Chapter 18

Chapter 018

How on earth had this happened?

Why was my name there?

‘There is no way...... it is a coincidence.’

Even if the name Sunan could be common, I could not call it a coincidence when it was written in Hangul.

While I stood frozen, unable to understand what was going on, Felix came up beside me.

“What are you doing?”

“......Nothing.”

I suddenly came to my senses and grasped the Engraving Stone.

The stone came free with a smooth slide and settled into my hand.

‘This is the first time I have seen one this big.’

In my memory, the largest one had been about the size of my little fingernail.

I could not even begin to guess how long it had been left untouched.

I turned around while letting out a vague cough.

“For some reason, it looked like it would come out, so I tried pulling it......?”

Felix was staring at me with a stunned expression.

“Mr. Felix?”

“Uh...... Hm? Ah, no, I am sorry. No, but...... that thing could be pulled out............?”

“I-It looked like it might, so I tried it...... and it worked.”

Wow...... Why was I so terrible at acting?

Both Felix and I were so flustered that we were babbling incoherently. It was hard to imagine a comedy more absurd than this.

After stuffing the Engraving Stone into my bag, I pretended to look around the boss room a little more before coming outside.

“Hmm...... Congratulations. I do not know what kind of object it is, but I hope it is something good.”

“Thank you.”

I already knew what it was used for, but I had no intention of consuming it right away.

Aside from absorption or enhancement, it was a rather useful item on the first floor.

‘More importantly, what on earth was that?’

It was dedicated to me, who would one day come here?

It was clearly something left behind by a Possessor, but I could not think of anyone it might have been.

‘Had I known this would happen, I should have interacted with people more.’

I had used the community, but I had barely interacted with other people.

At most, I answered when someone asked a question from time to time.

Since I had written most of the general guides apart from character guides, quite a few people asked me things through chat.

But because I was not particularly sociable and had not built any friendships, I barely remembered who was who.

“I have no idea what is going on.”

While I was holding my aching head, Felix spoke.

“I am sorry I did not do much for you. It feels a little insufficient to settle everything with just this...... Is there anything else you need?”

“This is already enough.”

“What a disappointing thing to say. You are my lifesaver, are you not?”

What was this? Was he a pushover?

I would not have said anything even if he had just let the matter end there, but he was an unusual man.

I was not the type to refuse something that was offered either, so I decided to gladly accept his goodwill.

“Then can you organize an expedition for me? I am going to challenge that Guardian’s Room from earlier.”

“Hmm...... That will be difficult.”

“It will?”

He nodded.

“The boss being dangerous is part of it, but Apprentice Adventurers are forbidden from boss expeditions. To do it, one needs a guarantor, and ordinary authority will not suffice. At the very least, it would have to be someone of noble rank.”

“A guarantor.......”

As expected, it was not as easy as it sounded.

An ordinary Apprentice Adventurer would have no point of contact with a noble, so this was effectively the same as telling them not to do it.

Of course, I was an exception.

“Then can you deliver just one message when you return to Ortanis?”

“Hm? To whom?”

“Persica Ortanis.”

His eyes widened.

It was obvious at a glance that he was surprised.

“I can try making the suggestion...... but the young lady will not move just because someone at the bottom like me says something.”

“It is enough if you just deliver the message.”

As I said that, I handed him an empty Potion bottle.

“Just tell her, along with this, that Ishara and Isran are coming to visit.”

“Hm......?”

Before the final test at the Selection Grounds, Persica had said to come find her if I needed help.

‘I did not think I would be meeting her again this soon.’

With a somewhat complicated feeling, I toyed with the hilt of my sword.

If I met her, how should I talk to her?

It was a day that left me deep in thought.

***

After sending Felix ahead, instead of returning, I used the outpost at the boss room as a base camp and continued hunting in the surrounding area.

Even if Felix delivered the message, I did not think I would be able to meet her quickly.

If I remembered correctly, when nobles sent a letter, it took several days just for them to read it.

Since it was obvious that it would take a long time, I devoted myself to hunting for a few more days.

I had to earn money.

“Ugh.......”

And so I spent a full week there.

