Chapter 4 : Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A Dungeon Conquest time on an entirely different level.

Seirei was so strong that I wondered whether I was dreaming.

Of course, if it were a powerhouse in the realm of Sword Master, someone said to have transcended human limits by an unfathomable degree, an F-Grade dungeon would be something they could break through in the blink of an eye like Seirei. No, perhaps even faster.

‘Ah, I heard there are even Sword Masters in the Ramu Empire who deliberately run low-grade dungeons.’

Monsters like Grand Duke Alexius Loenheim, a living legend of the Holy Empire Ramu, were said to have committed the eccentric act of racing through low-grade dungeons at insane speeds as a pastime, all to engrave their names in the ‘Book of Oracles’.

His shortest conquest record for an F-Grade dungeon annihilation mission was only five minutes.

Until now, no one had broken that record.

Thanks to that, in the Book of Oracles, which the religious orders across the continent revered and managed as sacred, the name Alexius Loenheim was engraved in brilliant golden letters as the record holder for the shortest conquest time in an F-Grade dungeon annihilation mission.

‘Even so, it does not give him anything especially good. It is simply for showing off.’

Having one’s name listed in the Book of Oracles did not grant any special reward.

It was merely an act driven by personal desire for honor, or self-satisfaction.

It was what one might call an honor achievement, or an old veteran’s self-display.

Of course, from a nation’s perspective, there was nothing bad about being able to promote the fact that they possessed a powerhouse worthy of being recorded in the Book of Oracles.

‘And that means Seirei is at least a Sword Master-class powerhouse.’

The fact that a High-Grade summoned creature was comparable to one of the strongest figures on the continent was an excellent stroke of fortune for me.

[The reward for conquering the F-Grade Dungeon (Annihilation) will be distributed. 1 Low-Grade Job Enhancement Stone and 1 Low-Grade Magic Stone will be distributed to your Subspace.]

A mechanical system guidance voice rang in my ears.

Immediately afterward, two items were created within my Subspace.

Unlike artifacts discovered inside dungeons, these were rewards personally granted by the system to one who had achieved the feat of conquering a dungeon.

Among them, I took out a blue stone called a Low-Grade Job Enhancement Stone and examined it closely. A faint explanation appeared.

[Low-Grade Job Enhancement Stone: A mysterious stone that raises a Job Level.]

[As the Summoner Job Level rises, new skills may be acquired, or the number of summoned creatures that can be summoned simultaneously may increase.]

So the Job Enhancement Stone would raise the level of my Summoner job, and if the level rose, the number of summoned creatures I could summon would increase.

Apparently, the number of slots that could be summoned simultaneously increased by one every roughly five levels, and new skills were unlocked every ten levels.

This was something I had to raise no matter what.

There was no reason to hesitate.

‘There is no reason to stockpile it in Subspace anyway.’

I used the Low-Grade Job Enhancement Stone without hesitation.

The stone in my hand gave off a soft light and crumbled away like sand.

[The Summoner Job Level has increased by 1. LV.1 ―> LV.2]

As for the remaining item, the ‘Low-Grade Magic Stone’, I honestly had no idea where to use it right now.

In my past life, Magic Stones were strategic resources used throughout industry, such as to run generators.

But this place was a medieval era where there were no such things as generators at all.

‘Since I cannot figure out a use for the Low-Grade Magic Stone right now, I have no choice but to shove it into a corner of Subspace for the time being.’

It would probably be useful later.

Now that I had finished checking the rewards, it was time to start moving.

‘I entered the dungeon during the day, but is it already night?’

The moment I came out of the dungeon, what unfolded before my eyes was pitch-black darkness.

There was not even a moon in the sky.

It seemed quite a lot of time had passed while I was unconscious.

I had heard that the flow of time inside and outside a dungeon was the same, so there was no doubt about it.

For now, I had to hurry back to the mansion, even at this hour.

Among the people of the territory who had been in the tavern I visited during the day, someone must have seen me leave with Owen, that bastard, and they would certainly have reported it to the mansion.

And if it was Simon, my younger brother who treasured even a scoundrel of an older brother like me, he would not stay still.

‘Maybe Simon has already gone to the Viscount’s House to confront Owen.’

An ominous premonition crept up my spine.

No matter how talented Simon was with the sword, and even if he was a mid-level Sword Expert, there would be more than enough powerhouses of that level in the Viscount’s House of Hennes.

If he acted recklessly for nothing, he could die a pointless death.

And above all, should I not deal with Owen myself?

I had to smash that filthy face of his once more.

“Now then, I am planning to return home. What will you do, Seirei?”

I subtly probed her intentions.

It was time to decide whether I would simply send her away here or register her in the Knight Order.

“I merely follow my lord’s will. Of course, even if you Unsummon me right now, I have no complaints. It has been quite refreshing for me as well, moving my body after crossing dimensions for the first time in so long…….”

Seirei’s mouth did not rest.

‘Should I send Seirei back as she is? Or should I live while dragging that noisy mouth along with me?’

I had to resolve this issue before returning to the mansion.

