Episode 20 – Epilogue
A week had passed since then.
Nada was still recuperating in the bed in his room. Even though he’d glossed over things at the time with healing potions, the damage hadn’t fully left his body. After returning to the surface and receiving treatment from a doctor and Dan’s Gift, his recovery speed had become incredibly fast compared to normal. Under ordinary circumstances, injuries of that degree would take half a year to heal, yet his body was already close to fully recovered.
However, under Dan’s orders, Nada was confined to his room. According to him, the stage right before recovery is the most dangerous, so Nada was to be kept under house arrest until his body was completely healed. Nada wanted to go outside and move his body already, but he wasn’t allowed.
Thanks to Iris’s help, both the dungeon and the school had prohibited him from entering. Apparently, she’d used the authority she possessed. Besides, all his equipment—including the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and his armor—was out for repairs, so even if he wanted to go to the dungeon, he couldn’t. On top of that, the house had been locked from the outside with a padlock. The windows weren’t locked, but Nada wasn’t in good enough shape to escape from them anyway. Fortunately, food and daily necessities were delivered alternately by Iris and Dan whenever they came to the house. Especially Iris—perhaps because she hadn’t been diving into the dungeon lately—now showed up at his room at least once a day.
And today was no different.
The front door opened.
“Nadaaa, you awake?”
Iris’s elongated voice drifted in.
Nada, who had been sitting up and looking at the sun outside the window, turned toward the direction of the voice.
Iris appeared soon after.
Today, she was dressed casually—blue skinny jeans paired with a gray hoodie.
The hood was up, hiding her beauty, but the kukri knife hanging at her lower back made it unmistakably hers.
“What is this? You’re awake. At least answer me.”
Complaining, Iris pulled down her hood and sat in front of the bed—not in a formal kneel, but slouching comfortably.
“Yeah.”
Nada’s tone was curt.
“What’s with you? You look gloomy.”
“Anyone would be gloomy being shut in like this. Anyway, what’d you come for today? I don’t recall asking you for anything.”
He let out a short snort as he spoke.
“I came because I have business with you.”
Iris pulled out a bundle of tied documents from the tote bag she was carrying and tossed them onto the bed.
“What’s this?”
Nada flipped through the pages as he asked.
“—Information on the gargoyle.”
“Gargoyle?”
That reminded Nada of something.
The gargoyle head he brought back from the dungeon had been handed over to the academy’s research lab. Iris said this was the resulting report.
“Take a look inside. It’s pretty incredible.”
Just as Iris said, when Nada checked the contents, one line in particular shocked him.
—The gargoyle reacts to Abilities and Gifts, and possesses the power to petrify its skin. In that state, its hardness becomes exceptional, rendering most student-level Abilities and Gifts ineffective.
“What the hell is this…”
Nada frowned deeply.
“Looks like this is the reason the juniors kept getting wiped out.”
“A natural enemy… for everyone except me.”
“Right? Keep reading.”
Iris smiled faintly.
Following her suggestion, Nada read further and found information concerning Podie—the dungeon they normally explored.
—Additionally, ‘Podie’ is a word from a distant country meaning ‘power.’ The fact that Abilities and Gifts do not work on this monster may be a characteristic tied to the nature of Podie as a dungeon.
“What does this mean?”
Nada tilted his head.
“You’re really slow on the uptake, I see. Basically, Podie’s role as the dungeon is to show your strength. And the ‘strength’ here isn’t about brainpower—it’s plain old physical power. A dungeon perfectly suited for someone like you, whose muscles extend all the way into his skull.”
“Shut up.”
Nada muttered under his breath at Iris’s jab.
She only gave a small laugh in response.
Nada threw another question at her, one that had just come to mind.
“…But why is there a need to show strength in the first place? Isn’t the dungeon’s only role to produce Calvaon?”
Iris let out a sigh before explaining it to the clueless Nada.
