Chapter 51
“Aren’t those Durahans?”
On the screen, the Durahans she had seen in the plains were roaming around. There were tens of thousands visible on the screen.
“Why did they come here? Are they trying to get revenge on the firebird that ruined the plains last time??”
“Since they know of the existence of a Phoenix, I don’t think that’s it.”
“But.”
Even if they all came and attacked, they would not be able to defeat Caladium. There was no way the Durahans didn’t know that. But if it wasn’t for revenge, then why did they come all the way here?
“Let them come in. I have nothing to hide.”
Caladium shrugged and said.
“If you want to know why, there’s no other way than to let them in.” Adelaide nodded her head and opened her mouth.
“Allow them to enter!”
[Entrance has been permitted upon approval of the dungeon master.]
This time, a portal was not created above the table like last time. It must have been a dedicated passage for the postman. Instead, the Durahans entered through an external portal connected to the Darfur Forest. There were three people in total, they were all large and looked reliable.
From the looks of it, they were the Durahans who swore at Raham the other day. The little Durahan she saw last time didn’t seem to have come with them.
“What’s the matter?”
Adelaide, who sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, asked in a cold voice. She didn’t have a good tone because she remembered the image of Raham who had defended his own race even in that terrible situation.
“We heard you went looking for Raham.”
A Durahan stepped forward and spoke.
‘Where did they hear that?’ Adelaide frowned and asked.
“So?”
“Looks like it’s true…”
He sounded quite surprised. They weren’t sure that she had really gone all the way to Esperanza.
“Anyway, how is his condition?”
The Durahan who was standing next to him, raised his voice and asked. She couldn’t see his face, so she couldn’t tell his expression, but he seemed agitated.
“How is he?”
Ha. Adelaide snorted. They busily talked behind his back, but now they wondered how he was? Why didn’t they visit him themselves! She felt disgusted, as if she had been the one they betrayed.
“It was terrible. His legs were cut off with a blunt axe. Judging by the marks left on his arms, it looked like they had been cut before too. In front of the woman he loves.”
Adelaide jumped up and spoke to them.
“After being ridiculed by demons, he was imprisoned in a narrow and dirty cage with wounds that weren’t properly treated, waiting for the next torture.”
“…”
“How difficult it must have been to ask Pia to just look at his face instead… In the meantime, he asked if you were doing well!”
Adelaide lost her control and screamed at them. It wasn’t their fault that Raham was in such a situation, but she hated them as much as the owner of the Sol Dungeon because they were ashamed instead of helping their friend.
The Durahans did not respond. Their bodies just shook.
‘Are they angry?’ Adelaide squinted her eyes and looked at them.
“I…”
Contrary to her expectations, they weren’t angry. Rather, they were sad.
“I see…”
The voice that followed was full of sorrow.
“Raham, so, hkkk, so… ”
“Are you crying?”
As she asked the crying demon if he was crying, more tears came out. The other Durahans burst into tears as well. One Durahan sat down on the ground and wept, while the other stood straight like a stone and only shed tears.
“What, I can see your tears?”
“But they’re headless, so how?” Caladium muttered in surprise. Then, the Durahan, who had been weeping calmly, explained in a crying voice.
“We are not headless. It just isn’t visible to anyone. Except for one very special person.”
“A special person?”
“Yes. We call them the ‘Destined Partner’. All Durahans spend their whole lives searching for the one destined to see their face, but more often than not, they die without being able to meet them.”
“That’s why we have come together even though we usually don’t live in groups. Because only our own people can understand our suffering.”
The other Durahan also wiped his tears and added an explanation.
“Then, if you are lucky enough to meet a ‘Destined Partner’, the Durahan dedicates everything to that person. It’s meant to be. Because she’s the only person who can see your face… A face you can’t even see yourself.”
Adelaide looked at them as they wiped away floating tears with a handkerchief. Perhaps at this moment, they finally understood Raham’s heart. Contrary to expectations, they were not bad demons. She didn’t feel good because it seemed like she made a lot of demons cry for no reason. She carefully opened her mouth.
“Then Raham…”
“Yes, he must’ve met the one. That harpy is his ‘Destined Partner’. It was like that. So he left without saying a word.”
“We didn’t even know that, and thought Raham broke our promise…”
It became a sea of tears again. Adelaide couldn’t do anything and just watched them weep.
‘I thought you were angry because he played with someone from the Heavenly race’
‘It guess that wasn’t it.’ Without knowing anything, she felt pathetic for believing only the words of the little Durahan and got lost in her anger. Adelaide bowed her head and apologized.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”
“No. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t know anything…”
Huu. The Durahan couldn’t finish his words and cried. He knelt down on his knees in front of Adelaide and begged desperately.
“Please, please, please. Save Raham.”
Embarrassed, Adelaide tried to get him to stand up, but was unsuccessful. The other Durahans knelt down with him.
