Chapter 535 Together Forever

Ian looked out over Labyrinth from atop the hill in silence.

Reconstruction work was in full swing throughout every corner of the city.

While it was an annual occurrence for things to get busy with repairs immediately after an invasion, the scale this year was far more massive. This was because the battlefield had been inside the city itself this time.

Furthermore, due to the all-out war waged to lure the monsters at the end, the northern wall had sustained significant damage. It would likely take several more months to rebuild those structures.

Even though the damage was great enough to say the city was nearly half-destroyed, a sense of vitality could be felt in the streets.

It was thanks to the fact that they succeeded in defeating Calamitas during Phase 1 as planned, which meant that despite the destruction, human casualties were miraculously near zero.

...Since that day.

Ian had waited for quite a long time.

He waited for the clear screen that should appear after the final boss, Calamitas, was defeated.

However, even now, long after the subjugation of Calamitas, the clear message had not appeared.

Normally, the timing for the clear judgment to occur is immediately after the boss falls.

He had waited thinking it might be slightly delayed, but seeing as there was still no news, it was correct to assume the clear message should have popped up at the moment Ian originally knew.

He could guess the reason why the message wasn’t appearing to some extent.

The doll that Mika and Airi had researched and created.

It was likely because of that item which had revived Ian from his [Incapacitated State].

In the original version without any mods, the so-called [Vanilla], there were no items that triggered from an incapacitated state.

Anything with such an effect was an item added by separate mods.

Because of that, items with the so-called [Trigger on Incapacitation] effect occasionally caused conflicts with the original system.

When the moment of clearing and the effect triggering from an [Incapacitated State] overlapped like this time, cases often occurred where the clear message window was skipped entirely.

In other words... it seemed as though [Continue] had been pressed automatically. During that brief moment when Ian had lost consciousness.

...Ian had been agonizing over this the entire time.

If the plans he had built so far proceeded smoothly, and he ultimately succeeded in defeating Calamitas.

If the clear screen appeared before Ian as a result....

When faced with the two choices of [Quit] and [Continue] that would be there, which one of the two should he choose?

He had agonized over it for a very long time, but no conclusion had come.

Ian had ultimately failed to reach a decision until the moment of the final battle arrived.

When that moment comes, I’ll be able to choose somehow....

With that mindset, having pushed the choice onto his future self, he had entered the final battle without deciding anything.

It had been a long deliberation, but it seemed to have become a useless effort in the end.

Regardless of Ian’s worries, he had already been left in [Continue]... that is, the [Endless Mode].

...Perhaps it was for the better.

Had he chosen personally, he felt he would have regretted it no matter which side he picked.

When he first dropped into this place, he had worried every night about what to do if he could never go back.

But perhaps it was because he had grown accustomed to it after spending quite a long time here. Now that he was actually in this situation, surprisingly, no particular thoughts came to mind.

Rather, his heart even felt at ease as if a long-standing worry had been resolved.

Maybe it was because, unlike when he first arrived here.

He now had a reason to remain in this place.

While Ian was staring blankly at the city scenery, someone spoke to him from behind.

’Master. You were here after all.’

’...Rin. You’re here.’

’It feels like you come here every day lately. Is something weighing on your mind?’

’Just... well.’

Standing silently beside Ian, Rin looked out at Labyrinth.

From there, they could look out quite far at the Labyrinth currently under construction.

’Wow. It looks like they’ve already finished repairing that area over there....’

’They have to fix that place first so they can prepare for the festival.’

’That’s true, the festival. Everyone is expecting it to be the largest one in history this year.’

A great vitality could be felt from the city visible in the distance. It seemed to be thanks to successfully overcoming such a massive crisis.

Watching that sight, Rin asked Ian.

’It’s really all over now, right?’

’Yeah....’

’There isn’t one more left next year or anything like that, right...?’

’...Yeah. There really isn’t. What I was preparing for ends here.’

’Haah. It hasn’t been easy traveling with you, Master, but this time I really thought I was going to die.’

Only after asking several times and finally receiving confirmation did Rin breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, Rin also had a vague intuition that it was all over.

It was because Ian’s atmosphere had shifted significantly starting from that day.

How should she put it....

He looked like a person whose motivation had completely dropped, like a mercenary facing retirement.

