With the image of his figure running towards me along with some other people, I can confirm that it is indeed him. One of the people I've seen last before I lived in total darkness.

Though I am dirty and probably smelly, he embraced me tightly as if he had not seen me for a very long time. It is then that I felt something different, fundamentally different which confused me.

He scolded the people who tried to raise their hands at me. He didn't let me utter a single word and got dragged into his residence out of my own volition. Well, not that I care. I have not seen him in a long time, so I let my senior force his way in things for now.

Without delay, he told the attendants to bathe me. Fortunately he realized it was too much without me having to tell him.

"I bathed while wandering around for a while… but I haven't used 'soap' was it? It's quite useful. Now my terrible body odor I'm unaware of must have been taken care of." I told myself while walking out of the bath.

The attendants, who are females, stood in silence. I just heard them gasp the moment I walked out of the bathroom. Though I am unable to understand what made them so surprised to let out that kind of gasping sound, I could only take some guesses. Whether they are correct or not, I'll just leave it to them.

One of the attendants guided me where the senior was. I stomped my foot once and immediately got the image of the room in my head. A spacious room with a table that stretches so far in the middle like a carpet.

"You look better now. How long were you wandering about for you to look that ragged, Jakob?" He asked.

Clenching my shoulder and guiding me to my chair. Though I don't need his help to reach the seat he wants me to take, I just allowed him to do so.

After that, I told him everything that happened ever since our last meeting.

"So it's true…..huh? Master is really gone…huh?" He said.

I can feel the sadness in his voice because that's exactly how I felt when I saw the master accepting his fate.

"Yes. Though we separated before his death, we can safely assume our master accepted his fate. You already know what kind of man he is." I told him.

"'If you survive, it's not your time yet' right? I'm sure that's the principle you are following as well, right, Jakob?"

The worry in his voice, I can't disregard it. Having learned that our master passed away, I'm sure my senior don't want me to be in any situation that will endanger my life.

The atmosphere turned grim. This is exactly within my expectations. Even if I knew it would turn out like this, I can't do anything to prevent it. Lying would only worsen things in the future and by doing so, my senior may despise me for that. The only solution would be to let things flow as it is.

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He will surely find out about the truth sooner or later. So I am just going to lay everything bare. That is the best solution I could think of.

I turned my head towards him. There is nothing but silence. He did not say anything else after that. I guess it was about time I broke the ice? And the best bet would be to point out the changes I felt after meeting him again.

"Senior, I know you are still mourning the master's death but there is something I'm curious about." I said and felt his gaze.

".......what is it?" He asked.

Having heard his permission, I did not hold myself back.

"You….. You've changed so much. I can't see it but I can feel it. Your voice seems deeper than before. It's not like your voice got hoarse because of your throat or anything. It feels like you have grown older or something. I can't explain it." I told him.

Silence engulfed the room for a few seconds, then a few moments later my senior broke that silence.

"You're really observant till this day… huh? Well, you've been like that ever since the beginning but seeing how you've remained the same surprised me more…."

My senior paused for a moment, I know he'll tell me the reason, the reason that has been bugging me from the very beginning since I came in contact with him.

"It is just as you thought, I have grown old." He said.

I can't wrap my head around his confirmation. There is just no way someone like a senior who was already 27 years old the moment we met would grow dramatically old since the last time we met. That just doesn't make sense at all.

I felt him tapping my shoulder, and suddenly clenched it for some reason unknown to me.

"This is really confusing, very confusing." I said to myself.

Then all of a sudden, I remembered his words before 'seeing how you remained the same surprised me more' . Is there a reason why he said those words specifically?

I can interpret it as my observation skills remained the same, but that is not really something that would surprise people, isn't it?

Just as I'm wondering about the reason, the senior stepped in and said,

"I have grown old, Jakob. But do you know? You're still the same. You have not aged a day, not one bit. You claim to have been inside a dungeon, right? Do you know how much time has passed since our last meeting?"

His words made me fear something for some reason. What is it? I don't know. I just feel like I will not like what he is about to tell me. But since I was the one who pointed it out, there is no backing out now, is there?

"It's been three years, right? I have been counting the days since the day we last met, after all…."

Before I could even finish my words, the senior embraced me tightly. Something wet fell on my neck, is it tears? Senior is crying, again?

Already confused about what was happening, I wanted him to explain things to me properly but before I could utter such words, he cut me off.

"It's been 23 years, Jakob. It's been 2 decades and 3 years since we last saw each other. I have aged so much since then."

I was struck by something impossible that I can't even refute. I then felt a painful sensation inside me like someone is clenching on my insides and blurted out,

"..... Huh?"

That was the only thing I could utter.

"You finally got here after an eventful journey. Honestly, I'm so happy. I was wondering what took you so long, but I'm glad you're here."

After hearing that, I fell silent. My senior then cried more throughout the entire night. I have come a long way, and I was not expecting to get hit with something hard like this.

It truly is an eventful journey, just as my senior had said.