Chapter 173 Volume IV - Chapter 18: A Literal Giant Blocking the Way
I woke up in the morning feeling better after the little incident that had happened during the night. I took some fresh air in the window as I always did, and then while I was having breakfast, I started scrolling through social media.
The current events were summarized as if I was watching a news channel, not unlike what I used to do in my old world. I liked to follow the agenda.
So, I paused when a news item caught my eye. It wasn't that hard to see, because it suddenly appeared on the screen as breaking news.
In short, this news was important.
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Leonard Quie and his team managed to clear the Alius-type dungeon that appeared in the Piarlin Kingdom a year and a half ago! They were reported to have come back out of the gate around noon yesterday, with only two people missing.
Leonard Quie and his team quickly left the scene and did not say a word to reporters, so we will have to wait for further details! Please stay tuned.
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Oh... It was around this time, right... I've been so caught up in my own affairs that I've lost track of some of the things that have been happening all over the planet.
Like the one I'm seeing on the news right now. The clearing of a dungeon that appeared near the Piarlin Kingdom.
Clearing a dungeon is not something that would be such big news, but things change when the dungeon here is an 'Alius' type dungeon. Because these dungeons are different from the others. They literally give access to other planets and even dimensions. They connect two worlds, and in some rare cases, they can even become gateways for completely different races like dwarves and elves.
That's how races other than humans came to Lunerra. When Lunerra first awoke, they crossed from their own dimension through dungeons to lands lost to monstrous invasion and settled in this world, which they saw as a new 'source'.
Well, it wasn't long before humans were able to repel the monsters, so they couldn't spread too far. Then there were interracial agreements, nations started helping each other, and history goes on.
So Alius-type dungeons are really both a blessing and a curse for Lunerra. The value of the dungeon, how it contributes or detracts from the world, depends entirely on the situation inside it.
For example, if a hostile, intelligent species emerges and declares war on Lunerra, it could easily become a global problem. In the same way, viruses, diseases, and much more from different dimensions can cause world-threatening problems...
In short, these dungeons can be really dangerous.
So far only eight Alius-type dungeons have been uncovered, counting the one that has just been cleared and is now open to the world.
Historically, four of these eight dungeons have welcomed dwarves, elves, hannyas, and faes to Lunerra... Two of them contained no humanoid or highly intelligent life forms... And one was problematic because of its toxic environment and a disease that spread from it to the world, but that was resolved relatively quickly.
The last remaining dungeon, the one that was 'cleared' by Leonard Quie and his team, has not yet been made public. Of course, I know what will happen, I know how that dungeon will affect the whole of Lunerra, and what kind of big changes it will create here.
When I read the rest of the article, I saw that it was not allowed to enter the dungeon without being informed about the world behind it and without a security facility. Everything was as it is in the game.
I have to prepare for that... The world behind that dungeon is really important. And that's why I need to meet Leonard Quie, who is at the center of all this.
He will come to me when he finds out that I have signed an agreement with his wife and that one of its clauses concerns his daughter. There's no way that someone of his stature could not stop seeing me at least once when he finds out these things. He needs to see first-hand whether I am a threat to his family or not.
As I continued to scroll the screen with these thoughts in mind, another not-so-front-page news item caught my attention. My eyebrows slowly rose with curiosity.
This news was something I hadn't seen in the game. It wasn't something I was likely to see anyway. Because the appearance of this news in the first place was indirectly dependent on 'me'.
The news was about someone with blond hair and purple eyes. After the events at the academy and the revelations about the several nobles bullying the people, starting with the Malus Family, people started to take action against it.
It was like an advanced version of the group on social media that I had seen before. And there was even someone who seemed to be their 'leader', which was the man in the news report.
He was thin, he looked like someone who had never eaten much or exercised even once in his life. Yet he had a handsome face. His blond hair and violet eyes gave him an attractive nobility. He looked as if he had posed for this particular moment, even though it was easy to see in the news report that it was actually a photo of him edited from an image. He had a natural charisma.
Darrel Gavefrihet. That was his name, and he was a representative of the people who were slowly beginning to react to the tyranny they were receiving from the nobility. Just like... James Laher, who had started to act while I was away but had already been stopped.
However, I doubt that this Darrel guy would have done such a thing so blatantly. After all, he represents not a small group of students, but a community of gigantic proportions.
Interesting... I don't remember such a character in the game, I wonder if he will become important in the future. I don't even know how far this 'rebellion' that the people started at the beginning will go.
Still, I have a feeling that if he meets Prince Lucas, he might get along well with him. If he really has the characteristics of the group he represents... he might support the prince with the people behind him.
Maybe, very unlikely, but still a possibility, he could be an enemy of the kingdom. One should not underestimate the hatred of the common people for the nobles.
"Haaa..."
I took a deep breath and realized that I had finished my breakfast as my fork hit the plate hard.
Enough with the news... I have to get to class.
*******
It was a normal day. Just like when I had my breakfast, nothing was different.
Calm, quiet, peaceful. Even though we were in January, in the middle of winter, the weather was strangely good. The academy was coming alive, students were rushing to their classes.
In the midst of it all, I had a smile on my face as I walked nonchalantly toward my class. Because when I stepped out into this community, I started to feel special.
Among so many students, I was one of the few who had reached D- grade. Of course, as time progresses, this will not be such a big thing, but it is still really... satisfying for the current moment.
After all, who doesn't want to feel special? Right?
'No.'
I kept walking with my smile intact, my expression not the least bit distorted.
'You don't talk, Sith.'
'Heh, so now you ignore things that annoy you?'
'No-'
My smile slowly faded. I paused, and Sith paused too. We had both noticed something, someone standing in our way. A... literal giant that seems to be blocking the sun.
Was I surprised? Of course not, that's not what I felt because I knew something like this would happen.
Did I expect it, as I thought when we had breakfast, yes, but did I expect it to happen so early? Well, the answer to that is no.
This... happened faster than I thought it would.
"Are you Aiden Tenebra?"
I sighed slightly. I quickly bowed my neck, kept my left foot where it was, and put my right foot slightly behind it. Then I put my right hand on my chest, opened my left hand slightly, and bowed myself only a few inches.
This was a noble salute in the kingdom. It was mostly used in important meetings, usually to people of ducal status or directly to the royal family.
It didn't have an extreme place in everyday life, it was traditional. Nevertheless, for the situation I was in, especially for me, it was kind of necessary.
Although... I suppose I should have done it in front of Melany and Prince Lucas, but I didn't. The circumstances were not favorable, I suppose I could say...?
Anyway.
"Yes, it's me."
Around us, the students, the staff, and much more slowly began to see the scene unfolding. And every single person who did so froze in place.
A few of them raised their watches, tried to take photos or videos, but the watches were suddenly turned off. As if the academy didn't want this moment to be recorded, it disabled its system.
I knew quite well who was the only one who could do it.
"Let's have a talk then, young man, shall we?"
Dropping my bow, I assumed my normal posture and looked directly at the person in front of me.
His golden blond hair fluttered in the winter winds. Blood-red eyes locked on my gray ones. His eyes, combined with his height of over two meters, made him look even more intimidating than he was. However, the uncanny, dirty smile on his face supported this image quite well.
It was easy to read this in the faces of the people around us.
For me, however, what this image made me feel was very different.
Despite all this, I had a smile on my face, just like this man's face.
"Sure."
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