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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Kayla went with the Specter.
Athena and Baldur formed a team, accompanied by Skeleton No. 2 and Cereo.
And I decided to take the remaining undead and move with Annelise.
Athena and Kayla protested, but this was the best way to balance our forces.
“It’s dangerous for Master to move alone without a vanguard.”
“That’s right. Let’s split into two teams instead. At least go with Master.”
I shook my head at their words.
“With the undead summoned, I have enough of a vanguard. And this is the most efficient way to move.”
The undead were fundamentally connected to me, and Cereo could communicate with me.
And the Specter could indirectly express its intentions.
‘It means we can contact each other if we find the ruin.’
I and the undead could sense each other’s locations.
Although the connection weakened with distance, it wasn’t a problem in this area.
In the end, my companions agreed, and I started moving with Annelise.
Annelise followed me silently for a while.
We weren’t moving that fast, so she had no trouble keeping up.
After about an hour…
“Um…”
I was concentrating on finding traces of the ruin, which hadn’t been discovered yet, when she spoke to me.
I ignored her at first.
As I had decided when I accepted her, I had no intention of interacting with her.
As long as she didn’t die, it was fine. I planned to leave her alone and send her away eventually, so there was no reason to get close to her.
I didn’t want to antagonize the dark elves, and the benefits of accepting her were too great.
That’s why I accepted her, but there was no need to treat her sincerely.
Neither the royal family nor the dark elves expected me to be friendly towards her, they just wanted me to ensure her safety.
She had been temporarily added to the party under this tacit understanding, yet she was always acting distant.
But Annelise didn’t give up.
She called out to me repeatedly, and I finally answered, filled with annoyance.
“Be quiet.”
“…I have a question.”
“Can you shut up?”
“What will happen to me if I go somewhere else?”
She persistently questioned me, no matter how much I tried to ignore her.
I considered beating her up to shut her up, but I decided against it.
‘She was entrusted to me for her safety.’
It would be excessive to beat her up just because she was being noisy.
Therefore, I ignored her again instead of answering.
“There’s no place for me in my family. Even if I return, I’ll be sent away again… or at best, I’ll be treated like a slave, even if I become 4th class.”
‘Then she’ll probably be sent to one of the kingdoms within the six-kingdom alliance?’
The situation of the dark elves had worsened compared to the past.
It would be quite troublesome to bring her back into the Demihuman Alliance…
‘Judging from how much attention they’re giving to her, a half-blood, one of her parents must be a high-ranking member of the family.’
Even so, she was being treated like a slave because she was a half-blood, which showed how the Demihuman Alliance treated humans.
“But I don’t have the confidence to adapt to another kingdom… and I think it will be difficult to find good companions.”
Not being able to find good companions meant that her safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
I didn’t understand why she was asking, knowing all this.
Or rather, I had a rough idea.
“…I’ll try my best not to be a burden. Can’t I stay in this party?”
“No.”
“Don’t even think about it. Just wait quietly until someone comes to take you.”
I didn’t know why she was acting like this now.
But neither I nor my companions welcomed her.
Annelise didn’t speak any further after seeing my firm stance.
But she didn’t seem to have given up either.
‘Was I too gentle?’
I thought ignoring her would be enough.
She had been living a withdrawn life, constantly being ignored.
But now she suddenly wanted to stay.
I couldn’t understand why.
As we were searching the area…
The Specter came to me.
“…You found it.”
It seemed Kayla had discovered it.
I immediately sent a signal to Cereo, and he started moving towards me, unable to respond to my command.
Seeing his movement, Athena and Baldur would also come looking for me.
“Lead the way.”
I immediately ordered the Specter to return to Kayla, and it faithfully followed my instructions.
It wasn’t long before I rejoined Kayla.
“Did you find it?”
“Yes. It’s here.”
The place Kayla pointed to was, ironically, beneath a fallen tree trunk.
“There were traces of someone entering and exiting here. I went inside and confirmed that it’s definitely a suspected ruin.”
She said that the deeper she went, the more it transitioned from dirt to stone, and there were even giant statues.
“Were there any guardians?”
“The statues were suspicious. …And it seems like there are a lot of Gargoyles.”
Gargoyles.
Guardians that disguised themselves as grotesque statues and attacked intruders.
It was said that the first Gargoyle was born when a spirit inhabited a sculptor’s work, but I didn’t know if it was true.
“Did they seem strong?”
