As soon as I finished speaking, fierce sounds of anger rose from Gaspar and the guild members.
Amid the furious voices, only Cassian remained calm. He took his stance and said.
“If I lose, I will apologize as much as you wish.”
I could faintly sense satisfaction from him. It seemed he thought I was bluffing in response to his provocation.
We took our stances again. He drew a well-sharpened sword from its sheath.
I faced him with my left hand behind my back and a jam knife in my right.
The shouting voices died down. Silence arrived. Amid the stillness, it felt as though only those who held blades and the blades themselves remained in this world.
―DOOOONG……!
The person in charge struck the gong, and Cassian charged at me. The trajectory of his sword was clean, and his attack was swift.
It was a fast attack. Enough for him to be called the ace of this guild.
But not by Balanus’s standards.
―WHOOSH!
I leaned my upper body back slightly and let his attack flow past me. For an instant, bewilderment appeared in his eyes.
―CLINK!
A short metallic sound rang out. The jam knife lightly struck the sword. That was enough. His center of gravity wavered, his thrust missed, and his balance collapsed.
An opening appeared.
I immediately stepped into his range. The jam knife lightly stabbed his chest. I saw Cassian’s bewildered eyes.
“One.”
At those words, Cassian gritted his teeth and quickly retreated. He seemed to be trying to reorganize himself.
But I had no intention of dragging out this sparring match. I immediately followed after him.
―CLINK! CLINK!
Every time he swung his sword, the sound of the jam knife striking the blade rang out clearly. Even though it was a large bastard sword, the sound it made was truly fragile.
For me, there was no need to use much strength. As long as I aimed at the correct point, even a little force was enough.
―CLANG!
When I knocked his sword away with the jam knife once more, he staggered greatly. In that opening, I stabbed Cassian between the brows with the jam knife.
“Two.”
The dull edge of the jam knife did not even leave a small wound. But his pride must have been bleeding. Cassian’s previously cold expression gradually began to distort.
“How dare you……!”
The moment he grew agitated, blue mana began leaking from Cassian. I heard people murmur in confusion.
“He is using mana in a sparring match?”
“Wait, Lord Cassian……!”
As mana began to ripple, his attacks became even fiercer.
Cassian’s blade poured toward me. The air was torn apart. It was a beautiful sword.
I quietly admired it inwardly. Considering that he was in his mid-twenties, his skill was excellent.
Cassian’s sword was sharp, and it knew exactly the path it had to take.
I blocked that path.
―CLAAANG!
Every time I blocked the path of his blade, a short metallic sound rang out, and sparks flew.
I dodged his attack, gripped the jam knife in a reverse grip, and swung it.
The blunt tip of the jam knife touched Cassian’s Adam’s apple. He froze as he was.
“Three.”
The arena was silent. I slowly withdrew my hand, then turned to Gaspar.
“I hope you will fulfill your promise, Guildmaster Gaspar.”
At those words, Gaspar seemed to come back to his senses. Anger and urgency flickered across his dazed face.
“You are the only one who proved your ability! The other two must prove themselves as well!”
He was being unreasonable, no matter who looked at it. Still, it did not particularly matter, so I nodded.
“As you wish.”
After that, Cesare and Xenia also stepped forward for sparring. It had only been a three-minute match, but Cassian must have been tired, so I thought someone else would come forward.
“I, I will do it!”
Cassian stubbornly insisted that he was fine and stepped forward. Was he trying to reclaim his honor? It would have been better for someone else to come out, but I did not bother stopping him.
And so the sparring match between Cassian and Cesare began.
The result was Cesare’s victory.
Cesare subdued his opponent without difficulty. I could feel Cassian’s sword falling into confusion. It seemed the influence of his sparring match with me still lingered.
Cassian seemed to fall even deeper into panic. He stepped in front of Xenia and ground his teeth.
“No! This time, I truly……!”
Three minutes later.
He was a complete mess, tied tightly by Xenia’s tentacles. Cassian ground his teeth as if humiliated.
“Kh, just kill me instead……!”
“I will not kill you. This is sparring.”
Xenia answered indifferently and released him. All the guild members stood there in a daze. Even Gaspar.
I quietly looked at Gaspar.
“Will you keep your promise, or shall we continue?”
“……I will hire Balanus Domus as supporters for this dungeon.”
None of the guild members refuted those words. Even though we were newly formed and had only three members.
After showing such overwhelming ability, no one could easily object.
“And…… I ask forgiveness from Cesare Balanus. I hope you will forgive me for insulting you.”
Seeing that, Cesare smiled so broadly that the corners of his mouth almost reached his ears. To be honest, even I found it a little irritating.
“Ah, well! I forgive you. You called me trash, but since I am so broad-minded, I will let it go!”
Cesare grinned at Cassian.
“What about you? You should apologize too.”
Cassian’s face flushed crimson with shame. He clenched his fist so hard it seemed ready to shatter and moved his lips.
“To Cesare Balanus, I ask for-forgive…….”
At the sight of him trying to ask for forgiveness, Cesare grinned. Cassian glared at him fiercely, then eventually shouted.
“I cannot accept this! For me to apologize to alcoholic human trash like this……!”
In the end, he ran off without apologizing. Gaspar in his younger days had also often run away without apologizing like that.
I took my disciples and left the guild. Cesare was still grinning.
