章節 68: Return
Beta and the others easily found their way back without encountering much resistance. On their way, as the sole witness of the event underground, he explained what happened after he was teleported away by the door and didn't leave out much. The machine he found at the end was explained as just that - a machine. Beta didn't give them any details about it and none of his squad asked for more information either. It wasn't because they were not interested at all but more like, they trust Beta that much. If he chose to not say anything about it, then they will respect his silence about it.
It was already a great sign of trust to tell them about what happened. What's more, Beta even revealed to them that he gained some kind of machine. After all, the profession of a Tinkerer isn't something you could tell just anyone. If it was someone else, they may have gone to report it to the higher-ups for a reward already. Just like Sati, there were many people out there who'd love to get their hands on a Tinkerer or even a possible heir of one. Exactly because Beta's squad knew this, they were even more moved, so they swore to themselves to never let a word of that escape their lips.
As the squad got closer to the camp, they realized that it had a major change. Instead of a constant flow of people going in and out of the camp's gates, there were only a few people that left the ruins to enter the camp. Anything that had been in the ruins was already cleanly swept up by the many squads that went in. Ever since the key was found, they all left and the only ones remaining were those who had been in there for a while, cut off of every communication to the camp. Some looked happy while others carefully checked if someone was following them, quietly murmuring "My precious" while holding on to some old metal wares that they mistook for a treasure.
"I hope I will never lose my mind because I got unlucky in some ruins...", Beta said, while looking at the strange sight.
"You don't have to worry about such things. Luck is always running before you, leaving a trail of treasures!", Brian said with a smirk.
As everyone thought about it, they came to the realization that this wasn't too far off the truth. No matter where they went together, it seemed as if there was always some good opportunity for Beta that no one else was able to take. Just what kind of luck is that? As his squad, they naturally were happy for him, but that doesn't change the fact that they were a bit envious too. Every single one of them wanted to become stronger, so it would only be weird if they were completely unfeeling for it. Beta, of course, knew about it and had already made some plans to solve this problem.
But first things first. After their struggle in the ruins, Beta got reminded of something that he had been putting off for a long time. If he waited any longer, a great opportunity may escape his grasp. The preparation was already set and the only thing left for him to do was to take action. A great pair of legs was waiting for him and Beta didn't plan to let them wait any longer. It was time for an upgrade.
Beta's squad entered the visibly shrunken camp and glared at the barely existent markets. The prices were several times lower than before and some had even dropped to the point that they were priced lower than in Saland, which was where they were procured from. Sophie, of course, thought of it as a great opportunity. So, she grabbed that chance and looked at Beta with a fervent expression.
Beta understood what those sparkling eyes meant. As if a symbol of their currency was imprinted onto Sophie's eyes, he gave in and nodded to her. He simply agreed because he knew that it didn't matter what he said anyway and told the other squad members to follow her on her shopping trip. At least, he too would make some profit off of it, so it wasn't bad at all. Plus, he trusts Sophie with her judgment since she wasn't the money handler of their party for nothing.
After some of them separated to do their duties, Beta then entered their tent and slowly started packing his things. Brian and Domian were the only ones that had stayed with him. Domian quickly asked what had been bugging him for a while.
"Hey, Beta, what are we going to do now?" Even though their adventure just ended, he was already itching for another one.
Beta looked at him for a while, pondering on what to say, but finally, he gave his answer.
"The first thing we need to do now is to increase our cultivation and cultivate. The struggle we encountered back at the ruins should've made you realize how weak we are and how lacking our experience in combat is. So, we must do our best that we won't be in that kind of predicament in the future anymore. Well, I also have some things to take care of in Saland, so I might not be around much. But don't worry since after that... I plan to bring you along as we travel through the world and take on some missions from the Explorer Union." His brightly shining eyes showed how much he longed for the vast world around him.
Looking at Beta, Brian and Domian got excited too. What else does the world have to offer? We will just have to find out! Hearing about it from others is one thing, but experiencing it yourself is something entirely different! All the good and bad moments they would share and the difficulties they would have to go through together made their blood pumping and the fire in their eyes was raging on.
But then all of their thoughts were stopped when suddenly someone stood in front of them, looking kind of angry.
"Where have you all been?", Lores asked in a hard tone. He was clearly upset about their disappearance.
"Erm... sorry, teacher, we were too absorbed in our search for the headmaster's key and didn't notice that it had been found a while ago", Beta answered with a half-truth
"Hmpf! It's good that you care about your headmaster, but why didn't you send any kind of message to me? Not just that, I also sent some troops to check up on you, but they came back without finding any traces of you guys. Do you care to explain to me why that is the case?", Lores asked again, stepping a little closer to the trio.
"Oh! That was because we were underground to check out a cave we found. Sadly, we didn't find anything that looks like a key there so we came back up after searching thoroughly for a while.", Beta answered.
It wasn't a lie at all this time. They truly did go underground and they also didn't find any signs of a key. So, there was no need to mention any other events, discoveries, deadly encounters, or the treasures that they found. Lores just accepted their reason though since he was more concerned about his students' well-being rather than the content of their adventure.
"Underground, huh? I see. Do you happen to know anything about the giant sinkhole that appeared in the city?", Lores asked, closely observing their expressions.
Beta didn't take long to respond. "What sinkhole?", while tilting his head, looking confused. He then looked at Brian and Domian who only shrugged to his inquiring gaze. It seemed like they were clueless too. Lores noticed their reactions and he could tell that they really got nothing to do with it nor have any idea about the sinkhole either.
It was such a close call for Beta and his friends. He was a little surprised because he had not encountered anything like that on his way back nor his party mentioned anything like that. So, as a result, his expression didn't change much and even sported a confused face. His friends were also quick on the uptake and followed Beta's lead.
But Beta had an idea as to what could have caused it. The pillars that got destroyed by Oleg and Sita must have destabilized the city and by now, it had collapsed. A damage of that scale couldn't be covered up completely after all. Since it was underground, it only made sense that a sinkhole would randomly appear.
Lores stared at them more while at the same time thinking of whether he should believe them or not. Ultimately, he decided to just ignore the matter and left the tent, saying that the carriage would leave soon. He had a weird inkling that his class might be involved but maybe he's just overreacting. After all, his class was just that brilliant so he thought of something ridiculous which made him imagine too much. In the end, he let it go and brushed that thought off his head.
Once Lores was far enough and out of sight, only then the three of them let out a breath of relief. Beta was, of course, the most relieved. He even already thought up some excuses in case that their teacher found out, but it looked like he wouldn't have to use them. "Lucky, lucky…" was written to the trio's faces.
"Well that was nerve wracking. Anyway, let's tell the others and quickly pack our things. It would be really bad if the carriage left without us.", Beta said in a hurry to find the others.
They quickly notified the others and ran to the carriage. It was still the same strange carriage they got here with, but now they didn't find it strange at all anymore. Well, after what they've gone through, someone who has seen walking shadows at night can't be surprised easily. That was something they wouldn't be able to forget anytime soon. So, they couldn't help but be solemn and adapt faster with anything they encounter.
Not long after they settled in, the bulls pulling the carriage started moving towards the city once again.
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