Volume 3 epilogue
At last, we have defeated the Corona Dragon. It was a pretty tight battle having to defeat the Corona Dragon without any flame-resistant equipment, and there were several dangerous moments but it’s great that we managed to defeat it. Battles like this leads to the growth of strength that isn’t represented in our status, the power that is battle experience. Life-threatening experience gave the fighters experiences that could never be obtained otherwise. It was possible to become strong by defeating weaker enemies, but as an adventurer your battle instincts would dull when only battling against enemies weaker than you. To be capable of making rational decisions in decisive life threatening situations was easier said than done and all we had to do was to take a step forward and be in those situations.

[Unlock. What’s in the box~, What is it~ What is it~.] (Luna)

[What is it~, What is it~.] (Til)

Luna unlocked the bonus treasure box given as a reward for defeating the boss as Til inspected the contents. The remaining three of us just watched with light hearts as we enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

[It’s open! This… what is this?] (Luna)

[What is this, isn’t this just a normal item.] (Til)

Looking at the item that came out, the two of them tilted their heads as it wasn’t a normal item you would normally see. It was definitely a magic item but it wasn’t an item for adventurers, but for a person to use at home. For such an important treasure chest, there was no way for a dud to come out. Phil’s eyes began to shine as she is the one who wanted it the most.

[Ehh. Yuuya, the item actually came out.] (Phil)

[Yeah. WIth this our travel will become much easier.] (Yuuya)

[I had already sold the one I had because I had problems during my journey.] (Phil)

Phil had a face of nostalgia as it was a convenient item which helped us greatly outside of battles. Thanks to its convenience during long journeys, the demand for the item was high therefore Phil had no choice but to sell it reluctantly when she was in a financial crisis.

[Yuuya, is this a good item?] (Luna)

[Yeah, it’s a seriously good item. Now then, it’s already been two minutes. The door will be opening in a minute so let’s get out asap.] (Yuuya)

[Uhn, let’s leave immediately!] (Luna)

[Let’s escape before we get into another battle!] (Til)

[Kyuu!]

Luna and Til ran towards the blue vortex while Erik followed behind them.

[Yuuya-ojisama, what do you plan to do about the Crimson Hounds?] (Selene)

[That bunch, wouldn’t it be a waste of time to make them our enemies? While hiding ourselves tonight and taking a caravan first thing in the morning towards the city of Grannel near the Laluzulu Kingdom, we’ll escape from the city. I’ve already arranged a private room in a restaurant as well as an inn to hide in. Although, they will still continue to monopolize the boss while desperately searching for us inside the dungeon, therefore I will reveal the secret. In the first place, it was something which belonged to every adventurer.] (Yuuya)

The timing was just right as the inheritance ceremony was going to begin soon. Since the monsters had just respawned, I wanted to dive right into the dungeon and earn as much experience as possible however our safety comes first. Furthermore, not many caravans were available when travelling to the Laluzulu Kingdom. Although we could make it by the next caravan, we wouldn’t have any time should any problem arises which made the next caravan the best time to leave.

[Thank you very much, Yuuya-ojisama.] (Selene)

[Anything for my cute disciples. Come on, let’s go now.] (Yuuya)

[Yes, Let’s go then.] (Selene)

I ran after Selene after the two girls who had gone ahead of us. I hope that everything will go as smoothly as predicted.

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After entering the blue vortex, we were transferred outside of the dungeon where we were greeted by an unusual sight.

The entire party of the Crimson Hound, including the boss’s main party. Looking at their equipment, they had a Warrior, Fighter, a healer and a hunter.

[You’re finally back. I’ve been waiting for this moment.] (Crimson Hound’s Boss)

This is unexpected. There were only two blue vortexes in the dungeon, one in the boss room and one in the vicinity of the hidden path. Since it should take at least two hours to travel to the entrance, we had only taken an hour for us to defeat the boss which meant that they shouldn’t have made it in time.

[Did you use a Return Stone? That may be your good point, being willing to spend unnecessarily.] (Yuuya)

Using a Return Stone returned you to the city immediately, although it is a pretty expensive means. Even in my prime I hesitated to use it since it would cost us two full months of earnings to replenish them. Using it in such a situation is frankly commendable.

