Chapter 72 : Return

Another extra chapter from TM and SA. Thanks for the support!

Chapter 0072 Return

Translator: Tseirp

“Something is approaching.”

Ryo was the first to notice it.

Hearing his words, the Crimson Sword and Advisor Arthur stopped collecting magic stones and prepared for battle once again.

“It’s humans. It doesn’t feel like monsters, but … it feels like a good number of people …”

Three minutes after Ryo said so, Abel and his group also saw them.

“They … aren’t they City of Rune adventurers?”

“Yeah. They seem like adventurers. But there are also adventurers from other cities.”

Abel and Rihya noticed that the approaching group had many D-rank adventurers from the City of Rune.

“They are probably the adventurers that Clive and his team hired in this city. They were likely securing the passage from the surface to the 11th floor.”

Adviser Arthur was familiar with ​​those adventurers.

Some of them came from the royal capital as guards for the investigation team of the Kingdom Central University.

“So it wasn’t just the people on the 10th and 11th floor that were transported …”

Then Abel stood up and raised his hand.

When the approaching adventurers recognized him, they screamed ‘Oh ~!’.

It seemed that while there was no battle until they reached there, they were probably anxious because they were suddenly transferred to an unknown location.

It was a cry that blew away that anxiety.

With the help of about 100 adventurers who joined, the party collected the magic stones of the Devils and the keepsakes of the Kingdom Central University investigation team and was finally able to begin their trip home.

About three hours had passed since Ryo rushed into the dungeon.

“I think it’s better to check if there are any other adventurers who were transported to this floor …”

Abel muttered and looked towards Rin.

However, in response to that gaze, Rin shook her head.

“Sorry, I can’t cast <Probe> without a little rest.”

“Then, I’ll check with Water Magic. It’s a little difficult to use, but it should probably work out.”

“Sorry and thanks.”

Abel nodded to Ryo’s offer.

“<Active Sonar>“

Ryo’s 『Ping』 was transmitted across the water molecules in the air of the 40th floor.

After a while, the 『Ping』 reached the wall of the 40th floor and rebounded back.

“Nothing. Everyone is here.”

(But … the strange reaction on the stairs of the 39th floor … Did it die? Did it stop working? It’s completely different from the reaction I received when I detected it with Active Sonar just now … Hmm, well, there’s no use voicing it out. I should just take a look at it with everyone.)

Ryo decided not to mention the change.

“Okay, let’s set off.”

With Abel’s command, the party began to walk toward the surface.

At the staircase that led up from the 40th floor to the 39th floor.

There was a black crystal ball that was the size of a human head … but it had a crack on it.

In relation to that, there seemed to be a lump of sand beside it as if something had shattered.

“This is the first time I’ve seen such an item. What is this?”

The words of Advisor Arthur expressed everything.

No one there could understand what it was.

Judging by the reaction of the 『Residual magical power detector』 that was transported along with them when they were transferred from the 10th floor, there was concrete evidence that it was emitting magical power until just now.

“Well, the barrier is gone, so the readings just now would probably be sent to the surface.”

Then Arthur put the black crystal-like object in a bag.

Ryo wondered if he should so easily put something he didn’t know in a bag and even bring it back to the surface …

“This is a barrier bag. It isolates magical power. As for bringing it back to the surface … well, it is kind of the sole proof.”

And he covered it up with an extremely feeble reason.

After that, the group focused on advancing toward the surface in the dungeon without monsters.

When they ascended the stairs from the 12th floor and reached the 11th floor, they found the Guild Master, Hugh, and 20 C-rank adventurers who accepted his request.

“Abel-san! Welcome back!”

The one who called out the loudest was Ra, the Swordsman who looked up to Abel as his teacher.

“O-oh. Ra, I’m sorry, but could you please help to carry the Court Magic Group’s luggage.”

“Of course! Leave it to us!”

With that said, Ra and his party 『Switchback』 walked over to help the group of people in the Court Magic Group who had the most pieces of luggage.

After adding in the 20 C-rank adventurers, the party continued advancing toward the surface.

Meanwhile, Abel walked up beside Ryo, who was walking near the head of the group.

“Ryo, you really saved us this time. Thank you.”

Abel whispered in a soft voice to Ryo.

“Abel … that again, didn’t we settle this with a week’s worth of dinner?”

Ryo replied as he shook his head slowly.

“Yeah, I know but …”

“If you know then you just have to do that. Oh yeah, if you’re really grateful, give me this information that’s very important to me.”

