<h4>Chapter 83: Returnees (1)</h4>
Last chapter for the week. See you on Monday!
Jude and Cordelia entered one of the empty rooms near the entrance and sat down in a corner after thoroughly searching the surrounding area.
They were behind arge fallen stone pir, which hid them from sight when viewed from the entrance of the room.
“Shall we wake him up now?”
When Jude nodded at her question that was said in a low voice, Cordelia immediately ced her hand on the fainted Kan’s forehead.
“.”
“Gasp!”
As soon as the spell was cast, Kan opened his eyes at once and gasped.
“Haaak! T-this is?! What about the snake? What about the monster?!”
“Jude and I defeated it. So please calm down. It’s safe here.”
Cordelia gently smiled and spoke in a soft tone, and Kan gulped and nodded his head.
“Have you calmed down?”
“Yes, I’ve calmed down. Huuu, I’m fine.”
Kan nodded as his cheeks lightly flushed, and Jude, who had been quietly watching, cut in.
“Ahem, ahem, Sir Kan.”
“Jude. No, Sir Jude.”
“You can just call me Jude.”
“Then, Jude.”
Kan was, for some unknown reason, fidgeting.
He wondered if Kan was bashful and enamored of Cordelia’s beautiful face which transcended race, but that was thoroughly Jude’s opinion. There seemed to be something else.
“Sir Kan?”
Cordelia asked as she tilted her head, and Kan tightly clenched his fists and breathed several times before he made a resolution.
He prostrated as if he had made a mistake and then said.
“It’s all my fault.”
The moment they came down to the underground, they met a powerful monster.
Furthermore, it was Kan himself who found the way down to the underground.
Cordelia smiled and said that they defeated it, but it must not have been easy.
She might not know it, but it must have been a life-threatening fight.
“I’m really sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”
All of this happened because of Kan himself.
Because these things always happened wherever Kan goes.
As he desperately apologized, Kan thought.
What would happen if even Cordelia and Jude hate him?
No matter how kind-hearted the two were like angels, in the end, the two were still humans.
‘It might be better to go on separate ways like this.’
He thought that he wouldn’t be able to stand it if Cordelia told him that she didn’t want to apany him anymore, or that this was really Kan’s fault himself.
‘Let’s go on separate ways.’
Let’s move separately.
It’s better that way.
It’s right to do so.
So-
“It’s okay, Sir Kan. It’s not your fault.”
Kan flinched. He had no choice but to flinch.
Cordelia’s voice was the same as before. No, it was rather be more kind thanst time.
“But…”
“Cordelia is right.”
Jude helped raise Kan up and then looked at him straight into the eyes.
His eyes were full of fear.
Yet his eyes were like that of a child who had not given up hope for their kindness.
‘Is that it?’
Jude realized it now.
The Kan who appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2 was always smiling, but he never allowed anyone to be near his heart.
Although it was possible topel him to follow like stalking, it was impossible to make him apanion.
Because the wounds were repeated.
Because he had closed his heart due to not wanting to be hurt anymore.
He was a man who always pretended to be bright and had a false smile, but his insides were tormented, and he felt worthless and empty.
But not yet.
It was possible to change Kan’s future now.
‘Of course…it may be useless meddling but…’
But even so.
‘And one more.’
Jude nced back at Cordelia. Her gaze at Kan was full of sadness.
So he had to say it.
He had to protect Kan’s heart for Cordelia’s sake.
“Is Sir Kan a god?”
“Yes?”
“You’re literally a god.”
“That…like a god of disasters…”
“It’s not like that. A true god. Or someone with divine powers.”
Kan shook his head at Jude’s serious question.
“No.”
“Yes, Kan is just an ordinary dwarf. No, you’re special because you became a lifelong professor at the institutional academy at such a young age…but you’re still a dwarf.”
It was not a disparaging remark.
It was an enumeration of facts.
“You are not god. You may have bad luck, but that’s it. Does Sir Kan create monsters? Can you create and summon monsters that do not exist? No, it’s not. That’s impossible. Sir Kan is not a god but a dwarf. You just ran into the monsters who were originally there.”
Kan bit his lips. A faint smile was drawn on Jude’s face.
“It’s not Sir Kan’s fault. Saying that it’s Kan’s fault…that’s rather arrogant. Who is Sir Kan? He’s just a dwarf with moist and attractive eyes.”
Kan’s eyes turned red at Jude’s words.
It wasn’t much, but Jude had told him the words he really wanted to hear and what no one else had said.
“So don’t apologize anymore. Okay?”
“Okay…I understand.”
Kan sniffled and replied before he eventually broke down in tears, and Jude patted Kan on the shoulder and turned to Cordelia.