“You really are an idiot. You seriously don’t know? Back in the days when heroes roamed the world—well, in other words, Lord Adamas—the dungeons were said to exist for the sake of maintaining the world’s stability.”
“Stability?”
“Right. By conquering the twenty-two dungeons, they supposedly kept the world stable. More than half of them don’t even exist anymore, but to the people of the ancient era, dungeons must have been sacred places.”
“And now they’re just graveyards where gold-hungry vultures gather, huh…”
Nada spoke with a hint of self-mockery.
Iris didn’t contradict him, replying only with, “That might be true.”
“Oh, right. I doubt you know this, but lately there’s been a certain rumor making the rounds in the academy.”
As if remembering something amusing, Iris grinned mischievously.
“…What kind of rumor? It’s nothing good, I bet.”
Nada muttered in resignation. He knew exactly what his standing in the academy was.
“You defeated the Gargoyle, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, rumor has it that it was actually Aghiya who defeated it.”
“…Huh?”
Nada let out a stunned sound.
“Apparently, before going into the dungeon, Reaon told someone his plan to defeat the Gargoyle. So when you came back carrying its head, some people think you stole the kill. Especially since Reaon apparently had broken ribs and all—thanks to your brute strength. So now the story is that you’re some awful villain who stole Agiya’s prey.”
“Well, well, isn’t that something…”
Nada pulled a wry face.
“Oh, and one more thing—Aghiya seems to have fallen apart.”
“…What?”
Nada’s voice cracked again.
“Looks like their members have been quitting one after another. First, the rookie who joined in your place. Next was Nanaka. Losing two people all at once shook them, and after that, it was like an avalanche.”
Iris recounted it calmly.
“That’s pretty sudden…”
“From what I heard, everyone got spooked by the conversation you and Reaon had in that dungeon. Nanaka told me she hated not knowing when she might be replaced next. That’s why they all started looking for new parties.”
“Come to think of it, Nanaka was taking turns with you, right?”
“That’s right. And actually, a few days ago, Reaon asked me if I wanted to rejoin the party. Nanaka overheard, and that’s when she said she was scared of being swapped out.”
“Hmph.”
Nada, apparently already losing interest, lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket over himself.
Seeing that, Iris threw a teasing question his way.
“How about it? Do you feel anything toward Reaon right now? Like ‘serves him right,’ or ‘karma,’ maybe?”
But Nada didn’t nod at that question.
“Nope. He’s got a damn capable Ability. Even if his reputation hits rock bottom, he won’t have trouble finding another party. His detection ability is pretty much all-purpose.”
Perhaps she didn’t like his answer, because Iris clicked her tongue and muttered, “What a boring guy.”
“Well, I’m heading home. You look sturdy enough now, so I’ll make sure you can go back to the academy and the dungeon. Work hard and pay back the debt you owe me.”
Leaving only that parting remark, Iris went home.
Left alone in the room, Nada sat there gripping a stone, thinking.
A lot had happened lately.
Not a single good thing. Everything that happened was nothing but the worst.
If he looked at the whole picture, he was probably in the negative right now.
The money he earned from the gargoyle was eaten up by new armor and weapon repairs. He’d have to get another kukri knife too, and the days under de facto house arrest had slowly drained his funds. Adding it all up, defeating the gargoyle barely paid off. At this point, he regretted not accepting Reaon’s proposal.
Of course, his weapon rank had dropped, and his armor was in the same state. He didn’t have party members—and now that a new round of bad rumors had spread, it would probably be even harder than before to form a party.
On top of that, his body had gotten sluggish over the past few days, so he had to start training again. His studies were surely behind too, so he’d need to go bow his head to Dan. At this rate, even graduating might be in danger.
Judging by the situation, things had gotten worse than before.
And yet, his heart felt as clear as the bright sky outside the window.
Nada squeezed the stone tightly.
It felt heavier—and hotter—than before.
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