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“Too much happened,” I sighed. “I’m exhausted.”
She blinked in surprise, tilting her head, but I couldn’t even begin to explain.
There were trees… more trees… and even more trees. Way too many trees.
I let out another long, heavy sigh, feeling the tension melt from my shoulders as the quiet peace of the inn reminded me just how far I’d come from that chaos.
To be fair, part of the reason I was completely wiped out wasn’t just the chaos with the trees; it was because Amelia had dropped an absolute bombshell about my so-called “reward.” That alone had drained every ounce of my energy.
As I slumped in my chair, still half-zoned out, Al crossed her arms and gave me a wary look. She hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully, “By the way, what happened to Helen’s homeland?”
“Oh, that? It’s fine,” I said without much thought.
“‘Fine,’ huh?” Al arched a brow. “You do realize Helen ran out of here as if her life depended on it, right? From what I heard, her home was under siege by both the Kaizell Empire and the Cult of the Wicked One. Two major forces at once. Doesn’t sound very ‘fine’ to me.”
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Ah, those two? Yeah, they were kind of in the way, so I just dumped them—land and all—into the ocean.”
Al froze mid-blink. “You need to stop doing stuff like that.”
She said it so flatly that I almost laughed.
Why is she acting like I did something unreasonable? That was the most efficient way to solve it!
Al pinched the bridge of her nose, visibly struggling to hide her disbelief. “You can’t brush off something like that! Who even considers ‘dumping land into the ocean’ like it’s nothing?!”
“Well, they’d die if there wasn’t any ground to stand on, right?”
“That’s not the point!”
Yeah, I knew that. But honestly, even I wasn’t sure why I’d done it. Maybe it was one of those you don’t know until you try situations. Or maybe I’d just been swept up in the moment. Yeah… let’s go with that.
Either way, it definitely belonged in the Things I Regret but Can’t Undo folder.
Seeing Al bury her face in her hands, I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her. Still, I’d already accepted the truth: my body didn’t seem to follow the same logic as the rest of me anymore. It’s my body, but I can’t seem to control it. That’s… probably not ideal, is it?
I stared off into the distance for a moment before a sudden thought struck me.
“Wait—what about Routier and Origa-chan? What happened to them?”
Originally, the plan had been to visit the dungeon so Helen could level up, but during the chaos, Routier and the others had gone off to meet Lucius. It occurred to me that I hadn’t heard a word about them since.
Before I could ask further, Saria brightened as if she’d just remembered something. “Oh, right! About that, Seiichi… Origa-chan and the others went back into the dungeon!”
“Huh?”
Her words froze me in place. For a second, the exhaustion and the nonsense from earlier all vanished. They went back? Already?
“Originally, they were planning to wait until you got back,” Al explained, folding her arms. “But apparently the Cult of the Wicked One started acting suspicious, and since it looked like you’d be later than expected, they decided to head out first.”
“I… see.” I rubbed my chin, already feeling a headache forming. “So, Routier’s group right now is Origa-chan, Lulune, and Zora? What about Lucius and the Demon Lord’s army?”
Saria shook her head. “The Demon Lord’s people went back to their country, but Lucius said he had business in another dungeon, so he split off from Routier’s group. Oh, and Zeanos went with him!”
“Really?”
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered what Sheep had told me earlier, about two more dungeons that were about to be truly conquered in the near future. So that’s what Lucius and Zeanos were up to… They’d gone to free the Black Dragon God.
“Wait a sec… then which dungeon did Routier and the others go to?”
Al’s expression turned grim. “That would be the one where Routier’s father is sealed.”
“Huh?”
That meant they were heading there to break his seal and free him. According to what Sheep had said, if that dungeon were conquered in the truest sense, Routier’s father would be released from his imprisonment, since the very condition for its true conquest was to undo his seal.
Now that I thought about it, Sheep hadn’t actually said that particular dungeon would be conquered. He’d only said the dungeon of the Black Dragon God would be cleared.
And the other dungeon—the second one meant to be “liberated”—was said to be the place where the Cult of the Wicked One’s so-called deity, the Wicked One himself, was sealed away.
So that’s why the Cult’s been moving. If that seal’s weakening too, things are about to get really bad.
I ran a hand through my hair, sighing deeply. I just got back, and I already have too much to think about. Great.
“But what I don’t understand,” I finally said, “is why Routier chose to go to the dungeon in the first place. Could it be related to her meeting with Lucius and the others when we were there?”
Al nodded. “Yeah. From what I heard, she originally went to talk to Lucius about her father. That’s why they split off back then.”
“I see… or maybe I don’t.”
Nope. Still confused. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes.
While I was still trying to piece things together, Al suddenly snapped her fingers as if she’d just remembered something. “Oh, right! I almost forgot. Lucius left a message for you.”
“A message?” I asked, blinking.
“Yeah. He said, ‘When you get back, please help Routier.’ Apparently, according to him, she didn’t head to that dungeon to break the seal or to achieve some kind of ‘true conquest’ in the first place.”
“She didn’t?”
“Not exactly. I mean, Lucius said if the opportunity came up, she’d go ahead and finish it, but that wasn’t her goal. Don’t ask me for details, though. I’ve got no idea what he meant.”
I rubbed my temples, feeling the confusion deepen. “Right. Great. That clears up nothing.”
Still, even without Lucius asking, I was planning to help Routier anyway. There was no universe in which I’d ignore her. But if what he’d said was true, a true conquest probably isn’t possible.
Sheep may be a smug pain in the ass, but he doesn’t lie about things like this.
Then again, there’s always the chance something unpredictable could happen, something even he couldn’t foresee. Which, knowing my luck, probably will.
“Well,” I said finally, shaking off the thought, “either way, we should go after Routier and the others as soon as possible. Do you know where that dungeon is?”
Al nodded grimly. “Yeah. The place is called the Wailing Land.”
“The Wailing Land!” I echoed, eyes widening in shock. Then, after a long pause, I blinked and scratched my cheek. “Where’s that again?”
Al’s shoulders sagged as she sighed. “Yeah. I figured you’d say that.”