‘Good job.’
Cordelia gave a thumbs up and widely smiled, and Jude was satisfied. After patting Kan on the shoulder once again, a small smile formed on his face.
Cordelia’s smile was kept, but it was also because of his own feelings of satisfaction about something in his mind.
‘Aplete happy ending.’
The best ending where everyone was happy.
Jude smiled again at the thought that came to his mind, and he waited for Kan’s crying to cease.
And a dozen minutester…
“Are you fine now?”
“I’m fine. I’ve shown you something embarrassing.”
“It’s okay, it’s just between us.”
Cordelia mischievouslyughed and said, and Kan began to be flustered as his cheeks reddened again, and Jude cut in for the second time.
“Ahem, ahem, anyway, Sir Kan.”
“Yes, Jude.”
“We n to continue the exploration as it is.”
Jude and Cordelia had yet to find any clues about Lena.
They absolutely couldn’t leave Endymion while that was the case.
But not for Kan.
“This is the second time we’ve encountered a monster from hell in Endymion. Perhaps there are a few more of those monsters roaming around Endymion.”
It was a very dangerous ce.
At Jude’s exnation, Kan gulped and nodded his head. Because he roughly understood what Jude was trying to say.
‘Let’s go back.’
Because he would only be a burden if they went together.
“Okay…”
“That’s why this is our selfish request from here on. Sir Kan, will you continue to explore with us?”
“Yes?”
“It is as we had said. Cordelia and I belong to the academy, but we are still very inexperienced. It would be a great help if you could join us as a veteran archeologist, Sir Kan.”
Jude wasn’t just talking with the Kan effect in mind.
Endymion was an area that did not even appear as a cinematic movie in Legend of the Heroes 2.
Therefore, even if Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, they would inevitably have difficulties in exploration.
Even if Jude was knowledgeable about stars, he knew little about archeology or exploring ruins.
But Kan was different.
Kan’s archeological knowledge and exploration experience would definitely be of great help.
“May I ask you a favor?”
“Please.”
Kan immediately nodded when Cordelia spoke at the end.
Because it was the first time he was asked to continue the expedition together, despite already having an ident once.
‘No, that’s not all.’
He wanted to be helpful to Jude and Cordelia.
He thought he could do anything for the two who were like angels that came down on earth.
“I’m not good enough, but I’ll be with you. I’ll try to help.”
As Kan’s eyes burned with enthusiasm, Jude was satisfied, and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Fortunately, he didn’t lose his motivation.’
‘You’re right.’
In any case, Cordelia was kind.
After thinking about Cordelia again, Jude proceeded with the conversation.
“I’m thinking of going inside a little more. The map of Endymion that we found does not show this ce, but I think it is roughly connected in this way when viewed on arger scale.”
Jude opened the map and talked, and Kan nodded with a very serious face, while Cordelia took a step back and began to look around.
Thinking was Jude’s role.
And in fact, Jude was thinking of several things at the same time.
One of them was the origin of the monsters from hell that began to appear in Endymion’s underground.
‘The most likely is a demon summoning.’
Over a thousand years had already passed since Endymion’s destruction.
It was hard to think that the demons who had destroyed Endymion in the past would still have remained here.
‘If they were summoned, was it the Devil’s Eye?’
The Devil’s Eye were the only demon followers who were active in the wildnds.
But then, there was something that was a little strange.
Why did they summon the demon in Endymion?
Wouldn’t it have been better to do the summoning in the main camp or thend of the attacking wild gods?
A considerable sacrifice was needed for demon summoning, and sacrifices didn’t just rise from the ground.
In arger scale, it was amodity that was scarce after all.
‘What I can think of is the distinct characteristics of Endymion.’
It was thend where the overlord of hell came down in the past. Maybe it was and that had something advantageous for summoning demons.
‘The Devil’s Eye, the newly summoned demons, and Lena.’
Lena fought to the death in Raptor Canyon, not Endymion.
Maybe she had a big fight against the Devil’s Eye and the demons in Endymion’s underground?
As a result she wiped out the demons in Endymion, but she was also seriously injured and ended up losing her life.
It was quite a usible hypothesis, but in the end, it was only a hypothesis.
He had to move to confirm the truth.
“Let’s begin again.”
They finished talking about the route while they were taking some rest.
“Go-go-go.”
“I’ll take the lead.”
Cordelia and Kan stood up from their spots and said, and Jude nodded his head.
Although Kan fainted in every battle, he was a man who had ovee many crises.
They were able to easily proceed while carefully not making any sounds.
Thus, thirty minutes passed.
Jude praised himself for his decision to join Kan.
