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CHAPTER 38: The other camp

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Balo's POV

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       "What happened?! Why did it break?!" My voice resonated as the captain of the guards bowed in front of me.

       "S-sir Balo, we don't know. The portal just crumbled. I already dispatched a couple of mages that's capable of fixing it and they began right away."

       "What the hell…" I whisper as I stand up to walk towards the outside. The group of students that we have taken out of both dungeons are sitting around outside the dungeon's entrance. We decided to step out to get some fresh air and a change of scenery for them while we wait for Yasu to finish collecting what he wanted.

        Damn, Him trapped in there is the last thing I want. I say in my mind.

       "How long will the carriage take to get here?" I asked the captain as I walked towards the outside.

       "U-um. I have already dispatched a group along with the other lords, they should be back here in a couple of hours sir Balo." The captain says as he walked beside me.

       I sent a couple of my members along with the guards to get a carriage since we weren't expecting the group to be this big. I say in my mind and the thought of how busy I am getting them all settled is making me depressed. I reached the outside and I see everyone sitting around a pot filled with stew. The chef made more as there’s a couple of pot scattered around with different groups of people surrounding it.

       "We should have gone with him. At least one of us." Kumiko-sensei says as she tends to Akane who's still unconscious. She decided to stay and since we didn't have a carriage, I decided to keep Akane with us and keep an eye on her. I slump down the log next to them watching Akane sleep.

        "Yea, damn I should have gone with him," I say looking towards the fire that slowly boiling food for us to eat. "How long will it take to fix the portal?"

        "It will take approximately 4 hours sir." The captain replied and I waved my hand for him to go back to his group and relax. He gave me a bow and walked towards the group of soldiers. I look towards Takumi who's relaxing around as he cleans his swords. "Takumi, can you get one of the students that came out of the other dungeon? I want to ask them a few questions on what really happened."

       "Sure." He stood up and walked towards a group of students circling another fire pit. His attitude completely changed a couple of months back and it seems like everything he's doing is a hassle, which is something that's been worrying me. I see him talk to the group and one of them stands up and follows Takumi back towards us.

        "He said he could explain to us." Takumi points towards the guy behind him.

       "Hey, your name is? I'm sorry I haven't remembered everybody's name fully." I stood and held out my hand towards him.

       "That's no problem. My name is Park Jung-gi. Just call me Jung-gi." He grabs my hand and shakes it.

       "Oh, Korean?" I asked him and he nods. "Cool, have a seat I just need to know what actually happened in your dungeon. How come there are no adults in your group?" I sit back down leaning my back on the log and he sits across the fire pit.

        "W-well, I'm one of the adults. There were teachers with us but they decided to leave us behind."

         Adult? He looks really young. I say in my mind.

        "Leave you guys?” I asked him confused. It would have been impossible getting to the portal without going through the gatekeeper. “Are these the guys who disappeared?"

        "Yea, they really didn't disappear, they left us. They used us as bait so they can run for the portal. We all had no choice but to run back into the safe zone. That's when..." he suddenly stopped talking as his expression turn as if he's about to cry. "T-that's when my little sister died."

      He started breaking down crying really loud that the other groups along with the guard turn our way.

       "I-I'm sorry to hear that." I felt bad but I need to know what's going on. "One thing is you survived. Your little sister would have wanted that." I tell him as I walk towards him and place my hands on his shoulders trying to comfort him.

       "I-I know. But she's the only family I had. And I miss her." He tells me and I couldn't say anything but just let him cry. After he calmed down, he explained to me in great detail what happened. How a person named Kana and Daikichi plot the entire thing and only picked a handful of people to leave with them while using the rest as bait so they can escape out the portal. After the people who left them got out, they were chased back into the safe zone by monsters and was stuck there for a couple of days until they tried again to run out and Junpei group and the guards manage to save them.

       "They're villains!" Kumiko-sensei voice was sharp and I can see she's really mad. "They're adults! Even if a student is bad, it's a teacher's responsibility to correct them! Not follow them!! How dare they leave students to die!!!"

       "Calm down sensei. For now, we know they're not our ally. If we ever see them, we have Jung-gi with us to help verify their identity. Just be prepared, everyone. I don't want another Rikimura." I tell everyone and that made Kumiko-sensei calm down.

       "Rikimura?" Jung-gi asked me.

       "He's one of the people that was brought to this world with us. A sicko almost raped one of our teammates and tortured three of our member." I explain to him.

       "O-oh he sounds dangerous. W-where is he now?" He asked looking nervous.

      "Dead," Takumi replied without batting an eye.

      "Y-you guys killed him?" Jung-gi seems oddly interested.

       "No not us. Do you know the guy that brought you here? Luro? He killed him. Ripped his heart out in front of us." I explained to him and I can see his face contorts in disgust. One of the students from his group called out to his name and he turns around to wave and turns back at us.

       "I should be getting back to my group, let me know if there's anything else you need to know." He tells me and I nod back at him. He quickly stood and walked over his group.

       "Sir Balo! Sir Balo!" A guard ran out the dungeon entrance almost tripping. "T-the portal! It disappeared!"

        "What?!" I suddenly stood up and somehow I felt dizzy at my sudden movement. It hasn't been long since I was cured of the poison the ogre king hit us with so my body isn't fully healed.

