After a long but fulfilling day of work, Ryuu prepared herself to head into the dungeon. Just like every year, she would have a day off tomorrow. Her co-workers, who at the same time were her closest friends, sent her off warmly. It was this very warmth that had allowed her to live a functional, normal life again.
It was already very late into the night when she hurried to the 18th floor. As she had taken this path so many times before, she could probably find her way through these hallways with her eyes closed. Any and all monsters that attempted to bar her path were slain in a second or so, without any ability to resist. As her Status was that of a remarkably strong Level 4 adventurer, nothing on these early floors could challenge her in the slightest. Still, while in the dungeon, she never dared to fully relax - it would be foolish to believe that she was safe. She had seen enough irregularities popping up when one least expected or wanted them in her former adventuring career, after all. As a veteran, she wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.
Once she arrived on the 18th floor, she made her way straight to the grave of her friends. The hustle and bustle of Orario and the many dungeon floors she had passed had still caused her to take a while to arrive here, so it was now about 2 a.m.. Considering how the anniversary of their deaths was today, she wasn’t late by any means. Rather, she was extremely early.
On the way to the dungeon, she had bought a bouquet of flowers, which she now gently placed right in front of the grave mound.
“Everyone, I have returned.”
It was more of a formality, so of course she didn’t expect an answer.
On her face, which was mostly expressionless, the hints of a smile could be seen. At the same time, overbearing sadness flashed past her eyes, before being replaced by a feeling of melancholy - and finally, happiness.
Completely overcoming this sadness would probably be impossible, but she had long since decided to not let it weigh her down anymore. Instead of wallowing in misery at every opportunity, she would cherish her new life, letting the past be what it was - the past.
“It’s been a while, so let me tell you what happened since last time. I think I left off on a bar brawl…”
Sitting down in front of the grave, Ryuu spoke in a quiet voice, which was barely audible to anyone. It was not like she wanted anyone to hear her, though - besides her departed friends. She told a tale that was neither exciting nor anything too far out of the ordinary. A tale of her normal life as a waitress… with a couple of occurrences that waiters in another city would call unusual. But here in Orario, where rowdy adventurers were aplenty, even those couldn’t be considered to be anything strange.
It took about an hour for her story to conclude and after that, she lay down next to the grave mound, staring at the now-dark crystal ceiling of the 18th floor. There wasn’t really anything else to talk about, so she just wanted to rest here. She was remembering the time they had all been here and made a promise… and she enjoyed what was left of their presence. To be fair, the latter was just her imagination. Their souls had long since departed this place, leaving only memories behind.
In this comfortable silence, Ryuu noticed something. Someone was moving through the forest, right towards the clearing. As they were moving remarkably quietly, they were probably only a few meters away from stepping out into the open!
A hint of confusion and panic appeared in her eyes, as she wasn’t able to figure out how anybody could come here. Only adventurers at Level 6 and beyond, with a very high Magic stat nonetheless, should be able to ignore the effects of the formation. But from what she could gather, the approaching person’s movement speed was far inferior to anyone that powerful. That aside, none of the adventurers of Orario that were strong enough to overcome the formation would do so - they knew about this place and avoided it out of respect.
So that begged the question: How did this person get here?
Hastily, Ryuu pulled up her mask and hood to at least hide her identity a little, just in case this newcomer happened to know her. Then, she patted one of her pockets to check whether she had dropped the key to the formation. Thankfully, the small wooden engraving was still there - but that meant she now had absolutely no idea how this person got here! On second thought, if she had lost the key, she wouldn’t have even been able to come here herself, so she should have been aware of this already.
As she could see a silhouette stepping onto the clearing, she didn’t have any more time to think about what was going on and brandished her wooden sword, intending to get her answers from the intruder.
Besides being able to tell that he was a human with a handsome face that could rival quite a few Elves, which would surely cause some women to turn their heads to get another look at him, the only thing that stuck out to Ryuu was that he wore extremely high quality adventuring gear. Judging from his movements, he should be an early Level 3 adventurer, so his gear was at least a grade above what he should be wearing.
But yeah, that was it. That was all she managed to observe. She had no idea who this person was, at all. They had never met. She was sure of that, as her memory when it came to people was exceptional. Even if they had walked past her on the street once, she would at least vaguely recall seeing them. So what was this guy doing here? And why did he sport a wry smile?
