Chapter 32

First Update of the Day

Xiaoming and Lirisia walked through the passage created by Ko and emerged on the 29th floor of the dungeon.

To defeat the Mithril Golem on the 30th floor and obtain mithril.

Suddenly, they encountered children running with tearful faces.

The lead swordsman, the middle guard hunter, and the ranger children were surprised to see Lirisia.

"Sis!""Lirisia sis!""Lirisia!"

"Oh, you guys! Why are you here!"

"Huh? Do you know them?"

"These children are from the orphanage I used to run! Moku, Yuma, what are you doing here!?"

The youngest girl, who had been hiding behind them, ran into Lirisia's chest and cried. She was wearing a robe that looked like a healer's.

"Sis! Please, help Captain Edgar!"

"What!? Chana, what happened... to Edgar?"

"Captain Edgar helped us!""When the orphanage was moved, we were about to be sold!""He took all five of us in!"

"Oh! How could such a thing... I'm sorry. It's all because I wasn't strong enough."

Lirisia gently stroked the head of the healer girl, Chana, who was hugging her, and her face clouded with sadness.

I asked.

"But if you need help, that means Edgar is in trouble?"

"Yes!""He told us to run!""A powerful enemy appeared!""On the 30th floor!"

Lirisia looked at me, her violet eyes shining with urgency.

"Please, Master. Will you save the man who saved these children's lives?"

"Sure, no problem. Besides, he might be our target as well."

If even an A-rank like Edgar can't handle the enemy, it must be the Mithril Golem.

If we don't hurry, we might miss the chance to get the mithril.

Despite my calculating thoughts, Lirisia's eyes welled up with gratitude.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Then, children, lead us to the stairs to the 30th floor."

"Yes!""This way!"

The glasses-wearing boy with a bow and the short-haired, sunburned girl ran ahead to lead the way.

Following the children, we arrived at a room with a staircase leading underground.

Unlike the previous stairs, this one was a spiral staircase.

"Then, children, wait here. We'll go alone."

"Please!""Please save the captain...""Please, we beg you!"

With the children's tearful pleas echoing behind us, Lirisia and I descended the spiral staircase.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile.

Edgar was dragging himself along the dungeon wall, trying to escape.

But he was moving in the opposite direction of the stairs.

As long as he was bleeding, he could be tracked.

He intended to act as a decoy to help the children escape.

One hand was holding his side, where his clothes and skin were torn, and red blood was flowing steadily.

He took a small pill from his pocket and swallowed it.

It was a soldier's pill that rapidly healed wounds and restored stamina.

But it couldn't heal the multiple organs that had burst.

He had no strength left to resist.

Suddenly, a lizard appeared in front of Edgar, about 30 meters away.

At that distance, the lizard could close in instantly, and Edgar had already used all his shurikens and darts to slow it down.

He chuckled and muttered.

"Looks like it's time to pay the piper... Princess, I'm sorry..."

Leaning against the wall, Edgar closed his eyes.

His mind drifted to the past.

Edgar had a purpose. A dream he wanted to fulfill.

It was to resurrect the dead.

Edgar served in a distant foreign land, carrying out dangerous and brutal missions.

The rewards were good, and he had earned honor.

But with each mission, his heart grew dry like sand.

That's why the time he spent in the mansion after each mission—meeting the princess—was more important to him than any reward.

On a moonlit night, Edgar was kneeling in the white sand garden when a young princess in a kimono approached.

"You survived again. Impressive. —Here's your reward."

Imitating the grand manner of her father, the lord of the mansion, the princess descended into the garden. With her pure hands, she picked a single flower and offered it to him. Her small, delicate fingers and beautiful black hair were striking.

Edgar bowed respectfully and accepted the flower.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Yes. Take care."

Bathed in moonlight, the princess smiled, her black hair shimmering. Her adult-like attitude and tone, though pretentious, made her seem like a child trying to act grown-up, which was endearing.

Edgar closed his eyes and pressed his cheek to the flower petals.

The softness of the night dew was soothing.

For Edgar, the single flower given to him each time was more healing to his brutalized heart than any amount of money or fame.

But one day, after completing a mission, he returned to find the princess had died.

The enemy had attacked while he was away.

In the quiet room bathed in moonlight, the princess lying on the futon looked as if she were sleeping.

He approached quietly and whispered softly.

"Princess... I survived..."

But the princess did not respond. No one did.

The empty room grew even more silent.

Standing beside the futon, Edgar did not cry or make a sound.

He was overwhelmed by a great sense of loss and emptiness.

She was just one of the lord's many children.

The princess, who was low in the line of succession, was not a significant loss.

That's why there were fewer attendants and guards.

But to Edgar, she was irreplaceable.

Before he knew it, he was carrying her body and fleeing the mansion.

It was almost an impulse.

He left the country.

The pursuit was more intense than he could have imagined.

But he managed to escape.

—Hoping to find a witch in a distant land who could resurrect the dead.

But the children he met by chance, who were about the same age as the princess, he couldn't abandon them either.

—Maybe I'm too soft.

Edgar chuckled, perhaps his last smile.

Suffering from the dull pain in his abdomen, he waited for death... waited for death...

...waited.

Huh?

Edgar was puzzled.

He should have been torn apart by now.

Suddenly, a strange sound was heard.

"Kya!"

With his last strength, he opened his eyes slightly and saw the lizard disintegrating into dust.

A bright light caught his eye.

He looked up, his messy bangs fluttering.

A radiant angel descended.

The angel had silver hair and wore white clothes, with white wings spread wide, and feathers were floating around.

"I've come to take you..."

As he gazed at the angel's divine smile, his vision was consumed by white light.

—Ah, I must already be dead.

Come to think of it, the pain is gone...

Do you get greeted by a pagan angel when you die in a foreign land... interesting...

With the last glimpse of pure white, Edgar's consciousness faded.

Thank you for the bookmarks and ★ ratings!

I'm glad Edgar is unexpectedly popular! Thanks to him, we're in 5th place for the day!

But what will happen next?

Next update in the evening.

→ 33. The Roar of the Chaos Dragon