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CHAPTER 282: THE BACK I WANT TO CATCH UP TO

TN: We’ve finally caught up with the raws, so the schedule from now on will change to a weekly one. The author publishes a new chapter every week, but sometimes takes a week off. I’ll post a notice in the chapter prior to those weeks off.

 

—Curulario’s POV—

Three days had passed since the Large-Scale Liberation Battle.

Even so, my daily routine hadn’t changed much. I’d hit the beginner dungeon to farm Escape Stones, and once I’d stocked up, I’d slip into some quiet corner of the advanced-class dungeon to grind levels.

…Only, the ember in my chest whispering I can’t keep going like this refused to burn out.

「If I want to catch up to Master and the others, I have to dive inside the Dragon Tower. But the supreme-class dungeon is different, there’s no way I can keep soloing fights forever…」

How far I’ve come over these past months—honestly, it feels like a miracle even to me.

But that was because Master and the others were there. There’s no guarantee that it will last forever.

Anyone can see those five are outliers. It isn’t just combat power. Their whole way of thinking lives in a realm ordinary people can’t reach—and unless you arrive there, there are vistas you’ll never see.

Which is exactly why they don’t stop. I can’t imagine them staying in Wislo for long.

Can I… keep up with them too?

Sure, I’ve made it this far solo. But when I force myself to look ahead with a cool head, I can see it: some monster that nullifies poison and paralysis, and no matter how many times I drive my tail in, I can’t even scratch its skin—then it closes its hand around me and crushes.

I could see that future so clearly it made my skin crawl.

What should I do? What do I want to do? My thoughts kept circling the same track.

「No… this isn’t the time to hesitate. I have to absorb everything they taught me! My level’s still nowhere near enough.」

I was in my room at the orphanage, polishing my gear and psyching myself up, when a sudden knock rattled the door.

When I answered, my childhood friends—Ciel and Heil—were standing there.

「Kinda rare for you two to show up outta nowhere together.」

「Yeah, well. We came ‘cause we’ve got a favor to ask, and we’re countin’ on you, Curu.」

What Ciel said next was something I hadn’t expected at all.

「Curu, how about joinin’ our party?」

「…Huh?」

「To be honest, we’ve hit a wall clearing the supreme-class dungeon. But if you join us, pushing our floor record starts to look real.」

「B-but… I still have to keep my strength hidden…」

「What’re you sayin’? Liberation’s over—ain’t no need to hide it anymore, right?」

「Ah…」

True. The reason to keep that trump card hidden… was gone.

Even so, the hesitation in my chest didn’t vanish.

「But I have to ask Master and the others for their opinion first…」

「’Bout that—we’ve actually got a message from Aun-san. ‘Come to the usual plain tonight.’」

「F-from Master!?」

「Mm-hmm. He told me and Heil to come at the same time.」

—The moment I heard that, I felt it: I was standing at a crossroads in my life.

◇　◇　◇　◇

—Wislo Outskirts, The Plain—

With the sun sunk below the horizon, cold moonlight washed the night-soaked plain.

Master’s figure standing there wasn’t the one I knew.

The horn rising from his brow had thickened and twisted, stabbing sharply toward the heavens. Lightning-like markings ran around the eye peeking through his bangs, and the air itself seemed to quiver, as if his very existence were charged. He was beautiful in an alien way—like a savage idol of a god.

But most of all—his eyes.

It felt like they were fixed on something far away, far beyond this place.

I forced words out of my dry throat.

「Master… what did you want to talk about?」

「We’ve decided to leave Wislo for a while.」

「I knew it… I had a feeling. I—I want to come with you!」

「That’s your call to make. But do you remember the reason you gave me at the start for wanting to get stronger?」

「…To protect everyone. And to stand beside Ciel and Heil.」

「Have you achieved that?」

「I…」

The words stuck in my throat.

In the end, I’d just been chasing the answer in one big leap.

「Well, we’re not heading back to Plainevelt right now. You’ve got time to think before then. Sort yourself out—properly. …Hey, Ciel, you ready?」

「Yeah. Thanks for humoring my selfish request.」

「We promised we’d finish our fight. If I left Wislo without making good on that, it’d bug me so bad I wouldn’t sleep. So—what about the rules? If we’re doing this, may as well go all out, yeah?」

「Yeah.」

I’d heard later that on the day the assassin guild went after me in the beginner dungeon, Ciel misunderstood something and ended up fighting Master Aun.

But after we faced down Calvados and fought side by side in the Liberation Battle, their relationship had changed. On top of that, they’re both clan masters—there are positions and appearances to consider. Those things looked like a big wall between them… not something you could casually knock down, or even should.

…Or so I thought. But I was very wrong.

Looking into their eyes, I could only see a pure, simple hunger for strength—and the need to make it clear which of them was stronger.

For Master Aun and Ciel, ‘position’ and ‘appearances’ were as trivial as pebbles in the road—tiny obstacles not even worth noticing.

And when I realized that, what welled up from the bottom of my heart was awe and excitement.

To watch them fight with my own eyes—what an outrageous stroke of luck. My soul trembled of its own accord.

「Hold up a sec! This ain’t a dungeon, y’know? If you two start usin’ body buffs and attack magic, it’s gonna turn into a disaster. I’m okay with the fight itself, so at least let me set the rules.」

Heil hurried between them.

If I’m honest, I do want to see them clash at full strength. But the truth is, I have no idea what ‘full strength’ looks like for either of them… which is its own very luxurious problem.

While I was debating whether to butt in, Heil laid out a proposal.

「Then—no enhancement skills, no direct-damage magic, and no weapons. Anything else goes. How ’bout that?」

「Fine by me. Long as we’re not blowin’ the landscape to pieces, right?」

「I’m good with that.」

The instant the rules were set, taut air flowed over the plain. Against that tension, cloud-shadows crept slow across the ground, and a faint wind slipped by.

Bathed in moonlight, the two measured distance, their gazes crossing.

It’s… starting…!

—The next few minutes were a realm beyond my comprehension—shocking, and blissful.