The filth and discomfort were one thing, but after nearly dying several times, I was so exhausted that I felt as if I might die.

There were quite a few traps I did not remember, so I nearly ended up skewered, and there were at least five times when a monster that ambushed me almost took my head off.

More than anything, sleeping was the worst ordeal.

Once, I went too far out and had to spend the night in the forest, so I thought I might be fine if I slept in a tree.

‘To think that was such a complacent decision.’

When I woke up because something felt strange, my entire body was bound tight.

There was a spider-type monster called an Arachne, and I had been caught by one.

It was fortunate that Ishara reacted and cut the web for me. Had I been an ordinary adventurer, I might have become spider food without being able to move a muscle.

“......I am tired.”

After that, I could not sleep properly.

In the game, there had been no need to sleep, so I had not realized it, but this was an incredibly serious problem.

Once I reached the second floor, there would be even fewer safe zones, which meant there would be more situations where I had to sleep outdoors. My head already hurt just thinking about it.

When I trudged to the Lift Platform, I saw quite a few adventurers in a similar state.

“Uuugh, I am dying.......”

“Uwegh...... Uwegh.......”

“I really...... feel so dizzy that I might die.......”

Unlike me, the people who had to experience all the side effects in full were in even worse condition.

Some had collapsed from exhaustion as though it were nothing unusual, and many were sprawled on the ground, vomiting yellowish stomach acid.

Some had sustained serious injuries, while others were outright dead.

‘......So this is a dungeon.’

It finally struck me anew that this place was not a paradise from a fairy tale.

Beneath the breathtaking scenery that stole the eye, this hellscape was unfolding.

“Is that not the apprentice from back then?”

“I think it is. He survived somehow.”

Some people found my safe return remarkable.

I roughly ignored them and climbed onto the Lift Platform that had descended.

‘I should rest and gather some information.’

The words I had seen in the boss room were still circling in my mind.

It was certain that they had been left by a Possessor, but there was no proper way to investigate them.

If a 3-star adventurer did not know about them, it did not seem likely that they would be openly recorded in a library or somewhere similar.

I could ask Persica, but.......‘That will be my last resort.’

Because of the things I had shown her, she made me rather uneasy.

She did not seem especially quick-witted, but if she noticed anything, it might become troublesome.

Since I still did not know how Possessors were treated, I had to avoid anything that might expose my identity as much as possible.

Creak- THUD!

“We have arrived! Adventurers, please disembark in order!”

As soon as the doors of the Lift Platform opened, adventurers poured out.

I wanted to go straight back to my lodging, but before that, I had to settle the Mana Stones I had acquired.

I followed the crowd to the settlement office.

‘The market price is...... Hmm, not bad.’

Mana Stones were purchased by the Ebla royal family, in other words, by the state.

There were official settlement offices throughout the city, and the price changed according to that day’s market rate.

Today, the market price happened to be fairly high.

“Sekel Party...... A total of 203,400 Rune.”

“Audrey Party...... A total of 225,560 Rune.”

As expected, the earnings of first-floor groups were all more or less the same.

Most were around 100,000 to 150,000 Rune, with a few occasionally exceeding 200,000.

‘After taxes and distribution, is it about 20,000 to 30,000? That is exactly first-floor level.’

Considering that a decent meal cost 100 Rune, it was not a particularly high income.

If one considered that they were risking their lives, it was actually low.

And this was by the standards of ordinary adventurers. Apprentices earned even less.

“According to the contract, your share is half. You are the porter, after all.”

“Yes...... Thank you.......”

“We only earned this much this time.”

“Sigh.......”

It seemed apprentices either joined as porters for a low distribution ratio, or formed parties entirely with other apprentices.

In the former case, the ratio was low, and in the latter, their skills were lacking, so their income was not high either.

‘.......’

I pressed my hood lower so they would not notice me.

After all, being an apprentice meant they were my peers from the Selection Grounds, and some of them might recognize me.

“......Do your best.”

A quiet word of encouragement was all I could offer.

To earn properly, one had to reach the third floor. Until then, they had no choice but to endure through sheer grit.

I hoped they would survive until then.

