episode_0028

**Episode 28 – Treasure Hunt**

Screech!

Monstrous creatures of unusual form, with grotesque appearances.

The chimeras let out mighty roars and charged at the party.

Abel, wielding a sword and shield, stood in their way.

“Here!”

And through his newly realized mana manipulation, he captured the attention of all the monsters.

The simple chimera horde could not resist his provocation. They rushed in like wild dogs and began to pound on Abel’s shield.

The crazed beasts were full of openings.

Meanwhile, Alisa and Yas moved, hunting the chimeras from both sides, as if gnawing away at them.

Their numbers rapidly dwindled.

And when their numbers had dwindled to about half, Uni’s magic was complete.

“Everyone, get clear!”

Along with the warning, a giant fireball flew forward.

Boom!

The violently plummeting fireball exploded grandly, sweeping away the chimeras.

They were weakly flung into the air by the powerful shockwave, then plunged to the ground, charred black.

It was truly tremendous power.

“Uni, that’s amazing!”

“Hehe! Oh, it’s nothing! Abel, who blocked all those chimeras, is even more amazing, isn’t he?”

“Haha! Uni’s right. You’re amazing, friend? I thought it was strange when you suddenly said you’d learn shield skills. Please keep it up in the future!”

“Stop with the compliments already. It wasn’t just me, everyone else did well too. Alisa and Yas, good job as well. Thanks to you, my burden feels much lighter.”

As the three praised each other and conversed amiably, Alisa wiped the blood from her rapier and surveyed the area ahead.

‘How much is left?’

Two hours had already passed since they entered the dungeon.

Even though they seemed to have progressed quite a bit, this long passage still showed no signs of ending.

Just as Alisa was surveying the dungeon, Abel, having finished his modest praises, called out.

“Then let’s take a short break. Everyone seems to have lost quite a bit of stamina.”

At Abel’s command, everyone moved the chimera corpses to one corner, then unpacked their bags and sat down.

Silence fell for a moment.

Yas, who had been leaning against the wall enjoying its coolness, suddenly asked, as if curious.

“Abel. What are you going to do after you graduate from the academy?”

“Huh? Me? I… I’ll probably become a knight? I don’t have any specific goals.”

“Really? I’ll probably be dragged back to the tribe as soon as I graduate. I’m envious. What about Uni?”

“Hmm… I plan to enter the Magic Tower first. After that, I don’t know.”

“Everyone’s similar, huh? I guess that makes sense.”

Yas’s gaze, now satisfied, finally turned to Alisa’s face.

As everyone followed his lead and looked at her, Alisa frowned, annoyed, then spat out pessimistically.

“Me? I’ll probably marry into a rich and powerful noble family. That’s all my worth is, after all. No, wait. Maybe I won’t even be able to do that now? It’ll be a relief if I can even become an old noble’s concubine.”

What young noble would want a bastard child who had lost her purity?

Everyone who heard her answer, filled with such negative assumptions, was startled.

Uni hurriedly shook her head.

“N-no! Alisa. You’re beautiful and your swordsmanship is outstanding. You’ll be an even greater person later on. By then, even your family won’t be able to treat you however they want, you know?”

“Right! If you keep working hard like this, you’ll be able to live freely.”

Abel and Uni were desperate to cheer her up, but for Alisa, it was nothing more than counterproductive.

They didn’t know she had been raped.

The thought that they were speaking carelessly without knowing anything made Alisa sneer.

“Do you really think so? That a bird whose two wings have been torn off can still fly?”

“Huh, huh?”

“Absolutely impossible. How can it fly without wings? I’m the same. Now, no matter what I do, it can’t be undone. Everything’s already decided.”

Despair spreads quickly.

Alisa’s darkness spread to everyone, making them unable to speak easily.

As Abel hung his head, Alisa, whose reason had returned a little, said with a sigh.

“But you don’t need to feel sorry. I’m not blaming you, after all.”

“Still…”

“I said it’s fine, okay? If you keep going, I might really get angry. More importantly, let’s go now. Everyone seems to have recovered their stamina.”

