Chapter 34: The Goal

After we came out of the Gate and finished settling today’s accounts.

We gathered in a corner of the Association office to tally up the results of a day that had seen so much happen.

A bizarre combination of two D-Rank Hunters and one A-Rank Hunter — was it just the perfect thing to draw attention?

I could hear the stares and murmurs directed at us.

Of the three of us, the one drawing the most attention was naturally Marcel, the A-Rank Hunter.

After all, it was extremely rare for someone of A-Rank to drop by the Association office, which was practically a hangout for Low-Rank Hunters.

Even right now—

“Tch, what’s a big shot A-Rank Hunter doing here?”

“No idea. Guess he’s got nothing better to do.”

“Hope he doesn’t steal our rice bowl.”

I could clearly hear them muttering in envious voices.

I checked on Marcel, the one they were talking about, but surprisingly, his face was calm.

It seemed this kind of atmosphere was familiar to him. If it were me, I’d have already drawn my sword and warned them.

“Um, Mr. Marcel…”

Surprisingly, it was Deneb who spoke first. She seemed to feel uneasy about the stares around us.

“Yes.”

“Well…”

“It’s fine.”

Marcel spoke with a composed smile, his eyes crinkling, to the hesitant Deneb.

“I’m used to it.”

“You’re not angry?”

“Compared to Ms. Verdi’s magic, their criticism is nothing.”

Marcel answered my question calmly.

I like the way he talks.

And I feel a sense of kinship.

Because when I was active, I also got a lot of envious stares like that.

“And who’s the pretty girl next to him? For show?”

…The sparks were starting to fly toward me too, so I’d better wrap this up quickly.

“First, Mr. Marcel. I need to ask you to leave your guild as soon as tomorrow. Is that alright?”

I stared at Marcel and spoke bluntly.

As the price for losing the duel, he was supposed to leave his guild and join our party.

The only problem was that the guild was a pretty famous one.

“May I ask one question?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’m curious why I need to leave the guild to form a party. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m asking purely out of curiosity. Parties are usually formed without being tied to a guild, aren’t they?”

He had a point. Most of the time, even when you form a party, you don’t worry about the guild.

Unless it’s a hostile guild.

And I was unaffiliated.

It was only natural for him to be curious about the reason.

“Not right away, but.”

I spoke to the curious Marcel in a slightly excited voice.

“Once I save up enough funds, I’m planning to create a guild.”

“Funds?”

“A guild?”

At my words, Deneb and Marcel both put question marks on their faces at the same time.

“I don’t like being under anyone. That said, I don’t plan to recruit a lot of people either. The conclusion I came to is a small, elite group. That’s the kind of guild I want to create.”

Back when I was in my old body, the guild I belonged to was also a two-person guild with just me and one comrade, and I was the guild master.

Empty vessels make the most noise — I might have plans to make the guild big, but I have no intention of taking in many people.

“Small, elite…!”

“I see. Understood.”

Deneb’s eyes sparkled while Marcel nodded in understanding.

Their reactions to the same words were so different. It’d be fun comparing them, so I probably wouldn’t get bored for a while.

“For now, Mr. Marcel.”

“Yes.”

“Let me tell you why I asked you to join our party.”

“The reason, you say…”

“You’re an A-Rank Hunter.”

Marcel nodded silently with a blank expression.

“I’ll be honest. We’re going to use your Hunter rank to enter High-Rank Gates.”

“Wh-what?! High-Rank Gates?!”

At the words “High-Rank Gates,” Deneb jumped as if she’d stepped on a trap and shouted.

“Shh.”

Why are you making such a fuss, you idiot? What if someone hears?

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

Deneb sat back down with a deflated expression.

“…Is that alright?”

Marcel asked me with a worried look.

He’d seen my skills, but it was only once.

Plus, on the surface, my Hunter rank was D-Rank.

I emphasized it several times during the duel too.

So I understood why he was worried.

“Marcel, how strong do you think I actually am?”

It wasn’t a loaded question, but I was a little curious.

“…Well. If I’m being completely honest… I’d say you could even be S-Rank.”

Marcel cautiously offered his opinion, as if checking my reaction.

“Hmph… ahem, thank you for the compliment.”

A laugh slipped out at the higher-than-expected rating. I’d thought he’d say A-Rank this time too.

Guess losing once broadened your perspective. That’s the right answer. But I’ll play humble here.

“Well, even if I don’t quite measure up to S-Rank, the three of us should be able to handle B-Rank Gates without any trouble — that’s the entry level for High-Rank Gates.”

“B-Rank Gates? But aren’t B-Rank Gates and above outside the Association’s jurisdiction?”

Deneb asked at my words.

From High-Rank Gates onward, guilds get priority over the Association.

The reason, of course, is that they’re far more dangerous than Low-Rank Gates.

Deneb had a guild master as an older brother. Thanks to that, she seemed to know the ins and outs of guild affairs.

Though I’d like to correct one thing — High-Rank Gates aren’t completely outside the Association’s jurisdiction.

To civilians, Gates are no different from disasters, and Hunters are the ones who stop them.

It’s just that they can’t handle them because they’re too weak. There are very few High-Rank Hunters affiliated with the Association.

“There’s a way. We join a High-Rank Gate subjugation squad assigned to another guild as ‘mercenaries.’”

“Mercenaries, you say?”