“No. To be honest, they didn’t seem that strong. I’ve heard that Gargoyles are tricky, but I don’t think they would be a problem for me. However, as I mentioned before, the statues were quite suspicious, so I didn’t investigate further.”
I nodded and told her she had made the right choice.
There was no need to take risks when she had companions.
And as she finished her report, Athena and Baldur, led by Cereo, found us.
“Inha! Master!”
Athena ran towards us.
She quickly approached us and then urgently scanned the surroundings.
Seeing her actions, I asked.
“Did you run into anyone?”
I hardened my expression at her words.
She wouldn’t have said that for no reason. She must have either seen someone or at least found traces of someone else.
‘Are we being followed? Could it be Iklemba…’
“Is someone following us?”
“I don’t know, but I found traces of someone else.”
Athena continued.
“And it seems like there weren’t just one or two.”
Kayla and I exchanged serious glances.
“What should we do?”
Kayla asked me.
“Where did you find the traces?”
“A bit away from where we initially separated.”
‘Did they come from Jutus?’
Judging from the location, it seemed likely.
It was quite far from here…
‘Did they receive information too?’
The problem was that we hadn’t concealed our tracks at all.
There was no reason to, and it would have been a waste of time.
It would have been inefficient.
‘We had to find the ruin and secure the rewards, so we didn’t have time to waste.’
And since the ruin hadn’t been discovered at this point in time, there was no need to be overly cautious.
There hadn’t been any pursuers, and things had gone so smoothly with Jutus thanks to the money, so we had let our guard down a little.
“…Let’s loot the ruin first.”
We had already left a lot of traces. We couldn’t waste time here without knowing who they were.
“The ruin itself doesn’t seem that large, so if we take some risks and do our best, it shouldn’t take long to clear it.”
Those were Kayla’s words, as she had been inside the ruin.
I agreed with her.
It wasn’t like we were excavating a completely buried ruin, and the entrance and interior were in relatively good condition.
Frankly, it was similar to the temple we had found in the cave before.
‘There won’t be guardians of that level, so it won’t be difficult to clear the ruin quickly.’
But the problem was…
“It seems like you’re suggesting we quickly clear the ruin, take what we need, and leave, but they must have found our tracks too. I tried to minimize our traces, but…”
“My and Kayla’s tracks are still there.”
Therefore, we didn’t know when they might find our tracks and arrive here.
“So we have to clear the ruin as quickly as possible. We can’t clear it while fighting them.”
We were short-handed.
“We could be surrounded from both sides. Or they might be guarding the entrance to steal our loot.”
“Being surrounded would be troublesome, but I’m not worried about them waiting at the entrance.”
Depending on the strength of the guardians inside the ruin, enemies at our backs could be a serious threat.
But if they were waiting at the entrance…
“Unless a large number of knights come personally, we won’t be outmatched in terms of strength.”
A force like ours wasn’t common.
Therefore, we weren’t afraid of them blocking the entrance.
‘Of course, it would be troublesome if they were thoroughly prepared to fight us…’
If our goal was to escape, it would be a different story.
“And even if they’re openly targeting us, are we going to abandon this?”
It would be too much of a waste.
“…But our lives come first.”
“That’s true. But isn’t this level of risk worth taking? It’s just one ruin.”
They didn’t know what was inside.
But they knew that undiscovered ruins often contained treasure.
‘It’s a dungeon presumed to be the source of the ancient book that the elder from the Blue Tower and the royal magic tower are interested in.’
It was safe to assume that it wouldn’t be a complete waste.
“…Alright. Well, I’ve never lost anything by following your advice…”
Athena said it might be an unnecessary worry.
But I shook my head and answered.
“It’s a valid concern, and it’s not an unnecessary worry. You have a point.”
I truly believed that.
Honestly, I wanted them to follow my advice.
I was a regressor, and I had ample experience and knowledge.
But I couldn’t treat my companions like puppets.
“Don’t hesitate to speak your mind.”
“So, are we going in?”
I nodded at Baldur’s question.
“We’ll put Cereo and the other Living Armors in the lead. Kayla.”
“Will the Bone Golem be able to move inside?”
Kayla nodded at my question.
“The ceiling is quite high because of the large statues. So, although it might not be able to move freely, it should be able to move.”
I thanked Kayla and addressed my companions.
“As you heard, this is a place where I can almost unleash my full power.”
Even if the Bone Golem couldn’t move freely, it would be enough if it could protect the rear.
“Don’t worry. If we’re going to do this, I’ll do my best.”
Athena said reassuringly.
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