[It was an expensive but necessary expense. Especially when you’ve stepped all over the name of the Crimson Hounds.]

Gosh he irks me. In two more minutes, two more parties will join in on the battle. Meanwhile, the main party has already pulled out their blades which meant that persuasion through words was impossible.

Looks like trouble loves me as it stuck to me like glue. Violence was inevitable however if we could hold out til the morning we’ll be able to leave. However, they are misunderstanding this situation.

They aren’t the only ones who are angry.

Luna whom I thought of as my daughter, Til who acted as her sister and Selene who was my important disciple. Even my lover Phil. I had always endured this for their safety, however there isn’t a need for it anymore.

I pulled out the black magic sword from my magic bag.

[Shouting bullshit here and there. Barking like a bunch of stray dogs. Are you going to come? Or are you going to stand there like a bunch of lost dogs?] (Yuuya)
[Getting all cocky just because you defeated the boss. I’ll beat the living hell out of you! Once you’re half dead I will play with those girls as you sit there helpless!]

With his unkempt face flushed with anger, he swung his blade overhead.

[Everyone, don’t partake in this. This battle is all mine.] (Yuuya)
[Yuuya, but-] (Luna)

[Do you think I’ll lose to this people? I’ll end this right now.] (Yuuya)

Just by looking at their sloppy movements, I knew that the girls were capable of defeating them on their own. However, it wouldn’t be a battle where they could hold back. In order to neutralize a threat without killing them, it required skills far beyond your opponent. I do not want them to carry the burden of taking another person’s life.

[First is you.] (Yuuya)

The enemy’s Monk started to chant. Most likely it was a support spell.

I threw my sheath towards him, landing directly on his chin causing his brain to shake and knocking him unconscious.

[DAMN YOU!]

[WE’LL KILL YOU!]

As their healer got knocked out, the remaining members became even more fired up as the hunter fired arrows one after another towards me with a bright red face. I walked towards him as I cut down only the arrows which would hit me. Weak accuracy and weak force. Only one third of his arrows were going to land while having lesser impacts as compared to Phil. If it was Phil she would had been releasing the same number of arrows while performing three other actions simultaneously.

As I was walking towards him, their front-line finally arrived as the Fighter arrived first as I expected from his status. In the battle between a fighter and a swordsman, spacing was important as the battle is overwhelmingly advantageous for the fighter if he could move in range to the swordsman.

The fighter stamps his feet as it took up an unusual stance, closing the distance quickly with Godspeed. With a speed which looked like teleportation, the Fighter moved into range of me in an instant as he laughs at me thinking that he was within range. However that was naive. Godspeed was a convenient spell however it’s limitations was the fixed distance it could travel and the stance required to activate it.

[Aside from monsters, using it against another adventurer is suicide. Even if you were to disappear from my sight, it doesn’t amount to anything if I know where you’ll be.] (Yuuya)

[GUHA.]

I placed the handle of my sword at the end point of his rush as the opponent thrust himself right into it, causing the handle to thrust right into his solar plexus. He dropped right down to his knees in agony as he tried to gasp for air. Rushing in right from the start with your skills, what a stupid way of fighting.

The boss who was right behind the fighter hesitated as he rushed forward, his face flushed with anger as he laughed thinly and roared in anger. His movements were quick, however his techniques were horrendous. It was just a revolution attack whose only merit was his high stats. Having a poor stance and large wind-up restricts the person’s movement and reveals the person’s movements three counts in advance. I also felt the activation of a skill.

[DOUBLE SLASH!!]

As his sword began shining brightly, I jumped backwards as he released two simultaneous slashes cutting through my original position. It was a combat skill which Magic Warriors couldn’t learn however it was a skill I disliked despite its potential for inflicting high damage. It was a skill with superior consumption and damage efficiency to my favourite Bash, furthermore it was a skill which attacked simultaneously from the left and right, making it difficult to perceive.

However its downside was the slight rigidness which comes before and after its invocation. It was a balanced skill as it was a difficult skill to activate and a difficult one to dodge. However, it was a fatal opening to expose during a close-range battle such as this.

He is clearly superior to the previous Fighter, however the amount of experience he had was not enough.

