Chapter 7 : Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I had prevented the worst possible disaster of my name being placed in the Book of Divine Revelation.

“Phew….”

Only then could I let out a long sigh of relief.

At that moment, Seirei, who had just walked out of the dungeon, approached me with a triumphant expression and said,

“My lord! What do you think? This is the extent of my skill! Ah, conquering dungeons truly is thrilling and entertaining…….”

Her eyes sparkled like a child’s, and she looked as though she was genuinely enjoying herself.

She was probably trying to say that she wanted me to summon her often and put her to use in dungeon conquests from now on, was she not?

“My lord! Is there perhaps another dungeon nearby that we can conquer? Now that I have warmed up, I feel as though I could run straight to the next dungeon without the slightest trouble…….”

Just how far was Seirei’s tendency to be an excessive talker going to develop? Did such a thing as a limit even exist for her?

I decided to wait and see how far she would go, and now, ten minutes had already passed without her showing the slightest intention of resting her mouth.

If I left her alone like this, she looked ready to keep talking by herself until the sun set and the night deepened. No, perhaps even until the sun rose the next day.

“Tsk! …Enough.”

I cut her off, exerting as much patience as I could gather.

“Ah… yes.”

Seirei closed her mouth with a slightly disappointed expression.

“I plan to look for another dungeon for now, but before that, we need to leave this place immediately.”

We could not stay here forever.

Father and Simon, having received the report, would soon arrive at this place.

“Pardon? If we remain here, will enemies appear? If that is the case, you need not worry in the slightest…….”

There she went again. Perhaps because she was excited, it felt as though my control over her was working a little less effectively.

“The problem is that they are not enemies. In any case, let us go first. I will explain as we move.”

I gestured wearily and took the lead.

I no longer had the energy to deal with that chatter.

Before the people of the count’s family came rushing in, getting away from this place had to be the first priority.

* * *

After receiving the scout’s urgent report, Count Lionick and Simon hastily gathered what forces they could mobilize and swiftly moved toward the area near Haron Village, where the problematic dungeon had supposedly appeared.

If the family’s elite knight order had not left on an expedition and had been at the mansion, he would have immediately issued an order to conquer the dungeon.

Unfortunately, it was expected to take at least two more days before they completed their mission and returned.

The situation was urgent.

That said, as the lord of the territory, he could not simply sit by and do nothing when a threat had appeared right before his eyes.

That would be a dereliction of duty and a disgrace to the family.

In the end, as the next best option, Lionick personally set out to inspect the situation, bringing only his son Simon, the only capable fighter currently available within the family, and a small escort force.

“My lord, it is right over there. Once we cross that hill ahead, the dungeon entrance should come into view!”

The scout who was leading the way shouted while gasping for breath.

“Is that so? Then I will go ahead first!”

Lionick spurred his horse and climbed the hill in a single burst.

There was even a solemn resolve on his face.

And then, at the summit of the hill, he stopped as though he had frozen in place.

His expression plainly revealed his bewilderment.

“Father? What is wrong? Why have you suddenly… stopped… huh?”

Simon, who had arrived at the hill after him, felt puzzled by his father’s strange reaction and turned his head toward the direction where the dungeon was supposed to be.

However, there was nothing there.

Only an empty field stretched bleakly before them.

The dungeon gate was nowhere to be seen.

According to the scout’s report, there should undoubtedly have been a dungeon gate on the verge of a Dungeon Break, radiating an ominous red light.

“What in the world is going on? Could it be… that the scout remembered the location incorrectly? Or perhaps he saw some kind of illusion?”

Simon muttered with a confused expression.

His eyebrows twitched.

“First, let us wait for the scout to arrive.”

Lionick spoke while trying to remain calm.

Even his voice carried bewilderment.

A short while later, the scout reached the top of the hill, panting heavily. When he saw the desolate scene before him, he froze on the spot with his mouth hanging open.

“Wh-what is going on, my lord? Could it be… that you have already conquered the dungeon?”

He shouted almost like he was screaming, unable to believe it.

“What? Are you in your right mind? How could anyone conquer a dungeon in such a short time?”

Lionick roared.

His face flushed red, then blue.

“N-no… that is not what I meant… Then why in the world… can we not see the dungeon? It was definitely here!”

The scout stammered in panic.

“What are you asking me for? We were the ones waiting for you to clearly explain this situation.”

Lionick struck his chest in frustration.

The scout hurriedly scanned the surrounding terrain and shouted,

“No, this is the place. Look at that tree over there. The mark I carved earlier is still there, is it not? I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”

Just as he said, a mark that appeared to have been left by the scout was clearly carved into the large old tree nearby.

There seemed to be no doubt that this was the location he had mentioned.

“You are certain this is truly the place?”

Lionick confirmed once more.

His eyes shone sharply.

“Yes. I confirmed it clearly with my own eyes. I can swear on my life!”

The scout answered with conviction, almost as though he were crying out.

“In that case… is it possible that you saw something incorrectly? Perhaps you were tired and saw things.”

Simon asked, still looking at him with suspicious eyes.

“Absolutely not. My eyesight is not so poor that I would mistake such a massive dungeon entrance. I saw it clearly. Not only me, but another colleague saw it with me.”

The scout protested indignantly, the veins in his neck standing out.

Yes, unless he was blind with his eyes wide open, there was no way he would have mistaken a massive dungeon entrance.

