Chapter 74: The Approaching Shadow

“…Huh? What the hell are you talking about?”

At my words, Mr. Luca asked with a dazed expression behind his sunglasses. That’s a pretty stupid look I don’t get to see often. Ah, is he surprised because I said this even though I haven’t paid off all my debt yet?

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep paying off the rest of the debt.”

I said that to reassure him.

“No, what are you suddenly going on about?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?”

“Yeah. I’m going to stay somewhere else for a while. Like I said, I’m not trying to run away without paying my debt, so relax.”

The reason I’m leaving is solely because I’m worried about Mr. Luca’s safety.

Mr. Luca had always been kind to me. I didn’t want someone like him to end up in danger because of me.

Karelin… I’ve never seen that mage in person, but if she uses Teleportation Magic, she can target me anytime, anywhere.

Just like how Vasquez opened a Gate and vanished back then, she might open a Gate right here in this lodging and show up.

I don’t want Mr. Luca getting caught up in my mess. That’s why I planned to keep my distance.

“…Why are you suddenly leaving? At least let me hear the reason.”

“Well…”

I hesitated for a moment. I wanted to keep the matter of Karelin a secret from Mr. Luca. When I’d sorted my thoughts, I finally spoke.

“To earn more money. I want to pay off my debt quickly.”

“Hey, you don’t have to pay it back fast. How many times have I hounded you? That was just talk, I never actually meant it. If you felt pressured, I’m sorry…”

“It’s not that.”

Even with his sunglasses hiding his face, Mr. Luca’s expression was obvious. Seriously, this guy can never hide his feelings. What is he, my dad? Why’s he so worried?

“I’ve told you several times, Mr. Luca. I’m just changing where I’m staying. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? The pest that’s been taking up space in your lodging is finally going outside.”

“…I guess that’s true.”

“Hmph, you could’ve denied that part.”

“Make up your mind, you brat.”

Finally, the corner of Mr. Luca’s mouth lifted slightly.

“Anyway, thanks for everything so far. It’s not like I’m leaving forever, so we’ll see each other again. I still have to pay off the debt…”

“…Yeah. I hope nothing bad happens. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Yes.”

“…Take care.”

Mr. Luca turned around. I quietly bowed my head toward him, then left the lodging with the others.

* * *

“…He’s gone.”

Claire, who had been watching their conversation from a distance, approached Luca and spoke.

“Yeah.”

Luca exhaled a deep puff of cigar smoke as he said it.

“I wanted the bastard to go outside, but honestly, in the past three years, I never once thought he’d actually leave.”

Three years of him holed up in the lodging. Half a year since his sex changed. In all that time, Luca had never imagined Verdi would leave.

So he’d thought taking care of Verdi was just natural. But now, that was no longer necessary.

Right now, Luca felt like a father whose daughter had moved out. Though, he actually was in that situation.

In the half year since the sex change, even by his own reckoning, he’d really looked after him a lot.

“Well, the kid’s got his own thoughts, I guess. Seems like he’s hanging out with friends now, too.”

The two who came with him last time. And now an unfamiliar woman had been added.

“I can’t take care of him forever.”

She said that, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t worried. Of course, Verdi’s age, including before the body change, was close to thirty. She didn’t need to be worried; she was old enough to take care of herself.

But… in Luca’s eyes, Verdi was still just a kid. His mental age was on the low side. He often showed childish sides.

Those traits that had seemed pathetic before the body change now looked like age-appropriate behavior after it.

“Claire, bring me some booze. The most expensive one. I need to get drunk today.”

“…Are you sure that’s okay?”

At Luca’s words, Claire asked with a surprised expression. She had known Luca for a long time and knew he was a notorious cheapskate. But he wanted the most expensive liquor, and not to sell it, but to drink it himself? Was the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow?

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and bring it.”

“Yes, sir…”

Claire brought the most expensive wine from the lodging and poured it into his glass.

“Don’t blame me for this later.”

“Yeah. You want some too?”

“Sure. When else would I get to drink something like this?”

Claire poured Luca’s glass first, then filled her own.

*Clink—*

The two clinked glasses and downed the wine. It was strong stuff—even Claire, who considered herself a heavy drinker, felt the alcohol creeping through her body.

People all showed different types of drinking habits.

Some got rowdy, some suddenly passed out. Some would suddenly pour out the feelings they’d been stewing over inside, and Luca was that type.

“I… want that kid to be happy.”

“All of a sudden?”

“It’s been like that for a while. Even before he holed up in his room… that kid was always hated by everyone around him. Of course, he brought some of it on himself.”

“Well… if you think about it, isn’t that his own fault?”

Claire had once been saved by Verdiol’s help in the past. But even she, who considered him her lifesaver, knew his personality wasn’t good. She had no intention of defending him.

“Yeah… but can everyone really be born evil?”

“…I don’t know.”

