Chapter 57

After a few days of harvesting as much of the Scylla’s materials as possible, the ship resumed its travel towards the Southern Continent.

Jae, who stood on the deck of the ship, was gazing over the open seas. After receiving some new clothes from the captain as thanks for helping them with the harvesting, he didn’t have much to do other than think.

So, the main thing on his mind was his upcoming trip to the Wrath Dungeon.

It’ll be the third one. It feels like such a long time ago that I cleared Sloth as the first Dungeon, but in reality, not even a year has passed since then.

Three Dungeons. It sounded like quite a lot, considering that each one gave quite the power-up to Jae’s abilities. However, it wasn’t even half of the total amount.

After Wrath is cleared, there’s Pride, Envy, Gluttony, and... Lust.

It was obvious to Jae that there was still so much left for him to gain, despite him feeling that he had already acquired so much. On the contrary, there was more than he could imagine. When he recalled the three Dungeons he had already visited, something struck him.

...Wait a minute. When I left the Pride Dungeon, I was in a different location from where I entered. That made sense to me because I left through an artificial exit created by Aphy. But in the Sloth Dungeon, I also exited in a different place. But then, when I cleared the Greed Dungeon, I was in the same place I entered from...

Inconsistency has been spotted. Currently, Jae could think of a few reasons for why the exit locations for the Pride and Sloth Dungeons were different to the entrance.

1. It was a complete coincidence / the exit locations are all randomised.

2. The amount of time spent in the Dungeon changes where the exit spits you out.

3. Something happened to the areas the entrances for A and B were in, so the exit location changed.

4. Because the exit for A was unnatural, it led to a different location than normal. B was different because a large amount of time was spent in the Dungeon.

5. Same as 4 for A, but something happened to the area surrounding B.

6. It was none of the above, and in truth, the reason is something different.

Designating the Pride Dungeon as A and the Sloth Dungeon as B, this was all Jae could come up with when thinking on the spot. Going a bit more in-depth, he could rule out some of the possibilities, however.

For starters, 1 is just too unlikely to be the case. The chances are too abysmal of it being a simple coincidence.

The reason for this is that, if it was all randomised or just a coincidence, then the likelihood of the Greed Dungeon exit leading Jae to exactly where he entered it from out of anywhere in the world, is simply too small for it to even be considered.

2 has a chance of being it, but the sample size is too small at the moment for it to be confirmed.

This can be tested in future Dungeons but for now, it’s unreliable.

Similarly, 3 can’t be known unless I check out the entrances of the Pride and Sloth Dungeons again. It’s the same with 4 and 5―I can’t know for sure until I clear more Dungeons or check out the locations of the previous ones.

Finally, 6 was just an ‘other’. If it really wasn’t any one of the things Jae speculated, then that’s that, but obviously, it’s not something that can be confirmed until the first 5 are ruled out.

...In the end, all I can do is wait and see until more evidence is gathered, huh.

With that out of the way, there were still a few things about the previous Dungeons for Jae to contemplate, such as the difficulty.

The Pride Dungeon is going to be the hardest by far, probably. I can’t imagine there’s another one as vast or with as many strong monsters as that one. From the three I’ve experienced, Greed was definitely the easiest since there were no enemies or anything, and Sloth would be in the middle.

The difficulty of the Dungeons, from what Jae has experienced so far, is also inconsistent with each other. This required some further thought, however, as the stark contrast in the difficulty and design of the Dungeons may indicate that future Dungeons could have unthinkable contents.

There have been two extremes in the form of the Pride and Greed Dungeons, so if I take those to be the limits for the difficulty on each end of the spectrum, then I can assume that there won’t be anything I can’t handle in the future Dungeons.

At first, this gave Jae a sense of relief. But, when he considered it for a moment longer, he realised something.

...No, hold on. The Dungeons are designed by the Sins, right?

[Indeed, they are.]

Greed was the one to answer his question.

[Our domains can be designed to be whatever we please, pretty much. So long as it stays within the bounds of reality and our memories, that is.]

Is that right...? In that case, can’t it be said that there is a Dungeon even worse than Pride that I haven’t been to yet? How much freedom do you even get when designing it?

[Well, that’s not actually true--]

[Impossible! There is no world that can surpass my own!]

Pride interrupted Envy, who was in the middle of speaking. After telling him to shut up, Jae asked them to elaborate.

Hold on, this is confusing. What exactly is the process you guys went through to create the Dungeons?

[It’s like a private dimension. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, it was originally based on a place from my memories, which was the castle, and then I adjusted it to my liking. But it’s not like I could’ve done anything I wanted with it; I was limited in what I could do.]

Greed’s explanation didn’t help too much in Jae’s understanding of the whole process. At the very least, he could understand that the Dungeons were all produced based on the memories of the Sins, and, although with unspecified limitations, they could change some aspects of it.

