novelraw Chapter 73 : Chapter 73
Chapter 73 : Chapter 73
Chapter 73 : Reporting
After the screen turned off, Harlan began the discussion by mentioning a few observations.
Sal felt relieved that the Doom Society members included them in the report about this incident.
“First of all, I think everyone agrees that those Commanders were in a significantly weakened state. It's only a conjecture for now, but I think the cause was that they expanded their territory by excessively extending the Dungeon Heart. Seeing the armor manifest, one of those Commanders must have been an entity that relied on atmospheric Essence. But there must have been almost no Essence in that area. It means they were trapped in that dungeon without a portal connected to an environment rich in Essence like their home. The Dungeon Heart was barely keeping them alive.”
Harlan freely unfolded his hypothesis, gesturing as if organizing his thoughts.
“It's easy to list this and that scenario, but the important thing is that those Commanders were on a completely different level from the entities we studied in the past. It's also unusual for a monster to be clinging to such a device. In my opinion, it seems a monster with much higher intelligence was behind this. Looking at the reckless attack pattern of the Armored Commander, it doesn't seem like he was in a controller role. Alastair, what do you think?”
Alastair looked around the room, feigned a wry smile, and shrugged his shoulders.
“Honestly speaking, I agree with everything. We all saw it together, right? As soon as the Commanders fell, the other monsters' behavior changed drastically. It's clear a mental attacker was controlling them psychically. Behavior analysis isn't my specialty, so I don't know well, but from a tactical perspective, it's a bit strange to have two Commanders in a dungeon of that level. Usually, with that kind of leadership, there should be about a thousand monsters to balance it out. Maybe those two were marginal individuals kicked out of their pack. It's hard to judge. Actually… I almost felt a little pity for the monsters. Because the strike teams put in such tremendous effort!”
Several heroes around them burst into laughter at Alastair's words.
Their conversation continued a few more times after that.
Others added opinions or conjectures, but the overall atmosphere was weighted toward the fact that the actual situation was too easy compared to what was seen in prophecies or illusions.
After everyone shared a word or two, about a few minutes passed, and Quest approached Divinity, Sal, and Barry and sat on the coffee table.
A tired yet warm smile was on his face.
“Thank you. All three of you really did your best. Thanks to you, we've almost reached the finishing stage now. You probably… realized what favor I'm about to ask, right?”
Divinity nodded, but waited silently until Quest actually gave the order.
Soon, Quest continued with his fingers tightly interlaced.
“Could you look just a little further into the future? To see if there are any surprise attacks prepared from the Combat Class side.”
The cheerful atmosphere of the professors that had enveloped the room subsided for a moment.
Everyone shifted their gaze to Divinity, and she activated her ability without further words to look into the future.
Sal held his breath unknowingly and waited for her reaction.
Only when a smile mixed with relief spread across her face did he exhale heavily.
“No attacks! Just the worst match-ups where our team struggles to avoid demotion!”
Divinity's voice sounded playful, but it was tinged with dissatisfaction about how ridiculously the team composition was structured.
At those words, Neuro laughed loudly, and the room turned back to a comfortable atmosphere.
Quest covered his face with his hands, looking noticeably relieved of the burden on his shoulders.
He murmured with a sigh.
“Perfect. Truly… perfect. Thank you, Ms. Divinity.”
He lowered his hands and looked at her with a grateful smile.
Then he turned his head slightly and nodded once again toward Barry and Sal.
“All three of you, thank you truly. I will definitely reflect your contribution to this matter in the ranking adjustments, and I'll make sure to add Q-Credits too. It's just a token of my personal gratitude.”
Divinity, Sal, and Barry sat there feeling a little embarrassed.
The professors and external guild officials around them expressed their gratitude to them one by one.
Quest pointed to the guild officials with a gesture and lightened the mood.
“Scouting is prohibited until the first semester ends! Until then, just talk!”
Like that, the three became surrounded by guild members and bombarded with questions.
Various questions poured out, from their abilities to how they planned to grow through their studies in the future.
Barry was almost captured by Alastair but didn't look uncomfortable at all, and Divinity was having brief conversations with a few scouts.
However, by far the most attention was focused on Sal.
He couldn't even remember properly who spoke to him, but Sal answered the questions faithfully with maximum politeness.
But inwardly, his mind was still blank.
The fact that they had stopped a monster attack that almost happened during this tournament felt too surreal.
People said they would go to watch his match this weekend, and Sal just smiled and nodded at those words.
Divinity seemed to be in a similar state, returning only short and vague answers to questions.
On the other hand, Barry seemed to be completely on his own stage.
He pleasantly accepted everyone approaching him and continued conversations, and Alastair was excitedly introducing people next to him.
As time passed, the guild officials left the Sky Lounge one by one, and the three could finally catch their breath.
Barry sat as if throwing his body onto the sofa with a long sigh.
A smile still hung on his lips.
“Will they really come to watch our match? It seemed like just polite talk.”
Divinity shook her head and pointed to her eyes.
“I saw it in the future. They will definitely come. And I saw one more changed scene in the future.”
When she looked at Barry meaningfully, Barry shrugged and smiled broadly.
“You already know everything about my ability. Then it's not bad to show it properly once. There's no loss in helping out a bit, right?”
Sal looked at Barry with surprised eyes.
“Are you really thinking of using your ability in the match?”
Barry laughed and nudged Sal's shoulder slightly.
“Hey, I'm a pretty useful guy even without an ability. You know that, right?”
