Chapter 18: Do the Heroes Dream of Them? Part 3
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After leaving the castle, some time passed, and gradually, he began to regain his spirits. Occasionally, his original arrogance would resurface. The priest accompanying him from the church sighed, “I fear for what lies ahead.”
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After several days of travel, Ryuguin and his companions arrived at Lemone, a large town near the Labyrinth of Time. Initially, he had planned to use Lemone as their base. However, that plan was soon thwarted.
Although the details of the incident caused by Ryuguin were not disclosed, it was announced that all his achievements were fabricated. He had manipulated the truth to suit his own needs, reporting false accomplishments while ensnaring others in his schemes.
The townspeople, who had already harbored a negative impression of Ryuguin, had been tolerating him solely because he was the nation’s hero. Yet now, it was revealed that all his so-called accomplishments were lies.
Many in Lemone were still reeling from the damage caused by his foolish actions. For those who learned the truth, Ryuguin was no longer a hero but an enemy.
As soon as Ryuguin arrived in the town, a chorus of insults erupted.
“Get out of here!”
With a thud, a stone struck the back of Ryuguin’s head, causing him to crouch down in pain. He pressed his hand against the wound and groaned. When he looked at his palm, he saw it stained with blood. Yet, the barrage of stones showed no sign of stopping.
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For these reasons, Ryuguin and his companions abandoned their plans to make Lemone their base. Reluctantly, he settled in a small town a bit away—Peel Village. However, he was the only one living there; the priests dispatched from the church and the kingdom remained in the village, while the members he was supposed to team up with decided to stay in Lemone. Then—
“Why am I the only one here?! You all should live in this village too! We’re comrades, right?!”
Ryuguin naturally complained, causing quite a stir. However, the root cause of all this lay in his past actions, a fact he remained oblivious to.
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The members who would soon form a party with Ryuguin were S-rank Seekers gathered by the kingdom. Their motivations for participating varied; some wished to eliminate threats to humanity, others were lured by enormous rewards, and still others sought rare Orbs found within the Labyrinth. Despite their different backgrounds and reasons, one thing was certain: they possessed the strength befitting S-rank and the character chosen by Madison and Gilbert.
Since arriving in Lemone, they had heard numerous accounts of the Hero Ryuguin’s misdeeds. Initially skeptical, they began to understand the rumors were true as they listened to the vivid stories of the victims, leading to a growing sense of disgust towards him.
Before they could even think about fighting, the party was on the verge of collapse. Yet, being members gathered from the kingdom, they managed to endure and resolved to strive alongside Ryuguin in their quest to conquer the Labyrinth.
However, that resolve would come to an abrupt end during their first exploration.
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The catalyst was, of course, Ryuguin.
After six weeks of training, Ryuguin, who had become somewhat capable (?), belittled and mocked the S-rank party members without understanding the gap in their abilities.
The incident began on the first day of exploration. The male leader of the party suggested they first assess each other’s skills and coordination in the shallow waters of the first floor of the Labyrinth of Time. However, overestimating his own abilities, Ryuguin refused to listen. The party members, suppressing their anger, repeatedly urged him to cooperate. Yet, Ryuguin ignored all their pleas. In fact, he put the party in danger by disregarding their warnings. But that was of no concern to him.
In his mind, he envisioned a lone warrior. This warrior had single-handedly defeated countless monsters and traversed numerous labyrinths with overwhelming strength and remarkable endurance.
That’s right. That guy could do it. So why couldn’t he?
“You guys are S-rank, right? If you’re the top warriors, there’s no way you can’t handle this.”
Yet, they responded that they couldn’t.
Then—
“Haha, I get it now. Could it be that you’re just washed-up adventurers masquerading as S-rank? What a joke… sending me useless companions. I’m going to conquer this place and make my comeback. So if you’re not motivated, get out of here. Leave!”
He simply spat out insults. Though the party members managed to hold back their frustrations, the first exploration ended. The next day, all of them resigned from the party, declaring that “Ryuguin is not someone we can trust our backs to.”
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The priest accompanying Ryuguin was troubled. Unsure of what to do, he immediately contacted Gilbert. As a result, a stern-faced man was dispatched from the church to the village where Ryuguin resided.
His purpose was to deliver certain items to the priest accompanying Ryuguin.
One was an Orb that allowed escape from a labyrinth boss encounter, and another was a small-scale Teleportation Device created by an inventor, still under information control. The last item was a robe that would remain undetected by any enemy within the labyrinth, as long as no attacks were initiated.
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The following day, the exploration of the Labyrinth of Time began with just Ryuguin and the hidden priest. He was completely cut off from any means of retreat due to surveillance and multiple restrictions.
However, once they delved into the Labyrinth of Time, Ryuguin initially performed well. Perhaps because they were still on the first floor and he had previously wiped out all the enemies, the number of foes was low. The real problem was—
“I’m going in.”
Ryuguin was overconfident. He was not the same as when he had failed last time. He had endured hellish training (by his standards) since then. With that confidence, Ryuguin opened the door to the boss room on the first floor.
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When the priest carrying Ryuguin was found in the village, Ryuguin’s once beautiful golden hair had turned completely white from the overwhelming terror of death. Overcome by the memories of reality and fear, he had lost the will to stand, mumbling with vacant eyes, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”
His equipment was tattered, with two Mithril Great Spears embedded—one in his chest and one in his abdomen.
Two days later, when he was pulled along with the words, “You must be healed now! Let’s resume our exploration!” Ryuguin threw everything aside and ran away.
As a result, he was found outside the village, having fainted after getting caught in a binding spell.
From then on, he began to hide his entire body under blankets at night. He would occasionally scream, “The spears! The swords! I can’t see! They’re too fast! I’m scared! I’m sorry! Limit Break! Limit Break! Limit Break! No! Help me! Someone help me! Mika! Angelica! Mom!” and sob quietly.
What can I say… I’ll refrain from commenting on this.