It’s still weird. Where’s Sloth? Can he explain anything?

With a short period of silence, Jae understood that Sloth was asleep.

...Anyway. These limitations basically mean that you can’t just make the Dungeons impossibly hard, right? Although, the Pride Dungeon seems almost at that level... Memories, huh? If my understanding is right, then doesn’t it simply mean that the Dungeons are just places that used to exist in the real world?

[―Yeah.]

[―Pretty much.]

Greed and Envy spoke simultaneously.

I see. Thinking about it that way, and assuming that the changes are only to perfect the broken or unnecessary parts of the Dungeon, then it makes sense. That’s what Sloth said before as well, I think. In his case, would the thing he changed be the imitation of himself as the boss? The scythe came from the real world too, after all.

Just as Jae thought he had garnered a clear understanding of how the Dungeons are created, Pride rained on his parade.

[Not at all. My domain is not a place from this world. I used all my power to change that.]

...What is it now? What did you do then?

[At what time it was originally created, I started with the land I ruled over and moved over all the Dragons to the new domain. Then, I changed the domain to a more fitting style for my people and introduced those who are distant relatives of my species. Although, from that incident before, it seems that some hid and remained in this world.]

That’s because you changed it to what you want. Of course it’s not a real place. In that place, there are seven suns that never set, too, so it was obvious. Wait, was the reason there are seven because the inhabitants are only cold-blooded species...?

It was rather comical when he thought about it, but it made sense. If the only creatures living in the Pride Dungeon were reptiles or related to reptiles, then having plentiful sunlight would easily warm them up. Since things like Dragons, Drakes, and Wyverns are so big, it was no wonder that they needed a lot of heat.

But don’t lizards need areas to cool down in too? Well, they probably have a lot of resistances, so they might not need it.

Going back to the original point, Jae concluded that it was impossible to know where the exit location of the Wrath Dungeon would be. This means he should finish everything else prior to entry. He would also need to bring along Bailey and Nazar into the Dungeon. Just in case.

It’s almost guaranteed to be less dangerous than the Pride Dungeon, so at least there’s that. Say, Wrath, can’t you just tell me what it’ll be like?

[Are you dumb? What’d be the fun in that? Do you like being spoiled or something?]

“Come on, you bastar--”

[This isn’t a joke. I’m serious; it would be better if you just experienced it first-hand. And it’s not like I have a clue how the exit portals work anyway.]

“...Right.”

Seeing how Wrath was using an unusually earnest tone, it seemed like Jae had no choice but to wait until he actually enters the Dungeon to know what the contents are going to be like.

Thinking about what to say when he meets back up with Bailey and Nazar, Jae sighed.

“Haa... What a pain...”

Another three days passed before the land of the Southern Continent came into view.

Honestly, it was expected to take a while longer than that, but because the overwhelming majority of Demon-manned ships used magic technology, it not only significantly shortened the time required to cross seas but also made it considerably safer.

For this reason, the Demon race were the ones who primarily dealt in trading with the people of the Southern Continent. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that, if they focused all their efforts on it, the Demon race could dominate the sea.

They also were working on various kinds of flying machines using their technological expertise, but they had yet to create something that could do something like cross long distances or entire oceans―in that regard, one could say the Demons’ tech lagged behind that of Earth’s by quite a bit.

Either way, Jae found it quite impressive since they developed in vastly different areas and directions compared to Earth’s technology. For example, the magic tools used to detect and hide them from monsters; if they didn’t have this kind of technology, trading with the Southern Continent by crossing the sea would’ve been but a pipe dream.

That is to say, it wouldn’t necessarily have been impossible, as even the humans know of the Southern Continent’s existence. Of course, few want to travel there nowadays, but there have been plenty of attempts in the past, with a small minority actually succeeding.

“Those buildings... Hey, haven’t I seen a place like this before?”

The ship was still quite the distance away from land, but Jae had little trouble seeing the dazzling city from where he stood on the ship’s deck. It wasn’t at all the kind of place he expected when he heard about the Southern Continent from Nazar.

“If I remember correctly, wasn’t it Greece that had some places like this?”

A beautiful city of pure white that seemed to spread across a mountainous landscape. It greatly resembled a certain Greek city on Earth that Jae recalled seeing pictures of on the internet. At the time, he thought it would be good to go on holiday there, but he never thought he would actually go to a place just like it.

“...Isn’t it also the polar opposite of what Onyxia was like?”

Thinking back to the capital city of Asphal, Jae thought it really was. That place was a super-modernised city full of black, skyscraper-like buildings and was a city that might make someone think a real Demon Lord was living there.

