Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

186 – Our Adventure Will Not End (Part 1)

After the Raid Battle was over, I got a message from Wraith.

「Grr… That boy, has he still not given up on getting you into his party? Be that as it may, I still haven’t even received my gracious reward yet…」

As I was leaving my home, Milla says that while puffing one of her cheeks, I smile wryly.

「He told me that it won’t take long.」

When I said that, Milla’s eyes went wide for a moment, then her expression quickly turned seductive.

「Oh my, so does that mean that I can have a date with Lem all to myself?」

「Aha…haha…」　

Milla contributed wonderfully to the war effort in the third stratum fight. We decided on going on a date together as a celebration, but she was fine with waiting until after the Raid Battle was over to do it.

「I am extremely looking forward to being escorted by Lem.」

「…I’ll do my best.」

In our little chat, we exchange「Have a safe journey.」「Yeah, I’ll see you soon」and I head out.

I was heading to the same cafe we went to last time.

The crowd inside was as moderate as last time, but I think it’s a good atmosphere for a nice little chat.

「Ah, over here.」

A young boy was waving at me from his seat, I go closer.

At the table that can seat four, the two seats on one side were filled.

On them were the Water Hero Wraith and the Destroyer Fran.

I sit on the opposite side.

「Sorry for calling you out all of a sudden. Thanks for coming.」

「No, it’s fine.」

To be honest, I was worried.

I checked the video after the fight, but it’s better to meet him directly to check.

I look at him. A ten-year-old who had only just had his Job identified. Hair and eyes of deep blue, reminiscent of the deep sea. The young boy looked back at me with a friendly smile.

…Alright, he seems fine.

Wraith was trapped in a prison of his own guilt. He cursed himself for being born into this world, which prevented the best Hero from taking back his seat at the top of the rankings.

Wraith thought that the only way to free himself from this curse was to prove that his father’s way was right.

I have no right to meddle in his way of living.

However, he was deemed worthy by the Spirit.

Even if he was aiming to be like the Unyielding Hero, I don’t think the important takeaway from him is something as superficial as swearing not to use Spirit Magic.

While his father was not chosen by the Spirits, he valued his allies, honed their cooperation, and never gave up in any sort of predicament. He did his very best and put forth every effort.

Wraith probably understands all of that now.

The slow, heart-tightening, painful atmosphere from before has cleared up beautifully.

「I see Fran is here too. Good day.」

「…Mm. Good day.」

「Ah yeah, she wants to say thanks to you or something so she came along.」

「Also, so that Wraith won’t get lost.」

「Uh-huh, s’that so? Gee, thanks. C’mon, say「Ah」.」

「Ah~」

That’s right. This whole time, Wraith has been scooping up a parfait with a spoon and feeding it to Fran. Like a baby bird being fed by its mama bird, Fran was supplied sweet treats by Wraith.

Am I totally in the way, right now? I feel like I am intruding on their space somehow.

There’s something charming about all this, though. Perhaps it’s because they’re still young.

「Thank me?」

「Mm. Thank you…very much for helping Wraith. It was something…that I couldn’t do…」

I guess she realized the situation as well.

I suppose to someone who knows about Wraith’s situation, the way Bennu and I treated him made it really easy to understand. Rather than guiding him to the right answer, we actually tried to make him realize it himself.

Fran is his childhood friend, and she knows about the time that Wraith met with me here. Knowing all that, it’s no surprise that she put it all together.

There is the possibility that Wraith just told her, but somehow I don’t think he did.

「Just having you there helped me plenty. Truly…」

「…I see.」

Wraith said that while scratching his cheek and Fran looked down expressionlessly. She’s shy…I think.

Wraith looked back at me.

「I want to thank you too. I understand why you turned down my invitation. With so many great allies, who’d wanna link arms with a brat who’s got the wrong idea, right?」

「…You’re a good Hero, Wraith.」

「Ahaha, I wonder if I’m worthy.」

Wraith laughed it off. As Lemegeton, I said some pretty harsh words about him not being worthy of being a Hero when I faced him.

I smiled and nodded.