“Oh, as long as it is something within my means …”

Abel felt anxious about Ryo’s sudden request.

“Kyradea, we stopped by before returning to the City of Rune. Didn’t we have curry there?”

“Curry … Oh, curry? I remember.” (TLN: Same as during that chapter. Ryo pronounces it as Japanese do, ‘ca-ray’, while it is known to Abel as the English pronunciation ‘Curry’)

It was an amazingly beautiful pronunciation of the word after all.

“Abel mentioned that there is a delicious curry shop in the City of Rune. Please teach me where that shop is!”

“Th-that an easy request if you’re okay with just that. I’ll take you there when I treat you.”

“Oh ~! Really? It’s a promise? If you break that promise, you’ll be sliced up more than the Devil just now!”

“That’s not funny …”

Abel’s cheeks cramped, imagining the Devil Prince that was shaved into fragments.

“It’s fine as long as you don’t break your promise.”

Ryo replied and nodded to himself.

Seeing that, Abel smiled a little.

At the entrance to the dungeon, the influential members, including Guild Master Hugh and Professor Christopher of the Magic University, were waiting for the party to return.

In fact, the moment Ryo defeated the Devil Prince, the barrier that covered the 40th floor was broken, and information from the residual magic detector reached the surface.

As a result, it was confirmed that the party was safe and was moving to the surface.

“Everyone, good work returning home. For the time being, I have prepared drinks and food. Please take your time. I will ask for a detailed report at a later date.”

Hugh’s voice projected well to reach everyone.

But in his heart, he wasn’t so calm.

(Phew, really, truly, Abel, I’m glad you came back … Seriously, yeah, this time I thought I might be in trouble! Missing, why do you go missing so often? Last time it was a smuggling ship, this time it was a dungeon … I wonder if I can deny him from entering the dungeon ever again? Yeah, he already has plenty of experience as a B-rank so he can just take on surface requests. I’ll permit it!)

Hugh’s heart was perturbed.

And then, Hugh found Ryo. He approached in an instant and placed his hands firmly on his shoulders.

“Ryo. Why did you break through the gatekeeper’s blockade and dive into the dungeon …”

“Uh … I’m sorry …”

That was a fact, so Ryo couldn’t argue at all.

“Hugh, don’t say that. We could survive and return thanks to Ryo’s timely aid. Could you overlook it?”

Advisor Arthur threw a lifeline.

“Eh? Oh, was that so … Well, that was … well done … no, but I don’t think it’s possible to completely exempt the punishment … but …”

“Okay, I’ll give you a detailed report. Hugh, let’s go to the tent for a moment. So you can let Ryo go now?”

“No, oh, ah … Ryo, I-I’ll still follow-up with a verdict later but … Yeah, thank you for helping them, thank you.”

While saying that, Hugh was pulled to the tent in the back by Advisor Arthur.

“I’m glad Arthur-san put in a word for me …”

Ryo was thankful to Arthur for helping him not get caught up in additional small talk.

Ryo, who decided that it would be okay if he left, immediately started walking toward the Adventurer’s Guild.

In the tent.

“Arthur-san, please explain what happened in detail. What happened on the 40th floor?”

Hugh poured water into his and Arthur’s cup and sat down on a chair.

“Let me see. Well, I shall start from after we were transported.”

Arthur took a gulp of water and began his recollection.

“We were suddenly moved to the 40th floor. At the same time, Clive and his team who seemed to be working on the 10th floor were also transported. Furthermore, Clive and his team were transported in front of a group of Devils.”

Arthur reported the facts in short sentences, like in bullet points.

“Debiru? Devil? Eh? Are these Devils the Devils that appear in the teachings of the temple?”

“Yeah, those Devils.”

Hugh was surprised.

Naturally.

There had been no encounters with Devils in Central Nations for the last 200 years.

 200 years would roughly equate to eight generations ago.

It was the age of his grandfather’s, grandfather’s, grandfather’s, grandfather’s ... it was a daunting length of time ago.

Stories from such an era were almost all legends by now.

He barely knew about the name 『Devil』 because it appeared in the 『Story』 that the temple taught and spread, but that was all he knew about them.

“And there were fifty of them, including three stronger individuals, and to top it off, a Devil Prince as well.”

“Devil Prince ... those that will eventually become the Devil King? I’m surprised you all survived and managed to return after encountering something like that ... No, I’m sorry. That’s because Arthur and Abel and the others were there.”

Hugh said, shaking his head thinking that it would be impossible to survive that normally.