However, this place was the antithesis of that―it was like a sparkling holy city. Of course, Jae has never visited the real Holy Country, but he couldn’t imagine it would be in a more pristine state than this. The harsh sun that reflected off of those white-as-snow buildings was truly blinding.

As the ship approached closer to the docks, Jae looked out at the many people walking around the city. He was searching for any sign of Bailey or Nazar.

*GONG~!*

Then, the sound of a bell being rang resounded. It appeared to come from a large bell tower in the middle of the city. Upon hearing it, some of the crew members aboard the ship shot off fireballs into the air and they exploded like fireworks.

*GONG~! GONG~!*

The bell tower loudly rang twice more, as if in response to the fire magic. The captain, who had stayed mostly silent until now, suddenly raised his voice.

“Men! Prepare to dock! It’s landin’ time!”

The crew ran around hurriedly, making preparations for the ship to land safely. In Jae’s eyes, they were veterans at this―since it didn’t take long at all before the ship was docked and secured. The whole process was finished smoothly and without issue from beginning to end.

Jae’s admiration was cut short, however, when the captain called out to him.

“Laddie. It’s thanks to you that our haul this time broke records. I doubt such a feat will be accomplished again in any of our lifetimes. Me an’ the boys have all got yer gratitude.”

He stuck out a hand as if to ask for a handshake.

“O’ course, we’d never deny ya company if ya were to sail again.”

This was the captain’s way of offering to take Jae along again at any time if he ever needs to cross the sea. Realising this, he smiled at the captain’s welcome humanity.

“It wasn’t much.”, he said as he grabbed the captain’s calloused, outstretched hand.

“I appreciate the offer. I’ll be sure to take you up on that sometime. I’m Jae, by the way.”

“Aye. Name’s Altair. You’ll know where I’m headed if ya just use that while askin’ any ol’ seafarer.“

“Will do then.”

With a brief farewell, Jae officially set foot in Laquada, the Southern Continent.

The first thing for him to do was find his travelling companions, Nazar and Bailey. Currently, they could still be worried to death from him “sacrificing himself” to fight the Scylla. Finding them took top priority.

From the ship, he couldn’t see either of them, but that was to be expected. The city was large, after all, and since it was in the middle of the day, many residents were walking the streets. It would be more surprising if they were spotted that easily.

And that’s if they’re even in this city in the first place. Well, I don’t think they’d leave this city with no knowledge as to whether I survived or not. The whole point of our coming here was my decision, so it wouldn’t make sense if they did anything without me.

With that reassurance in mind, Jae tried sensing around for either of the two’s familiar magic patterns or auras. It was around the time where they might be eating lunch, so he mainly walked around the districts with lots of restaurants while sensing through a widespread net of mana.

Fortunately, because his range of detection was vast, Jae was quickly able to locate a pair of familiar mana patterns. It didn’t even take more than an hour, which was good.

Two people sat at a restaurant’s outside table. They appeared to wear solemn expressions, and the younger of the two simply looked at the ground with a downcast face.

“...It’s almost been a week.”, the boy muttered.

“Is Master... really not coming back...?”

“...”

Nazar stared at Bailey with pitying eyes. He didn’t know what to say, as he had never experienced the loss of a friend before―in the first place, Nazar had never had a real friend in his entire life.

Despite enduring the loss of his entire clan, something about it felt different when it came to Jae’s death.

Was it because he sacrificed himself?

Was it because another person was going through the same thing?

Was it because there was nothing he could do?

He couldn’t say.

Nonetheless, something about it felt different. Perhaps it was the abruptness of the situation―one moment they were talking about something irrelevant, and the next, they were being attacked by a legendary monster.

Nazar felt utterly powerless at the time. It was the third time in his life he had ever felt the emotion called ‘fear’.

The main reason for that was, of course, the inability to use his main weapon―his eyes.

Resenting his own apprehension, Nazar simply wished to hurry to where Jae was and help him in his fight, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do anything either way.

Without his eyes, Nazar had no confidence in being able to fight; especially a monster of that calibre. And in fact, he knew he would only be a nuisance by going back.

It was not that he wasn’t confident in his abilities, but that there really wasn’t anything he could do in a battle without his eyes―it was a racial limitation, and he knew that very well.

Because of that, all he could do was wait.

When he looked at the depressed Bailey in front of him, who could’ve only been 9 years old at most, there were no words that exited his mouth.

His glance moved to the plate of food in front of him that hadn’t changed since the waitress first placed it down. The boy hadn’t been eating much ever since that time, but Nazar was inexperienced in dealing with these kinds of situations, so he didn’t know what to do.

All he knew was that, if it continued, the boy would likely starve himself. No, he was probably already starving. He just couldn’t bring himself to eat in the absence of his most trusted person, it seems.

Every time Nazar didn’t know what to do, he remembered the words of the one who sacrificed himself to save the two of them.

