Vol 3 Chapter 8

"Whoa..."

Kran, who had been following, stumbled. Suddenly entering such a vast space caused a sense of pressure as if their bodies were being thrown and pushed, and their eyes couldn't adjust. It felt as if they had become tiny beings, like ants trapped in a large bowl.

After looking around at the floor, ceiling, and sides for a while to regain his sense of space and distance, Kapros walked a bit further forward. The sound of his footsteps on the stone echoed strangely loud. When he felt he had come far enough and turned back, he saw the shape of a large hemispherical wall where the entrance they had come through looked no bigger than a dog hole.

"It's big."

As Kapros muttered softly, Kran also nodded with a stiff face.

[ It seems you've adjusted now. ]

The voice of the woman who had identified herself as Ilumine echoed again, this time from a closer location. Quickly turning his head, Kapros could see the figure of a person sitting at a distance.

"Ah..."

As he immediately raised his guard and prepared to manifest various spells at any moment, the voice was heard again.

[ You seem surprisingly timid, little one. This isn't the time to prepare for an attack. ]

"..."

Every word was shocking, but one particularly shocking word stuck in his ear.

'Little... one?'

Kapros instantly froze. Kran, who had been wearing an equally dumbfounded expression, turned to look at Kapros after a moment, swallowing.

"L-little one... Did you hear that?"

Kran's breathing began to quicken slightly.

"Little one!"

And then he exploded with laughter.

"Puhah!"

While Kran was rolling on the ground, writhing incoherently, Kapros tried to properly recall the meaning of the word "little one" again. The first thing that came to mind was the abstract image of a baby wrapped in a blanket with a pacifier in its mouth.

Little one. ...So, she meant baby...

'...Baby.'

Did that person just call him a baby?

While it was absurd, he wasn't angry. He felt that there was no intention to insult him.

'But...'

You seem to be laughing with the clear intention of annoying me, Kran. That's a different story.

"Screw Fireball."

Whoosh!

"Ahahahahaha... Wait, Kap, this is... Kehehehe..."

Kran, who was laughing so hard that tears were forming in his eyes, showed no signs of stopping even after seeing the Screw Ball. Kapros looked down at Kran for a moment and then threw the ball without hesitation.

"Argh!"

Along with the sound of explosion, a miserable scream echoed. Kapros turned towards where the presumed Ilumine was sitting without looking back.

She was looking at Kapros while sitting neatly in her seat without standing up. Seeing her shining golden hair long enough to draw a circle on the floor, blue eyes, and the pointy ears that were like a symbol of elves, Kapros was convinced that she was indeed Ilumine. It felt like he was realizing for the first time that excessively inhuman beauty could actually feel emotionless.

As she remained silent as if waiting for Kapros to speak first even though he was standing right in front of her, Kapros slowly opened his mouth.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Kapros."

At that, Ilumine's eyes narrowed. After a moment, a normal voice, not the one that had been resonating in his head until now, flowed from her mouth.

"Yes. You've already heard my name, so I don't need to repeat it, right?"

As Kapros stood there without saying anything, Ilumine continued.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you. I've been waiting for you for a very long time."

"Pardon?"

"You're making a face that says 'What are you talking about when we've just met?' The reason you came here is to obtain the legacy from 500 years ago, isn't it?"

Although Kapros didn't answer, Ilumine smiled strangely as if she had read affirmation in his wide-eyed face.

"Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right. I came here to find traces of Lord Superior."

"Lord Superior... It's been a really long time since I've heard that title. I should give you an item I've been keeping, but before that, there's something I want to see."

She has something to give? Is it a related item?

"What is it?"

"The thing that guided you here. The Lord Piece."

Lord Piece? What could be considered something that guided them here...?

"What is this Lord Piece you're talking about?"

Kapros asked, skeptical of the unexpected term.

"The Lord Piece is the greatest power given to each of the eight descendants. You have one too, don't you?"

Kapros became even more puzzled by Ilumine's answer, which sounded as if it was obvious. An item like that... The Superior brooch? But the Superior brooch didn't have such great power as Ilumine was suggesting.

"Check item information."

As he muttered while reaching inside his cape to touch the brooch for the first time in a while, a window popped up in front of his eyes.

The item grade was Unique, and the stats were decent. It had a function to show the path they needed to find, and there was a sentence suggesting that more secrets were hidden within... but that was all it had been so far.

It would be better to ask directly after all.

"Do you mean this?"

After hesitating, Kapros asked while detaching the brooch and holding it out. Ilumine nodded.

"Yes, that... It's been such a long time."

Ilumine's eyes seemed to be looking at something nostalgic, and Kapros was reminded once again of the information that she was someone who had been with the quest characters from 500 years ago.

"But this is nothing special. How could this..."

"Well... The feeling is a bit strange. Can you hand it to me for a moment?"

As Kapros handed the brooch to Ilumine, who had reached out her hand, she held it in both hands and began to examine its condition. At that moment, someone's hand grabbed Kapros's shoulder.

"K-Kap..."

Kran, who looked relatively fine despite some minor injuries and burns on his face, sat down heavily next to Kapros with a tired expression and looked at Ilumine.