“I don’t think so. There must have been a reason. A reason why that bastard turned out that way.”

“Do you know what that reason is, Mr. Luca?”

“No.”

“You don’t know? Then how can you say that?”

“But don’t you think there probably is one?”

At Luca’s question, Claire fell into thought for a moment. She soon recalled the time she had been helped by Verdiol.

Back when Claire couldn’t yet properly function as a Hunter, she was attacked by Bandits. Her comrades were all dead, and she was the only woman left alone.

Verdiol appeared before her. He single-handedly wiped out all the Bandits who had taken her comrades’ lives.

—You okay?

—…Yes.

—Good. I’ll be off, then.

Verdiol saved her but asked for nothing in return.

Back then, Verdiol wasn’t yet a High-Rank Hunter. It was the time when he was just starting to make a name for himself.

The era when he was known as a Solo Hunter, tackling Gates alone.

That brief moment was the only time Claire had ever spoken with and met Verdiol.

Thinking back now, it was a far cry from the Verdiol of today.

If it were the current Verdiol, he would have definitely tried to collect at least a small fee for saving her life, but back then, he just said that and left her.

“…Maybe there is one.”

Definitely.

Compared to that time, Verdiol had changed far too much. First of all, should she say he’d become uglier… no, that wasn’t it.

It would be more accurate to say she’d become more realistic. Saying she’d become ugly was going too far, Claire thought with a snicker.

“Why are you laughing to yourself?”

“…Just thinking about the old days.”

“Is that so. Ugh… he’ll adapt fine without me, right?”

“Isn’t that a bit too self-centered?”

“Hey, you punk, how much did I do for that kid, huh?”

Luca’s voice rose.

“…By any chance, Mr. Luca, is there a reason you were so good to Verdiol?”

At that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to Claire, and she asked Luca that.

“Well. It wasn’t for financial reasons, that’s for sure.”

As he said that, Luca suddenly clapped his hands.

“Ah, right, yeah. I admired that bastard. I thought he was a fucking cool guy. Think about it. Other people were struggling just to clear a High-Rank Gate, but that bastard cleared them all by himself, right?”

“He did.”

“Isn’t that fucking cool? When that bastard and Jihyeok cleared an S-Rank Gate together, I thought a new legend was born.”

“…I’ll admit that.”

Claire agreed with that too. The first S-Rank Gate that appeared was somehow closed by everyone joining forces. The next Gate that appeared, Dark Moon, was not the same.

And then the third S-Rank Gate, Gehenna. Verdiol and Kim Jihyeok cleared that Gate alone, just the two of them. Those two were already known names to those in the know before that, but after subjugating Gehenna, they became famous to the point where the word ‘legend’ didn’t seem out of place. Some even said they had created a myth.

“That’s when I was sure. Ah, I just want to help this guy. Just being by his side made my chest feel grand… he was that kind of guy.”

“…”

Instead of answering, Claire brought the wine to her lips.

“Suddenly I’m regretting it. If I’d stopped him back then, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

Luca recalled the fourth S-Rank Gate to open, End Cave, and the woman Verdiol had brought along back then, claiming she was a collaborator.

“He brought in some weird woman, all puffed up saying he was gonna make a big deal out of it, and then he just went and caused a disaster and collapsed.”

“…Come to think of it, has there been any attempt to clear End Cave recently?”

“No. How many people died there? Right now, unless every single S-Rank Hunter gathers, they don’t have enough High-Rank Hunters to even try.”

Even after the Verdiol and Kim Jihyeok duo disbanded, countless Hunters challenged End Cave. The Five Great Guilds joined forces to try, but they couldn’t even see the boss there and failed to clear it.

The fortunate thing was that End Cave showed no signs of a Dungeon Break.

“What the hell happened inside there…”

It was just as Luca was pouring more wine into his glass.

“Want to know what happened inside?”

A voice that wasn’t Claire’s or Luca’s reached both their ears.

“…! Who’s there!”

Claire quickly spun around and immediately took a stance.

Three figures appeared before them.

Two unidentified individuals, their entire bodies hidden by black robes.

And in front of them, a woman with long, flowing black hair spoke with a sneer.

“Me? Just a passing mage.”

The answer was absurd, but Luca and Claire felt an ominous atmosphere.

* * *

In a slightly more subdued atmosphere, we followed Ramiel’s guidance and made it to the underground hotel.

“Wow, the Guild House had great facilities, but this is even better…”

“Are we really going to live here?”

Deneb and Marcel didn’t hide their admiration as they stepped into the hotel. Sure enough, just as Mateo had said we could settle in, the underground hotel was so good that calling it ‘great facilities’ didn’t do it justice. To what extent?

‘Is this for real.’

Even I gaped and said that the moment I saw it. Once I came into the room, I let myself sink into a bed so soft it was incomparable to the one at Mr. Luca’s lodging.

For today, I just want to rest a bit…