Chapter 197

Return to the City

Ten days passed swiftly, during which Cain led the group around the desert, downing some mid-level bosses. Despite having not gotten a single item for himself, which was likely the unluckiest he’d ever been, they’d at least managed to gear up Yuki, Kramer, and Sigmund to the top-tier standards, and even upgrade others by at least one piece.

After felling their last target, a desert-dwelling fox the size of a truck, the group re-routed backward toward the City. Cain still had some business to take care of there, namely of picking up Taima and Lek and having them tag along, not to mention finally actually acquiring Taima’s crafted items. Furthermore, there was also Ernie’s unknown fate. The man was likely alive, since Cain did help him classify and even level up slightly before they reached the city, but the former can’t imagine the man was happy over being abandoned.

Nonetheless, even beyond that, the group needed to resupply and even rest for a bit. Cain suspected that the ‘SSS’ quest was actually a ‘shortcut’ to beating this floor, just like how they managed to clear the first floor in a completely different fashion. The reason he suspected it was that both had to do with the fact he was the Time Thief, and even if there were alternate routes to clearing the floor, these wouldn’t be available to ‘ordinary’ Conquerors.

As such, he roughly knew what to expect -- hell. By now, he’d already dismantled good two-three thousand simulations in his head which resulted in eleven new Skills being made. Most, he suspected, would maybe be used once before Cain just deleted them, but that once would be the difference between living and dying.

The road back was relatively short since they used the mounts to travel back to the settlement before routing further back and quickly reaching the segregating mountain chain.

Entering the lake, everyone relaxed slightly as the wear and tear of the journey began catching up to them. Even if they weren’t in any true, real danger, the scars were still fresh; all it took was one wrong step, one slip, and there would be no escape. Rather, the main reason they kept it together so well was entirely because Cain was here -- one way or another, even broken and beaten they believed themselves ineffable with him around.

The city still floated in the distance, tossed between two steles that had changed considerably, wiping the group’s previous records as, for all intents and purposes, it was considered a new group. Nobody, however, paid attention to it as they didn’t care; ignoring the few stray looks, they headed directly into the city and through the slums, beelining toward their ‘home’ here.

However, something was off; Cain was the first to notice, but others weren’t too far behind. There were... too many people around. Not only that, they were dressed nicely. Some even armored from head to toe. And they all stood respectfully in the line.

The group found it harder and harder to move forward, especially as they came closer and closer; dozens of eyes descended upon them, questioning whether they were ‘cutting in line’. Enduring, the group finally made it and saw that their little shack was now a full-blown villa in comparison. At the front stood Lek, donning silken robes and sitting on top of a chair, the stretched line starting respectfully in front of him.

“Eh? Master?” the boy opened his eyes swiftly, startling everyone -- after all, the boy was a bit of a legend around these parts, and his master must be a grand figure. Lek ran over to Emma and respectfully bowed to her, prompting everyone’s gazes to light up as they landed on her. Though she never had any issues being the center of attention, for the first time in her life, she wished there was a hole she could hide in.

“L-Lek... what’s... what’s going on here?”

“I--”

“Let’s go inside first,” Cain said. “And talk there.”

“Yup.”

Under the envious gazes, the group shuffled into the ‘shack’ as Lek closed the doors, informing the disappointed masses that the shop would be closed for a few hours. Once inside, Cain noticed that the single room was now split into three -- a bedroom, the welcoming hallway, and the obvious workshop. To Cain’s surprise and shock, a familiar face welcomed him as Lek led him into the bedroom.

“Ah!! You!! You bastard!!” Ernie shouted angrily, pointing at Cain. By now, there was little left of the refined man Cain met; instead, beard and long hair ran wild and in concert with the tattered robe, he looked remarkably homeless. “I’ll kill you!! I’ll fucking kill you!!” the man angrily jumped at Cain who could only stop himself from bursting into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry,” Cain helplessly apologized as the man continued to growl. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“Make it up to me?! You left me to rot in this hell!!”

“Speaking of,” Cain said. “How the heck did you meet up with Lek and Taima?”

“Brother Taima saw you two on that day,” Lek explained. “And invited uncle Ernie to stay with us until you returned.”

“Oo, lucky,” Cain mumbled.

“Humph,” Ernie scoffed but didn’t press anymore; after all, just the memory of Cain from that day was enough to tell him whatever happened... was too painful. He’d mostly vented his anger already, and, in all fairness, it hadn’t even been that bad for him recently. He got to study the smithing techniques and how different they are from the ones on Earth, got to study magic in far more detail and even different types of it, not to mention interact with a good dozen different, cognitive races that he’d encountered in the City. The sheer wealth of knowledge he’d amassed was beyond historic and just a small part of it would be enough to cement him into the mankind’s history books. “You’re lucky I’m a forgiving man, you bastard.”

“Really am, really am,” Cain chuckled as everyone settled down, taking off their heavy armor and donning a much casual garb. “Where’s Taima anyway? Crafting?”

“Aye,” Ernie replied. “That boy’s been crafting like mad, talking about how he wanted to ‘fulfill his Master’s expectations’ and ‘becoming the best there ever was for his Master’. What the hell did you do to that boy?”

“I merely inspired him.”

“Sounds like you groomed him.”

“Oi, don’t make me sound like a mustached pedo, old fart!”

“Well, if the shoe fits...”

“The shoe so doesn’t fuckin’ fit!” now it was Cain’s turn to get ‘angry’, but their brawl was interrupted by Taima’s arrival.

“E-eh? Master?! You’re back!! You’re finally back!” the boy ran forward as tears began to stream from his eyes. He launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around Cain’s waist, falling onto his knees in the process and crying. “I’m so happy you didn’t abandon me!!”

“...” this time around, it wasn’t just Ernie; everyone looked at him strangely, prompting Cain to simply sigh in defeat. It just wasn’t his day.

“Of course I didn’t, you silly boy,” Cain said, patting him. “Sorry I’ve made you wait...” in the end, he decided to play slightly into their imaginations which swiftly prompted Emma to grab his shoulder, eyeing him with squinted eyes. “Khm, anyway, you’ve really turned this place upside down, Taima. It looks like a high-end shop now, compared to the shithole it actually was. Good job.”

“Thank you, Master!!” Taima exclaimed with a beaming smile. “I knew that place wasn’t appropriate for someone like you, so I worked hard to turn it around! I’m still lacking, though; despite fighting hard for it, I wasn’t given a permit to build an extra floor. But!!!” the boy quickly exclaimed. “I’m almost there!! That damned Bellor... tsk, I’ve already given him two items, but his fat-ass is so greedy. As soon as I get that permit, I’ll blackmail all the drops of blood from him as revenge!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“What?” Taima asked innocently when he noted the descending silence.

“Khm, nothing, nothing; good job... and all that. Anyway, we won’t be staying here for long, actually.”

“E-eh?”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry!! You and Lek will come with us...”

“Yaaay!” Oh sweet God!! You’re fourteen!! Barely younger than Senna! Shit, wait, do I actually want Taima to behave more like Senna?!

“Uh... about... about those weapons I asked you to craft, could you bring ‘em out for us?”

“Of course!! I think you’ll be really happy, Master! I’ve spent especially long on yours -- full two weeks longer than on anyone else’s!”

“...” Ah, Cain sighed under the funny-seeming gazes. This is gonna be a long-ass quest, ain’t it?