“So… Elder Ingmar, it’s about time we parted ways.”
At the village outskirts, Thorne, leading Leya and the rest of his team, was bidding a final farewell to Ingmar and the other adventurers who remained.
Behind them stood a single adventurer from each of the other teams, already poised to depart.
“Indeed, Captain Thorne,” Ingmar replied. “Though our time working together was brief, on behalf of all the villagers, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you and your team.”
“Uh…” Thorne scratched his head, a hint of awkwardness in his gesture. His lips parted several times, as if to speak, but no words escaped him.
He sighed, nodded to Ingmar, and then led his team toward their waiting carriage.
“Hmph—just a bunch of cowards…”
The voice, neither too loud nor too soft, suddenly emerged from the crowd.
Its proximity to Thorne’s team meant that Leya and the others heard it with perfect clarity.
“Damn it! Who said that? Step forward!”
Everyone had expected the incident to conclude with Thorne’s usual silence. Surprisingly, while Thorne indeed endured, Gilbert found himself unable to restrain his anger.
Gilbert, typically the most composed among them, was now visibly furious.
“Tsk, what’s wrong? Still upset? Let me tell you, it was your grandpa Kennedy who said it!”
As he spoke, Kennedy, standing beside Chapman, defiantly raised his middle finger.
“What! Holy hell, you motherfu—”
Already seething with rage, Gilbert could no longer tolerate such provocation. He roared, ready to charge at Kennedy and initiate a brawl.
However, just as he took a step forward, Thorne forcefully pulled him back, his brows furrowed with grave seriousness.
“Gilbert! Do not act rashly!”
“But… but Captain, he…”
“Are you refusing to listen to my words now!?”
“This… Tsk!—”
With a frustrated huff, Gilbert, unable to defy Thorne, ultimately conceded.
His mood was clearly foul; he practically race-walked away from the group, heading toward the carriage alone.
Yet, his departure only emboldened Kennedy, who, almost directly in front of Thorne, sneered mockingly.
“Haha, with a captain like that, it’s no wonder… even if you had two more years, your team would never reach C-rank! Hahahahahahaha—”
[A creaking sound—]
Even though Thorne appeared particularly enraged this time, his fingers once again audibly creaked as he clenched his fists.
Still, he endured.
His face grim, he walked toward the carriage without uttering a single word.
“Captain…”
Behind them, Angela, who had been silently following the team, gazed at her captain’s demeanor. Her expression was conflicted for a long while, and though she wished to speak, her words ultimately dissolved into a sigh.
“Angela, the Captain fears them. Do you fear them too?”
The question came from Leya, who was also trailing the team, walking close beside Angela.
“Afraid? Of course I am, aren’t you? After all, they’re an A-rank team…”
She laughed self-deprecatingly, then her tone shifted to one of sadness. “But I still feel a bit unwilling, don’t I? To be spoken to like that and have to endure it without a word…”
“Oh… is that so?”
“Then have you never thought about striving to surpass them, to defeat them?”
“How could that possibly be so simple!… Ngh—”
She had suddenly cried out involuntarily. Afterward, Angela realized her mistake and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, lowering her head and falling silent.
However, her voice had been loud, and it was inevitable that Kennedy would overhear.
As expected, Kennedy indeed adopted a mocking expression and spoke.
“Oh? Well, well, if it isn’t those two young ladies from yesterday?”
He then fixed his gaze on Leya, speaking as if recalling some terrible memory. “I remember it was you, wasn’t it? Said you’d defeat the Wolf King? Hahaha… so where’s the Wolf King’s corpse now?”
Leya: “…………”
“Alright, Kennedy… that’s enough.”
It was Chapman who spoke.
“Oh, right! I almost forgot! My lady, you’re a noble, aren’t you? Wielding priceless holy artifacts! Tsk, tsk, your escape speed was much faster than what we achieve with mere physical training!”
Leya: “…………”
‘This idiot… I’m truly speechless.’
“Miss Leya, um… the Captain and the others are about to get into the carriage, so…”
Seeing the situation turn sour, Angela, who believed she understood “Leya” quite well, naturally couldn’t stand by idly.
This time, however, Angela was truly overthinking it, because when it came to people like Kennedy… Leya genuinely had no patience left.
‘Still… to simply swallow this insult would not be in line with my character!’
After a moment’s thought, Leya retorted, “Whether we are cowards is beside the point. It’s just that… some people might unknowingly walk to their deaths, completely oblivious to their fate. Sigh…”
Then, under the bewildered gazes of everyone present, she followed Angela and quickly boarded the carriage.
“Ha… ha? Walking, walking to their deaths? Tsk, tsk, that’s certainly a convenient excuse for a team like yours to make before leaving. How utterly absurd and laughable! Hahahahahahaha—”
Soon, Kennedy, having recovered, didn’t forget to hurl another sarcastic remark back at Leya.
“Haha, exactly, exactly!”
“They’re just children, after all. It’s only natural for them to run from a task like this! Hahaha—”
This seemed to be met with enthusiastic approval from most of those present.
Or perhaps, for most of the onlookers, it was merely a way to alleviate their inner fear, a cathartic release to boost their own sense of confidence?