After jumping backwards to dodge his attack, I immediately pushed the ground as I landed next to him and swung my blade. The black blade was a blade specialised in single slashes as I swung my wrist and hit the back of his head with the back of my blade.

[UGH!?]

At last, only the hunter was remaining as the Crimson Hound’s boss collapsed forward onto the ground. I turned to face the hunter.

[HIIIIIIIIEEEEEE, PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEE.]

The hunter ran away, showing the unsightly sight of abandoning his own party mates. Well, it just shows that is all he amounts to. They were merely high-levelled people who had been fighting advantageous battles with their superior equipment. Their skill doesn’t even amount closely to their levels.

[Yuuya, amazing!] (Luna)

[Uhn. You looked extremely cool!] (Til)

[I can’t help but stare in amazement at your skills oji-sama.] (Selene)

[Looks like there wasn’t any need for support.] (Phil)

The girls began to cheer as I became slightly embarrassed. The boss turned his head over as it looks like I wasn’t able to completely rob him of his consciousness due to his higher stats. However he was still incapable of standing properly and was trembling on the spot.

[I won’t forgive you. Making light of me. I’LL KILL YOUUUU. You must have done something. THERE IS NO WAY WE WOULD LOSE TO AN OLD MAN LOWER LEVELLED THAN US!!!]

That sentiment was completely wrong. Although I had a lower level than him, I had the bonuses from my level reset, making my status at my current level much higher than his. However even without them I would had beaten him easily with my old status. The reason they lost wasn’t due to their status but due to their lack of understanding of their skills. They hadn’t polished their own abilities but rather relied on their skills.

Now that I think about it, this is the perfect opportunity since he hasn’t lost his consciousness. I grabbed his hair and pulled his head up to my face.

[Strength isn’t just about your status and equipment. If you don’t even know that, then let me tell you right now. You are weak. But if you still can’t comprehend it then you should know that my patience is waning. You can continue barking all you like but I’ve been resisting my urge to kill all of you. If you ever dare to hurt my precious girls, then I won’t hesitate even for a second to kill all of you right there and then.] (Yuuya)

The eyes of the boss began to turn moist as they begin to tremble. The moment I released my hand, he began to tremble as his eyes refused to turn away from me. However, my timing was bad as right after my warning, the people who were left in the dungeon appeared from the exit. After witnessing the situation, they realised the severity of the situation as they watched the boss who was just threatened trembling on the spot while the rest of the party laid unconscious. Afterwards, no one moved an inch as me and the girls turned our backs to them and walked away. The boss couldn’t even let out an order to chase us then.

[Yuuya, Luna is Yuuya’s precious woman!] (Luna)

[I didn’t know that I was valued that much. Yuuya-niisan is such a player! Although I’m happy about it.] (Til)

Luna was clinging onto my left arm while Til was hugging on my right.

[Even though I said precious, I meant as my daughter and sister. It’s getting hard to walk properly so could you both let go please.] (Yuuya)

[Hmph. Don’t wanna.] (Luna)

[If Luna says so then I won’t either.] (Til)

Sigh these girls..

[If Luna was your daughter and Til was your sister, then what am I I wonder.] (Selene)

[You’re my precious disciple.] (Yuuya)
[Then what am I?] (Phil)

[Of course you are my precious lover.] (Yuuya)

Selene and Phil both smiled at my answers. Although it was a weird situation, in the moment I was definitely happy.

[Let’s end this conversation here. Let’s celebrate with a bang tonight. It’s our last dinner in Flaregard. Be sure not to leave any regrets!] (Yuuya)

[Uhn. Let’s eat all the delicious food.] (Luna)

[I wanna eat all the deserts!] (Til)

Many things happened however our trip to Flaregard was fruitful as we obtained many things here. Money, good equipment, powerful materials, a Magic Pet, levels and more than anything, battle experience. And now we’ll finally be heading to the Laluzulu Kingdom, Selene’s home country. In that country we’ll be dragged into all sorts of troubles however I’m sure that we can overcome it. Besides, for me, that place holds a lot of memories for me. There are people I want to meet and things I have to do.

After the inheritance ceremony, there will be a battle to decide the strongest knight in the country and once more, Selene will return to the limelight as Princess Lutra. And I will redeem myself as the absolute strongest knight.

<End of Chapter>