He placed a hand on his chest and spoke to Sal with a serious expression.
“I even told you my secret ability. So isn't it time for you to admit it too? That you are Mythos.”
Barry looked straight into Sal's eyes and waited for an answer.
Sal burst into laughter.
“What on earth did you see to think that?”
Instead of answering immediately, Barry narrowed his eyes and glanced at Divinity, hoping for agreement.
“No matter how much Q-Credit you poured in, what crafter would fit equipment for both our teams? We've only been in school for a few weeks, and before that, no one had ever heard of or seen that person. So it's highly likely that person is a freshman too. So I went around crafting classes asking for the name of the most impressive person? And an unbelievable answer came back. Salvatore Argento. Administration class? Same answer. Professor Upgrade? They say she's in the workshop all throughout her free time these days, do you know who she's with?”
Barry pointed at Sal.
“Unless this is all a series of coincidences, the only option left is that you are secretly bringing in weapons from the Argento Auction House. Seeing you in Skill class, you're a replicator. You can use others' abilities without limit. Didn't you replicate a crafting ability too?”
Instead of looking directly at Sal, Barry looked at Divinity as if checking if she was on his side.
“You possess deduction skills too?”
Alastair smirked and plopped down in the armchair next to them.
He rested his bearded chin on his palm and waited for Sal's reaction.
Sal showed a lukewarm expression to Alastair, then turned his gaze to Barry.
“Then before I answer, let me ask one thing too. Why did you go out of your way to find Mythos? You were busy enough just training. Did you have time to spare?”
Reacting to those words, Divinity leaned forward with a playful smile.
“If you want to train more, just say the word! If you have time to imagine such things, it means you have plenty of time to spar too!”
Barry tried hard to suppress the goosebumps crawling up his spine.
Then he raised his right arm and pointed to the green Rune engraved on it with his left hand.
“To use my ability, I have to carve this Rune myself. It's a kind of safety device so I don't get lost in places like the purgatory I showed you earlier. So I was wondering if you could make something like a Rune that helps with control, like what Mythos made for Hannah. Ah, how is Hannah these days? I heard you two are quite close?”
Barry raised the corners of his mouth as much as possible.
Alastair shouted, making an exaggerated breathing sound as if fueling the atmosphere for no reason.
“Hannah! The story is getting interesting? Sal, were you hiding everything from us?”
Sal sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and then gave a wry smile toward Alastair.
“I won't talk to you, Professor.”
Then looking at Barry again, Sal eventually shrugged his shoulders and spoke as if giving up.
“Fine… let's just say I'm right. I am Mythos. But you know, right? If you act like that, the price of what you want now will double?”
Barry let out a satisfied sigh.
“I knew it. Actually, I wasn't going to ask you to make anything. I figured you'd confess on your own thanks to that terrible empathy of yours.”
Divinity laughed out loud, and Alastair shook his head from side to side and said.
“Is this it? I expected at least a little drama.”
Sal pointed to where the screen had been just a moment ago.
“That earlier was enough drama for a lifetime.”
Alastair let those words slide lightly and turned back to Barry.
“Then, Mr. Argento will make his own guild, and Ms. Khan will join sooner or later too. As far as I remember.”
He waved his hand indifferently as if tapping the two, and continued.
“For me, it would be perfect to retire, join that guild with Harlan, and spend the rest of my life fighting over a director position.”
At that moment, Harlan, who was talking with Neuro, turned his head upon hearing his name, and Alastair wore a playful smile on his lips.
Then he pointed at Barry.
“Then what about Mr. Francis? What path do you intend to take? Have you thought about it?”
Barry looked at Sal in disbelief and said.
“Are you really thinking of making a guild?”
Sal shrugged and shook his head.
“Honestly speaking, I don't know what I want to do in the future yet. But for now, that's the goal.”
A short silence flowed in the meantime, and after pondering deeply, Barry raised the corner of his mouth and extended his left thumb toward Sal.
“Then I'll make a guild higher than his.”
Alastair covered his face with both hands and groaned.
“Can't you lower that goal a bit? Do you not know how big an opportunity I'm trying to give you right now?”
He placed a hand on his chest and looked at Barry exaggeratedly.
“Even if you just said you wanted to become a Master Tactician, I was ready to put you on the express track right away…. Are you saying you want to become a thorn in Salvatore's life?”
Barry tried to say something in embarrassment, but Alastair had already started teasing.
He looked up at the glass ceiling of the Sky Lounge and spoke into the air in a deep voice like an actor on stage.
“Imagine it! An illusion-type controller orchestrating the flow of the battlefield solely with mental power! In the end, I guess I have to look forward to that girl named Melanie the others were talking about. Ah, what a pity….”
Finishing his monologue like that, Alastair looked down at the coffee table with a solemn expression, then slowly stood up.
Barry laughed and grabbed Alastair's arm.
“I was just joking with Sal. I want to seriously look into other possibilities too. Tactical class… honestly looks fun!”
Alastair grinned and sat back down.
“Good, then prove your skills in the upcoming combat tournament. If you show a truly remarkable appearance there, I'll give you an invitation to my class. It's a complete free pass.”
He turned his gaze toward Divinity and Sal.
“The same goes for you two.”
With those words, Alastair stood up again.
He grumbled, placing his hands on his knees.
“Sitting down and standing up is going to ruin my knees. It's getting late now, so you guys should go back and rest well. There's a big debut stage coming soon, so you must be fully prepared!”