       "S-sir Balo! Are you ok?!" The captain of the guards came rushing my side along with the whole platoon standing up to rush towards me.

       "I-I'm fine. Continue. What happened? What do you mean the portal disappeared?" I asked him.

        "S-sir, We were rebuilding the portal when suddenly it turned into dust and disappeared!" The mage explained making me more worried.

       "How did that happened?! Did you guys mess up?!" I was on a verge of screaming up until Kumiko-sensei places her hand on my arm to calm me down. 

       "N-no, sir! We got a portion of the portal already built when I told my guard to take a break and eat. We were on our way out when it suddenly turned into dust." He explained making me slump down the log.

        "Damn it!" I felt frustrated at the sudden turn of events in a short amount of time. The last thing I want is someone as strong as Yasu thinking we locked him in the portal on purpose. This already happened to him before now it happened again and he might turn his sword towards us this time.

       "Balo, calm down, remember what Stella told us. If one side of the portal is destroyed, the other is also destroyed the same way. Like a mirror effect. It might have been destroyed from the other side." Kumiko sensei says.

        "Shit, this is bad. He's in there and we need to get him out quick! Captain! Send all the mages in there and see if they can figure out a way to bring it back!"

       The captain gave me a military salute and turned around to the soldiers. "Mages! Come follow me to the portal room!" He walks towards the portal room with the mages following behind him. Takumi talked to the rest of the guards to give them orders on what to do before coming back to our campfire.

        "What did you tell them?" I asked him as he approaches our camp.

        "I told them to also be on a lookout for any adventurers like the ones we just saved. I don't want them to be caught off guard." He explained to me and I'm grateful for having him by my side since he always keeps a cool head while I lose mine. 

        "Ah, cool. What was their name again?" I asked him.

        "Kana, Daikichi, Miki, Goro, Amaguchi, Lisa, and a warlock kid but they forgot his name," Takumi replied.

        "Ok, let's all try to remember their names. For now, our main priority is to get Yasu out." I tell everyone and Akane started waking up as she moans as she slowly opens her eyes.

        "Akane. Thank god." Kumiko-sensei looks down towards her since she used her lap as a pillow for Akane.

        "S-sensei." She mutters as she slowly stood up. Thanks to Stella, we managed to revive Akane's missing body parts and she managed to talk again. We also revived Sawada's missing eye.

       "S-sensei, Balo what happened?" She asked as she touches her head. Akane let her hair grow and now it reaches down to her waist. Her body has become more defined which is mostly hidden under her mage robe.

       "Akane!" Kumiko-sensei started crying as she hugged her. "You almost died!"

       "Don't you remember what happened?" I asked her and she shakes her head.

        "The only thing I remember is after we were hit by some mist and our body stopped moving, I lost consciousness and woke up here." She says.

        "Damn Akane, good thing you don't remember. You got eaten alive by the Ogre king." Takumi says trying to hold in a laugh.

        "W-what?" She looked surprised.

       "Yea, that thing swallowed you whole~ Pfft! You were covered with slime when we saved you. Nasty!" Takumi says and thanks to him the heavy situation has lightened up a bit.

        She looks at her clothes which are probably stuck to her skin due to the slime drying up. "Oh my god, ew!!! My clothes are glued to my skin!"

        We all chuckled as we see her squirm as she gets her clothes separated from her body without removing it.

        "This. Is. Nasty!" She takes out a water container out of her bag and started to wash what she can.

        "Hahaha, it's ok Akane. You won't die from that but let's not forget that you almost died." All of a sudden the atmosphere got heavy when I said it. "I thought we were strong enough to finish the dungeon but what the hell was that. An ogre king? We managed to kill the gatekeeper flawlessly but then that damn ogre king appeared out of nowhere and caught us off guard. That wasn't there when we started a year ago."

        I grab the ladle and stir the food. The chef sees me and I gesture for him to stay as he started scrambling to go up to run and stir it for me.

        "Wasn't that thing too strong? We could have easily handled it if it wasn't for that damn poison gas he hit us with." Takumi grabs a bowl and hands it out towards me.

        I poured some of the stew that's been boiling and he handed the bowl to Akane who stopped cleaning herself and took the bowl. Then Takumi grabbed another bowl and I filled up as he passed it along the people around our campfire, which is mainly me, Takumi, Kumiko-sensei, and Akane. Everyone formed their own campfire and grouped up. As I look up around, they all started eating while talking and laughing.

        "Damn these guys have it easy. Remember when we first got out? We didn't even know how to make a campfire." Takumi says as he also notices everyone's mood starting to get better.

        "Yea, well I guess we have to protect them since we're a higher level and we know more about this world than them. Since we somehow built a city, it would be easy to blend them in with this world's society." I say as I scoop a spoon full of the stew and meat and blew on it to cool it down. Then I took a bite and the taste of the stew is heavenly, as the meat broke apart inside my mouth like butter.

        "Man, this is good~," Takumi says as he gobbles down his food so fast he started scooping up seconds.

        "E-everyone," Akane says as she puts her bowl down on her lap and we all look at her. "Thanks for saving me. I know I'm a burden at times, and thank you for not abandoning me."