I agonized over it seriously enough to give myself a headache.

Seirei was strong.

There was no room for doubt.

If I considered only her abilities, she was in no way lacking as the first member of my direct Knight Order, which was currently vacant.

No, she was more than enough. Almost too much.

Was she not a powerhouse who could clear an F-Grade dungeon in ten minutes?

To be honest, if she had reduced her talking and focused on the Dungeon Conquest, I felt it would not have taken even five minutes.

She might even be able to break Duke Alexius Loenheim’s record.

Nevertheless, there was only one reason I was hesitating this much.

It was the extremely realistic problem of whether I could endure that terrifying mouth that burst open without rest, no, that disastrous bombardment of chatter.

‘Still, if I control her little by little and train her, perhaps it will be all right?’

I desperately tried to spin hopeful scenarios.

She was not the type to recklessly refuse to listen entirely, was she?

If I hardened my expression and shouted at her to be quiet, she did shut her mouth, at least for a moment.

Of course, the fatal drawback was that the effect did not last even a minute.

Still, letting such a powerful and rare High-Grade Holy Knight slip away before my eyes over a bit of minor(?) annoyance and mental suffering would be far too foolish.

Especially in a situation like now, where I did not have even one reliable hand or foot.

And while it was only a guess, if I raised the level of Charisma, I might be able to control Seirei’s chatter to some extent.

I took one deep breath and made my decision.

“Seirei, I have a proposal for you. Will you become my first knight?”

“Y-you have chosen me? Ooh, what an honor this is. As expected, my lord has seen through to my true value…….”

Since we had confirmed each other’s intentions, there was no reason for me to continue listening to the chatter she had started yet again.

I quickly incorporated Seirei into the Knight Order officially.

[Seirei has been registered in the Knight Order.]

Then, feeling sorry but remaining firm, I said,

“Yes, I understand. Then let us meet again next time. Unsummon!”

“…Yes? W-wait a moment, my lo…!”

Before Seirei could finish speaking, she vanished into a cluster of light with an expression filled with both panic and bewilderment.

Only one person had disappeared, yet how could the world become this quiet?

Has the world always been this silent?

It was astonishing all over again.

Now that the wretched noise pollution had disappeared, I finally felt as though peace of mind had returned.

【Status Window】

: Cain Lake

: Summoner EX (LV.2)

: Random Summon (LV.MAX) / Unsummon (LV.MAX) / Subspace (LV.1) / Knight Order (LV.1) / Charisma (LV.1)

: Seirei (High-Grade Heresy Inquisitor)

When I checked the Status Window, I saw that my Summoner level had risen to 2 thanks to the Job Enhancement Stone, and Seirei’s name had been officially registered on the Knight Order Roster.

I had only just taken the first step, but it was still a rather satisfying result.

Was this enough to say I had escaped the bottom?

‘Good. Now every preparation is complete.’

Without delay, I started walking toward the mansion.

* * *

Today was the day of my mother’s memorial rite.

Whenever the day of my mother’s memorial rite arrived, I always went out to drink.

My own helplessness from having been unable to do anything but watch my mother die.

That was what made me unable to properly attend my mother’s memorial rite.

‘At this hour, Mother’s memorial rite should already be over, and the lights in the mansion should be out….’

The fact that the entire mansion was still awake with its lights on meant that Father and Simon had not yet fallen asleep.

If any of the people of the territory had seen me moving with Owen before I was abducted by him, they must have informed the family.

Considering that the relationship between the Viscount’s House of Hennes and our count’s house was not good, they would have thought of the worst possibilities once I failed to return until now.

‘Surely Simon has not already stormed the Viscount’s House, has he?’

My heart felt as though it had dropped coldly.

Desperately hoping that would not be the case, I cautiously entered the mansion.

And in the center of the lobby, I had to face a sight I had never wanted to see.

Simon was covered head to toe in heavy, gleaming steel armor.

No, why was he wearing that suffocating, stifling plate mail in the middle of the night?

Was he planning to wage war right now?

Truly, if I had been even a little later, I did not even want to imagine what dreadful disaster might have occurred.

“Brother!”

When Simon spotted me, he hurriedly ran over and began examining every part of my body.

As though he were checking whether I had suffered any serious wounds, or whether anything was broken.

In his blue eyes, worry, relief, and deep anger swirled together.

“What in the world happened? They said you went out with Owen, that bastard. Why are you only coming back now? Something happened, did it not?”

Simon questioned me in a voice that seemed ready to explode at any moment.

“Nothing happened. I just fell asleep without realizing it because of the alcohol, and when I woke up, it was already this late.”

I made up an excuse as calmly as possible, as if it were nothing.

“Brother, do not lie to me. That bastard Owen did something awful to you, did he not? Tell me honestly. I will go and tear off that bastard’s hea….”

But Simon did not believe my words.

No, he refused to believe them.

“I am telling you, nothing really happened. Owen and I parted ways as soon as we left the tavern….”

I could not properly finish what I was saying.

“You wretch! Do you call that an excuse?”

Because a voice as cold as ice flew in from behind me and struck.