Alisa, wanting to change the subject, urged her party to get up.

Unwanted advice, even if correct, causes backlash from the person concerned. Everyone respected Alisa’s wishes and silently resumed their adventure.

*

At that moment, I, who was observing Abel’s party, flinched at Alisa’s words.

“A bird with torn-off wings…”

It was truly a fitting metaphor.

My actions were no different from tearing off all of a bird’s wings.

In the original game, Abel’s line would have planted a flag, but it was consumed futilely, without any effect.

Because to her, who had lost hope for the future, it must have sounded like empty words.

Facing my own sin in an unexpected way made my heart feel very complicated.

‘How long must I live like this?’

I would have to continue getting stronger by raping countless women, whether intentionally or not.

Among them would be villains not even worth pitying, monsters for whom the distinction between good and evil was meaningless, and good people like Alisa.

Could I truly endure all of it?

Would it be possible to stand upon countless hatreds and resentments and run solely towards my goal?

Wouldn’t I collapse before that?

Though I had pondered this thousands, tens of thousands of times every day, no answer had yet been found. This was a battle with myself that no one else could define.

As I sank into my own world, I belatedly came to my senses and slapped both cheeks.

Slap! Slap!

“Snap out of it.”

I became too emotional.

I shook off complex worries and focused on Abel’s party.

It was almost time for the boss room.

*

Thirty minutes after their break, the party finally passed through the passage and arrived at a wide cavern.

“Is this the end?”

“Abel, be careful!”

“Whoa~ that’s amazing, isn’t it? See that statue over there? It’s incredibly intricate. It looks like it could come to life at any moment!”

Just as he said, a giant monster statue stood in the center of the cavern.

Its jagged teeth exuded eeriness, and its two wings were massive enough to support its hefty body, spanning up to 4 meters when fully spread.

If something like that were to come to life, it would be a disaster.

The moment Alisa, frowning unpleasantly, was about to reprimand Yas.

Clank!

A wall descended and blocked the passage they had come through, and the massive statue began to move with a heavy sound.

Yas’s face, which had been nonchalantly whistling and watching, was instantly colored with shock.

“Ugh! What is that?! It’s really moving?!”

“Haa… I knew this would happen.”

“It’s coming! Everyone, get clear!”

With Alisa’s lament and Abel’s warning, the gargoyle finally swooped down, flapping its wings.

Taking that head-on would be suicide.

Abel, who had briefly hesitated, raising his shield, instinctively heeded the warning and threw himself sideways, dodging the gargoyle.

Crash!

Immediately after, a deafening roar and a shockwave struck his back.

What Abel saw as he rolled to his feet was a massive crater that had formed around where the gargoyle struck.

He couldn’t help but swallow.

“Everyone saw that, right? One hit means it’s over. Do your best to dodge while fighting.”

The tank couldn’t perform the role of a tank. This was a very serious problem. Abel felt embarrassed even as he said it himself.

Of course, the others thought differently.

“It’s okay, Abel! I’ll take it down with my magic!”

“Uni’s right, friend. There’s no need to be discouraged! I’ll take it down!”

“If you said something useless, you should take responsibility for it. Anyway, the gargoyle’s attacks are slow, so dodging isn’t difficult.”

“…Alright. Thank you, everyone. Then I’ll handle the front. As long as it’s not an attack like before, I should be able to block a few hits!”

Abel, having regained his spirits from everyone’s encouragement, quickly approached the gargoyle.

This was due to his judgment that it would be more dangerous the further away it was.

That was the correct decision.

Thud!

As soon as Abel entered its range, the gargoyle powerfully brought its fist down.

Crash!

The stone fist and shield collided.

An immense weight crushed his entire body, but Abel gritted his teeth and endured.

While his body was fixed in place, Yas and Alisa, having charged in from both sides as per their original strategy, attacked the gargoyle’s wings.

Clang!

A clear sound echoed through the cavern.

