68. Hehe, Sorry;;
“…Haa… Well, I made it here, at least….”
The entrance to the underground cave where the golems lived was quite large. It was about five meters high and ten meters wide.
Since the golems living inside the cave were enormous, it made sense for the entrance to be just as huge. Either way, it was a wide, open-looking place.
Except now, I was staring at that very entrance after it had melted away.
Another incident had happened because of me!
…There was only one answer here.
Apologize as quickly as possible.
I left the others a short distance away and hurried over to Grandpa Alo by myself. As soon as I reached him, I bowed my head and immediately explained everything that had happened.
“…Good grief.”
After receiving my report, Grandpa Alo had rushed straight to the cave. Now, standing in front of the melted entrance, he placed a hand on his waist and let out a short, troubled sigh.
“Since you said you were fighting those things called the Roots of the Fanatics, there should be some room for leniency in this matter.”
“Hehe….”
“Do not laugh. Whether you intended to or not, you have damaged part of the Empire’s territory.”
“I’m sorry….”
I told Grandpa Alo everything without hiding anything.
Even if I tried to conceal it, he would probably notice sooner or later anyway. There was nothing to gain from lying about it.
Just as Grandpa Alo said, since this incident involved the fanatics, the Empire would probably have a hard time blaming me too much.
That was at least one fortunate thing.
This incident had also revealed a fragment of just how enormous the power of Modak inside me was, as well as the fact that even with such power, the beings known as the fanatics’ “Roots” still couldn’t be defeated.
From the Empire’s perspective, they had gained some valuable information.
As for the fact that they wouldn’t be able to mine ore from this place for a while…
Well.
I hoped they could overlook that.
Let’s just call it a draw.
“Um, Grandpa. Please keep what happened here a secret….”
“That was already my intention. Nothing good would come from allowing word of your actions to spread.”
“Thank goodness.”
In that case, the real problem was whether my name would start circulating among the players because of what happened here.
As time passed, more and more people were becoming completely hooked on World Gate. Just as expected, plenty of people had also quickly started spending real money in the game.
On top of that, this place was both a dungeon frequently used by ordinary players and one of the main farming areas for merchants who ran farming operations.
I’d be lucky if someone didn’t stab me while I was casually walking down the street.
For the time being, I should watch the players’ reactions and keep a low profile.
Though whether I could actually live quietly just because I wanted to was another question entirely.
“The game really has developed a lot. Back when I worked on it, this kind of realism wasn’t implemented.”
“Huh?”
Lucy, whom I had deliberately left some distance away with the others, had somehow come up behind us.
Hmm.
I’d intentionally kept her away because Grandpa Alo might know Pie’s face.
Did I forget to explain that?
“Ah, wait a second…!”
Bang!
Before I could do anything, Grandpa Alo and Lucy’s eyes met.
And before I could even react, Grandpa Alo had drawn and swung his sword.
With the sound of air exploding, the blade stopped right in front of Lucy’s throat.
As expected of a Great Hero.
He must have drawn his sword on pure instinct, yet the pressure created by his swing was so powerful that it blew away the heat pouring out of the cave entrance.
It also blew me away.
But how was Lucy still standing there?
Even if this was a game, wouldn’t anyone be startled or panic if something like that suddenly happened?
There was literally a sword pointed at her throat!
Actually, forget that.
How the hell was she still standing?!
What kind of character build did you need to withstand Grandpa Alo’s attack like that?
Even I, the tank, got sent flying!
“…You are not the Witch of Corruption.”
“Mr. Ingwang, are all the NPCs here this rude?”
Grandpa Alo smoothly returned his sword to its sheath before bowing politely and silently offering an apology.
Lucy, however, still looked annoyed.
Considering how she had treated the children earlier as well, she really was a pretty prickly person.
“And who are you to suddenly do something like that to me?”
“My apologies. I am Eieallo Grand National, the Great Hero of Jeonggyeon of the Wiese Empire. Your appearance is so remarkably similar to someone I know that I acted without thinking. Please accept my apology.”
Then both of them turned and stared at me, who had been blown away by the wind, as if demanding an explanation.
I felt like I was being crushed by the pressure of their gazes.
And honestly, I felt a little wronged.
What did I do?!
I dusted myself off, stood up, and first explained who Lucy was.
After hearing the explanation, Grandpa Alo accepted it and marveled at what a strange coincidence it was.
Amazing.
He actually accepted that explanation.
I still hadn’t accepted it myself.
For the explanation to make any sense, I had to talk about Lucy’s connection to Pie.
That part was a little difficult because there was no way Grandpa Alo could properly understand the truth.
Just think about it.
If I said,
“Oh, actually, this person here is the one who created Pie!”
What kind of look would Grandpa Alo give Lucy?
“They’re… kind of like twins?”
“Even the clothes you wear have a similar feeling, which surprised me even more. Are twins identical even in such things? Only your voices seem slightly different. But how can an Outsider have a twin?”
“Th-Thaaat! That’s…!”
Unlike his usual self, Grandpa Alo asked the question with a surprisingly sharp air around him, making me shrink back a little.
With everything that had happened with the underground cave, I thought he would just let the matter slide.
Apparently, there was a reason he was called a Great Hero.
“This is… a little difficult for me to explain. Could you give me a bit more time?”
“Explain it within two days. In the meantime, I will think about what should be done with this cave.”
Grandpa Alo was extremely busy every day because of his position as a Great Hero.
Maybe it was because of everything we had gone through together, or maybe he really was just that busy, but he backed down more easily than I expected.
I didn’t think I had ever behaved in a way that deserved this much trust.
So he was probably just incredibly busy, right?
Wow.
Being competent sure sounded exhausting.
“Maybe I should cover my face from now on.”
“Why would you hide such a pretty face? Anyway, the dungeon we came to visit ended up like this, so should we go somewhere else?”
“…Do you know somewhere?”
Nope.
Well, technically, I did.
But Haiyang Gwe was way too far from here.
And I couldn’t exactly suggest that we go hunt the Corruption in the sewers either. The path there was so filthy that I couldn’t bring myself to recommend it.
Nothing immediately came to mind as the perfect hunting ground.
To be honest, while everyone else played this game as a farming game, I had been enjoying it more like a story-driven game.
That was probably why.
“Maybe we could ask Mr. Coachman. He might know something.”
“Mr. Coachman?”
“Yeah. There’s this weird guy who insists that everyone call him Coachman. Ah, he’s an NPC. Since he’s literally a coachman, wouldn’t he know one or two decent dungeons?”
“You’re making him sound like a taxi driver. Fine. Let’s go.”
Since Mr. Coachman had come up anyway, I started thinking that maybe I should try recruiting him this time.
They say even brushing sleeves with someone is a kind of fate, after all.
I was getting tired of constantly walking everywhere.
Taking my time and enjoying the scenery was nice once or twice, but I had seen this beautiful natural landscape so many times that it only made me yawn now.
Tsk.
It was a little unfortunate that if I found Nalchi, there probably wouldn’t be much reason to recruit Mr. Coachman anymore.
Even though we had only spent a short time together, what happened during that time had left quite an impression on me, so I’d grown attached to the kid.
Nalchi was probably with Pie by now.
Thinking about Pie flying freely from place to place thanks to Nalchi only made my own situation, where I was desperately trying to find her, feel even more miserable.
I didn’t even know which Maze Forest she was in right now.
I really wished I could have gotten at least one clue during that last battle against the Great Demon.
Instead, I gained nothing except becoming stronger through Indomitable.
What a shame.
“By the way, didn’t you say there was something you specifically wanted to tell me?”
“Ah! Right, I did. I’ll tell you while we’re walking.”