        "At times?! Akane, stop lying. You're so troublesome you ended up almost destroying the dragon that sent us all flying away. You're so troublesome you got the final hit on the gatekeeper killing it." Takumi says joking around but we all know its true. Akane is a valuable teammate.

        "Akane, you're strong. You probably can one hit me." I say to her and she started smiling.

        "Guys~ Stop it~," She says squirming around. Ever since she got her tongue back, her usual happy attitude got happier.

        "Hahaha, but Akane. It's not us you need to give thanks to." I tell her and she looks up to me.

       "Who? Wait, is it Hiroko? Hiroko always has my back." She says and I shook my head.

        "It's not Hiroko or anyone from our group. It's him. You need to thank the new leader of the diamond district guild, Yasu." The minute I say his name, her eyes went wide as she looked at all of us frantically.

        "Y-you guys met him?! When?!" She got too excited almost spilling her food.

        "When he decided to perform a live C-section on an Ogre king," Takumi says as he finishes his bowl. "If you could have seen it, man~ it was brutal."

        "He what?" She asked looking confused.

      "Well to give you a better explanation, he immobilizes the ogre king, skinned it alive, and then ripped a hole in its stomach to pull you out. And he did all of this while the ogre king was alive. He's a fucking psychopath man." Takumi says as he slumps back on the log.

        "I have never seen anything like it. The way he looks at us. The way he talked to us, it's scary." Kumiko-sensei says.

       "Oh, yea. Kumiko-sensei managed to piss him off too. She got called an old lady." Takumi says.

        "I-I-I did not piss him off! I just wanted to heal him since he looked hurt but, I didn't expect for him to react like that." She replied.

        "But damn, just how strong is he. It seemed like he was playing around with the Ogre King. And did you hear what the Ogre King said? Yasu killed an overlord." I say as I place my empty bowl near the pot to scoop up a second serving.

        "He what?" Akane asked surprised since everything we're saying is new to her ears.

       "Yea, we heard he killed an overlord. You know, those things we have been looking for? I guess he managed to find one and kill it." Takumi says as he grabs a small stick and started sharpening it into a toothpick. "Man~ that was the first time I have seen an enemy get on his knees and beg for forgiveness."

        "D-did t-they meet?" Akane asked and I shook my head as I already know who's she's talking about.

       "By the time he got here, it seems like Junpei and the rest left to go back to the sky king's dungeon to meet him. It seems like they missed each other." I reply.

       "W-was he mad?" Akane asked.

      "No, but it's hard to describe. As if, he doesn't care about anything but he doesn't want anyone getting in his way. But the way he acts towards us make me know one thing for sure if they do meet, it's not going to be pleasant."

       "W-where is he now?" Akane asked looking around.

      "He's not here," I reply to her. "He went into the portal to collect some stuff but the portal somehow broke and turned into dust."

       "Wait, you mean he's stuck in there?" Akane asked.

       "Yea, speaking of that, maybe I should check the portal to see if they managed to revive it." I stood up and started walking towards the portal entrance. All of the soldiers saw me all of them started speed eating to follow me but I just told them to relax and eat and they all nod as I pass them.

        "W-wait!" I hear Akane behind me along with Kumiko-sensei and one lady which Yasu knew.

        "Balo, she wants to ask about Yasu. She's worried about him." Kumiko-sensei says and I greeted her by bowing since she's older than me.

        "Where is Yasu? Is he okay?" She asked me.

        "That we don't know ma'am. He went inside the portal but the portal turned into dust." I tell her and somehow, I felt stiff as she gave an adult aura. I felt like I was going to be scolded any minute.

        "Oh no." I see that she's genuinely worried about him. "He's strong and smart, I know he won't get in any trouble."

        Strong yes, smart…I don't know if he's right on the head. I say in my mind.

        "By the way, call me Sam." She says and I nod.

        "Well, I'm going to check the portal anyway. Ms. Sam do you want to tag along?" I asked her and she nods as we all walked towards the portal room. Once we got there, I see the captain and the rest circling an ash pile and the minute he sees me, he came running my way bowing.

        "So did you guys managed to fix it?" I asked him and he looks distraught.

       "N-no, sir. Our mages aren't capable of doing it. The only way is to ask miss Stella." The captain explained looking dejected.

        "Damn, I was hoping you give me a good answer. Ok, never mind. Captain, tell your men to go and take a rest and go eat. I know you haven't eaten also since we got out to go take a break with them." I tell him and he bowed and ran towards the guards and they all walk towards me bowed before walking out the cave. I walked near a table they have set up and sat at one of the chairs. Everyone followed me and sat around the table.

        "T-these men keep bowing to you. Are you perhaps royalty?" Ms. Sam asked.

        "N-no I'm not Ms. Sam. I came from the earth like you guys." I explained to her.

        "Balo here is the leader of our guild which is probably close to being a king of the Gold city," Akane says and miss Sam's face had a surprised look.

        "Wow…" She mutters and what Akane said made me blush from embarrassment.

        "Miss Sam, what guild did Luro put you guys in?" I asked her.

        "Guild? He never mentioned a guild to us. He just said that we need to kill him and he left." She tells me.

        "Oh? Can you call out your stats and tell me what guild it says?" I asked her.

        "Oh, sure~ Status window! Hehe, I never get used to this but it seems like a fun thing to see this stuff that only happens in games. Ok, let me see…on the guild section, it says none." She tells me as she looked at her status window.