At my words, Marcel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Even if we try, Royal Knights would be difficult, I think…”

“I know that too.”

Joining a subjugation squad from a guild I left as a mercenary — even I have a thick face, but not that thick.

“We just request it from one of the other Five Great Guilds.”

“That is an option. But, uh… sorry, but I’m not on good terms with just Royal Knights — I also have a strained relationship with ‘Hermes.’”

Marcel said with an apologetic look.

“Ah, come to think of it, Marcel, you were with Hermes before joining our guild, right?”

“That’s right.”

Hermes — if I remember correctly, that’s one of the Five Great Guilds, same as Royal Knights.

Come to think of it, Mr. Luca had mentioned that Marcel switched guilds often.

“How long ago did you leave there?”

“About six months, I think.”

“Then let’s rule out Hermes too.”

So, excluding Royal Knights and Hermes from around here, the Five Great Guild with a branch nearby would be…

‘That’s where that slit-eyed bastard was.’

The guild that annoying bastard who bothered me on the day of the Rank Advancement Exam belonged to.

—See you later, miss.

His last words came to mind.

I never thought we’d reunite this soon.

What was that bastard’s name again?

“What about Crescent?”

“I have no particular connection with Crescent.”

“Then let’s make them our primary target.”

Well, can’t be helped. Right now I’m in a mood to grab at straws.

Until I earn enough money to pay off all the debt and create my own guild, I’ll have to rely on others.

…Looks like I’ll be relying on them for a very long time.

“Um, I’m curious — are High-Rank Gates that common around here?”

Just as I’d reached that conclusion, Deneb suddenly asked me.

“Well, I think Marcel would know better than me.”

“They’re not exactly common.”

When I shot him a look, Marcel propped his chin like a thinking statue and explained the reason.

“It’s because the number of High-Rank Hunters has dropped significantly recently. So even though Gates are increasing, they can’t handle all of them.”

“A lot were lost during Dark Moon.”

It seemed the effects of Dark Moon — the most vicious Gate in history, with the highest casualties ever — still lingered.

“Dark Moon is one thing, but the Gate that appeared three years ago also had a considerable impact.”

The moment Marcel mentioned a Gate that appeared three years ago, I felt a chill.

Because I could guess which Gate he meant.

“‘End Cave’ drastically reduced an already scarce number.”

End Cave, huh. So it’s already been given a name.

Marcel’s gaze turned to me.

He looked a bit reluctant, as if checking my reaction, so I gestured for him to keep talking.

“From what I know, End Cave was originally a Gate that Ms. Verdi’s teacher, Mr. Verdiol, was in charge of. But… due to a series of events, Verdiol stepped down.”

Up to this point, I already knew the story.

No need to explain the “series of events.”

It was the incident where a civilian died in the dungeon — the one that got me labeled a murderer.

“After Verdiol stepped down, everyone was desperate to subdue the S-Rank Gate that had lost its handler. However, with the precedent of Dark Moon, all the guilds that possessed High-Rank Hunters, including the Five Great Guilds, united and challenged it. But just like with Dark Moon, the results were devastating.”

“Devastating?”

“Yes. It caused an irreparable number of casualties. In the end, the alliance collapsed, and since then, no one has gone near that Gate.”

That was a bit surprising. Among the S-Rank Hunters, there were definitely several who were stronger than me.

Like Moonlight, for instance. And yet, even with those guys forming an alliance, they still failed to subdue it…

More than that, if they failed, there was one thing that bothered me.

“Did a Dungeon Break… not occur?”

If a Gate stays open for a long time, a Dungeon Break happens.

I don’t know the exact timeframe, but in the most recent case — the Dungeon Break that Deneb got caught up in — I heard it took a week.

“No. Fortunately, I haven’t heard of one yet. If a Dungeon Break were to happen in a place like that… I’ve never been inside, so I haven’t experienced it, but I don’t even want to imagine it.”

…I see.

Why was that? For some reason, I felt a little relieved.

Because it meant I wasn’t the only one who failed.

And at the same time.

—…I hope you don’t die. No matter what accusations you hear.

Because I was now certain that his words and his sacrifice had been safely preserved.

The fact that a Dungeon Break hadn’t occurred was proof of that.

If I could have explained this proof, I wouldn’t have been branded a murderer.

—No, this all happened because I failed in the first place.

If I hadn’t failed, I wouldn’t have been called a murderer.

“I hear the Association is also investigating why a Dungeon Break hasn’t occurred, but I still haven’t heard any definite news.”

“That’s enough.”

After hearing Marcel’s story, I felt a bit heavy, but I clenched my teeth to suppress that feeling as much as possible before opening my mouth.

“I got more information than I expected. Thank you.”

“I’m glad it was helpful.”

I’d gotten a lot of information unintentionally.

I’d been curious about how the world was doing since I quit being a Hunter and holed up in my room, and Marcel had answered all of it in one go.

End Cave…

It made me feel like if I could subdue that Gate, I might reach an ending.

Of course, this world isn’t a game, so there’s no such thing as an ending, but still.

‘…Someday.’

If I reached the position of an S-Rank Hunter in this body, would I get a chance to challenge End Cave again?

Back then, I ran from the boss, but if another opportunity came.

If I didn’t give up and kept challenging it until… I succeeded in subjugating the boss.

—You killed them!

—Murderer!

If that happened, wouldn’t I be freed from these damn hallucinations?

That thought crossed my mind.