Chapter 128: Time to return.

“Lucille, you are alive!” “Ahh…” “Please calm down Charlene, I’m fine.” A smiling blue-haired noble lady was being hugged by a young blond girl that went by the name Charlene. The two friends were now back together, the first thing this young earth mage did was toss herself at the ice mage’s dirt-covered body. The other people around them were a bit surprised by the unlady way of acting. Most of the time Charlene was composed and acted as a proper noble lady of her status. Now, on the other hand, she was even sobbing slightly. ‘Did those two have such a relationship with each other?’ Roland had to take a step back after watching the two girls hug it out. He had come across this Charlene person before. From his point of view, the girl was more in line with all the haughty nobles that he knew. Whenever she spotted him talking about runes with Lucille she gave him that look. One that told him that he shouldn't associate with one of her friends. Most nobles did feel like the commoners were below them in any way shape or form. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary as he was just not considered part of their group. People tended to create their own small or big cliques, if someone wasn’t part of them then they didn’t belong. This was the same for these nobles. Only when accepted as part of their prestigious group they would start treating someone as a proper human being.  They were now all gathered outside the lake area. The mountain goat beastmen were tasked to go grab the Knights. With Roland, Robert, and Lucille being exhausted from the trip they were in no condition to make it over the lake again. The knights had used the planned encampment and continued with their test even when Lucille was trapped. It seemed that accidents like this were somewhat included in the whole expedition. Losing one of the mages was not apparently a big enough reason to not get a passing grade. Now Roland was curious if they would not get any demerits as the three people that fell down were able to return on their own accord. This depended on the instructor who was watching over this whole fiasco. He might even want to sweep it under the rug as he was not able to react in time to save a viscount's daughter either. “Knight Robert, please give me an explanation, how were you able to return here.” The loud voice of Lord Percival moved Roland’s attention away from the two young girls hugging each other. Robert and him had already drunk some healing and stamina potions, all given to them by Lobelia. Roland felt a bit ticked off by the tone of voice this noble was using. It was clear that he didn’t think much of Robert as he did not use this harsh way of speaking when talking to either of the noble ladies. Robert’s facial expression that had gone milder after their experiences down in the dungeon reverted to its old stiff shape. His eyebrows went at an angle and he stood up straight while doing the usual knightly salute. The perfect knight that was starting to show some human traits was back to his old self or at least that’s how it seemed. Roland’s only worry was him disclosing their run-in with the dangerous boss monster. He had given them the option of backing out but not like a noble would see it like that. Roland could be held accountable for endangering nobles. This could bring various troubles his way, which he would like to avoid at all cost. “Yes commander, I will make my report now!” ‘Huh?’ While standing up straight Robert’s eyes moved to the side and Roland could see him glancing at him for just a second. This took him a bit by surprise but after Robert started to speak out he realized why he was looking his way. “After being trapped in the cave we discovered a passage that let us to a series of corridors, with Wayland’s help we…” 'Wayland? Not the adventurer?' It felt like Robert was finally treating him like a proper person, before the fall he mostly referred to him as 'Adventurer'. Roland continued to listen to this explanation and to his surprise, any information about the room filled with metals and the boss chamber was kept out of it. Robert even downplayed the number of monsters they needed to face after leaving the boss chamber. The report that he gave informed Percival that they just found a series of underground corridors filled with bug-type monsters. Then at the end, they found an opening that led them to the middle of the lake. “An exit from the tunnels?” “Yes my Lord, but after the lava flooded, I fear that the entrance has been sealed..” This was another lie, after they went outside the pathway closed itself automatically. Robert made it sound like the mechanism was a one-way exit. “Good… at ease…” Percival nodded with his head, he was not an adventurer so he was not that interested if there were any treasures below the dungeon. He was more concerned about passing this mission and not having a precious noble lady that also possessed a rare class to die on his watch. Roland wasn’t sure what to say, he wanted to thank his half-brother for keeping it a secret. Before he could do that a certain nun from the sun church appeared before him. Her hands were already glowing with the holy light. “Mr. Wayland please don’t move, I’ll heal your wounds.” A miracle of healing appeared before him, Sister Kassia’s hands glowed in golden light. When this light touched his skin he could feel a tingling feeling wash over him. He had drunk a healing