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Chapter 224: Catacombs' Reward (1)

The CatacombsSlera's Den [ Early Morning ].

Quietly fluttering around the streets of the densmall litmus bugs spread out across the area as they lit up the village in a bright hue, representative of the morning sun. At the same time, the slimes that had slept through the night began flooding the streets to get a jump-start of their day.

"Gloop!"

"Gloop~"

Meanwhile, from the entrance of the villagetwo young women stepped into the Sleras's Den with tired and exhausted eyes, alongside an expression of dejection.

"...we're back, huh?" The one who had entered into the den firstHikari, spoke out in a tired voice. "Sigh... That was such a hopeless expenditure."

"Ugh... Did we seriously just spent six hours or so searching through the unexplored area?" From behind Hikari, the blonde-haired womanCrowelin, clicked her tongue whilst scratching her head. "All those encounters with the immortal monsters... And we found nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Sigh... Going through all that to find zero clues," Hikari shook her head helplessly. "Well... I guess it can't be helped. After all, we might have been searching the wrong spot the entire time."

"I mean... True. It was by a long shot that we chose to start with the unexplored areas," Crowelin sighed. "But we couldn't even explore all of it anyways. The further down we go, the more powerful those guys get. So maybe he was there, but we just couldn't progress to him?"

"Perhaps so," Hikari nodded her head. "Though... You know, for a dungeon that was said to be in the level 20 to 30 Zone, those mobs sure aren't at all on that level."

"Right? I think they're maybe around ours? Or maybe even higher?" Crowelin tilted her head at the thought. "But it's strange. Why's the disparity so high? I mean... There have been cases of dungeons like that changing after their story arc is completed but... It has never been that big of a jump."

"Hmm... I don't know. Maybe it's because this is just a part of a bigger picture?" she tilted her head. "Just an assumption, you know. After all... Being suddenly sent here to visit a village and then proceeding to be asked to defeat a doer of evil is quite strange considering the circumstance."

From the moment they had stepped foot into the village, they were instantly greeted upon by another quest. However, as vague as it wasHikari and Crowelin still managed to deduce certain clues from the events previously.

One of them was the fact that the 'Doer of Evil' - The one who brought the curse, was Sanke. The person who had been defeated by the group. Yet, despite thatthey had still received such a quest.

"The quest details are as vague as ever," she frowned as she scrutinized the quest menu. "What's this about a sacred artefact anyways?"

...

[ Doer of Evil ]

Difficulty: A+

Defeat the evil being who brought about the curse of the dead. He who aims for the sacred artefact must be defeated before the Night of Stars.

Quest Condition: The sealing or death of the evildoer.

Quest Rewards: Good Will +10, Holy Hail Potions 10x, Star of Eden Ticket (Temp.), Level +1

Quest Failure: Audience of Eden Ticket (Temp.)

...

"Who knows?" Hikari shrugged. "Maybe we should ask the slimes this time? Perhaps they'll know."

"Should we?" Crowelin tilted her head. "I don't know. Would they even answer us? They've already got their hands full with whatever's going on currently with the king. Us asking would raise some concerns and inevitably lead to panic..."

"Hmm... Asking them at a time like this... Yeah, not a good idea," Hikari shook her head. "Then what do we do? At one point, we might need to warn them if we can't handle it ourselves."

"...eh, let's just investigate the matter a bit more before then," Crowelin nodded her head. "In any case, we're supposed to head to the castle, right?"

"Yep," she nodded her head. "By now... I think Shinto and the rest should be done."

...

The Catacombs, Slera's CastleHallway [ Early Morning ].

Quiet footsteps resounded through the halls of the castle as the group that had been resting in the guest room overnight swiftly exited out of the room.

"...yawn," a young man with silver hairEthaniel, let out a loud yawn whilst Shinto and Raina followed from behind him. "...must we wake up this early? I wanted to sleep in more..."

"Hmm... It is pretty early," Raina thought to herself. "But, the sooner we finish this, the faster we can finally get some leisure time, right?"

"I guess so," he continued to let out a yawn. "But still. Why the heck was we called up so early? I felt like we only slept for three or so hours and that's not enough! My stamina's not even fully recovered."

