CH 192

The letter goes around so everyone can read it, and it eventually returns to me.

Hikari and Mia look perplexed, Sera and Rurika look anxious, and Chris is pale.

“Drett himself doesn’t know just how true this is. It’s just something he heard from another slaver.”

The letter is about a rumor regarding elves.

Back when the war started, there were rumors of elves enslaved by the Borsheil Empire being sold.

No one can say they actually saw it, but there were still rumors that elves were being sold in the black market.

Also, a person that seemed to be from the Kingdom of Elesya, that believes in human supremacy, paid a large sum of money for several elves.

There aren’t any records, and no way to know who it was, but it was a hot topic of discussion among slavers for a while.

But that whole thing faded, and by the time Drett tried to learn more about it, it seemed like everyone forgot.

Someone Drett asked even doubted that they were even, saying it would’ve become a much bigger issue if they were.

“Our plan was to go to the Dragon Kingdom of Ruflet next, right? Maybe we should go back to Elesya.”

“…What do you think, Chris?”

“…The Dragon Kingdom sounds good to me. We went around the slavers in Elesya, and had no luck there. And all of that is from a few years ago, right?”

“Probably.”

“Then I want to go to the Dragon Kingdom first. That’s kind of a special country… And Sora doesn’t want to get too close to Elesya, right?”

Asks Chris, and all I can do is nod.

It really would be dangerous for me to carelessly go near it.

“And Sora will help us look for Eris too.”

“Yes, we’ve come this far already. And I want to see what this Dragon Kingdom is like.”

“I see. But what about those two?”

Rurika is talking about Elsa and Alto. Taliyah taught them a lot, but they’re still too young to be self-sufficient.

And I don’t think we can bring them with us either.

“Worst case scenario, I could ask Leila to take care of them, but…”

Will said he could expand the orphanages depending on how much can be mined from the dungeon, so could I talk to him about it?

“But master, why are we suddenly talking about this?”

Asks Sera.

“Well, there’s the letter, and we almost have enough money too. We’ve been here for a while now, so I think this is a good chance to leave. We can’t just stay here and take it easy.”

I guess we could keep building on our experience and get stronger, but we have to set the goal somewhere, or we might end up stuck here.

“All right, the three of us will talk about it. But still, I’m happy that you care about our big sister, but don’t push yourself too much. And don’t forget about Hikari and Mia.”

Rurika then goes up to the second floor before I can respond.

Sera and Rurika are taken aback, but soon follow her.

“What do you think, Hikari and Mia?”

“I’ll follow you, master.”

“Me too… I’m worried about Elsa and Alto, but if you’re going, I want to go too.”

I didn’t actually ask you if you were coming with me.

We can probably make enough money by just going to places like the fifth and tenth floors several times, without beating the twenty-fifth floor.

But undead monsters, despite not being strong, drop good quality magic stones, so I want to get a few more.

For some reason, I’m not learning any offensive spells despite my Holy Magic level going up. I have no idea why. That means that burden is going to fall on Mia

Should I make a weapon infused with the holy attribute? The last time I tried, it broke after one swing, so I’ll have to work on its durability if I make another one. And what if people see me using it… Can I convince them it’s just a regular weapon with holy water?

Ah… And then there’s the thirtieth floor, a boss room. We’re heading there, so I could use a magic stone from…

“Master, stop worrying alone.”

“That’s true. If Light of Hope say they’re coming, we’re going to aim for the twenty-fifth floor, so let’s think about the rest after that’s over.”

They’re right. I have to focus on what’s in front of me. In particular, I need to get disposable items, food, and make sure we’re fully ready to go to the dungeon again.

I thank them and head to my room, where I see my medicinal herb potion stock is going down.

For some reason, there are few good quality herbs in the dungeon. And so, I’ve been using potions while not being able to make more good quality ones, and it’s getting to the point where I need to work on that.

First I need to infuse medicinal herbs with magic energy to change their quality, and then make potions with Alchemy. What’s worse is that I need several herbs to make just one potion.

But in the end, I just have to make do with what I have.

Once that’s over, I take a break, and then start working on holy water. I use the break to look up how to do it.

First I place a magic stone in water, and infuse it with magic energy filled with Holy Magic.

And then the magic stone melts, and turns the water into holy water. I can’t explain how this process works, and it’s not Alchemy, it’s actually listed in the Creation skill.

I wish I could’ve thought of this sooner, but while it’s all right to use holy water like it’s just boiled water when it’s just our party, people are going to start asking questions about how much we’re spending on disposable items if there are other parties around.

If that happens, we’ll just have to rely on Mia again, or give up on magic stones dropped by undead monsters… Maybe I need to think about this a bit more and see if I can come up with a solution.

While I’m thinking about this, I hear a knock on the door, and when I respond, Chris comes inside.

“What brings you here so late?”

I’ve been working for a while, so everyone’s supposed to be sleeping by now.

“I was just curious about how you’re doing.”

She looks a bit troubled, as she tilts her head.

“And this is…”

Chris raises her hand. I don’t see anything there, but I can tell there’s movement of magic energy. Apparently we have a spirit here.

“She was a little shaken when we were talking about elves being gathered in the Kingdom of Elesya. Like something was not right, like she was restless… Sorry, I can’t explain very well.”

I did wonder if I should even talk to them about this letter.

We were talking about going to the Dragon Kingdom of Ruflet next, and I figured there was no reason to make everyone anxious with an unconfirmed report.

But the issue is that the letter reminded me of a book I read in the magic academy.

Celes told me I didn’t need to worry about it, but I tell Chris about it.

I see her face turn pale as she listens to me.

Elves have a lot of magic energy. People were summoned from another world. The conditions match.

Of course, those elves were gathered years ago, so it’s probably unrelated. And we wouldn’t know where to look, even if we went back to Elesya.

If it is related to the summoning, the castle might be the most likely candidate, but sneaking into a place like that isn’t easy. It might even be impossible.

“Sora, what do we do…”

Chris’ eyes are shaking with worry as she looks at me, but I don’t have an answer.

Chris and Rurika told me about those spirit amulets, but they just believed their missing friends were alive based on a vague feeling. They actually showed a reaction even though Sera wasn’t carrying hers.

But we did find Sera alive, even if she wasn’t holding that amulet, so maybe they actually do work.

“Does that spirit amulet… Show that Eris is alive?”

“Yes, no doubt about it, but…”

Then we just have to trust it.

I don’t find the right words to console her, and all I do is watch Chris as she leaves the room.