While pointing her sword directly at his heart, partially to intimidate him and also to have an easier time slaying him should he turn out to be an enemy, Ryuu furrowed her brows and stared deeply into the young man’s eyes.
“Explain yourself. What are you doing here!?”
After being unresponsive for a few seconds, the unknown man seemed to have come to a decision and his shoulders relaxed. A sigh escaped his lips while he glanced at the sword she pointed at him with before looking straight into Ryuu’s eyes, returning her gaze. Compared to hers though, his was completely tranquil. His voice had a calmness and gentleness to it, which instinctively made people feel a bit more secure and cared for when they heard it.
“I am mapping out the entirety of the 18th floor, so of course I would have to come here as well. Besides that, I planned to pay my respects to the ones buried here.”
What he just said just served to bring up even more questions, so Ryuu didn’t relax in the slightest and moved her sword a little bit closer to him.
“The Guild already sells maps of the 18th floor, so why are you mapping it out yourself?”
While completely ignoring the weapon in front of him, a hint of pride appeared in his eyes when he replied.
“I will only fully trust a map I have made myself. Others’ work is more flawed than mine.”
Although the content of his words seemed arrogant, his tone hadn’t changed to an arrogant one whatsoever. It was still the same calm one from before, stating things matter-of-factly.
As she was unable to directly point out any flaws in his words, Ryuu skipped to the second question she had wanted to ask him regarding his earlier statement.
“How did you know that someone was buried here?”
With his gaze as unwavering as before, the man scratched his cheek in slight embarrassment before replying.
“That would be a bit lengthy and difficult to explain in detail. The gist of it is that I heard about it and remembered this place when I stumbled across the formation.”
Hearing him mention the formation, Ryuu’s glare turned more serious and she was reminded of the very reason that she had been so bothered in the first place - nobody should have been able to come here! Especially not a relatively weak youngster like him.
If Ryuu had known that him mentioning the formation had just been a conversational technique which was used to mislead her and divert the topic away from something the man didn’t want to talk about, she would have probably popped a vein. Thankfully, she would never know.
“Speak. How did you get past the formation!?”
Completely unbothered by neither the ever-increasing seriousness in her voice nor the sword tip that was slowly getting closer, the man shrugged before pointing at himself with an awkward smile on his lips.
“I happen to be immune to mind-influencing effects of any kind.”
These words hit Ryuu like a sledgehammer and she almost stumbled backwards, a baffled look on her face. Of course! How could she have forgotten about this? There were countless rare skills out there, so for someone with such an ability to appear wasn’t anything weird - it was bound to happen sooner or later. She really felt a bit stupid for not thinking about this possibility herself. It should have been the first thing to cross her mind once she ruled out the other options.
Noticing an amused smile on the man’s lips, Ryuu felt a bit embarrassed and cleared her throat, then she continued to glare at him, her eyes still filled with suspicion.
“Fair enough. But why are you here now, on the anniversary of their deaths?”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, something that the man hadn’t expected seemed to have happened. His eyes widened in surprise, he even showed a dumbfounded expression while not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“What? That’s today!?”
After losing his cool for a moment, he recalled the situation he was in and replied, his entire bearing tranquil and calm yet again.
“It’s a coincidence.”
The words “Do you really expect me to believe that?” almost slipped out of Ryuu’s mouth, but then she reminded herself of his apparently genuinely taken-aback expression from earlier and decided to temporarily accept his claim as the truth. Of course, it was possible that he had lied to her and his earlier exclamation was all just an act. Still, she had never met someone who could appear so genuine when lying, so it was extremely unlikely.
That aside, there was something else that she had neglected to ask until now.
“Who are you anyway?”
For a moment, Ryuu thought she had heard the man mutter the words “Oh, so you finally remembered to ask me about that now?” under his breath, but even with ears as sensitive as hers, she couldn’t be entirely sure whether or not it was just her imagination, Because of that, she didn’t say anything.
With a relaxed smile, the man introduced himself.
“I’m Isaac Blackshaw from the Loki Familia, currently Level 2.”
His claim to be at Level 2 confused Ryuu, as he clearly seemed to be a lot stronger than that. But that was besides the point. What caught the majority of her attention was his claim to be from the Loki Familia. As she was on pretty friendly terms with most of their stronger adventurers, even back in the day before she became a waitress, she couldn’t just ignore his affiliation. Of course, it was reasonable to assume that he had lied just now, so she didn’t fully believe him, no matter what. Still, she decided to at least tune down her hostility somewhat. With that in mind, she lowered her sword but still kept on guard.