But all of this, it seemed, was irrelevant to Ingmar.
His eyes narrowed, his face etched with surprise and doubt, though he quickly masked his expression.
‘Oh dear… what exactly did that little girl discover? No, it shouldn’t be possible for these things to be exposed, should it…?’
He pondered this with vexation for a moment, before a strange smile spread across his face as he spoke.
“Even so, what a pity, what a pity. You are, after all, merely a Level 1 magic user… Against the ultimate [Descent], you are nothing but an insignificant ant. What threat could you possibly pose to the plan? Heh heh…”
“But… it is still a threat, nonetheless. Very well, then. To ensure absolute certainty, let’s have [that fellow] join in as well…”
****
Meanwhile, on the forest path leading back to Volantis.
Leya and her team members were traveling together in a single carriage… or rather, all but the injured Giles, who lay in a separate vehicle, as they made their way back to Volantis City.
Throughout the journey, despite being in the same carriage, the atmosphere was particularly awkward due to the various unpleasant incidents that had previously occurred.
“Hoo—”
Thorne took a deep breath. It seemed he could no longer sit still.
Everyone’s gaze involuntarily turned to Thorne, awaiting his explanation.
“It’s the Undead, you see…”
Everyone: “???”
“So, the item Chapman brought to the meeting room yesterday was actually the corpse of a Netherworld Wolf that had already turned into an Undead creature!”
“…………”
Instantly, silence once again fell upon the carriage.
With the exception of Leya, nearly everyone’s face was etched with profound shock.
“Un… Undead? How could that be? How would those creatures dare to openly attack us humans?”
“Impossible? Hmph—”
As if scoffing at Angela’s naive foolishness, Thorne continued.
“Do you remember the Kingdom’s eastern expedition into the Netherworld Forest not long ago?”
“Ah! Captain, you mean the one from not long ago… I think it was about eight months back, wasn’t it? I heard the Kingdom dispatched over 150,000 troops for an eastern expedition against the demon forces entrenched in the Netherworld Forest within our borders. But after more than half a year of campaigning, only half of them, fewer than 80,000, returned recently. Such a devastating record… not just in recent years, but even since the founding of the Kingdom of Alvia, there hasn’t been a battle this tragic, has there?”
This time, it was Gilbert who responded.
It was clear he was genuinely interested in the matter, otherwise his attitude wouldn’t have shifted so quickly from furious to now addressing Thorne as “Captain” so readily.
Setting that aside for a moment, regarding the eastern expedition they mentioned…
Leya pondered it and realized she seemed to know about it too.
‘Who was it again…? Roy? Yes! It was Roy; didn’t he say he was a captain of a small squad in the Eastern Expeditionary Army?’
“Exactly, that very expedition… However, the information we common folk received about it might have been wrong from the very beginning!”
“Huh!? Captain, are you saying this eastern expedition was a sham?” Gilbert exclaimed in surprise.
“No, no, not exactly…” Thorne wiped away non-existent sweat, then continued with a grave expression. “I mean, it’s highly possible that this eastern expedition wasn’t fought against demons at all!”
“Not demons? Then it must have been the Undead!? That… that can’t be, can it!? Didn’t we agree that we humans don’t even know where their main stronghold, the Netherworld Wastes, is located? How could they suddenly…”
“That’s why I’m saying, let me finish, Gilbert!—”
“Ah? Ah… oh… alright…”
“Hoo—”
Taking another deep breath, and finally securing a promise from the interruption-prone Gilbert, Thorne continued.
“It wasn’t demons, nor was it the Undead. In fact, one could even say that the Kingdom’s operation this time wasn’t about warfare at all…”
“Huh? Then why… Ngh—”
Realizing his slip, Gilbert instinctively clapped a hand over his mouth, waiting for Thorne to continue.
“It’s quite logical, isn’t it? The Kingdom is in such a state now, maintaining a false unity in name, but in reality, it’s already divided among four factions. Why would they suddenly unite to attack something like the Netherworld Forest, located in the remote eastern borders…?”
Upon hearing this, everyone, including Gilbert, remained silent and nodded in understanding.
“Therefore, the Kingdom’s operation this time wasn’t a war. Rather, it was a necessary treasure-claiming war, a brief alliance formed solely to acquire the [Heart of the Netherworld]!”
‘[Heart of the Netherworld]?’
The name sounded intriguing, but to deploy such a massive army just for one treasure… that seemed a bit too much.
Cough, cough… If even Leya felt this way, there was no need to mention Angela and Gilbert, who were already brimming with suspicion.
To answer this question, Thorne, instead of following convention, began to tell them another story.
“What is the [Heart of the Netherworld]? To explain that, we must speak of the historic White Night, six years ago…”
‘Six years ago… six years ago… that shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right?’
[Ding dong—A reminder to the Host: You may not be aware due to the integration period, but I can tell you quite clearly… your arrival was indeed six years ago, precisely 2212 days ago. You descended into this Netherworld Forest and began integrating with this divine vessel. Furthermore, it was indeed due to certain reasons that the White Night occurred…]
Leya: “…………”