potion beforehand but healing spells were slightly different. They worked instantly, a tier 3 priest could even recover lost limbs if their magic was high enough. There were even some rumors that tier 4 healing classes were able to resurrect people with a loss to their experience and some memory loss. If those rumors were true or not was hard to confirm. Tier 4 healers were all candidates for the pope position. It was a somewhat special class at tier 5 that could be used only by one person per church. This left all the main churches with one pope and only when they died would another pope be chosen. Roland wasn’t aware of how this all worked but the rumors said that the gods from these churches were involved in it. Thus getting a tier 4 healer in motion would require a lot of capital and power, probably only high aristocrats of the duke caliber and above could move someone like that into action. While the nobles were busy with Robert and Lucille, Roland was able to catch up with his adventurer group. “You’ve seen better days… at least you can just repair that armor of yours…” Lobelia was the first one to speak up while Silvio moved in from the side and gave Roland a pat on the back. “Good job, glad that you were able to make it out alive.” “You’re tough for human, next time no slip.” Korgak chimed in with a one liner, then for some reason after seeing Silvio patting Roland’s back he decided to come over and give one of his own. The half-orc was much larger than the tracker so his pat was a full time smack to his backplate. The already damaged armor rattled slightly while Roland had to take a step forward. “Mr. Korgak please be more gentle, Mr. Wayland has been through a lot, he must drink a lot of water and rest!” Sister Kassia shook her head at the large half-orc that somewhat dropped his head down. He was not sure what happened during the stay at the camp but he seemed to be afraid of her. “Now then Mr. Wayland, let me recite a passage of our holy gospel while you recover!” Roland’s mostly neutral-looking face that was still covered by the helmet showed a frown. It seemed that this was the problem as the moment the gospel was mentioned the other party members started inching away from the nun. “I think I’ll pass…” Roland side-stepped Sister Kassia while she was reciting some strange passages from their version of the bible. Lobelia and Armand also cleared out from around them while the cleric continued her speech, it seemed that she really let them hear it during the camp stay when he was done. After going through some awkward pleasantries with his party members, Roland headed over to Silvio. The party leader was glancing at the nobles that were in the process of looking over their own comrades. Lucille was the center of attention but even Robert was greeted by the other knights. After spending some time with the two he started thinking slightly differently about nobles. He was still convinced that the exception does not make the rule and that most nobles were still less than pleasant to be around. Silvio nodded at Roland while looking over his damaged armor but not commenting on it. “Will we be returning now?” Roland didn’t beat around the bush with his question. He was tired and his armor was rendered useless. After going through a couple of runic mending skills it barely was able to produce defensive spells. All of the mana stones had been broken during the scuffle with the boss and he just wanted to go home. “That depends on them… we are still contractually obligated to stay with them. The one that makes the decision is that High Knight...” Silvio motioned with his chin towards the older armored knight. This was the academy instructor that they came with and he would decide if this was over. The time they spent down here was over two weeks and they would probably need a day or two to get back. “Sir Bertold, this won’t do. We must return this instant, there isn’t even that much time left for the test, Lucille has been through enough to think she proved that she can handle herself here!” Roland perked up as the blond-haired noble lady started shouting. After she was done hugging Lucille she strutted over to the High Knight instructor by the name of Bertold. The old knight in question looked slightly troubled by this request. He was probably weighing the pros and cons of this decision. Finally, after a moment of silence, he spoke out. “Lady Charlene… I would normally be inclined to let you off but rules are rules…” At first, the blond lady started to smile but her facial expression changed to a pout. Both she and also Percival were now talking with the High Knight. “But Sir Bertold!.” “Now now young lady, let me finish.” “This exercise was supposed to take a minimum of three weeks and we are a few days short, may I propose a small compromise...” The voices of the group of nobles started to become more silent as they discussed something with each other. From what Roland could tell it was a positive proposition as the blond lady’s pout turned to a big bright smile. “They decided on something, I guess we are packing up...” Silvio commented while covering a smirk with his hand. Due to his enhanced hearing, he could clearly hear what the nobles were discussing even though they were standing far away. Soon everyone else was clued in by the Knight commander, Lord Percival. “Listen up everyone, we will return to our encampment…” The first sentence didn’t sound right but soon Roland knew why Silvio was smiling. “Only half of our force will come with me while the rest remains with Lady Charlene and Lucille. We will only be returning to take the magic tents and the remaining provisions…” From the order, it looked like they would be taking a smaller force to clear out the camp from what was left there. After hearing that Lucille was alive and well, half of them moved here while some people remained at the old encampment.  “We will then meet up with the adventurer party before the boss chamber and then head up to the city where we will stay for the remainder of the week…” “Oh?” “Aren’t you glad Wayland, just relax, you'll be home soon enough. Isn't it great to have that Percival fellow on our side, he gave that old knight an offer that he couldn't refuse.” "An offer?" Roland asked while not really sure of what Silvio was talking about. He did not hear any part of the conversation but not like he was listening to the nobles from the start. Silvio on the other hand was quite sneaky about it.  "Use your imagination, what could an old knight like that be looking for at this point in his life?"  Silvio gave him another pat on the back while moving out to do a sweep of the area. He left Roland with more questions without explaining much but he got the gist of it. The tier 3 knight was already past his prime. This could mean that he was looking for a place to retire. Percival belonged to a count's estate, he might even be the heir of the whole estate. With a few good words here and there he could propose a position at the count's side, maybe even let the tier 3 knight become some kind of commander there. 'If it's like that then maybe...' The nobles were to return outside of this dungeon but they would stay in the city for longer. It would look like the Knights stayed for three weeks down in the dungeon which would allow them to pass their test while also looking less suspicious when they returned. It seemed nice to have connections with high nobles but why Percival used this card remained unknown to him. It didn't seem as if he would have failed, either way, was he really just being cordial towards the tired Lucile? If Roland had to be truly honest, he thought this was the wrong decision. This only showed the young nobles that if someone had connections they could get away with murder. Even though they were trying to keep it hidden, probably some of the knights knew what was going on. Something like this would certainly not go down well during an actual war.  While shaking his head about this deal the rest of the people started moving. He was now separated from his two old companions while Agni remained. His Ruby Wolf had actually leveled up quite a bit thanks to the boss fight and then the many monster encounters after it. He would probably be evolving soon as he was already level 46 at this point. “Woof!” ‘Tamed beasts have it easy…’ Roland patted the wolf on the head while grumbling that Agni had it too easy while leveling up. Even with his debugging skill he wasn't this fast. “Let us head out!” The knights seemed a lot more coordinated after the two weeks of being here. Now without the two slow mages in the party, they were even able to get through the lake in one piece. While walking he could only think about it finally being over and that his identity was safely kept hidden away. He had to commend himself on adding a few more attachments to this helmet and having Bernir almost weld it in place. The helmet visor that he was using was also slightly different and even when he opened it up, the top part of his face was covered. He had enough space to get food into his mouth without Robert noticing anything. Sometime later they arrived at the boss room exit. They had to make a temporary encampment there while waiting for the second part of the knights. They needed to spend one more day here till they moved back up. He noticed Robert and Lucille glancing his way from time to time but now he was back to his old party. The adventurers had their own encampment while the nobles spend the time together. After not having much sleep for almost a whole week, he retired to his tent that he had to mostly set himself yet again. Armand had gotten the hang of setting these up, so he would not stay awake for that part. Even while being stuck with the talkative Sister Kassia in his room he managed to fall asleep rather quickly. Unbeknownst to him, the woman prattled on for hours as due to his helmet she couldn’t tell that he was dozing off. The rest went well and without a hitch. The High Knight and Percival returned without getting ambushed by overleveled monsters and they all headed up. All of the knights had leveled up while fighting the tier 2 monsters in the lower levels so they had no problem with these tier 1 variants. “Finally I’m out… I’m not going into this stinky dungeon for at least another month!” Lobelia sprinted up the dungeon stairs and was the first one outside. The other adventurers were quite interested in the large party of knights and adventurers that were coming out. There was one person in particular that stood up. The beat-up armor was making a lot of noise and it looked like it was going to fall apart at any minute. It was finally over, Roland could feel the clear air and even see the sunlight shining down into his visor. He had made it out in one piece and had gained a lot while doing it. What remained to do was to return home and count the coins…