Chapter 5: Return

I found myself at the Adventurers’ Guild in Kalabuya. Group C’s members, Elumichai the instructor, and Datil were all gathered in the guildmaster’s room to discuss the recent incident.

“You did well, Elumichai. Good work protecting all the newbies.”

So this is the guildmaster?

His face, arms, and presumably the rest of his body were covered in scars. He looked like he’d fought—and won—many battles. “We lost a good man. Is this what’s left of him, Elumichai?”

Holmer’s arm, wrapped in a cloth, was on the table.

“I also have his guild card. Here it is...” Elumichai handed over the card, which was coated in dark red blood.

“I can never get used to this,” he sighed, staring at Holmer’s card. “We’ll put this in the coffin during tomorrow’s funeral.” He set it down alongside Holmer’s arm. “Now then, let’s listen to your report. Sit down.”

The members of Group C sat on the sofa. Due to lack of space, Datil was given a wooden chair.

Elumichai was the first to speak. “Now, I will begin my report regarding the incident that occurred in the Chasm of Catastrophe. The first and second floors were—” She was cut off by a sudden noise that came from outside the window.

“What’s going on?! Why’s there a lesser dragon rampaging in the city?!”

“The tamer screwed up! Surround it and catch it!”

Seems like some sort of trouble. I can’t see anything from here, but I can hear the cries of an animal—er, a demon. A few men are roaring at each other, trying to catch it. Are they okay?

“Ah, so a demon’s loose. It happens often. If it’s just a lesser dragon, we can leave them be. Continue with your report,” the guildmaster said.

Seriously? This is a daily thing?! Fantasy-themed worlds are amazing!

***

“This concludes my report about the encounter with the ants, suspending the exam, and agreeing to retreat,” Elumichai said.

The guildmaster couldn’t hide his surprise as he listened to Elumichai’s report. He was mumbling to himself.

We saw mountains of adventurers’ corpses in the passageway. Yet we’re more or less safe and came back alive. This is probably a miracle.

“We’re alive thanks to Holmer-san. Had he not been with us, we would surely have become food for the demons,” she added.

Out of the 147 adventurers that were in the Chasm of Catastrophe that day, less than forty made it back alive. Tomorrow’s funeral was for all the adventurers that lost their lives in that chasm.

Elumichai continued. “Many ants that were in the same class as the man-eating ant demon Sedel, who was tagged a B Class, suddenly appeared. The passageway was packed with adventurers.”

Though this is a rough estimate, it seems like monsters tagged B Class are about as strong as one Rank B adventurer.

Hm, that’s easy to remember.

“Group leader Zambarau’s idea was to escape to the lower floors. On our way down, Holmer-san stayed behind to allow us to flee. He died while fighting the ants.”

Tears rolled down Fresa’s cheeks.

Her acting’s amazing. No one will suspect that Holmer made it back alive.

“Who confirmed his death?” the guildmaster asked.

Everyone turned to look at Fresa.

“You did? That’s strange. You saw Holmer dying while fighting multiple demons. How did you make it back alive?”

The question we’ve been waiting for! Well, it’s a predictable one to ask though.

“Holmer-san stayed on the third floor to give us time to flee. Once we arrived at the fourth floor, his arm...” Fresa paused, glancing at the cloth on the table. “His arm fell from above us.”

She’s like a completely different person when she’s acting.

“I went against my group’s wishes, and rushed up to the third floor.”

The guildmaster furrowed his brow. “That’s quite a selfish act there. You might’ve put your other party members in danger, and you would’ve simply been prey for the ants, no? That still doesn’t explain why you’re alive. Holmer, our Rank A adventurer, was overpowered. How did you—?” He was cut off by the ruckus outside.

“Wh-Why isn’t my magic working?!”

“Wait, is it protected by a guardian? That’s unusual. We’ll have to use force!”

That lesser dragon still hasn’t been captured?

“Jeez, they look so clumsy. They’re not training enough,” the guildmaster said with an annoyed expression.

Wait, something’s off! I feel like I can hear screaming?

“Eeeek! Th-This isn’t a lesser dragon! It’s an actual baby dragon!”

“What?! There’s no way we can capture—aaaaaagh!”

The guildmaster scrunched his face and quickly rose. “A baby dragon?! They brought a baby dragon into the city?!”

Fresa stood up as well. She gently placed me on the table, and slowly made her way towards the window.

“What? What are you doing?!” he yelled.

“Holmer-san had stopped me before. He said we were amateurs—that we weren’t adventurers. He told me to leave things to him, a pro. So I never used this spell,” she said, spreading her arms. She whispered, “Activate King of Apples.”

Ding! “King of Apples has been activated. Please ensure that others are a safe distance away. Activating in: 10...9... You will feel a strong shock wave, please stand back. 3...2...1...” Five floating apples appeared: one just above each hand, and three over her head.

“It’s her apple magic!” Zambarau said. Everyone gasped.

“Apple? Is this some kind of party trick?” the guildmaster said, looking at the apples (and even me) skeptically.

Hey, don’t lump me in with those. But I understand his feelings. If someone just conjured apples out of nowhere, I’d think it was just a party trick too.

“Harden. High-speed rotation,” Fresa whispered.

Ding! “All apples will be hardened and be applied with high-speed rotation. 3...2...1... Upgrade complete.” Fresa whispered this so softly that no one could hear her upgrades. The five apples started rotating at an extremely fast speed.

“Huh?! What’s going on?” the guildmaster asked.

Fresa smiled and pointed at the baby dragon that was rampaging outside the window. “Apple Meteor!” The rotating apples around her flew at a breakneck speed towards the dragon.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Thud!

A sickly sound echoed.

Like I said, I don’t really have a good vantage point here. But given those noises, and the fact it’s all gone quiet out there, I can only assume that those apples punched holes straight through the thing and killed it instantly.