217
The Dungeon Ark of Confinement had been conquered.
The four party members had each been given different trials in separate rooms, and in the end, all of them had overcome their trials.
Glen had met Graham Wordsworth, his ancestor and the founder of his family, the hero of the old era, and defeated him.
Romina had faced her father, the former Demon King Diaro El Blanditear, as her trial and overcome it.
Ridenhall had met Saint Ridenhall, his own self from before his death, while Rowen had faced his long-dead older brother as her trial and eventually returned alive.
“You all worked hard.”
“I’m sorry.”
Although Glen had warned them beforehand, thinking about the mental suffering they must have gone through made him feel that this was something he could never put them through a second time.
Still, in the original story, all the characters who overcame these trials achieved tremendous mental growth.
That was something Glen had been hoping for.
“So what?”
“You worked hard too, brother.”
“That is true.”
“It surely wasn't easy for you to overcome it either, so please don't apologize.”
And the result was even better than Glen had expected.
Those who had overcome their mental weaknesses had a completely different look in their eyes.
They were not drastically different from usual, but there was a certain maturity about them that made Glen smile naturally.
“……No?”
“It wasn't hard for me.”
“Liar.”
Romina gave him a sly smile.
“Ah, what a shame.”
“If only I could find out what kind of trial Glen received.”
“Don't you agree?”
“What are you planning to do by digging into brother's painful memories?”
“You know~ what should I do with them?”
“How about using them to find his weakness?”
“I'll put a tight leash around his neck so he can't disobey me, and then I'll become the leader.”
“Ha.”
“Do you really think that would work?”
“You'd need another hundred years before you could bend brother to your will.”
“Hmm…… Rominea.”
Rowen, who had been standing quietly and listening to their conversation, stared directly at Romina.
“Why are you calling me?”
“From what I can see, you really like Glen.”
“Isn't that right?”
“W-What?!”
“Why… why are you suddenly saying that?”
“Well…”
“Your eyes, your actions, and even your words.”
“Everything about the way you behave shows that you want to understand and comfort your companion's pain.”
At Rowen's straightforward remark, Romina's face instantly turned red.
“W-What are you talking about……!”
“Now that I've reached this level, there are many things I can see with my eyes.”
“Look.”
“Even now, isn't your breathing becoming unstable?”
“H-Ha!”
“Could that really be true?!”
“Glen and I are simply benefactor and beneficiary.”
“There's no affection or anything like that, o-of course not.”
“And as for my breathing…”
“That's only because you're saying such ridiculous things.”
“If that's not the case, then that's that.”
“Why are you getting so flustered?”
“From my experience, people who react this excessively……”
“Urgh!”
“You think I'm flustered?!”
“Me?!”
It was the moment an unexpected combination was born.
Rowen was unnecessarily sharp even about trivial things, yet somehow lacked awareness in certain areas.
Romina, on the other hand, was terrible at being honest about her feelings.
“Even though she talks like that, she really cares about you, brother.”
“……I know.”
Watching Romina struggle helplessly against Rowen's straightforward remarks, Glen smiled.
“She really is a good girl.”
The Rominea who had driven countless players to despair in the original story, the candidate for Demon King, no longer existed.
No.
It would be wrong to say that the original Rominea had disappeared.
Both were Romina.
She had simply taken the wrong path in the original story, and both versions of her were equally bad at expressing their feelings.
“Let's go.”
“We're not finished yet.”
Of course, the dungeon itself had already been conquered.
But Glen still had something important to collect.
So he walked ahead toward the deepest part of the dungeon.
Eventually, with Ridenhall acting as a mediator, the argument(?) between Rowen and Romina came to an end.
Of course, the loser was not Rowen.
It was Romina, who had repeatedly been struck right in the weak spots by Rowen.
The deepest part of the Ark of Confinement.
As with any dungeon, the rewards for conquering it were waiting there.
At the center of the circular corridor were four round stone shelves, matching the number of party members.
“One, two, three… four.”
“Looks like the rewards are distributed according to the number of people.”
“That's right.”
“And since the rewards are predetermined, each of us can just take the one that suits us.”
No one could simply take all four rewards for themselves.
The rewards given by the Ark of Confinement became bound to the party member the moment they were obtained.
‘We can't even use the trick of leaving the dungeon and redistributing them afterward.’
‘But it doesn't really matter.’
After all, the system had recorded in detail the trials each dungeon conqueror faced and how they overcame them.
There was no chance that an unrelated reward would drop.
“Ooh.”
“A book?”
“No, it's a secret arts manual.”
“For me……”
“Ha-ha.”
“This is the mace I used when I was alive.”
“This is…….”
Each person instinctively stood in front of one of the stone shelves, as if drawn toward a particular reward.
Just as Glen had expected, each reward seemed to have been tailored to its recipient.
The reward Glen received first was armor that looked similar to the armor he was currently wearing.
It was something he had seen only a few dozen minutes ago.
《Hero Graham's Armor》
《Grade》: Legendary
《Type》: Armor
《Options》
: 『Heroes Are Always at the Front』 — When at the front of a party or army, all stats increase by 5%.
: 『Ancestor's Return』 — If the wearer is related to Graham Wordsworth, Graham Wordsworth can be summoned in spirit form for a very short period of time.
The summoned Graham Wordsworth protects the artifact holder and fights against enemies.
—Cooldown: 24 hours.
《Story》
At the beginning of the war between demons and humans, a knight wearing gray armor suddenly appeared from somewhere and swept across the battlefield with overwhelming power.
His exploits continued until the First War came to an end.
When a ceasefire was reached, he founded his own family.
It was the armor of Graham Wordsworth, whom Glen had fought only a few dozen minutes ago.
Glen had somewhat expected it when Graham appeared as his trial.
‘But it's nice now that I actually have it.’
It did not merely have excellent durability.
It also came with the outrageous option of increasing all stats by 5%.
In the early stages, it might not seem like much.
But in the later stages, when a character's stats could rise from dozens to even hundreds, the additional stats gained from this option would become significant.
Even now, simply equipping it would give Glen three or four free stat points.
‘The further into the late game I go, where stats are used to overpower everything, the more valuable an option like this becomes.’
Of course, the truly important option was Ancestor's Return.
Although it was not as powerful as the Graham Wordsworth Glen had fought earlier, being able to summon a creature that could provide a certain level of combat power was an enormous advantage.
‘Either way, I only have one body.’
The Skeleton Knights controlled by Ridenhall were enough to prove that.
How wonderfully they had made up for the party's lack of manpower.
‘Considering that I'll have to separate from Ridenhall before long, this is a huge advantage.’
Honestly, Glen had expected little from this expedition because his main goal had been helping Ridenhall and Romina grow.
But the reward was much more satisfying than he had expected.
Then what about the other party members?
First, Romina had received a secret arts manual.
