“You did it, Yuma!”
Akito wore a beaming smile, and Rui breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “That’s good.” Kaira, Dasha, Anik, and the others, noticing Yuma’s return, rushed over one after another.
“Mitaka! Are you alright!?”
Kaira asked with a pale face. Dasha, with a tense expression, also inquired, “What about him… what happened to the 【Green Lord】?”
Akito snorted proudly and puffed out his chest.
“Yuma defeated him! Just like I said, right!”
As Akito spoke as if it were his own accomplishment, a great cheer arose from the Indian Seekers.
“Is that truly the case? Are you certain?”
Anik stepped forward, seemingly unable to believe it. Yuma showed Anik the Magic Gem in his hand, saying, “There’s no mistake.”
“Ooh.”
Anik let out a voice of admiration, staring intently at the Magic Gem.
“This is a Green Diamond… no, it emits an even more intense brilliance. A Magic Gem imbued with more Mana than a Diamond.”
At those words, Dasha and Kaira gasped.
A Magic Gem of the highest order—one above 【Diamond】—simply didn’t exist in this world. If it did, it would only be something born from a Monster 【King】.
Dasha stepped forward and peered at the gem Yuma held.
As Anik said, it was a Green Magic Gem that emitted a brilliance she had never seen before. Suppressing her surging emotions, Dasha raised her face and opened her mouth.
“You really… you really defeated the 【Green Lord】. The subjugation of a 【King】 we thought we could never defeat…”
Dasha covered her mouth and knelt, shedding large tears.
“Sister…”
Kaira, watching from behind, could only stroke her sobbing sister’s back. Dasha had continued to bear a heavier responsibility than anyone else.
That pressure had finally been lifted.
Thinking so, Kaira bit her lip and looked straight at Yuma.
“I’m sorry, Mitaka… for doubting you… thank you. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart.”
Kaira closed her eyes and showed her gratitude by putting her hands together. Anik and the members of the Peacock King (Mahamayuri) also put their hands together in the same way.
That action spread to the Indian Seekers behind them, and everyone showed their gratitude to Yuma.
Yuma exchanged glances with Rui and Akito, scratched his cheek, and gave a wry smile.
It was embarrassing, but if the result of his actions was being celebrated, it didn’t feel bad.
Looking up at the sky, the brightly shining sunlight illuminated the earth.
Everything had been blown away, exposing the earth’s painful appearance. Even so, with the Dungeon that had caused the most damage gone, and the 【Green Lord】 dead, India would surely recover.
Yuma couldn’t help but feel that expectation.
◇◇◇
Five days after conquering Dvarapala.
Yuma and the others returned to the town of Cuttack and were resting at a hotel prepared for them. Dasha was investigating what had happened to the Indian government.
Yuma sat by the window in the room he was given, gazing outside and lost in thought.
Even if they conquered the Dungeon and defeated the 【Green Lord】, they wouldn’t receive the promised “Magic Gem” if the Indian government had been destroyed.
Their battles so far would have been in vain.
Thinking about such things, Yuma recalled Kaede’s face, which he had last seen in Japan. Her face was so beautiful that he couldn’t believe she was dead.
“Kaede…”
At that moment, he heard the sound of footsteps running from outside the room. He turned his gaze and the knob turned with a click, and the door was opened forcefully.
“Mitaka!”
It was Kaira who had entered. “What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked, and Kaira took a breath and raised her face.
“I’ve made contact! The functions of the Indian government have not been lost. They’ve moved their base of operations to Lucknow!”
“Really!?”
“Yes, and they seem to have the Magic Gems properly stored. It seems the promise with you is still valid. As soon as the Dungeon Conquest and the subjugation of the 【Green Lord】 are confirmed, they’ll bring the Magic Gems right away.”
“I see… they were safe…”
Yuma exhaled and stroked his chest in relief. Rui and Akito, hearing the story, rejoiced, and they waited in the town of Cuttack for the government officials to arrive.
Then, a week later.
“Well, well, sorry to keep you waiting. I am Ram, the chief advisor to the Indian government. To think that Dvarapala would actually disappear and the 【Green Lord】 would be defeated, I couldn’t believe it at first. It took a little time to confirm.”
Ram, laughing with a “hahaha,” sat across from them. He wore a high-class navy suit and black-rimmed glasses. He seemed to be an important figure in India.
They were currently in the office of the Supreme Court, which the Seekers had been using as a base.
Yuma sat on the sofa alongside Rui and Akito, facing Ram across a low table.
Akito, who was next to him, clicked his tongue and glared at Ram.
“Enough with the preamble! You brought the Magic Gems, right?”
Yuma was nervous about Akito’s tone. Even in front of a high-ranking government official, Akito’s arrogant attitude didn’t seem to change.
“Of course! Hey, bring it here.”
Ram called out to the man in a suit who was standing behind him. The man placed the briefcase he was holding on the table, unlocked the combination lock, and opened the lid.
Yuma and the other two leaned forward and peered inside.
“Ooh…”
Akito couldn’t help but let out a voice. There were several diamonds emitting a dazzling light, lined up on a black velvet cloth.
“Amazing! So many Magic Gem “Diamonds” and “Zircons”… and each one is quite large,”
Rui said, his eyes shining. Yuma nodded nervously.
This was the 【White Magic Gem】 with a Mana Index equivalent to 16000. With this much, he would surely be able to save Kaede.
Yuma thought so and swallowed hard.
“These are the Magic Gems promised to the Japanese government. You have all been more than deserving of them. On behalf of the Indian government, I offer my heartfelt thanks.”
Ram put his hands together, closed his eyes, and bowed his head like a Japanese person. He was probably expressing his utmost gratitude.
“Rui, do you have water?”
“Yeah, I brought some.”
Rui took out a plastic bottle from his bag as if it were natural. Yuma put the Magic Gems into his mouth one by one and washed them down with the water from the bottle he received.
“Eh!?”
Dasha and Kaira, who had been watching the proceedings from the corner of the room, widened their eyes. They had never seen or heard of anyone swallowing so many Magic Gems at once.
“I-Is that okay!? Won’t you feel sick or anything?”
Kaira asked timidly, and Yuma asked back, “Huh? What do you mean?” Dasha and Kaira exchanged glances and were left speechless in astonishment.
Yuma, having swallowed the Magic Gems, closed and opened his left hand to check his senses. Then, he concentrated on his left hand and activated Recovery Magic.
He brought his left hand, which emitted light, closer to his lost right arm.
The missing arm was rapidly regenerating, and his original right arm, though a little thin, was revived. A chorus of surprised voices spread from the people around him.
Yuma nodded once, realizing that his Recovery Magic had been strengthened.
“How is it, Yuma? Do you think you can do it?”
Rui asked, and Yuma made an indescribable expression.
“I don’t know… I have to try it.”
Yuma turned around and looked at Dasha, who was behind him.
“Dasha-san, I have a request. Could you prepare a corpse of someone whose death has been confirmed… one with minimal damage?”