“Next!”

At last, it was my turn.

In front of the settlement officer, who looked quite strict, I placed my backpack on the counter.

Perhaps because I had done nothing but hunt all week, it was fairly heavy.

“Let me see.......”

The stern-looking settlement officer adjusted his monocle and examined the Mana Stones.

Then, for some reason, he frowned sharply.

“......105,700 Rune?”

It had exceeded 100,000. I had gathered quite a lot.

Well, since I had mostly been hunting upper species, it was not particularly strange.

At this rate, I should be able to take about 80,000 Rune even after taxes.

“Did you truly earn all of this alone?”

“Yes.”

But the settlement officer abruptly checked my personal information.

“Adventurer Isran. Your Star Rank is 2-star, and it says you went down to the first floor seven days ago.”

“Yes.”

“This is far too much for an apprentice to have obtained alone in a single week.”

The atmosphere was somehow becoming ominous.

No, what was wrong with earning a lot?

When I frowned along with him, the settlement officer called the guards.

“Did you perhaps loot these from a dead adventurer? Speak honestly. Looting is a serious crime.”

“There is no way I did that.”

It seemed that because the amount I had obtained was far too large for an apprentice, the settlement officer suspected that I might have taken them from dead people on my own.

Mana Stones obtained as stolen goods were all recovered by the national treasury regardless of circumstances, so failing to report them made one a criminal.

“Come to think of it, did that fellow not head straight into the inner part of the first floor?”

“I thought it was strange that an apprentice came back alive and well alone, but he must not have fought at all in the first place.”

“Could it be...... he went there planning to do that from the start?”

Because of that, suspicion began to spread, centered around the adventurers who had seen me.

From my perspective, it was nothing but unfair.

Strictly speaking, I had not looted anyone. On the contrary, I had helped someone. Felix was my witness.

Everything in that backpack was also something I had earned myself through hardship.

“No.......”

They did not seem inclined to believe me.

Apparently, being protected by law did not mean my words carried any weight.

I realized anew what kind of position an apprentice held.

‘Is earning a lot of money a crime now?’

A guard came closer and took out handcuffs.

“You are coming with us. We will hear the rest in the interrogation room.”

From his voice alone, this man was dead serious. This was not a situation where words would get through.

‘Should I use it?’

I toyed with the Platinum Token.

If I showed this, I could dispel the suspicion that my skill was insufficient.

I had hidden it under my shirt because I did not want to attract attention, but it seemed I was no longer in a position to worry about that.

“Wait.”

The moment I was about to take out the pendant, someone grabbed the guard who was about to cuff me.

Was he about 190 centimeters tall? He was an exceptionally tall man.

The guard, suddenly interrupted, twisted his expression sharply.

“What is this? I am carrying out official duties. If you are interfering......”

Without answering what followed, the man took out a seal and showed it.

A silver Ortanis seal.

Not only the guard, but even the people watching were startled.

“I am from White Night, the knights directly under Ortanis. Do not interfere.”

The White Night Knights.

They were the private forces directly operated by House Ortanis, an elite group whose members all possessed strength equivalent to the fifth floor or above.

They were famous enough that even I knew of them.

“E-Excuse me! This is the execution of official duties......!”

At that moment, the settlement officer who had tried to arrest me stepped forward, but the knight glared at him with a sharp gaze.

“This person is a guest of House Ortanis. If you wish to raise an objection, send a letter to the house afterward.”

“P-Pardon? That is.......”

He ignored the settlement officer’s words and looked at the guard.

Before their eyes even met, the guard released my hand and took a step back.

The knight approached me.

“Is your name Lord Isran?”

“Ah...... Yes. That is, yes.”

“Please show me your weapon.”

I untied the cloth and showed him my sword.

After checking the sword, the knight nodded, then bowed his head and offered a polite greeting.

“My name is Gordon Lansher, captain of the White Night Knights. Lady Persica has ordered me to escort you. Let us go together.”

Persica Ortanis.

The moment her name came out, the surroundings became so silent that even the sound of breathing could no longer be heard.

‘I am screwed.’

The rumors were definitely going to spread everywhere.