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Chapter 83 - EPISODE 83 – RETURNEES (1)

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 a large fallen stone pillar, 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 placed her hand on the fainted Kaplan’s forehead.

“<Awake>.”

“Gasp!”

As soon as the <Awake> spell was cast, Kaplan 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 Kaplan gulped and nodded his head.

“Have you calmed down?”

“Yes, I’ve calmed down. Huuu, I’m fine.”

Kaplan nodded as his cheeks lightly flushed, and Jude, who had been quietly watching, cut in.

“Ahem, ahem, Sir Kaplan.”

“Jude. No, Sir Jude.”

“You can just call me Jude.”

“Then, Jude.”

Kaplan was, for some unknown reason, fidgeting.

He wondered if Kaplan 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 Kaplan?”

Cordelia asked as she tilted her head, and Kaplan 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 Kaplan 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 Kaplan himself.

Because these things always happened wherever Kaplan goes.

As he desperately apologized, Kaplan 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 accompany him anymore, or that this was really Kaplan’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 Kaplan. It’s not your fault.”

Kaplan flinched. He had no choice but to flinch.

Cordelia’s voice was the same as before. No, it was rather become more kind than last time.

“But…”

“Cordelia is right.”

Jude helped raise Kaplan 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 Kaplan 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 to compel him to follow like stalking, it was impossible to make him a companion.

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 Kaplan’s future now.

‘Of course…it may be useless meddling but…’

But even so.

‘And one more.’

Jude glanced back at Cordelia. Her gaze at Kaplan was full of sadness.

So he had to say it.

He had to protect Kaplan’s heart for Cordelia’s sake.

“Is Sir Kaplan 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.”

Kaplan shook his head at Jude’s serious question.

“No.”

“Yes, Kaplan 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 Kaplan create monsters? Can you create and summon monsters that do not exist? No, it’s not. That’s impossible. Sir Kaplan is not a god but a dwarf. You just ran into the monsters who were originally there.”

Kaplan bit his lips. A faint smile was drawn on Jude’s face.

“It’s not Sir Kaplan’s fault. Saying that it’s Kaplan’s fault…that’s rather arrogant. Who is Sir Kaplan? He’s just a dwarf with moist and attractive eyes.”

Kaplan’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.”

Kaplan sniffled and replied before he eventually broke down in tears, and Jude patted Kaplan on the shoulder and turned to Cordelia.

‘Good job.’

Cordelia gave a thumbs up and widely smiled, and Jude was satisfied. After patting Kaplan 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.

‘A complete happy ending.’

The best ending where everyone was happy.

Jude smiled again at the thought that came to his mind, and he waited for Kaplan’s crying to cease.

And a dozen minutes later…

“Are you fine now?”

“I’m fine. I’ve shown you something embarrassing.”

“It’s okay, it’s just between us.”

Cordelia mischievously laughed and said, and Kaplan began to be flustered as his cheeks reddened again, and Jude cut in for the second time.

“Ahem, ahem, anyway, Sir Kaplan.”

“Yes, Jude.”

“We plan 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 Kaplan.

“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 place.

At Jude’s explanation, Kaplan 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 Kaplan, 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 Kaplan.”

Jude wasn’t just talking with the Kaplan 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 Kaplan was different.

Kaplan’s archeological knowledge and exploration experience would definitely be of great help.

“May I ask you a favor?”

“Please.”

Kaplan 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 accident 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 Kaplan’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 place, but I think it is roughly connected in this way when viewed on a larger scale.”

Jude opened the map and talked, and Kaplan 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 wild lands.

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 the land of the attacking wild gods?

A considerable sacrifice was needed for demon summoning, and sacrifices didn’t just rise from the ground.

In a larger scale, it was a commodity that was scarce after all.

‘What I can think of is the distinct characteristics of Endymion.’

It was the land where the overlord of hell came down in the past. Maybe it was a land 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 plausible 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 Kaplan stood up from their spots and said, and Jude nodded his head.

Although Kaplan fainted in every battle, he was a man who had overcome 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 Kaplan.

Because Kaplan 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 Kaplan, 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 Kaplan expressed his intention using a hand signal instead of speaking as he began to take a step.

‘<Paralyze>! <Silent>!’

Cordelia hurriedly reached out to Kaplan and cast two spells, while Jude held his breath and focused his consciousness on his hearing.

They had heard footsteps.

Jude and Cordelia had become 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.

Kaplan 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 collapsed.

Jude hurriedly flew with Kaplan in his arms after Cordelia cast <Fly> 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 <Haste> several times.

“<Grease>!”

“<Freeze>!”

“<Earth Wall>!”

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 Kaplan as he checked the surroundings.

‘It’s a place on the map!’

It was in his memory.

So he could imagine the path they should take.

“<Earth Wall>! <Earth Wall>!”

She even mobilized the Spell’s Echo, and in an instant, four layers 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 <Message> magic.

Who was it?

Where did it come from?

“Over there!”

Cordelia figured it out through her instincts.

Jude turned his gaze, and at that moment, a stone wall that was much larger than Cordelia’s rose from the floor.

Baaang!

The stone wall that rose with a terrifying speed then crashed into the ceiling.

A succession of clouds that came from somewhere covered the stone wall.

[Hurry!]

It was the <Message> 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!”

Kaplan 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 succeeded 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 place 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.