Well, he had poured all his strength into facing such a monstrous enemy. It wasn’t unreasonable to become lethargic now that the task was finally finished.

In times like this... she should talk about work. Since Ian was a workaholic.

Thinking so, Rin nodded and asked Ian.

’I think we’ve rested enough; don’t we have any plans?’

’Plans?’

’I mean our mercenary group.’

Labyrinth had been in a state of complete shutdown for a while, but as the guild’s facility restoration finished, they began accepting external requests again a few days ago.

The members, who had already adapted to Ian’s relentless schedule, were also starting to get tired of the long rest.

’Everyone is waiting. Airi is even saying we should go out on a request quickly.’

’Airi? Ah... is it because of that person?’

Airi wanting to go on a request... was likely because she wanted to get far away from Priscia.

It was because Priscia had been visiting the Ian Mercenary Group every single day since that day.

Of course, perhaps because she couldn’t drag the Saintess away by force, Priscia visited strictly as a guest, trying to persuade Airi with words to accept her role as the Saintess.

With very long, tedious, and moralistic stories.

It seemed Airi thought she could get away from Priscia if she took a request and left Labyrinth.

However, Ian tilted his head as if he didn’t think so.

That person would likely... follow all the way to the request location.

Rather, she was visiting alone because she was holding back since they were inside the city; wouldn’t those people called the [White Wing Knights] all follow behind if they went outside the city?

Since telling her that fact would likely make Airi refuse to take a single step out of her room anymore, Ian decided to keep his words to himself.

And Rin shared new news with Ian as if she had just remembered.

’Oh, and Frenda is also waiting anxiously for when our first request will be. Although she doesn’t show it.’

’...Hasn’t Frenda already gone on many requests?’

’It’s the first time she’s going out as a member of our group.’

There was even Frenda, who had finally resigned from being a priestess completely and ended up joining the Ian Mercenary Group.

Ian belatedly realized that the things he had to do had piled up like a mountain before he knew it.

Exhaling a long sigh, Ian shared the thoughts he had been having with Rin.

’Actually. I’m just... not sure what to do next at all.’

’Pardon? What kind of worry is that. Requests are everywhere; you can just do as you please.’

’As I please?’

Perhaps because Ian thought too deeply about everything, he occasionally had these silly worries. Rin thought so as she nodded her head.

’What is there to mercenary work. You work for whoever pays a lot, and if you see a request you like, you do it.’

’...I see.’

Ian nodded his head slowly upon hearing those words.

Just as Rin said, there were really many things to do if he looked for them.

Because there were plenty of things he could do even after entering the so-called [Endless Mode].

Especially now, with various mods installed, there were even more.

Rather, there were tasks that could only be done upon entering this endless mode.

During the main scenario invasion, almost no items that could break the balance appeared in order to maintain the difficulty level, but since [Endless Mode] was a bonus concept proceeding after the main goal was completed, there were no such restrictions.

Quality-of-life items like much more powerful equipment items or skills, or [Trait Selection Coupons] and [Potential Reset Coupons] that allowed him to exchange traits at will, were unlocked from this point on.

Ian, having organized the tasks to do from now on in an instant, looked at Rin and spoke.

’First, I should get rid of your magic sword as promised, and then return your constitution to normal.’

’Eh? Ah... about that.’

Upon hearing Ian’s words, Rin avoided his gaze with an awkward smile.

’T-that... it’s okay to do that a bit later....’

’Hmm?’

’W-well... it’s not that bad in its own way....’

’...Really?’

’I-it’s about the sword! Since its performance is good! And I’ve grown attached to it in my own way....’

Rin’s face was flushed deeply red as she spoke.

As if trying to change the subject, Rin said to Ian.

’There’s no more danger anymore! Let’s take it more slowly!’

’Yeah. For the time being.’

’Pardon?’

Rin’s expression suddenly froze.

And then... she got angry upon seeing Ian’s smirking expression.

’Seriously, don’t play jokes like that! When you do it, Master, it doesn’t sound like a joke!’

’Haha....’

Ian laughed like that as he descended the hill of the park together with Rin.

The streets of Labyrinth, the same as always. Into the daily life they had finally protected.

- The End -

We’ll start a new novel from Chap 536, so don’t go anywhere and enjoy. The new novel will be hella interesting and sexy fr.