Episode 19 – Reaon
Nada and Iris were walking back along the path out of the dungeon.
Nada took the front, and Iris followed behind.
In just a matter of minutes, Nada had recovered enough to walk on his own again. He managed to reattach his broken armor and the pouch he carried, and he could even hold the heavy Green Dragon Crescent Blade once more.
And in his left hand, he carried the head of the gargoyle. Naturally, inside his pouch, separate from the eyes, the red-glowing Calvaon was also stored. Nada had wanted to bring back the rest of the gargoyle’s body as well, but he gave up because of its sheer size and weight. If gargoyles had been normal monsters, harvesting the materials to turn them into armor or weapons would’ve been an option, but gargoyles turn to stone and crumble apart, making that impractical. For that reason, he only brought what seemed to have the highest value—the head.
Because Nada’s complexion looked good, he appeared healed at a glance, but it was only an illusion. Under the bandages, his skin was still inflamed, and not a single bone fracture had mended. The potions’ side effects merely numbed the pain.
He was far from fully recovered.
They were walking along a narrow path—not adorned with flowers, but with crystals. Nada had passed through here several times before, so he knew from experience that monsters never came through this way. So they walked forward with little caution, at ease.
—That was when they heard footsteps.
From ahead.
Not just one.
There were several.
“Nada—”
Iris tried to move in front to shield him, but Nada stopped her with the left hand holding the crescent blade.
A few seconds later, figures emerged from the darkness up ahead.
Six of them.
One of them was.....Reaon.
It was Aghiya, the party with whom both Nada and Iris had a history of bad blood.
“Nada?”
The one who spoke was Nanaka, a member of Aghiya walking at the front. She looked surprised to see someone she knew standing before her.
“Nada…you say? What are you doing in a place like this? And Miss Iris, you too—”
Another figure appeared from behind her.
It was Reaon.
Even back when Nada was in the party, Reaon always took the middle position during travel, shifting to the front or rear as needed—an all-purpose adventurer who moved according to the situation.
He seemed puzzled to meet Nada in a place like this.
“Doesn’t matter why. Move—”
Nada, on the other hand, had no intention of having a proper conversation with Reaon.
Maybe he just wanted to get home quickly. Maybe he simply didn’t want to talk to someone he never got along with. Whatever the reason, he clearly saw Reaon as an obstacle.
“Nada, that… is—”
But Nanaka, oblivious to Nada’s mood, pointed at the head he held under his right arm. The other members of Aghiya also focused on it. A head made of stone—only the eyes glowing red.
It looked almost exactly like the monster Aghiya had planned to defeat next.
“Just now. I took it down.”
Nada answered bluntly.
Reaon glared at the head Nada was carrying and spoke slowly.
“—Where did you encounter it?”
Nada grinned and pointed behind him.
“Up ahead—”
“That path continues straight?”
“No idea, already forgot. Anyway, can we be done here? I just want to get home and rest.”
Nada put on a deliberately clueless expression and let out a huge sigh.
Seeing that attitude, Reaon clicked his tongue in irritation and said—
“Could it be that monster is… the famous gargoyle everyone’s been talking about?”
“Who knows.”
Nada pretended not to understand again.
That said, even if this was the gargoyle Aghiya was after, Aghiya couldn’t forcefully take it from him. The academy’s rules strictly prohibited acts of robbery inside a dungeon. When adventurers encountered each other, they were encouraged to pass quietly. If someone were found breaking this rule, the academy would hand down an extremely heavy penalty.
“Nada—there’s something I want to talk about.”
Reaon spoke gently.
“I don’t.”
Nada rejected it instantly.
But Reaon kept talking.
“Nada—won’t you come back to Aghiya?”
“…”
Nada fell silent.
But those words shocked the entire Aghiya party.
Especially Lio, who must’ve been a newer member—he shivered once, afraid he’d be the next one to get cut.
“I’m honestly surprised. I’ve changed my opinion of you. Come dive with us again, won’t you? You weren’t a hopeless adventurer. You were a promising one. Cutting you was my mistake—I apologize. But this time is different. I swear I’ll never cut you again. Even Miss Iris must want that too, no?”
“…”
Iris didn’t react in the slightest to Reaon’s words.
But he continued.
“Of course, we’ll return your armor and weapon. If you want, we can even transfer ownership from the party to you. What do you think? It’s not a bad deal for you, right?”
Reaon’s voice seeped in slowly, like it was meant to sink into the mind.
It was a tempting offer.
The weapon Nada had during his time in Aghiya was higher-ranked than his current Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Its sharpness and durability were about the same, but it was lighter, crafted from rare monster materials, and even had an added effect—sending out shockwaves every time it swung. And compared to the crescent blade he’d only had for a few dozen days, that greatsword was far more familiar in his hands.
For Nada, though, the armor was the real benefit. His old armor was unquestionably better than the busted one he had now. Buying a new set was an option, but getting something equal to or better than his old equipment would take real effort.
“So you want this in exchange?”
Nada held out the gargoyle’s head.
“That’s not it. All I want is for Aghiya to receive credit for defeating it. Of course, all the materials and the Calvaon inside it are yours. Not a bad deal, right?”
Indeed, on paper, it wasn’t a bad deal.
If he thought about it logically, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
But—
“I refuse. I have absolutely no intention of going back to Aghiya. I told you already, didn’t I? You and I just don’t get along.”
