d heard that all sorts of valuable monsters lived inside dungeons, including species you wouldn’t find around these parts. But back then, I hadn’t even begun to understand how terrifying dungeons could be."

Igor had seemed to be enjoying himself even inside the dungeon castle. If anything, Viktor had been the one who appeared more nervous and on edge. Yet Igor had still understood just how terrifying dungeons could be.

Thinking about it more carefully, whenever Igor ventured into a dungeon, he made thorough preparations, leaving no stone unturned. He was equally meticulous about gathering information beforehand, and Qiu Nuoya had learned a great deal from watching him.

Qiu Nuoya had assumed that this was simply what high-ranking adventurers were like. But perhaps these precautions were actually habits Igor had developed through experience to avoid danger, and he had been teaching Qiu Nuoya and the others through practical example all along.

"The boss of that dungeon was Nidhogg. It was a gigantic serpent unlike anything we’d ever seen, and we were utterly helpless against it. We suffered a crushing defeat. I think I’ve told you about this before, but although we somehow managed to survive, my companions were left with permanent disabilities in their limbs and could no longer continue working as adventurers. And the one responsible for inflicting those injuries on them was none other than me."

Igor had indeed told Qiu Nuoya about this before. Overwhelmed by guilt for what had happened to his companions, Igor had left the royal capital, abandoning his family behind.