Episode 69. In Search of the Demon Sword (1)

“You want to go on a ruin expedition?”

Despite the owner’s appearance, which looked like he lived in a tent in the wild, the office was quite neatly organized.

A giant with rough, lion-like hair glared at me with fierce eyes.

“Yes. I want to get a temporary hero license and a two-night, three-day leave permit starting from Friday afternoon.”

“Hmm…”

Professor Lucas let out a low sigh.

He frowned as if he had a headache.

“Do you have any experience exploring ruins?”

“No, I don’t.”

In reality, I had experience conquering hundreds of ruins, but I couldn’t tell the truth.

“You don’t even have experience exploring ruins? Do you even know what ruins are?”

“Of course, I know.”

Places called ruins or dungeons.

They were spaces transformed by the power of the Devil God and other transcendent beings during the Devil God War 500 years ago… or even earlier.

Some places had time flowing differently.

Some places had gravity working in reverse.

Some places had lava and glaciers flowing together.

Ruins were places where phenomena beyond physical laws occurred.

‘Of course, only a very few are that twisted.’

Most ruins just had a few monsters wandering around or a few traps.

“Which ruin are you planning to go to? Of course, you know that undiscovered ruins are off-limits with a temporary hero license.”

“I plan to go to the ‘Cave of Red Tears’ west of Valhalla City.”

“Ah, there.”

Professor Lucas nodded as if he knew the place well.

Despite its eerie name, it was a fairly ordinary ruin with a danger rating of C.

“But that place was discovered decades ago. There won’t be much there except for a few monsters.”

“That’s why I’m going. To hunt those monsters. Didn’t you say that experience is the most important thing in combat training?”

“Hmm.”

Professor Lucas swallowed his words and looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“You… have some ulterior motive, don’t you?”

“……”

Damn it.

Why is this guy so sharp only at times like this?

‘He probably won’t give me permission easily.’

Just as I was pondering whether to go to Professor Elisha instead.

“You know that ruin exploration applications require a party of at least five people, right?”

“…Yes, I know.”

“Who are you planning to bring in your party?”

“Hmm. Probably Iris…”

“That’s what I thought, you rascal!”

Professor Lucas burst out laughing and stood up abruptly.

“Lately, you’ve been hanging out with Candidate Iris a lot. Are you planning to use the ruin exploration as an excuse to go on a trip together?”

“……”

I take back what I said about him being sharp.

“Hahaha. Anyway, you rascal, you’re such a man. Do you think I wouldn’t know what you’re up to? Back in my candidate days, I was called the Casanova of Valhalla…”

“By the way, how are things with Professor Bianca lately?”

“W-why are you suddenly bringing up P-Professor Bianca?”

Professor Lucas stammered with a flustered expression.

“No reason. It’s just that your plan to have a cozy date during the Sealing Festival was ruined by the monster commotion.”

“Ugh…!”

“Haha. Don’t make that face. Another opportunity will come soon.”

“……”

Professor Lucas tightly closed his mouth and turned his head away, avoiding my gaze.

Judging by his gloomy expression, things with Professor Bianca haven’t been going well lately.

I swallowed my laughter and spoke.

“So, will you give me the permit?”

“Well… it’s not a high-danger ruin, so there’s no reason to stop you. But…”

Originally, ruin exploration was a mandatory course in the ‘Combat Training’ class for third and fourth-year candidates.

It’s like going for a preview, so there’s no reason to stop you.

Of course, there have been cases where candidates went on ruin explorations and suffered casualties.

“But you know that the school is not responsible for any casualties that occur outside the school.”

This is not an ordinary educational institution but a hero school that trains heroes to fight on the front lines of humanity.

Even as candidates, as transcendent beings blessed with the Holy Mark by the seven gods.

The responsibility for their choices lies with themselves.

“I understand.”

I met Professor Lucas’s sharp gaze head-on and answered quietly.

Professor Lucas nodded and took out a few sheets of paper from the drawer.

“Alright. Then submit the consent forms of the party members you’re going with.”

“Yes.”

I took the consent forms from Professor Lucas and left the office.

* * *

A few days after submitting all the consent forms.

I stood in front of the school gate on Friday afternoon, waiting for the party members who would join this ruin exploration.

About 30 minutes before the agreed meeting time.

“Ah, you’re here early, Dale.”

Yuren, who spotted me, waved and approached.

I waved back at Yuren and greeted him.

“I just got here too.”

“Haha. Did you come out early because you’re excited too, Dale?”

“No, not really…”

It wouldn’t look good if the person who organized the ruin exploration party was late.

“By the way, suddenly a ruin exploration… I honestly never imagined Dale would make such a suggestion.”

“Is this your first ruin exploration?”

“Hmm… I went with my family before enrolling, but this is the first time since entering school.”