“That bastard Cassian looked ridiculous. He was helpless against a jam knife.”
“He ran away without apologizing to you. Are you all right, Brother?”
“Yeah. Since I am such a magnanimous man, I will forgive him.”
Watching my excited disciples, I laughed soundlessly. Then I quietly looked down at my hand.
I had won, but I was dissatisfied. I could have ended it faster.
Finding my disciples was important, but restoring my skills to their prime was also important. No, I had to become even stronger than that.
The remnants of the attackers from fifteen years ago might still remain.
My immediate goals were to find my disciples and learn more about the attackers. And there was still another question left.
Why exactly had I come back to life?
Who had brought me back?
Undead like skeletons or liches existed, but I had never heard of anyone being fully resurrected like me.
There were many questions, but there was only one thing I had to do.
Become stronger. Find my disciples. Those came first.
***
One week later, in the morning.
The day to go to the dungeon with the Twilight Swallow’s Nest had arrived. Xenia, who had been sleeping in the bathtub in slime form, came down to the first floor half asleep, and Cesare, dressed only in his underwear, came over while yawning widely.
“Hwaaam, what kind of dungeon trip starts this early? For something like this, being thirty minutes late…….”
“Being late?”
“……is not allowed! Mm! I should get ready quickly!”
When I stared at him silently just once, Cesare also hurriedly finished getting ready. Before I knew it, it was eight o’clock. Before we set out, I asked Cesare to confirm.
“You have familiarized yourself with the dungeon information provided by the guild, have you not?”
“Yes. Of course. It was called a Persistent Dungeon, right? They said it appeared twenty years ago. Its name is Lament.”
Dungeons were broadly divided into two types. One was the Persistent Type, and the other was the Sudden Type.
In a Persistent Type, if the dungeon boss was killed, the dungeon entered a dormant period for a certain time, then regenerated.
A dungeon that had just formed was quite dangerous even if it only had one floor, but if it was repeatedly subjugated, it weakened over time until it eventually vanished.
“You listened well.”
“Good grief, what do you take me for? I also heard that at some point, Lament stopped weakening.”
He had listened to the explanation properly?
It was somewhat unexpected. To think our child had changed like this. As I looked at him with a strange gaze, Cesare grinned.
“I may not have been educated, but I am actually smart.”
“Who was the twelfth king of this country?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
Cesare quickly disappeared. Perhaps I should give him more basic education.
Meanwhile, Xenia seemed excited. She looked like someone going on an outing.
“I have never been to a dungeon before, so I am very curious. What does it look like? What kind of magic beasts will appear? Will they be very strong?”
“I wonder. I only went there at the beginning, so I do not know what it is like now.”
Dungeons were strongest when they first formed. The Royal Knights had also been wiped out in Lament.
After hearing my words, Xenia’s eyes sparkled as though stars had been embedded in them. With a gaze full of curiosity and respect, she asked,
“Were you perhaps the first conqueror of Lament, Master?”
“There was such a thing.”
“Then you must be incredibly strong.”
Xenia looked impressed and pleased. I realized anew that my strength was a joy to my disciples.
Lament. In the past, I had gone there with my comrades, but now I was going there with my disciples. It felt quite strange.
As if he had finished his business just then, Cesare returned. Xenia tilted her head.
“Brother, who was the twelfth king? Tell me.”
“Master, let us hurry. We are late.”
Taking Xenia, who kept bombarding him with questions, we headed to the meeting place.
The place where we had agreed to gather was a deserted stony field. In the largest boulder, there was something like a black hole.
Ominous mana flickered within the abyss-like hole. That was the entrance to the dungeon.
“Ah, the people from the Swallow’s Nest are coming.”
About twenty guild members were coming from the opposite side. Gaspar seemed to be absent, but Cassian was there.
Last time, after being thoroughly beaten, he had looked rather pitiful, but today, he looked noble and dignified.
However, the look he directed at us was not kind.
“Balanus Domus. You are late. Are you out of your mind?”
……We had arrived about fifteen minutes earlier than the appointed time.
It was a rather incomprehensible thing to say. We had also arrived earlier than they had, and in the first place, we had come before the meeting time.
“As far as I know, the meeting time is nine o’clock.”
“Should you not have arrived at least an hour before the meeting time to prepare? Is it not common sense to come in advance, organize the items, and clean the dungeon entrance?”
It was true that supporters should enter and clear the beginning of the dungeon, but there was no need to do it beforehand.
Calling this common sense? Had society gone completely to pieces over the past fifteen years?
Meanwhile, Cesare shouted angrily.
“Do not abuse your authority too much! Common sense, my ass. Are you not the one whose sense of time is broken?”
“Words like that are hardly convincing coming from a man who habitually ignores appointed times.”
At those words, Cesare only moved his lips. It was true that he had broken promises until now.
As the two glared at each other fiercely, Xenia looked back and forth between them, then pointed at Cassian and said.
“You did not keep your promise either.”
“When did I ever fail to keep a promise?”
“You promised to apologize to Brother Cesare, but you did not. Even though you lost the duel. Guildmaster Gaspar apologized.”
At those words, Cassian’s expression stiffened. Xenia blinked and asked in an emotionless voice.
“Why did you not apologize? Why did you not keep your promise? You lost, did you not? You did not keep your promise either, so why are you only scolding Brother Cesare?”