Because Kan discovered a secret path that was hidden in the dead end.
“This way.”
Since it was a secret door frequented by the slender elves, it was a little hard for Kan, whose body was shaped like a keg, but it was not to the point where he couldn’t pass through it.
“It seems like a real secret passage. It’s like a drama theatre.”
As she whispered very small on Jude’s ear, Cordelia pointed at their feet.
There was a floor about seven meters down, and where the party was standing now was above the ceiling with holes on it.
Although it was a stone floor, it reminded Cordelia of the scaffolding that hang from the ceiling of the theatre.
‘I’ll keep going.’
It was the moment when Kan expressed his intention using a hand signal instead of speaking as he began to take a step.
‘! !’
Cordelia hurriedly reached out to Kan and cast two spells, while Jude held his breath and focused his consciousness on his hearing.
They had heard footsteps.
Jude and Cordelia had be more sensitive to things happening on the ground than before, perhaps due to the Earth Protection.
‘Monsters.’
It wasn’t one or two. There seemed to be about a dozen monsters like Lacto and Nazarus that were moving together.
It was more than they imagined.
Moreover, seeing the magic lights lit up everywhere, it was highly likely that they had been using this path for a long time.
‘Let’s wait.’
The group let them pass by. No matter how strong Jude and Cordelia were, that number was too much.
Cordelia nodded at Jude’s eye signal.
Kan couldn’t move because he was paralyzed, but thanks to that, he was able to stay still.
They stood still like that.
They waited for the monsters to pass by…
“Ceiling!”
A Nazarus suddenly shouted, and the Lactos wielded their whips at once.
It was right under their feet, so they didn’t even have time to react.
Craaaaash-!
The ceiling copsed.
Jude hurriedly flew with Kan in his arms after Cordelia cast magic.
It was impossible to go back the way they came from because of the Lacto’s whipping here and there.
Boom! Thud! Crash!
Debris fell and crashed onto the floor.
Because of that, some of the Nazaruses and Lactos were distracted as they avoided the falling rocks, and Jude and Cordelia used that opportunity.
“Run!”
An all-out battle was too much.
As soon as he touched the floor, Jude ran like a gale, and Cordelia repeatedly chanted spells right after casting several times.
“!”
“!”
“!”
She made the floor slippery.
She froze the air to make a thin wall of ice and made the floor rise to block the path.
However, all of these were just temporary measures.
The Lactos avoided the greased area by flying low, and then literally threw themselves to destroy the ice wall and the rising floor.
“Continue!”
But it was not without effect.
To widen the distance even a little, Cordelia continued to cast spells. Jude ran while carrying Kan as he checked the surroundings.
‘It’s a ce on the map!’
It was in his memory.
So he could imagine the path they should take.
“! !”
She even mobilized the Spell’s Echo, and in an instant, fouryers of stone walls were created.
Jude thought of an escape route, or to be exact, a route where they could get rid of those who were following them.
Because it was a path that forked into two, their pursuers would have to make a good choice.
But it was at that moment.
[This way!]
A sharp voice rang in their minds.
It was magic.
Who was it?
Where did ite from?
“Over there!”
Cordelia figured it out through her instincts.
Jude turned his gaze, and at that moment, a stone wall that was muchrger than Cordelia’s rose from the floor.
Baaang!
The stone wall that rose with a terrifying speed then crashed into the ceiling.
A session of clouds that came from somewhere covered the stone wall.
[Hurry!]
It was the magic once again.
“This way!”
Cordelia ran, and Jude erased the map from his head.
Her beastly instinct was also an intuition, but she was a wizard. Her ability to feel and understand magic was far superior than that of Jude.
Boooom!
Loud noises came from their backs. At the same time, they also heard the roars of the monsters.
They had to hurry.
Jude looked straight ahead, and Cordelia pulled on Jude’s shoulder. Like that, he threw himself straight at the wall on his side.
Swooosh-!
It wasn’t the noise of an impact.
Instead of crashing into the wall, Jude and Cordelia went past through the wall and crashed into the floor.
“Gaak!”
Kan squawked as he fell on his stomach, and while protecting Cordelia in a hurry, or to be exact, Jude hugged her and put her on top of himself. Having seeded in protecting her, Jude breathed a sigh of relief.
And above such Jude’s chest, Cordelia raised her head and swallowed her breath.
She swiftly raised her upper body from Jude’s chest.
What happened?
No, he understood.
Therefore, with Cordelia still on his chest, Jude turned his head and looked at the same ce as her.
The reason why Cordelia swallowed her breath.
The person who made her cheeks blush in excitement.
“Lena.”
A blonde woman with a gray hood over her head stood before their eyes.