“Even when we misunderstood that Raham had left us, we tried thinking of how to help him, but no matter how much we thought of it, it was impossible for us. There’s a phoenix in your dungeon. We know it’s shameless, but… Please help us.”
“If you do, we will do anything! Really, anything. You can use us for the rest of our lives.”
Adelaide was silent, clenching her molars tightly.
Her heart wasn’t too different from theirs, but she wasn’t the only one who would decide.
Her gaze turned to Lisianthus, then Caladium, and then Skeletons and Bell who were hiding in the distance. It was a very effective way in suppressing her impulses.
“… I will think about it.”
At Adelaide’s words, the Durahans raised their heads. She hurriedly spoke before they could say hopeful words.
“Go back for now. I can’t decide yet.”
“Yes! We understand!”
“Thanks, no, thank you!”
[T/N: He said a casual thanks then changed it into a more formal one to express how deeply grateful he was.]
The Durahans bowed and expressed their gratitude. Adelaide seemed to have been more troubled by this, so they hurriedly left the dungeon. They left a burdensome request asking for her help.
Adelaide, seeing that everyone had left, leaned back on the sofa and collapsed. It felt like her confused mind had gotten more troubled compared to this morning. There was only one way to solve this frustration. It’s something she had known since yesterday, but couldn’t.
“Master Adele, here, it’s water.”
“Ah, thank you.”
She was indeed thirsty. Adelaide drank the water Lisianthus had handed her at once.
All of them stayed in the living room and focused on her. After she had finished drinking, they waited for her words.
“Hey.”
Sure enough, Adelaide, who had emptied her glass, started speaking.
“I’ve been thinking… I want to go and rescue Raham.”
As if hesitating, she fiddled with her fingers.
“What do you think?”
She knew that it was a dangerous task, so she pondered for a long time. Her demons would probably do the same.
However, breaking her assumptions, their answers came back within a few seconds. Even from the weak Skeletons.
“We’ll do whatever Adelaide wants.”
“Yes, we’ll follow the path you want. Whatever it may be.”
“That’s right.” The Skeletons nodded together. Bell jumped up and rushed towards Adelaide’s arms.
“Me too!”
“Where are you going?”
Just before Bell was hugged by Adelaide, Caladium snatched the child. Tiny things are cute, but he didn’t want to share Adelaide’s arms with him. Caladium, holding Bell, rolled up the corners of his lips and joined in.
“Hey, don’t think too hard and just do what you want to do. If you are worried about these chumps, I will personally protect them.”
“Do I look like I can’t even do that?” Caladium shrugged his shoulders.
Adelaide bit her lip. For some reason, she felt like she was about to cry. She finally turned her head to look at Lisianthus.
In Adelaide’s opinion, it was him who would most likely object. Lisianthus was the one who stopped her from rushing in yesterday. He was probably the most rational and smartest of them all.
As she thought, Lisianthus decided that it would be too risky to rescue Raham. In many ways, it would negatively impact the future of Greenville Dungeon.
However, as he confirmed yesterday and today, if they did not rescue him, Adelaide will continue to have that lonely expression on her face.
Of the two, the more important one was obvious.
“Didn’t I tell Master Adele in her room last night? I will do anything you want.”
“What the f*ck? Where and what last night?”
A response came from the other side. Caladium’s confident smile collapsed in an instant.
Ignoring the mad-dog Caladium, and getting everyone’s consent, Adelaide’s happy expression looked like she won a thousand troops. A few drops of tears fell.
“Great! Then let’s make a plan!”
“Everyone get together and sit down!” At Adelaide’s suggestion, they approached one by one and sat around her. Caladium, who was still glaring at Lisianthus, also sat down on the sofa without saying a word.
“Who has a good plan?”
Everyone became quiet.
Well, a good plan won’t be achieved that fast. Adelaide took the initiative and raised her hand first.
“How about infiltrating and getting him out like in Boraca Dungeon?”
“It’s not possible. Things are different then and now. Unlike the Boraca Dungeon, Sol Dungeon does not have fraudulent contracts. They have a good reputation.”
“They have a good reputation for doing that? Treating demons like slaves?”
“No one is taken as a slave. They all have good reasons. In the case of the Harpy, the reason is because she is from Heaven, and with Raham, he invaded the dungeon first and tried to steal their property.”
“If there is no reason, then that’s it.”
After Lisianthus’ explanation, Caladium added. Lisianthus was silent, as if he was not wrong.
Adelaide clenched her fists in rage, she was boiling again. Just because someone was from heaven wasn’t enough reason to make them a slave. It wasn’t that she had not heard of what those who fell from heaven did, but when she remembered the horrific scene she saw right in front of her, she was filled with anger.
“Uhm.”
One of the Skeletons raised his hand and suggested.
“How about a dungeon match instead?”
***