However, Advisor Arthur shook his head and denied it.

“No ... Abel was certainly amazing. As expected. Without him, we would have been wiped out early. But even Abel was inches away from being killed by the Devil Prince ... ... “

“Eh ...? Then how ... no way ...”

“Yeah, Ryo appeared at that moment.”

The sight of Ryo breaking through the 40th-floor ceiling and descending from the sky was truly stunning even for Arthur.

First of all, he had never heard of breaking through the floor of a dungeon.

And when he asked after it was over, Ryo told him that he traveled all the way from the surface to the 40th floor by relying on that method …

Impossible!

Yes, it was impossible by common sense.

Some of Arthur’s acquaintances were top-notch Water-Attribute Magicians. He was well acquainted with several of them.

But probably none of them could break through the floor of the dungeon.

Neither could Fire-Attribute or Wind-Attribute Magicians.

In fact, he couldn’t do it even with the Earth-Attribute ... he was sure of it because he once personally attempted it on-site and it didn’t work.

It was possible to scrape the surface slightly, but ... it would regenerate after a while.

That was the characteristic of the floors and walls of the dungeon.

And … a young man who manipulated Water-Attribute Magic that he had never seen or heard before ... was doing ridiculous things as if it was commonplace.

“Hugh. Who the hell is that young man named Ryo ...”

That was a question that remained in Arthur’s mind since the battle between Ryo and the Devils.

But, of course, he couldn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“Even if you ask me ... he’s just the one who brought Abel back from beyond the Devil’s Mountain ...”

Hugh then told Advisor Arthur about Abel’s return.

“I see, so he is Abel’s friend ...”

“Yeah, they’re definitely on good terms.”

As a person who knew Abel from an early age, for Abel to have a 『friend』 after becoming independent was an extremely significant matter.

At the same time, he was somewhat happy.

For Abel, Rihya, Rin, and Warren were, of course, his precious companions.

Irreplaceable companions.

However, they were not 『friends』.

They might develop a man and woman relationship, but not a relationship of friends.

Friends, after all, must be on an equal footing.

Unfortunately, those three who knew about Abel’s various circumstances cannot and will not wish to be on an equal footing with Abel.

And apart from those three, nobody in the City of Rune had a possibility of establishing an equal relationship with Abel ...

There were only a few in the royal capital who could ... but how far could they be considered 『friends』 ...?

Abel was adored by his juniors, but that wasn’t friendship.

Perhaps Phelps of the B-rank party White Brigade could be a friend, but Phelps probably didn’t want to.

Even though he treated him in a relaxed manner, to Phelps, Abel was essentially a person he should follow.

Whereas now, a young man named Ryo was said to be Abel’s 『friend』.

Arthur found that to be great.

Moreover, that young man was absurdly strong!

In this world, or any world, strength was justice.

No matter how correct you are, it will not be accepted without the 『strength』 to back that claim.

Overturn the opposition’s 『strength』.

It’s not a question of what is right or wrong, but whoever has the greatest strength.

Thinking to that point, Arthur shook his head a little and stopped.

“Ryo is terrifyingly strong. No, he was terrifyingly strong. How strong was he? He was strong enough to kill the Devil Prince in an instant.”

“……Ha?”

Hugh couldn’t comprehend.

He knew that Ryo was strong. Abel claimed so and he had heard stories from others as well.

However, killing the Devil Prince instantly ...?

“Is that ... possible?”

“Because I saw it first-hand, the question of whether it is possible or impossible is now meaningless.”

Arthur was right, but ... Hugh could not easily accept it.

“By the way, he also killed three of the Devil Prince’s followers in an instant. All three at the same time. As to how he defeated them, I have completely no clue.”

At that point, Arthur had no choice but to laugh.

He had asked Abel on the way back, but Abel said he couldn’t see it either.

“Abel did say that Ryo was extraordinary.”

“I’m not sure if that alone is sufficient to express it ...”

“Nevertheless, what else can we do? I believe the most important thing now is for that extraordinary Magician to remain on good terms with Abel and not turn hostile to our country. Hugh feels the same way too, right?”

“For the same reason, he would not be hostile to the City of Rune.”

Then Hugh exhaled a deep sigh.

“As a friend of Abel, we can say that he is on our side, but it would be troublesome if some idiotic noble tries to touch Ryo. I’m not going to write about Ryo in the report. That’s okay with you, right?”

“Okay, I will not include Ryo’s name in the report either.”

In that way, Ryo once again avoided being involved in the power struggle of the nobles.