        "None? This means you have an option to join any guild. Akane, can you go out and tell Takumi to start inviting these new people to the guild if they're not in any guild." Akane raised her eyebrow the minute I said that as she crossed her arms.

        "Are you sure?" She asked me.

        "It's better for them to be part of our guild than some of the other guild to invite them and use them for their strength," I tell her and she quickly left the portal room.

        "Miss Sam, if you don't mind, can you tell me your full name?" I asked her.

       "Samantha Collins." She replied to me.

       "Ok, miss Sam, give me a minute, I'll invite you to my guild. Gold district Status Window."

        The minute I said the command, another window formed showing me a list of all the members in the guild. From this window, it also gives me an option to invite and kick members out. So far, the only people with these commands are the ones who was an original gold that means Junpei and the rest can't use it and invite people in which they didn’t mind.

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        "Invite member," I whisper and a new notification came out.

Please say the name of the person you want to invite. 

        "Samantha Collins," I whispered again feeling embarrassed saying her full name.

        "Whoa!" She's screamed probably seeing the invitation.

        "Just say the word 'accept' Ms. Sam," I tell her.

        "O-oh ok. Accept."

'Samantha Collins' has been added to your guild. 

        "Oh! I got another message. It says ‘congratulations you have been added to the Gold District guild. If you want to leave, use the guild commands.' Hahaha, this is awesome~" She says surprised about the notification.

        "This way no one can try to use you for your class. Even though we don't have a legendary class, our effects and strength are still above what's normal here." I tell her and also warned her that others might take advantage of her since she came from another world.

        "What class did you pick Sam?" Kumiko-sensei asked.

        "Oh, since I am a doctor, I picked the healer class." She replies and Kumiko-sensei face lit up. She finally has someone her age and let alone the same class as her so I knew she was excited when she saw miss Sam. They started talking non-stop and I slowly move away from them walking towards the pile of dust on what's used to be the portal.

         Damn, I hope he doesn't think we did this.I say in my mind as I crouch down studying the dust when all of a sudden I heard a scream erupt behind me.

        "Yasu!" Hiroko came running in the portal room looking around. She cut her hair short barely meeting her shoulders. Her armor consists of leather with a mix of metal plates as shin guards and forearm protector. Her top armor also has a hoodie but the arms are cut like a T-shirt. Her figure is a flawless hourglass with the face of a model. She spots me looking at her and she went running my way. "Balo! Where is he?!"

        I slowly stood up and pointed towards the dust pile. Her face lost color in an instant as she dropped to her knees.

        "Ah- Oh shit no. Wait I meant he's in the portal." I say trying to calm her since I started seeing tears accumulate in her eyes. "M-my bad, I was pointing at the portal that Yasu entered in."

        "H-he's alive?" She asked me as I help her up. I see Junpei along with Riki, Sawada, and Tobi came running in. Junpei body got big due to constant training but it's enough to say he would be agile enough to move fast. His armor consists of a dark plate with gold pauldrons and gold boots. His chest plates have a hand-carved design that can only be seen on royalty set of armors. Riki has a similar armor but his pauldrons are bigger making him look massive. Sawada has a full set of black leather hooded armor and Tobi has similar armor to Hiroko but in a different color.

        "Yasu!" They all shout in unison as they enter the cave and the minute they see me, they went running my way.

        "Balo, where's Yasu? I heard he was here." Junpei asked and it seems like no one hasn't told them anything yet.

        "Um, why don't we all sit around the table and I'll explain it to you guys," I tell them and we walked towards the table. Kumiko-sensei left us alone and took Ms. Sam with her and they both happily left the portal room talking to each other.

        "W-who's that. She looks like a foreigner." Riki asked looking back.

        "That is Miss Sam. One of the adults we found in the dungeon along with the students outside. And about Yasu. He-" I was suddenly cut off as I see Stella coming towards us.

        "Hey, did you guys find him?" Stella came walking in saying with a loud voice. Her armor is a full gold plate knight’s armor that is slim enough to show her figure. Her hair is tied up in a loose bun and I waved at her to come to sit down with everyone else.

        "Ok, to explain, yes we found Yasu. Or I should say, he found us. We were fighting the ogre king and was having trouble due to poison and that's when he came in and saved Akane.” I tell them.

        "H-he's alive? Junpei he's alive!" Hiroko started tearing and that long wait she's been doing has finally come to an end.

        "So, where is he?" Junpei asked and I point towards the dust pile.

        "oh no…" Stella whispers covering her mouth.

        "Wait, no I don't mean that.” I waved at her. “What I'm trying to say is that he went into the other portal where you guys came from and all of a sudden, the portal turned into dust. Stella, is there any way you can fix it?"

        "I don't know. I can try but I can't guarantee it." She says as she stands up and walks towards the dust pile. Everyone else slumps down the table. It looks like they came back rushing as I see some of them out of breath.

        "Oh, we found our soldiers on the way here with the carriage outside. They told me that it's for the adventurers to bring them to the gold city so I told the captain to start transporting them." Junpei says and I thank him. Even though I'm the leader, I find it annoying to deal with leadership stuff and thanks to these guys; we're able to manage a city.