「Indeed, you did your very best to achieve victory. You were a cool Hero.」

「…Hehe, that so?」

The embarrassed look he has right now looks appropriate for someone his age.

「Oh, by the way, Lem.」

「Hm? What is it?」

After feeding Fran the last bite of the parfait, Wraith leans forward.

He smiles while looking at me and says…

「Once again, would you like to join my party?」

「……Ahaha.」

This might be where he resembles his father the most.

He won’t give up after only one or two rejections.

「You really are awesome, Lem. Let’s reach 1st rank, together. You’re the best Black Sorcerer. I…we don’t care about all the naysayers. Let’s win, win and keep on winning and drop Uncle Air down to 2nd rank.」

Wraith excitedly talks about the future.

He was so dazzling and full of passion. I was honored, and truly, truly happy.

But…

「I really like my current job.」

I mean this from the bottom of my heart.

Wraith…wasn’t surprised.

「Aw man, I knew it…」

He said as he leaned back on his chair and his shoulders sank.

「But, yknow…」

He immediately revived and continued with renewed vigor.

「I won’t give up. I’m the son of the Unyielding Hero after all!」

He said those words proudly, and I couldn’t feel the anguish eating away at him.

Good. I’m glad.

「I’ll make the best party. Now it’s just me, Fran, and Undine, but I’ll search for the remaining allies. I don’t know how long you’ll stick with this job, but I’ll always keep a slot open for you. Let’s go Adventuring together someday.」

◇

About the others that took part in the Raid Battle.

I’ll take excerpts out of the interviews of each party that I saw.

First off, the world’s 5th ranked Scathach party.

『-take a look back at Raid Battle, how do you feel about it?』

『I am mortified to have been defeated in the first stratum… That alone showcases how high-level the Demon King Castle is as a Dungeon, but wish I could have contributed more to the party.』

Said the Magic Arrow Archer Caleena with a quiet, regretful look on her face.

『Twas an extremely thrilling fight! I take pride in the practical applications of my threads, but I got the impression that the enemy had various countermeasures ready and waiting!』

The Weaving Magician Theo gleefully narrated.

『Who me? Heh, I, like, played a super big role. You could say it was fulfilling, fun even. I’m sure all the Hamill fans all over the world are gonna love the video. Right, guys?』

『…sigh, the battle in the tenth stratum was really cool too…』

『Caleena, hey, could you maybe not sigh so loudly?』

『I, too, was greatly moved by Sir Hamill’s display in the tenth stratum! Especially that scene after he saw off Sir Ewan with a brave smile! The sight of him dragging his dying body to try and rush to our leader’s side brought me to tears!』

『Hey! You promised that you wouldn’t mention that, Theo?! It was cut out, right? It didn’t make it in the final cut, right?』

The Far-Reaching Swordsman Hamill’s face was turning red. …It totally made it in.

『”…Dammit…”』

『Caleena? Is that…Is that supposed to be an impression of me?』

『”My leader needs me, I have to go and save him.”』

『I didn’t say anything like that! It sounds like something I would say, though! Don’t spread lies!』

『I’m only joking. Although, if you acted more like that and less like your usual playful self, I’m sure people would like you more, Hamill.』

『Even you, Caleena?』

『……sigh』

『That was an even deeper sigh than before!』

The Scathach party gets along really well.

Once all the clamor reaches a stopping point, the camera shifts its focus to the Faceless Archer Suuri.

『…The enemy exceeded my expectations. The cause of defeat was clear. I must revise my methods.』

He was hiding his face that day as well.

Then, it was finally the Thunder Hero Scathach’s turn.

『There are many things we could have done better. After the fact, we tend to think things like “It would’ve been better if I did it like this, everything would have changed.” and so on. The first time I was defeated, if I wasn’t killed by Miss Furcus, we could have used the revival rights on someone else. It is regrettable that Caleena could not be revived, for she is an excellent Hunter. I still ask myself whether or not the decisions I made in the tenth stratum were the right ones. But in the end, we did our best and lost. We have to accept that and move on.』

『…Would you challenge the Demon King Castle again?』