“I will ask Lady Riveria about you the next time I see her. The truth will be revealed then. I hope you didn’t have the gall to lie to me.”
The man who had called himself Isaac nodded in compliance, seemingly happy with what she had just said. Then, he turned his head to look at the grave mound, causing Ryuu’s muscles to instinctively tense up a little. A moment later, he turned back to look at her.
“Now that I’m already here, may I pay my respects to them?”
As she would be around to restrain him should he try anything that differed from what he just said, Ryuu didn’t see a reason to stop him. Another person paying their respects to her dead friends was certainly not a bad or malicious thing. She also didn’t have much grounds to deny him this request as technically, this place didn’t belong to her - it was just a part of the dungeon. Only by virtue of her having the key to this formation could she treat it as her own backyard. Still, Isaac’s rare skill enabled him to do just about the same, so it would be unbecoming to antagonize him too much over such a thing. Especially should he really be a part of the Loki Familia.
“Go ahead.”
An appreciative smile and a “Thank you” later, he steadily walked towards the grave mound, with Ryuu following behind closely, always ready to stop him should he be planning to do anything that would harm or desecrate this place.
About a meter from where the mound began, Isaac stopped in his tracks and brought his palms together in a prayer-like pose, then he whispered, not bothering with keeping what he said a secret from the eavesdropping Elf.
“It is nice to meet you, members of the Astraea Familia. I have come here to pay my respects to you. While I only know small bits and pieces about what you have accomplished and done in the past, it seems to me like you were all upstanding people. While I can’t say that I would have chosen the path you did, I can respect it. I’m sure we would have gotten along. So wherever or whoever you are now, I hope you’re doing alright.”
His words weren’t anything special and they showed that he didn’t have too clear of an understanding about what exactly had happened back then. Still, Ryuu didn’t hear anything she could complain about. And even should he have said something that went against her own beliefs, she wouldn’t go up and criticize someone when they were genuinely paying their respects to those who had passed away. That would be far too disrespectful - to the dead, that is.
After Isaac’s words had finished, he faced Ryuu yet again and showed a small smile.
“Now that I’ve done what I came here to do, I must be on my way.”
These words caused Ryuu to grip her sword tightly. He had to be dreaming if he expected her to just let him get away now that he had trespassed here. Should he turn out to not be from the Loki Familia after all, how would she ever find him again to find out who exactly he was and what else he had lied about!?
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. Please do not resist and follow me until the Loki Familia’s expedition party returns to the surface. I promise you won’t get harmed in the slightest - unless you resist.”
As if her words and this entire situation were just an amusing joke to him, Isaac chuckled and stared straight into her eyes again, his own filled with confidence.
“I’m afraid that you misunderstood. I wasn’t asking for your permission. Rather, I was just informing you of my imminent departure. As flattered as I feel about you wanting to hog me all to yourself for a couple of days, I’m afraid I have to reject you. After all, I’m already taken. Also, don’t worry about being unable to find me - once our expedition party returns, we’ll meet again shortly after. Take care of yourself in the meantime, Ryuu.”
Because she wasn’t an oblivious idiot, while she had been listening to him, Ryuu had already prepared herself to stop him should he try to run off, no matter which direction he chose. His words were a little disturbing, though, and she couldn’t figure out why he believed to be able to get away this easily. But when Isaac finally called her by her name at the very end, her eyes widened in surprise and shock - never had she thought he would actually be aware of her identity!
‘How did he figure it out!?’
There were far more than tens of thousands of Elves in Orario and quite a few of them had green hair just like she did. There weren’t really any distinguishing features about her that would give her away to people that didn’t already know her - she didn’t really stick out. Or, well, she purposely tried not to stick out.
Did he know about her past, even though she had disguised herself? Or did he simply know about her current identity as a waitress and hadn’t been fooled by her clothing? It was all too confusing! The number of people that should know about her past was extremely small, so… Wait, he said that he was a part of the Loki Familia, so had Lady Riveria told him about her?
Before Ryuu could figure any of it out, Isaac had already disappeared into thin air. The spot he just stood at was empty and it felt like he had never been there in the first place. He was completely gone.