        "Did you guys eat?" I asked them and they shook their head.

        "After hearing that Yasu got out of the dungeon, we went rushing back to only see havoc. A lot of the guards that were stationed at the entrance below the mountain were severely hurt by a dungeon robber and he stole the only skeletal remains of a giant chicken. I don't know why he would steal that but I guess people are weird." Tobi says.

        "Oh, well since we will be here for a while, why don't we eat first. Hiroko, can you get food for us?" Junpei asked her since he can see her zoning out staring at the remnants of the portal. He taps her on the shoulder causing her to flinch in surprise.

        "W-what?" She asked getting out of her daze.

        "Can you get us food? I think there was a pot outside with stew in it." Junpei clasps his hands and thanked her in advance.

         "Oh- uh sure. Give me a minute." She stood and left the room with Stella behind her following but I can see she's not herself as she kept glancing back at the portal before she completely disappeared out the cave. She's not as frantic as she was a year ago when all she could think about is Yasu but she never forgot about him and just drowned herself in her training.

        "Ok guys, while Hiroko is not here, let me tell you something about Yasu." Everyone's attention turns towards me and I can feel the atmosphere gets serious.

        "What happened? Is he alright?" Junpei asked.

        "He's fine. Actually, he's more than fine. After we killed the gatekeeper, we were surprised by a giant ogre. The king of all ogres."

        "Another gatekeeper?" Takumi asked as we all sat down around the table.

        "No. He was or as he said he was, the king of all ogres.” I explained to them. “He hit us with poison making us unable to move and use our skills properly. He ate Akane whole and we fought with our life on the line defending the new adventurers while trying to save Akane."

        "Then what? How come we didn't see anything come up after we killed the gatekeeper." Junpei replies.

        "That's when he came into the picture. There's no doubt about it, he's strong. He quickly took care of the ogre king and not in a humane way. He tortured it alive until he decided to kill it." I explained to them.

        "Yasu?" Sawada asked.

        "Yeah. He's really damn strong." I tell them as I look at my palm remembering when I shook his bloody hand.

        "What the…. like the video of him we saw a year ago?" Riki asked and I shook my head.

        "Worse, this time he's actually strong enough to play around with the ogre king. While he tortured him, Yasu kept a conversation. I knew he wanted for us to hear it since he was practically shouting. He mentioned something and, I know it’s about you guys.”

        "Dammit, I was hoping everything would blow over after a year," Junpei says looking at the table.

        "The way I see it, he hasn't let go of the grudge he had against you guys. Actually, his grudge probably evolved and who knows what he might do when he meets all of you. He met us and out of fear, some of us were about to draw our swords when he came close.” I explained to them. “Luckily, I stopped them and we were able to make contact. But it's like dealing with a wild animal. One wrong move and he could have turned his blade towards us."

         Everyone stayed quiet with a worried look. I know they all prepared for the worst but during this year, I saw a bit of hope from them as they planned to do a lot of thing with Yasu if he ever comes back to them. They even planned to rebuild the diamond guild and asked me if it was cool for them to do when they get the chance. It might seem like I'm crushing their plans but this is the reality. Yasu is a threat and they need to know. Hiroko along with Stella, Takumi, Akane, Kumiko-sensei, miss Sam, and even Jung-gi came entering the room while holding a pot of the stew he probably got from the chef.

        "Guys, go eat. We'll figure it out later." I tell them and they started setting up the table while I walk back out. As soon as I exit the cave, I hear footsteps behind me.

        "O-oh wait up!" Jun-gi says. "H-hey, I just want to thank you for saving us. Who knows how long we would have been in there if you guys didn't come along. Thank you."

        "Hey, no problem. Good thing we arrived on time. And don't worry about those people who left you there to die, we will deal with them later on." I tell him and he bowed and ran towards his group that's in a carriage that's probably waiting for him.

        Most of the new adventurers rode the carriage and I told the captain to help them get settled. Some of the Soldier told me that Masato and the rest of them who went to get the carriage decided to stay in the city and rest, which made me feel relieved that they're safe. He looked a bit sad going back to the city but he had no choice since Stella is going to be staying along with a few guards to try and fix the portal. Most all the students left except for Ms. Sam. She wanted to wait for Yasu just in case we manage to get him out. Kumiko-sensei also felt happy as she has someone to talk about her age.

        "Huh, if Stella is here, who's in charge of the city?" I whisper to myself as I walk back in the cave. I know for the fact that Masato and the rest of them don't want anything to do with the city's upkeep.

        Who did she leave in charge?I asked myself in my mind. I see them eating while Stella is the pile of dust near our portal.

        "Huh, where's Takumi?" I asked.

        "He went into the portal to collect some of the swords," Riki says pointing at our portal. I was a bit worried just in case the portal decided to disappears and the last thing I want is for him to get trapped in there. I enter the portal and I walk towards the skeleton room. I see Takumi going through the swords on the ground as he stores them in his bag.

        "Yo. Find anything good?" I waved to him as I got close.

       "Nah, same low attack power swords. But this will sell for a lot of money." He says.

        "Sell? Come on dude, we got like all the money in the world the city generates us." I tell him and I see something is bothering him. "Takumi, what's going on, you've been distant for a while."