Yas’s sword, unable to use sword energy, couldn’t even scratch the gargoyle’s wings. At most, Alisa only managed to inflict a wound a little over a hand-span long.

But a wound was a wound, however minor. Just as the enraged gargoyle’s counterattack was about to overwhelm the two of them.

“Both of you, fall back!”

Crash!

Uni’s magic flew in.

The fireball, rapidly traversing the space, struck the gargoyle’s face and caused an explosion.

Thanks to that, the attack stopped, but there was no trace of burns on the gargoyle’s face. This was due to its excellent magic resistance.

Yas, who had pulled himself out during that opening, scratched the back of his head.

“Huh? No damage at all? Hahaha…”

It was an awkward laugh, as if he was embarrassed about not being able to do anything despite his big talk.

Alisa changed the strategy on the spot.

“Yas. You’ll assist me. Move as loudly as possible to draw its attention. I’ll attack during that opening. Understand?”

“Ah, of course! I’ll make sure to be as annoying as possible.”

Crash!

Once again, Abel blocked the gargoyle’s attack, and Yas and Alisa aimed for an opening.

The balance of the battle slowly but steadily tipped in the party’s favor. The wounds on its wings gradually grew larger until they were finally severed.

Slice!

—Screech!

With the gargoyle’s screech, like fingernails on a chalkboard, its wings fell to the ground.

Thus, the creature lost its ability to fly.

“Alright! It’s our victory!”

“You be quiet. Don’t say anything weird again.”

Alisa, who had rebuked Yas’s shout just in case, exhausted all her remaining stamina to inflict accumulated damage on the gargoyle.

Her even faster speed and stronger sword energy ruthlessly sliced through the creature’s tough hide.

Ultimately, the gargoyle’s forehead was pierced by Alisa’s rapier, causing it to cease functioning.

Thud!

“Woahhh! We won!”

“Haa… Alisa. Good job!”

“That was truly amazing!”

Everyone in the party praised Alisa.

She unconsciously smiled, then straightened her face and waved her hand.

“Don’t make a fuss. I didn’t do it all by myself.”

“Still! It was a good idea to bring Alisa!”

Perhaps the life-or-death battle had lessened the distance between them, as Uni clung to Alisa.

As the two continued their exclusively female display of affection.

Grrrind—

The mechanism in the blocked cavern wall moved, creating a new path.

At first glance, it was a space different from the paths they had taken so far. Bright illumination clearly showed the interior.

“What is that place?”

Abel tilted his head.

Everyone squinted, observing the situation, when Yas said, as if stating the obvious.

“What do you mean, what is it? It’s a reward! Let’s check it out right away!”

Uni stopped him just as he was about to rush forward.

“Yas, calm down. It might be a trap.”

“Right. We should be careful just in case— Aieee!”

Alisa, who had been agreeing, shrieked when she saw a smoke bomb flying in from behind.

Smoke bombs were a trauma for her.

It was because the memory of being raped by Ruan resurfaced. As a result, her body froze, and she couldn’t even warn anyone.

Poof!

The smoke bomb exploded grandly, covering the entire cavern in thick smoke. Visibility instantly plummeted, and everything appeared blurry.

“Cough! Cough! What is this?!”

“Everyone gather! It’s dangerous!”

As the party coughed and stood back-to-back, wary of their surroundings, an irritating voice echoed.

“[Hahahahat! I’ll take the treasure!]”

It was utterly unpleasant, mixed with a mechanical sound, as if there was no intention to hide the voice modulation.

The mysterious figure suddenly appeared in front of the newly opened space, waved a hand, and disappeared inside.

“Ah! A thief! Everyone, chase after them!”

Yas, having discovered this, tried to quickly follow but found it difficult due to the smoke.

By the time the party pushed through the smoke and stepped into the new space, the mysterious figure had already vanished.

Alisa, having surveyed their surroundings, gritted her teeth.

“Everyone, search the surroundings! There must be something here.”

At the sensible suggestion, everyone sharpened their senses and began to search the space.