Then what on earth was this bizarre situation?

Had the dungeon grown feet and moved somewhere else?

“Could it be that the legendary guardian knight of the territory passed through here?”

Count Lionick stroked his chin and murmured quietly, as though speaking to himself.

“The guardian knight of the territory? Are you saying our territory has a guardian knight? This is the first I have heard of it.”

Simon asked in return.

He looked as though the story was entirely new to him.

Pure curiosity appeared in his eyes.

His father deliberately adopted a solemn air and added an explanation.

“Yes. It is said that in the very distant past, there was a knight in our Lake territory who protected the land like a shadow. The records state that our ancestors called him the Shadow Knight. They say he would appear without warning whenever the family was in danger and offer his aid.”

It sounded like a rather meaningful story, but,

“Wow! Father, then does that mean the Shadow Knight really exists even now?”

The innocent Simon asked with sparkling eyes.

“Of course, there is no way such a thing exists.”

His father’s answer was as cold and decisive as ice.

He himself was the current head of House Lake.

A family secret unknown even to him, the family head?

He could say with certainty that not a single such thing existed.

Stories of the Shadow Knight and the like were merely legends of the past, nothing more than a common old tale passed down through the generations.

Count Lionick knew better than anyone that reality was not as beautiful as a fairy tale.

He was a realist to the bone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the heart of the Holy Empire, the only great power on the continent and the nation that served the Supreme God Zerabl, stood the resplendent Temple of Radiant Light.

Maria, a devout priestess of the Church of Zerabl, began her day as always by managing the sacred divine revelations bestowed by the Supreme God Zerabl.

That was the most important and glorious duty entrusted to her.

As she offered a prayer to the Supreme God with a reverent heart, just like any other day, she witnessed the sacred Book of Divine Revelation placed upon the altar begin to emit a brilliant light on its own.

“Oh my, it has truly been a long time since a divine revelation descended. I wonder if His Highness Grand Duke Alexius has achieved another great feat this time. Or perhaps a new hero has been born?”

She murmured with a light smile.

After all, it was extremely rare for a new name to be added to the Book of Divine Revelation.

In recent years, only Grand Duke Alexius Loenheim, the hero of the Holy Empire and praised as the strongest swordsman on the continent, had occasionally had his name recorded there.

That was why Priestess Maria naturally assumed it would be him again this time. Without any particular expectations, and with a light heart, she opened the Book of Divine Revelation, where golden letters shone as though alive.

And then, she had no choice but to doubt her own eyes.

“What… What is this? Am I seeing things right now? Or is there some error in the Book of Divine Revelation…?”

Before the unbelievable achievement newly engraved in the Book of Divine Revelation, and the unfamiliar name of the one who had achieved it, Priestess Maria momentarily lost the ability to speak.

Her hands trembled.

[F-rank Dungeon (Annihilation) Shortest Clear Record: Shadow Knight (3 minutes)]

The clearly engraved words were no illusion.

Until just yesterday, the shortest clear record for an F-rank dungeon had undoubtedly been 5 minutes.

And the owner of that astonishing record had, needless to say, been Grand Duke Alexius Loenheim, the strongest Sword Master on the continent and the pride of the empire.

That record, which had not been broken once in the past ten years, had been broken today?

And by an absurd time of 3 minutes, shortened by more than 2 whole minutes at that?

“Oh, great Supreme God Zerabl. Please forgive this irreverent servant. However… could this divine revelation perhaps… have been bestowed incorrectly? Or am I dreaming?”

Unable to believe the current situation, Priestess Maria began to dare suspect the god.

There could not possibly be an error in a sacred record!

It was a blasphemous thought, but she could not hide her confusion.

To dare doubt a sacred divine revelation!

She shuddered so violently at her own irreverence that chills ran through her, but she could not bring herself to accept the result before her eyes.

This was not merely a matter of blasphemy. It was a matter of common sense.

To be honest, it was possible for the shortest record to be renewed.

Records existed to be broken someday, after all.

And one could concede, a hundred times over, that some unknown hero other than Grand Duke Alexius might have set that record.

The world was vast, and there were many hidden experts. Another monster might exist somewhere.

‘But even so, 3 minutes is far too much!’

No matter how she thought about it, this made no sense according to common sense.

Even if one entered the dungeon entrance and sprinted at full speed all the way to the room where the final boss was located, it would take at least 3 minutes. Even an F-rank dungeon had a proper structure!

So how could the dungeon clear time be 3 minutes?

As far as she knew, no existing magic, technique, or even divine power could explain this mysterious record.

And now, one more problem, even more troublesome than this event that was astonishing to the point of absurdity, had appeared before her.

“Should I… truly report this to His Majesty the Emperor exactly as it is?”

A deep sigh escaped her on its own.

If she reported the contents of this unbelievable divine revelation as they were, she might end up earning His Majesty the Emperor’s distrust and suspicion that “the priestess has grown senile, or perhaps her mind is not sound.”

In the worst case, she might even be stripped of her position as priestess.

But neither could she carelessly ignore or hide a sacred divine revelation sent down by the Supreme God.

That would be true blasphemy.

In the end, with a deep sigh and a heavy burden of worry, Priestess Maria carefully cradled the sacred Book of Divine Revelation in her arms like a ticking time bomb and set off toward the imperial palace.

To seek an audience with His Majesty Amita Blit, the emperor of the Holy Empire of Ramu.