        I remember his attitude change a couple of months ago. He's like a right-hand man to me and we trained together a lot in the beginning since we have the same class. I see him as a brother. He just stared at me and he let out a deep sigh.

        "To be honest man, a part of me was excited to be in this world. I always wanted to go on adventures. But ever since people came in and the city was built, it's becoming more of a task and less of the adventure I hope it would be."

       "But we're not here to go on adventures," I tell him.

       "I know that but we're also not here to build a city and take care of people. I don't plan on living on this planet forever." He tells me and I know what he means. We used to go out, hunt for food, go to explore the forest to try and figure out the area or where Luro is but as soon as the city started getting more people, our daily task switch from exploring to maintenance and handling legal issues of the city like political figures.

        "Hey, man. Don't worry about it. We can go on and figure out where Luro is once we get things fixed." I tell him trying to change his point of view. He stayed silent for a minute and I waited for him to talk again.

Sigh*

        "I saw it, how Yasu is. I kind of envy him. He's probably going on an adventure without a care in the world trying to figure out how to get home while here I am stuck dealing with people I don't even know while play pretending to be a government official." Takumi said and it irked me a little bit.

        "Hey, don't think like that. Look, as soon as we get the new people Luro brought here settled, we can leave the gold city to Stella and focus on looking for Luro." I tell him and he looks towards my way.

        "You sure?" Takumi raised an eyebrow while looking at me.

        "Yea man, I promise. That's our main goal anyway." I tell him as I tap him in the arm.

        I see his expression change for the better and turns around to start collecting the swords scattered on the ground. "Well, let me go collect these stuff since it might help some adventurers."

        "Alright let me help you," I tell him and I felt relieved he’s starting to come around. We both began collecting the weapons scattered on the ground until we emptied the area. I gestured to Takumi we should start heading back and he nods. We made our way towards the portal and before we entered, He grabs me on my shoulder.

       "One more thing, you know that guy Jung-gi? I have a bad feeling about him. Be careful. When I went to ask earlier, no one said anything until he moved. It's like he's their leader and they're all puppets. I tried inviting them to the guild and they all declined. I also feel like he's not telling the whole truth." He explained to me.

        "Come on man, relax. He just lost his sister. Besides, I think we should be more careful of the people that left them." I say and somehow I can see he didn't like my answer.

        "I'm just saying be careful but, do as you wish." He told me as he enters the portal.

        Damn, did I give him the right answer?I say in my mind as I enter the portal. As soon as I get to the other side, Hiroko quickly ran to my side.

        "Please tell me it isn't true. Please tell me Yasu isn't still mad at us." I can see her eyes are puffy probably from crying.

        Damn, I hoped they wouldn't tell her. I say in my mind.

        "I don't know what to say but, He seems like he still hates you guys," Takumi says as he walked passed her.

        "How can we get him out?" Junpei asked stroking Hiroko's back trying to calm her down. So many things are happening in just a day and it's overwhelming to take it all in. I decided to sit down on a chair as I feel my body still not fully healed and probably won't be unless I get a good night sleep.

        "Everyone listen. There are two ways Yasu can get out. One is if we manage to revive the portal. Stella, what do you think?" I asked her as she comes close to a couple of guards.

       "Sorry Balo but it’s impossible to do it in that condition. If it was large pieces, I can revive it within today but if it's a small grain like that, it would take too long for my skill to piece every single dust bit by bit until it's whole again. We're looking to a couple of months to even revive that."

        Everyone looks defeated the minute she says that and even Stella seems down.

        "But what baffles me is the condition of the portal. For it to turn into dust is unheard of. The only ones that are probably strong enough to do this to a portal are you guys." Stella explained. "What if, and it's just a theory. What if he destroyed the portal?"

        "But that wouldn’t make sense, he's basically trapping himself in there," Riki says.

        "Do you guys remember when Luro came to us a year ago and showed Yasu's memories? Do you guys remember the hidden passage?" I asked them.

        "Wait, you mean the one in Hiroko's room? The stream of water?" Junpei says as I nod to him in agreement.

        "Yea exactly that. When I told one of the guards to give him a map of the dungeon, he quickly scribbled some stuff and also he drew the hidden passage." I explained to him taking out a similar map from my bag to show them. "If he knows about that, he's probably going to use that hidden passage to get out. So even if the portal is destroyed with big chunks and we piece it back together, by the time we reactivate it, he will be long gone following the hidden passage. I don't think he would wait for anyone to rebuild the portal."

        "Oh, I remember that. That's when Luro pulled him out of the water." Riki says.

        "W-wait. What? Yasu was all alone in a dungeon a year ago? What?" Ms. Sam asked and I can see Hiroko looks irritated.

        "Excuse me, who the hell are you?" Hiroko says towards her which made Ms. Sam eyes go wide.

        "Excuse me, young lady, that's not a proper way to speak to someone older than you. And who am I? I'm the head medical doctor of the school Yasu goes to. I know his mother and his two best friends as I secretly watched over him every day within the school grounds. His mother personally asked me so I see him as a family member.” Ms. Sam explained making us all go tense. “I was planning on asking him to respect his privacy about what in the world is going on but I can't wait anymore. Someone explain to me why Yasu is like that and what in the world happened to him a year ago since he didn't seem like the Yasu I know."