Well.

Unless it’s for a class, it’s rare for candidates to voluntarily apply for ruin explorations, where anything could happen.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

“Haha. Nervous? I’m actually thrilled that my first ruin exploration is with Dale.”

Yuren smiled brightly like a child excited for a field trip.

‘Well, from Yuren’s perspective, the Cave of Red Tears would feel like a field trip.’

Yuren, who is stronger than most professors, wouldn’t be afraid of a ruin with a danger rating of C.

‘But no matter how strong you are, you should never let your guard down during a ruin exploration.’

There was no need to pressure him before we even entered the ruin.

“…By the way, is Iris coming today?”

“Ah, yes. Of course, I invited her.”

“……”

Yuren frowned with a look of dissatisfaction.

But only for a moment.

Yuren sighed deeply and nodded.

“Well… we do need one support member.”

“Who needs what?”

As they say, speak of the devil.

Iris, who had arrived unnoticed, turned to Yuren and raised the corner of her mouth.

“At least you know that a support member is essential for party composition.”

“That’s something we learned in first-year classes.”

Yuren, who had already sensed Iris’s approach, calmly turned to her and continued.

“But just because it’s essential for party composition doesn’t mean it’s actually helpful, right? Especially in low-grade ruins, support members are often considered ‘useless.'”

“Oh my, parties that treat support members as useless don’t last long and end up wiped out, didn’t you learn that?”

“That’s just talk, talk. Surely the great ‘Saintess’ wouldn’t just be carried around without doing anything, right?”

“Hohoho.”

“Hahaha.”

No.

Why do you two start fighting as soon as you meet?

As I shook my head at Yuren and Iris exchanging sharp words.

“…Ha.”

I saw Camila, who seemed to have dark circles under her eyes, sighing deeply.

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Ugh… It’s all because of you!”

“No.”

What did I do?

“Do you know how much I suffered because of your sudden talk about ruin exploration?”

Camila glared at me with murderous eyes.

“The Saintess insisted on going no matter what… The Holy Kingdom said they absolutely couldn’t allow it… Ha. I’m really stuck in the middle…”

“Ah, um.”

Now that I think about it, I did cause some trouble.

“So how did you get permission from the Holy Kingdom?”

“I barely convinced them that it’s like a preview of the regular course.”

“Good job.”

“Ha. What kind of suffering is this…”

Camila sighed again with a tired expression.

“Well, it will actually be helpful, so don’t be like that.”

The reason I specifically invited Iris and Yuren for this ruin exploration was to give them ‘combat’ experience.

‘There’s a limit to how much you can improve just by training.’

Besides the goal of finding the Demon Sword, this ruin exploration also aimed to raise the level of my comrades.

“Now we just need one more person.”

I checked the time as I looked at Yuren, Iris, and Camila.

One minute left until the agreed meeting time.

It was about time for the last party member to arrive.

“By the way, who did you invite as the last member?”

Yuren tilted his head and asked.

Before I could answer, Iris spoke first.

“Isn’t it Juliet?”

“Juliet?”

“She’s Dale’s friend. I met her once before.”

“Ah, that candidate from a prominent family in the Republic, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm. I heard her reputation isn’t very good.”

Yuren frowned as he recalled the rumors he had heard about Juliet.

“Like messing with female candidates who just enrolled…”

“Ah, that’s a false rumor, so you don’t need to worry.”

Iris smiled awkwardly and shook her head.

“Actually, what she likes isn’t women… Ahem. Anyway! She’s definitely not the type to mess with female candidates.”

“Is that so?”

As Iris and Yuren continued their conversation as if they had fought before, I spoke up.

“Everyone seems to be misunderstanding something. The last party member isn’t Juliet.”

“Huh?”

“Then who is it?”

Yuren and Iris looked at me with wide eyes.

Before I could reveal the name of the last party member.

“Heyyyyyyyyy!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With a heavy sound that seemed to shake the ground, a giant over 2 meters tall came running at full speed.

“Hahaha! Sorry I’m late, bro! I had a lot of stuff to prepare, so it took some time!”

Thump!

Berald, with a backpack that looked like it was about to burst, put it down on the ground and laughed heartily.

“…What did you pack so much?”

“Well, food, drinks, stuff for sleeping… I packed everything I could think of!”

“Hey, you crazy guy. Your backpack must weigh over 100 kilos. Are you planning to carry that on a ruin exploration?”

“Ah, don’t worry! I cast ‘Levitation’ magic on it, so weight isn’t a problem!”

Berald lifted the 100-kilo backpack with one finger and grinned.

“See? It’s light as a feather, right?”

“……”

I looked at Yuren, Iris, and Camila, who were frozen in shock, and spoke.

“Everyone saw that, right?”

This guy is our fifth party member.