〔Take care of him while I’m gone. I’ll come back soon.〕

Recalling the figure of Jae, who so confidently said that, Nazar couldn’t help but believe that Jae return alive.

“Don’t say that, kid.”, he called out.

“Just watch. That guy will come back without a scratch; as if nothing ever happened.”

Although, even if he wanted to think that in his heart, his head denied it.

No, it’s impossible... There’s no way he can survive against something like that―it was too powerful for even my eyes to work in its presence. Someone like Jae wouldn’t have the power to do anything.

It was a torturous kind of cognitive dissonance. Logically, he knew that Jae couldn’t return alive. However, somewhere in him, Nazar still held the belief that he survived. No matter how small it may be.

Looking again at Bailey’s despondent face despite his previous reassurance, he clenched his fists under the table.

“Damn it...!”, he shouted in frustration through tightly grit teeth.

Why... If anyone was going to die, why was it you?! I can’t babysit kids! Entrusting him to me is worthless... At the very least, you, who has family to look after, should have survived! That damn moron! Does he even know what it’s like to lose family?!

His anger rising, Nazar became furious with Jae in his mind, who so carelessly sacrificed himself without even thinking of the consequences.

Seriously, how could he do such a thing to his own--

Suddenly, a familiar voice intruded on his thoughts.

“―What, you’ve barely touched your food. Haa, Bailey, I’ve warned you about this before.”

Bailey flinched at the gentle, deep voice, that called his name. He seemed to be talking about his full plate of food.

He knew this voice―the voice of his guardian and teacher.

Nazar, too, froze at the sound. Before he could turn his head, a distinct smell entered his nostrils. His eyes widened, recognising the odour.

He knew this stench―the stench of vice and sin.

“Hey, guys.”

The two simultaneously flicked their heads towards the man who spoke with a bitter smile. He was wearing different clothes, but they immediately recognised him.

“”Jae!?””

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“...Hic... M-Maaassteeerrr...!”

Tears streamed down Bailey’s face as he ran up to Jae and hugged him.

“Ah...”

He was taken aback by the action, but then began to stroke his head. As Bailey felt the warmth of his hand be transmitted to the top of his head, he felt that Jae had really come back.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. It was my fault for not telling you about my ability.”

Jae then looked to Nazar, who merely stood and silently watched.

“Nazar, as well. Thank you for taking care of Bailey for me.”

“Uh, no, I couldn’t even do anything about his eating...”

“Still, you were there for him while I wasn’t. That’s enough. Thank you. And, I’m sorry if you felt confused or angry about my actions, I’m sure it must’ve hurt to leave me behind knowing that I would die.”

“...”

Nazar had shut his mouth, only staring at Jae who returned without a single scratch on his body―just as he had told Bailey. Of course, he never really expected Jae to come back unscathed, but here he was.

After a short few moments, he opened his mouth again, an expression of pure disbelief on his face.

“How the hell did you get out without even one injury...? No, it shouldn’t have been possible to even just escape alive... Did you teleport...?”

He witnessed Jae’s use of Sloth previously to get the Scylla away from the ship, so he knew that he had some kind of teleportation ability, but Nazar never thought that alone would be enough to escape.

Many questions ran through his head, but Jae simply smiled at him sheepishly, which was an unusual expression for him to wear.

“Can we talk about that later? This isn’t really the best place...”, he said, glancing around at the surroundings. They were in the middle of a populated city, so it definitely wasn't the kind of place you want to spill out all your secrets in.

“Oh... Sure...”, he replied.

Jae looked down at Bailey, who wouldn’t let go of hugging his waist. Softly stroking his head, he gave words of comfort.

“Bailey. I’m back.“

“M-Mas--hic--terrr...!”, he cried.

This wasn’t the first time Bailey had cried in front of Jae, but it was certainly the first time for him to bawl so much. The reason behind it was definitely understandable, however, so he couldn’t be blamed.

On the contrary, it was fitting for a boy his age. Jae, the cause of his distress, felt an influx of negative emotions upon seeing the kid he cared for cry so much.

“Are you okay?”, he asked in as gentle a voice as possible.

“Mmmmm...”

A muffled whine came out of the boy’s mouth, but Jae could vaguely understand what he meant by the shaking of his head.

“Haa... I won’t leave you like this again, okay?”

“R-Re--hic--ally...?”

“Yep.”

“D-Do you--hic--promise?”

“Of course.”

Bailey then buried his face back into Jae’s chest. He seemed unable to restrain his emotions now that they had been unleashed.

“Mmmm... M-M-M-Maaasteerrrr....!”

“Yes, yes. I’m here.”

A warm smile lightened up Jae’s face as he stroked the boy’s head.

"..."

Knowing that someone cared this much about him...

――For sure, it wasn’t a bad feeling.