        Everyone stayed quiet including Hiroko who started the fight but now can't say anything to finish it. But this feeling, this is something we all forgot. The feeling of being scolded. Ms. Sam right now is the embodiment of an adult we lost contact with. Everyone in this world reveres us like we're in a higher position than them even the old people but in reality, we're still young. This is the first time we came across someone like her. Somehow it made me feel a bit happy inside but even I couldn't answer or look her in the eye due to fear of being scolded.

        "Speak!" She screams and we all flinched a bit.

        "W-well h-h-he-" Kumiko-sensei started stuttering as she concentrates on the table.

        "Sensei! Not you! I want one of the kids to give me an explanation!" Ms. Sam shouts and her voice pierces my ear. 

        "S-sorry." Kumiko-sensei says as she bows her head in shame.

       "W-well-" Junpei began speaking and our entire gaze went towards him. He started explaining everything in detail from the beginning about what happened to alter the story a bit. Then he went on and explain the ordeal Hiroko went through with Rikimura.

       Sigh*

        "So, you're telling me Yasu mentality got pushed way past its limits due to the experiences he went through and now, he somehow also formed an alternate identity?" Ms. Sam asked and we all just nod. I felt bad she didn’t know the full story but, I rather have her calm down than scream at all of us. "He sounds like he's suffering from PTSD and identity crisis. Damn, I wish he's here so I can run a couple of tests."

       "P-PTSD?" Riki asked.

        "PTSD is post-traumatic stress disorder." Ms. Sam says and I can see her thinking really hard about the situation. "When I was doing a residency for the military, I had to treat a lot of patients who suffered from PTSD and the main cause are the soldier's traumatic experiences of terrifying events. It seems like Yasu went through something similar. Do you guys know what he went through in the dungeon?"

       Even though I didn’t have anything to do with Yasu, I still felt guilty not telling her how he was eaten alive inside the dungeon. It still amazed me how he survived and yet, it scares me of the outcome if we tell her. I kept my mouth shut and it seems like everyone had the same idea.

       "N-no, Ms. Sam. Luro just showed us the aftermath of everything.” Junpei lied and it made me feel more guilty than ever.

        "Damn, if I had known earlier, I would have tried talking to him to figure out how he can suppress his anxiety and stress." She continued to talk. We all didn't say anything or in reality, we couldn't say anything since we didn't want to get scolded. "Do you have anything to say to me, young lady?"

        Ms. Sam suddenly turned towards Hiroko and we all did the same. Hiroko looked up towards us and I can see she hesitates a bit. But she knows she won't win this fight so she gave in.

        "I-I'm sorry." Hiroko apologized and I can see her eyes starting to get teary. Ms. Sam suddenly stood up and we all froze as she slowly walked towards Hiroko. She stretches her arms out and brought Hiroko's face towards her chest and hugged her tight.

        "Apology accepted. It's ok to cry, as I've heard, you also went through something horrifying and I can see how strong you are to be able to recover from it. Good job." She says and Hiroko started crying loudly while burying her face in Ms. Sam's chest. While Hiroko continued to cry, Ms. Sam turned towards us. "All of you did a good job also. You all have survived and have managed to defeat all the odds against you and even created a city where actual living people can reside in to feel safe under your protection. It's something not everyone can accomplish especially as young as you guys."

        This made our heart flutter. Even though we heard the word of gratitude, this is somehow different. It's probably because she's from the earth and knowing her opinion is different than the people here, hearing a compliment from her who is also an adult made all of us feel proud of what we have done.

        "But I also don't want anyone of you to forget that you are still considered too young to go under this much stress and responsibilities. Don't forget the fact of your age and that relying on an adult for guidance is something you all are entitled to have. Me and Kumiko-sensei are here to listen to any one of your problems anytime. Remember, we will always have your back and will try to understand you. Everyone, don't lose your humanity." She says and everyone started tearing a bit as she somehow gave us a feeling, we longed so far that even Kumiko-sensei herself started crying.

        After everyone has calmed down, I explained everybody my theory and that it's better to guess where Yasu will end up at and wait for him there rather than chasing him from behind. They all agreed, and we all set out to search the area if there are any lakes similar to the one in Yasu's memory. We split into groups of three and I told everyone to be careful just in case the other group of students that left Jung-gi to die is in the surrounding area.

        "Ok, everyone, if you find the lake, come immediately back into this cave and wait for everyone else to regroup back." They all nod and we all walked towards a different direction in the forest. Junpei, Hiroko, Akane, and Takumi are in one group. My group consists of Me, Tobi, Kumiko-sensei, and Ms. Sam since they decided it's better for her to stay with me due to her being a low level and me the strongest out of the group. The third group is Stella, Riki, Sawada, and a couple of the guards while some of the guards stayed around the cave just in case any random adventurers come across it. We walked through the forest but kept track of our direction and close proximity from the cave entrance. Kumiko-sensei is explaining to Ms. Sam in detail about the healer class and I see Tobi placed himself on the back of the group just in case anything surprises us from behind.

        "So, how long have you known Yasu?" Kumiko-sensei asked and I keep my ears peeled to listen to their conversation while we walked through the forest.