Nada had no intention of accepting.
From the moment he left Aghiya, he hadn’t regretted a single thing.
The weapons, the armor, the party, the comrades—
To him, all of it was already in the past.
“That’s a shame.”
Reaon lowered his shoulders as if disappointed.
“…”
Nada said nothing.
He took no action.
He didn’t glare at Reaon—his expression stayed flat, mechanical, like he was just performing a task.
Then Reaon presented another proposal.
“Then—would you be willing to hand us that gargoyle? Including that crystal stone, of course.”
Everyone held their breath at those words, but Nada didn’t react at all.
As if he’d expected it, he quietly sighed.
But Reaon’s sweet persuasion continued.
“In return, I’ll pay you three times the market price for the Calvaon you obtained. After the academy recognizes that we defeated it, we can return the materials to you. If you want, I can even give you those pieces of equipment—”
Nada said nothing.
But Reaon kept talking.
“Three times isn’t enough? Fine—four times. No, five! If you want, I can even use my connections to help you get assigned to a better party. How about it? If that’s still not enough—”
“Shut up already. Just stop talking.”
Nada cut him off.
There was irritation in his tone.
“I know it’s shameless of me to say all this to someone I once kicked out. But still—”
“There’s no ‘but,’ no ‘still.’ Don’t you get it?”
Nada let out a deep sigh.
“...Get what?”
Reaon lowered his gaze.
“I’m in a damn amazing mood right now! I finally found a reason to dive into the dungeon, finally found a goal in life! And you—don’t you dare spoil that feeling with your damn words!!”
Nada shouted, as if something had burst loose inside him.
“What?”
Reaon’s eyes sharpened.
Wearing a look of pure delight, Nada handed the gargoyle head to Iris, then pointed the blade of his Green Dragon Crescent Blade straight at Reaon.
“Decide. Are you stepping aside yourself, or am I going to make you move? You choose, you damn ape.”
Nada said it clearly.
“And if I choose not to move?”
Reaon’s eyes flared upward with anger.
“Then I’ll force you out of the way.”
“That’s forbidden inside the dungeon.”
“So what? Just get out of my way. I don’t have time to deal with some damn ape.”
Nada walked toward him.
Provoked, Reaon moved as well.
“—In that case, I’ll defend myself. ‘Second Sight.’”
Reaon drew his sword.
Its blade was so clear it looked like glass—an exquisite weapon, obtained from defeating a monster on par with an Exlidhao Ragario. Its rank exceeded Nada’s weapon.
Then—Reaon’s eyes opened wide.
His ability is activated.
—Second Sight.
Its power allowed him to see in a perfect 360-degree field without blind spots. It let him detect traps and enemies instantly, allowing him to issue faster commands than a normal leader.
That’s why he had been chosen as the leader of Aghiya.
But that ability manifested even in one-on-one combat.
Once Reaon activated his ability, he could see in every direction—front, back, left, right—making ambushes ineffective. Whether it was an Ability or a Gift, it wouldn’t work on him.
With that powerful ability and Reaon’s exceptional combat skill, he possessed fighting strength ranked among the upper tiers within the academy.
Nada, of course, knew that perfectly well.
Even so, he made no move to lower the crescent blade.
Nada advanced toward Reaon at a slow, deliberate pace.
His body no longer complained of pain. The medicine had numbed it. In the first place, after that life-or-death struggle with the gargoyle, the fact that he could even walk right now was close to a miracle. Without Dan’s healing potion, he would’ve been bedridden in that room for several more hours.
Even so, Nada walked.
“Do whatever you want. You’re in my damn way. It’s about time you got the hell out of my sight—”
Reaon didn’t take the bait from Nada’s provocation.
He would insist it was self-defense, nothing more.
Nada no longer had throwing knives. He had no darts laced with numbing poison. No kukri knife either. And on top of that, Reaon possessed the superior ability Second Sight—which rendered surprise attacks meaningless. Nada figured trickery was pointless.
Holding his Green Dragon Crescent Blade by one end with a single hand, Nada swung to the side the moment Reaon stepped into range.
Reaon’s sword was short. In terms of reach, Nada had the advantage.
Reaon turned his blade vertically, stepped in toward Nada, caught the crescent blade with the flat of his own sword, and let it glide along as he slipped into Nada’s guard. In truth, he succeeded—he avoided the edge and closed the gap all the way to the middle of the weapon’s shaft.
But—Nada crushed the sword purely through brute strength and drove Reaon backward, sending him flying, body and all, until he slammed into the dungeon wall.
Reaon suffered no injury. Even though he was thrown back, the polearm’s shaft had only struck over his sword and armor. The actual damage was almost nothing.
However, his body wouldn’t move.
Just looking at Nada’s back, fear locked his limbs in place.
Nada, meanwhile, didn’t bother to look back at Reaon and simply walked on. The former members of Aghiya stepped aside for him. Iris followed behind.
Reaon couldn’t move.
Nada’s back overlapped in his vision with that of a colossal monster. More powerful, more ferocious, more devoid of reason than any creature he had ever encountered. Nada’s raised canine teeth looked almost bestial. Reaon thought that if he opposed that thing, that monster, the rules of adventurers wouldn’t matter.
He would be killed.
Reaon also noticed Iris glance his way for just a moment. He also saw the gargoyle’s head in her hands.
But still, Reaon did not move.
He remained crouched by the wall, frozen.
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