"Well... Actually, it was four," Shinto stated.

"Four?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "It's still not enough! Can't we get five instead? Right now the time is 5 AM in-game, but why can't it be 6?"

"Mm... I want to continue sleeping..." Kon, who was on Shinto's shouldermuttered out whilst rubbing his eyes. "Too early... Still need sleep..."

"Jee, you think I don't want to sleep either?" Ethaniel frowned at the small fox lying down on Shinto's shoulder, seemingly attempting to sleep. "But wait... The heck?! You're going to sleep on his shoulder?!"

"Can I?" Kon uttered out sloppily. "I won't make you uncomfortable..."

"...well, I don't see why not," Shinto shrugged. "Just sleep for a while I guess."

"R-Really?!" Kon stated excitedly. "Thank you, Master!"

"Though..." he whispered to Kon. "Why don't you head back to the Shadow Realm if you want to rest? I'll call for you when this is done."

"E-Eh no way!" Kon pouted. "I like the real world's atmosphere... It's comfy! So... Please let me stay here! I promise I won't be trouble!"

"I see," Shinto nodded his head.

"What? Hey! You're to let this guy sleep?!" Ethaniel twitched his eyes.

"Kon might not be able to get a break after this," he calmly said. "After all, we are going out to Parm soon. So... He'll need to hide in the shadows during that time."

"W-What?!" Kon shouted out in a loud voice upon hearing Shinto's reasoning. "I have to hide in the shadows?! But what about the two"

"Ahem. Drawing unnecessary attention may bring about something bad to us if we're not careful," Shinto said. "And besides, there's still that Lavida place we have to worry about."

"Mm... Alright," Kon sighed.

"Speaking of Lavida..." Raina thought to herself. "Were we not supposed to do something about them? We spent a literal week here. At that point... Their progress would rather be..."

"I wasn't exactly expecting for this to take a week," Shinto sighed. "But... I don't necessarily think they'll make much progress on Altric. From what I've heard, it's quite a hard place to find unless, by some miracle, you stumble upon it coincidentally."

"So... We're not supposed to be worried?" Raina tilted her head.

"Not for now, at least," he said as he turned towards Ethaniel. "What do you think?"

"Meh... I want better equipment," he answered. "What's one week going to do anyhow?"

"R-Right... Better equipment is of sure importance," Raina nodded her head. "Anyhow... Frey sure is taking quite some time to log in. Did something happen? By her estimations, she said she'd be running out here by now."

"Hmm... Something must have delayed her time to log in," Shinto thought to himself. "There's still a bit of time before we enter the throne room, so... it shouldn't be a problem if she's a little late."

"Bah... I'm not waiting anymore," Ethaniel scruffled his hair. "For all I know, it could take an hour in real life and I don't want to wait that long anymore."

"E-Ethaniel?" Raina blinked at his impatience, noting that Ethaniel had begun to walk further down the hallways. "Hey! What was it about wanting to sleep for an extra hour?"

"She knows where the throne room is, so let's just get going already!" Ethaniel reasoned. "Besides' the sooner the better, right?"

"Ah..." Raina sighed. "So... We're not gonna wait, huh?"

"Apparently..." Shinto said. "Though if you want, we can just leave him be and continue waiting."

"Hmm..." Raina was in deep thought as she soon nodded her head. "I guess there's no rush but" as she wanted to continue her sentence, a loud voice protruded out from the front of them.

"You guys are waiting? No way in hell!" Ethaniel stated as he began grabbing the collars of the two. In the next moment, dragging them away. "We're going to finish this and not delay it any longer!"

"Ack- Hey, Ethan!" Shinto shouted out as was being dragged away through the halls. "Just wait a minute"

"No."

...

After a while, the group had all been dragged towards the front doors of the throne room.

"Hah," Ethaniel uttered out with a sigh. "We're finally here. Now..." he glared at the two. "Go in and get it done already!"

"S-Seriously...?" It seems that Frey had to catch up to them on her own. Thus, with a helpless sigh at the thought, Shinto stepped forward towards the door. In the next moment, the doors of the throne room soon opened, allowing them to enter.