       "Well, I have known him since he entered high school.” Ms. Sam started explaining and we all kept quiet listening as we walked through the forest. “I met his mother during the opening ceremony, and we became friends. I hardly see Yasu but I do visit his mother from time to time and talk about him. She asked me to keep an eye out for her son which wasn't difficult to do since Yasu is a good kid who never got into trouble."

        "Oh, I have heard he had somewhat history with Hiroko. They met before long ago but never really knew each other's name." Kumiko-sensei whispers to her.

        "That young lady. She is nice but she needs to control her anger. Maybe I should work with her with some stress relieving exercise." Ms. Sam says and now it's making me wonder how her body is.

        Ah, crap. Calm down. Calm down.  I say in my mind. Ms. Sam is undeniably pretty with her blond her tied into a ponytail. She looks like she's in her thirty’s, but I see she kept good care of her skin.

        "One thing that worried me before he disappeared was when he suddenly went blind during class and fainted.” Ms. Sam continued on. “They rushed him to the infirmary and I was frantic at that time and lost my marbles. But when he woke up, he made it seem like it's not a big deal but I can see he was a bit worried about his vision. If only I paid more attention, I probably could have saved him from being brought to this planet."

       I felt sadness in her voice and we all quietly walked through the forest trying to find a lake.

       "But I'm glad I was transported here. Now I know he's alive." She whispered and we all kept walking in silence. We walked non-stop while Tobi kept making marks on the trees to trace back. I see the sky is becoming orange as the sun sets into the horizon. I decided for us to go back to the cave and retry again in the morning since walking in the dark might become dangerous for Ms. Sam. As soon as we got back, I can see everyone's gathered in front of the cave circling a campfire. One carriage came back and I see the chef also is back stirring the pot.

        "Yo! Balo. We found it!" Riki says as we approached them.

        "The lake?"

        "Yea, it was a bit far. We know it's the Lake since we see an old campfire near the lake. Grass started growing through it though so it was hard to spot. But no doubt about it, it's the lake where Luro pulled him out off. Takumi says it's exactly the same as the one from Yasu's memory." Junpei says and I can see most of them have a positive attitude.

        "Ok, good. How about we camp here for the night and tomorrow, we can move near the lake." I tell them and we all ate. For the first time, we ate outside. It's been a while since we actually ate this close to each other. Most of the time we eat on a giant dining table that made it hard to have a proper conversation.

        Ah, I missed this.I say in my mind as everyone tells stories to each other. A couple of days have passed, and we waited around the lake to see if Yasu will resurface.

       "Dammit! Where is he? How come he hasn't come out of the water yet?!" Hiroko says as she paces around the edge of the lake. She's been on the edge these past few days as we wait for Yasu to come out. So far, we don’t know how he will make it but, given his strength, he probably can burst out of the lake without a scratch on him.

       "Relax, Hiroko. He will come let's believe in him." Junpei says as he guides her back to a log around the campfire to sit down.

       "I know but, I can't help worry. You remember when Luro showed us his memory. The place was really dark. What if something attacked him and he's in there hurt?" She tells him as she sat down on the log.

       "I think right now, nothing can surprise Yasu." Junpei reply to her.

        It might be the other way around, Yasu surprising the monsters in that place. I say in my mind as I visualize him torturing everything he comes across.

       "Oh, I completely forgot to ask, Stella, who's in charge of the city?" I say remembering a piece of important information.

        "My father." She tells me and my eyes went wide.

       "T-the king of Viltair city?!" Riki says abruptly and we all look at Stella with a surprised look.

       "Yes. He went to visit me while all of you were gone so I told him to watch the city while I was out." She says as if it's a normal occurrence. 

       "What did he say?" I asked her.

       "He said he owes you guys a lot for protecting and bringing profit and protection onto our city so he's happy to take care of it while you're gone." She continued as threw a couple of sticks into the fire.

       "oh ok. Cool." I say as I remember seeing her father and kept asking me if I'm getting married anytime soon. Her father is a nice guy so it should be fine. Nighttime quickly passed and I suddenly woke up to someone shouting from a distance.

      "Sir Balo!" One of the guards that I sent to go to boar town came back rushing with a frightened look on his face. "Sir! Something bad happened! The new government that was appointed to the boar town has been murdered and the town itself is in bad shape! The inn is completely destroyed!"

      "What?!" I suddenly stood where I was laying down.

       Out of all the time, now I'm getting issues one after another. I say in my mind getting more frustrated and stressed out. Since the formation of the gold city, we took boar town under our care so it's practically an extension of the city.

       "S-sir. The report they gave me is unbelievable. One man destroyed the inn completely, murdered the governor and kidnapped a girl the governor's son is taking care of." He explained to me and it completely woke me up.

      "Who? Did they get the name of the person?!" I asked him and he seemed like he was hesitant to say.

       "S-sir his name is…" The guard says and everyone woke up listening waiting for him to finish what he wanted to say.

       "Tell me?! Who is it?!" I raised my voice at him trying to get the guard to say his name.

       If someone out there is killing people and kidnapping them, they need to be dealt quick. I say in my mind. I don’t condone killing people but if it’s another Rikimura, I would do it in a blink of an eye.

       "S-sir. I-i-its-" the guard hesitated again. "T-the name they told me i-is… the same name you told us in your stories. Rikimura, sir. His name was Rikimura and he killed the governor."