A hint of panic appeared on Ryuu’s face as she gripped her sword harder and cautiously observed her surroundings. Only after being in such a tense state for tens of minutes did she finally relax and calm down. She hadn’t discovered anything. There truly wasn’t a point to her being on guard any longer, as she couldn’t tell whether Isaac had already left anyway. For all she knew, she had probably been staring into the empty air for a long time now, like an idiot.
A sigh escaped her lips and for the second time today, she felt stupid. If he had been able to disappear as easily as that, it was no wonder that he hadn’t felt the least bit threatened by her at all. As long as he paid attention to her, she wouldn’t be able to get the jump on him and harm him, no matter how hard she tried. Well, maybe she could use an area of effect attack, but her only Magic that fit that criteria took a relatively long time to chant, easily enough for him to slip away…
With yet another sigh, Ryuu plopped down in front of the grave mound again and decided to enjoy the rest of her time here.
“Lyra, if you had been here, you probably would have figured out a way to deal with that weirdo, right? Or at least, you wouldn’t have allowed him to get away…”
As if she had no further care in the world, Ryuu chuckled to herself and started to talk to her deceased friends again, all the while trivializing and downplaying her own abilities. In the back of her mind, she had already decided to tie Isaac up the next time they met, so that he couldn’t possibly disappear again until the matter of his identity was settled. But she was also aware that she wouldn’t be able to do so anyway, so she felt a bit helpless about it. Would they really meet again like he said, or had he just been playing her this whole time?
-----
Some distance away, Isaac was rejoicing over having managed to save 10 AP by blurring his existence to run away instead. Doing the latter had meant that he would still be in the vicinity, however, so it was a little bit more risky. That was why he had decided to throw the tense Elf off by mentioning her name - something he should have had no way to know - at the very end. And it had worked, giving him the second or two that he had needed to disappear without a trace and get far enough away so that she wouldn’t be able to harm him, no matter what she tried to do.
He knew that the Loki Familia, especially the higher-ups, usually visited the Hostess of Fertility - where Ryuu was working as a waitress - when they returned from their expeditions. With how close a relationship he had with Ais, it was quite likely that they would drag him along, even if he really didn’t want to go there.
Well, to be honest, he had wanted to take a look at the place anyway. After all, in the novels, the food there was highly praised. There should also be quite a few people there that he would be able to recognize, so he would appreciate the chance to take a look at the establishment.
Anyway, because of this, once Ryuu had seen him, he knew that it would be pointless to slip away right then and there, as they would meet again later. If he had noticed her before he stepped onto the clearing, he would still have been able to avoid her without a problem, but she seemed to be able to somehow blend into nature a little bit. This had been aided by the fact that she had been lying down, making her even harder to detect. Until he had stepped onto the clearing, he hadn’t been able to perceive her presence at all - and then, it had already been too late.
So being in the position he had been in, he decided to tell her as much of the truth as he could, as lying to her would only lead to more slight annoyances later on. Of course, they could easily be dealt with, but it would still be better if they never even cropped up. He had been trespassing anyway, so he felt like he owed her at least this much sincerity. Still, he didn’t tell her even close to everything, just enough to make her slightly less wary of him.
When they met again in the future, she would probably have a hard time holding back and show a huge reaction. Well, a reaction that would be huge for a quiet, calm Elf like her - it most likely wouldn’t extend beyond dropping a platter or two, if he had to guess. Should her reaction be any more exaggerated than that, he could always just hide behind Ais or his other comrades, who could easily keep him perfectly safe.
As for him being ashamed for hiding behind others - why should he feel that way? His current weakness was just a temporary state anyway and everyone started out at the bottom. He didn’t want to get hurt if he could help it, as it was unpleasant, so there was no reason for him to expose himself to danger when it wouldn’t benefit him in some way. Because of this, for the weak to hide behind the strong wasn’t dishonourable - it was the most logical and reasonable course of action.
But had taunting her like he did at the end really been necessary? If he had just wanted to escape, simply mentioning her name would have sufficed, he wouldn’t have had to joke around like that. Well, seeing her overly tense and serious state, he had felt too amused to choose the most efficient method. He had to admit: Teasing Ryuu… was kind of fun.
After his graveside encounter, nothing else unexpected happened during Isaac’s exploration of the 18th floor and shortly after 5 a.m., he teleported back to the campsite.