Chapter 30 – Reversing Time for 10,000 Years (5)
“I certainly thought it was just a trivial goblin hunt…”
Lakum muttered blankly. The fact that he could sigh like this was only because the situation had settled down and was now in the recovery stage.
What he thought would be a common fight against low-level monsters turned out to be a brutal struggle that was far more intense and difficult than he had anticipated.
“If we had been even a bit later, things could have gotten a lot worse.”
“I can’t deny that. Who would have predicted they would rampage like that?”
At Renia’s words, he shook his head and forced a bitter smile. The adventurer party that had simply joined for profit, as well as the guards, suffered considerable losses.
The rampaging goblins, who were heavily mixed in, were to blame. Those cursed beings, draped in a rolling curse, bewildered them with their significantly enhanced speed and strength.
The guards, who fought more organized, suffered less damage, but the adventurers were left in complete disarray.
Now, everyone was focused on recovery, but there were not a few who had died or been injured. This would surely become an issue later on.
“By the way, if everything you’ve said is true, we have a serious problem on our hands.”
Turning slightly, Lakum looked at the cave behind him and changed the subject. The cave, where Renia’s team, tasked with the investigation, was busily moving around with exploration and investigation equipment, was the site where Renia had officially named the phenomenon as erosion.
She pointed to what she had witnessed and identified the root cause as that.
“I speak no lie. If we had dealt with the erosion even a little bit later, the monsters would have emerged in greater numbers and rampaged even harder.”
“In that case, that goblin Kai has done a great service. He saved many people with his own body.”
Lakum mentioned Kai. The hero who had ultimately sacrificed his own body to quell the erosion. No one knew how it had been possible.
The witnesses had simply stated it like that.
‘In truth, a greater being had intervened.’
Of course, that testimony was slightly twisted. It was true that Kai sacrificed himself to purify the erosion, but the entity purifying the erosion had been someone else entirely.
Renia peeked at Lakum, assured that her lie hadn’t been discovered.
“If similar erosions occur elsewhere, they will cause even more damage. I intend to widely inform this fact to raise awareness and tell the mayor to look into research properly.”
“I suppose there’s nothing I, a mere knight, can do about that.”
Furthermore, Renia had suddenly thought of investigating the bizarre phenomenon that had occurred. As the first discoverer and an authoritative scholar, no one would raise any objections to her being granted the right to investigate.
“By the way, the mythic weapon that was damaged…”
“Ahem. That was indeed my mistake, so I will compensate somehow.”
At that moment, Lakum mentioned the gun she had borrowed. A startled Renia perked her tail, which had been flicking, straight up. She had lied that the gun was damaged during combat and was sucked into the erosion zone.
‘Ugh, but still, this is a cheap loss.’
While she bristled at the thought of providing compensation, she calmed herself. She believed she had gained connections more valuable than that.
“If this phenomenon of erosion wasn’t a mere coincidence and a simple accident, we’ll need to stay alert for a while.”
Fortunately, Lakum quickly dropped the subject of the gun and muttered as he shifted his attention elsewhere.
“…There was nothing happening where we were hiding. I never thought such things would occur.”
As expected, it was already after the wave of the incident had spread.
In particular, news and rumors were quickly spreading, especially among adventurers, many of whom had suffered fatalities. Patrick sighed as he listened to what had transpired during the time he had been hiding with Rina.
“It was unlikely since all the creatures had already escaped, but it’s a relief just in case. It could have gotten extremely dangerous.”
At Patrick’s statement, Irilia, who had been riding on his back with a complaint about her sore legs and fatigue, chuckled. After all, it wasn’t guaranteed that Patrick could protect Rina while fighting an enemy that could catch even a knight off guard.
“For a while, the adventurers are going to suspend their activities. It seems like most parties participated in this hunt, and no one suffered any losses.”
As they approached the city, Patrick clicked his tongue while observing the countless injured and deceased being transported into the city.
Even after over ten years as an adventurer, he had never seen such a sight.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Let’s all take a few days off. We need some time.”
When Rina looked at her, asking the question, Irilia nodded as if it were already decided. She too needed to regroup.
“The amount we received as a reward for this incident is not small. We could quickly resume our activities, so rest as much as possible.”
“Then we’ll see each other then. If there are any other requests, I’ll let you know.”
They returned to the city, which was in a state of confusion due to the effects of the events outside, and parted ways. Irilia, who had slid down Patrick’s back, looked at his retreating figure as she stretched with a cracking sound.
“Patrick will take care of the troublesome matters, so let’s go and rest.”
“Shall we go to a hotel?”
“For now. But we need to grab our things and head to Ethan’s house.”
Irilia informed Rina of the plan she had made in advance. However, Rina tilted her head at the mention of returning to Ethan’s house.
“Why to his house…?”
“Because it’s more free there.”
Irilia didn’t care at all about the shocked reaction that she imagined from Ethan.
‘There, I’ll call upon the wind spirit.’
As she recalled the spacious courtyard of the mansion located in the highlands, she smiled slyly. The earth was the same, but the wind was freer than the earth.
As a High Elf who possessed the authority to commune with spirits merely by contact, Ethan’s mansion garden was a decent training ground for her.
“Dozens of people died or were injured, so I had a feeling it would be as such. Of course, you wouldn’t be hurt.”
“If someone heard that, they might think my body is made of iron.”
“Still, I’m glad. The atmosphere was quite unsettling.”
Ethan’s response to seeing them enter his home through the secret passage was as expected. However, given the gravity of the situation, there was also a sense of relief in his demeanor regarding their safety.
From Ethan’s perspective, he couldn’t afford to lose her, the secret weapon that could change his position, which had remained as a mere executive in an organization.
“Right. Did you come simply to rest? No matter what, it can’t be more comfortable than the hotel’s VIP room.”
“The bed or facilities don’t really matter. What I wanted is that.”
Irilia pointed to the garden visible through the window with her finger. Remembering that she had been in the garden training the earth spirit, Ethan let out a knowing sigh.
After all, he didn’t have any particular affection for the garden.
“Do as you wish. By the way, I managed to acquire a few more relics this time…”
“Bring them tomorrow. For today, I plan to wash up and go to sleep.”
Above all, Ethan had gotten considerable benefits.
With a smile as if expecting such a response from her, Irilia grinned, recalling the relics prepared in his vault.
“Thanks to the relics you create, I’m handling more money than I ever have before.”
“Are you disposing of them properly?”
“Don’t worry. To avoid any issues, even if it means incurring some losses, I’m selling them far away to make sure.”
Ethan had been thoroughly prepared in running his business since the day he almost got caught by the authorities for selling a relic incorrectly.
Thanks to this, while those pursuing him stumbled around elsewhere, he was still profiting from his sales.
‘Money is everything. If my position is mediocre, it will only give them justifiable reasons to poke at me, but if I grow significantly to overcome those obstacles, they will be too afraid to touch me. Now, the organization will have to be mindful of my presence instead.’
Ethan was an ambitious businessman. From a young age, the organization he had devoted his whole life to was merely a tool for his ambition.
Having seized this opportunity to gain an absurd amount of power, he was confident that he could steadily advance and realize his ambitions.
“…What is this?”
“This is a report on you, the team leader of the Su’an branch, Ethan.”
However, what Ethan himself anticipated turned out to be true; things wouldn’t flow smoothly.
Especially when it involved matters of money and power. Unknown to Ethan, a countermeasure against the gradually rising presence of Ethan began to take shape in a branch of another city.
