Vol3 Chapter 38 Lost and Found

The mana traces suddenly grew stronger, and Amos slowed his pace. Something was up ahead—several somethings. The sounds of battle reached him now: metal clashing against stone, heavy thuds, shouts, and beneath it all, the eerie scraping of monsters.

They're here.

He rounded the corner and finally saw them.

The A-rank adventurers were surrounded.

There were only four of them, but the number of monsters pressing against them was far greater. Their formation had collapsed completely. One adventurer was leaning heavily against his shield, his armor cracked and soaked with blood. Another was clutching her side while desperately maintaining a spell. A third was barely standing, using his weapon more as support than anything else.

The monsters didn’t let up. One sprang at the injured adventurer, but Amos stepped in between them.

CLANG!

He stepped forward and cut through the monster's torso.

Another attacked from his left.

He turned.

One slash.

The creature fell.

A third dropped from the ceiling.

Amos intercepted it before it reached the group, driving his sword straight through its skull. The fight that had nearly overpowered the A-rank team quickly turned one-sided. He stopped bothering to analyze the monsters and simply cut down anything that came near.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

The last creature lunged, but Amos dodged its claws and sliced off its head. The body thudded to the floor. Standing among the fallen, sword lowered, he scanned the area—nothing else came at him. For now. Sliding his blade back into its sheath, he turned to face the adventurers. All four stared in silence until one finally found their voice.

"...Who are you?"

Amos gave them a calm look.

"Eoghan."

He paused.

"An adventurer."

His gaze swept over their injuries.

"I was sent to retrieve you."

The leader frowned.

"Retrieve us?"

"Yes."

Amos glanced down the corridor they had come from.

"Why are you going deeper?"

The four exchanged confused looks.

The leader slowly pointed behind Amos.

"Deeper?"

"Yes."

"We thought we were getting closer to the exit."

Amos went silent.

"...The exit?"

"That's where we were heading."

A strange silence settled over the room. Amos kept his expression steady, but inside, his thoughts were racing.

Oh.

He glanced down the corridor behind him, then toward the path ahead. He thought back to the moment he’d been teleported into the ruin—completely unsure of where he was or which way led out. All he could do was find their tracks and follow them.

I don't actually know whether I've been going deeper or closer to the exit.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

I've just been following them this entire time.

He looked over at the adventurers again. They were in rough shape. Even if they knew the way out, they clearly weren’t fit to keep fighting. One more wave like the last could easily take them down.

"Regardless, you're in no condition to continue."

The leader opened his mouth.

"We can—"

"No."

The answer came at once. Amos reached into his artifact pouch, drawing the wary eyes of the adventurers as he retrieved a small object. It appeared to be nothing more than a plain metal disc. He set it on the ground and activated it.

VMMMM—

A pulse rippled outward, and lightless energy swept through the chamber, taking shape as a transparent barrier around them. It was as if the entire space had pulled away from the ruin. Amos walked to the edge and lightly tapped the barrier with his finger.

Thump.

Nothing happened.

"This will hold."

Amos looked toward the corridors.

"It creates a barrier strong enough to withstand the monsters here for a while."

He looked back at them.

"You need to rest."

One of the adventurers slowly lowered himself onto the ground.

Amos crossed his arms.

"We're not deciding where to go while you're barely capable of standing."

He looked into the darkness, his bare eyes scanning the corridors. Nothing. For now, they had a bit of breathing room. Amos finally let out a breath he’d holding. He had found them. They were alive. That was enough for the moment.

But another problem lingered. They believed they were heading for the exit, though Amos wasn’t sure if that was true. Somewhere behind him lay the path he had taken, uncertain whether it led deeper into the ruins or back to the surface. He glanced at the A-rank team.

"Rest."

Then his expression became serious.

"Once you're capable of moving again, we'll figure out exactly where we are—and which direction we should take."

For a while, Amos just stood there, watching them rest. The barrier around them gave off a soft hum, holding back the darkness of the ruins. The adventurers were completely spent. Now that the fight for survival was over, their worn state was obvious—armor dented and cracked, gear in pieces, and blood seeping through more than one layer of clothing.

He had been told this team was here for scouting.

Scouting a ruin was dangerous, certainly, but they weren't supposed to be fighting their way through the place like this.

Finally, Amos spoke.

"You were assigned to scout this ruin, correct?"

The team's leader nodded.

"Yes."

"Then how did you end up like this?"

The four exchanged glances.

The leader sighed.

"We didn't intend to."

Amos waited.

"We were scouting the first section normally. Nothing particularly unusual. We were marking the paths, checking the monsters, and recording anything that might be important for the teams coming afterward."

His expression darkened.

"Then we triggered a trap."

"Trap?"

"Yes."

The woman who had been clutching her side spoke this time.

"It wasn't obvious. There wasn't a pressure plate, magical circle, or anything we could identify beforehand. One moment, we were walking through a corridor..."

She swallowed.

"...and the next, we weren't."

Amos's eyes narrowed.

"Teleportation?"

They nodded.

"We were scattered at first. I don't know where the others landed. I woke up alone in a completely unfamiliar section."

Another adventurer gave a bitter laugh.

"I woke up hanging upside down from the ceiling."

The others glanced at him.

He shrugged.

"Not my finest moment."

Amos remained silent.

The leader continued.

"We eventually found each other again. Unfortunately, we also found the monsters."

"That's where the injuries came from?"

"Most of them."

Amos looked toward the barrier.

"How long have you been trapped?"

"We don't know."

That answer immediately caught his attention.

"You don't know?"

"We lost track of time after the teleportation."

The leader rubbed his forehead.

"We've been moving whenever we could. Every time we thought we'd found a route back, we'd encounter another group of monsters, or the path would collapse, or we'd discover that we'd somehow circled back."

Amos's expression became increasingly serious.

"So you've been trying to find the exit since you were teleported."

"Exactly."

Amos looked down.

That explains the trail.

They hadn’t set out to explore any deeper. They were just trying to get away. He’d been tracking their trail without any idea of their destination, while they’d been chasing whatever routes they thought might lead them to safety. Somewhere along the line, they’d run into enough monsters to wear themselves out. Amos cast a glance down the corridor.

"Have you found anything that indicates where the exit is?"

The leader hesitated.

"We think so."

"You think?"

"We found what looked like an old route map."

Amos's attention sharpened.

"Where?"

"Several corridors back."

The adventurer pointed toward the direction they had come from.

"We couldn't bring it with us. It was carved into a wall, but most of it was damaged. We could only make out part of the structure."

Amos nodded slowly.

"Did it show where you were?"

"No."

"Then how did you determine which way to go?"

"We didn't."

The answer was blunt.

"We've simply been choosing the paths that seemed most likely to lead outward."

Amos stared at them.

"...So, you don't actually know where the exit is."

"No."

Wonderful.

He had finally found the A-rank team.

They were injured, worn out, trapped in an S-rank ruin, and clearly had no real idea where they were headed. Not that he was much better off. He’d been teleported here too, with no clue about the layout or where the exit might be. Until just minutes ago, he hadn’t even realized if he’d been following them deeper inside or toward the surface. Amos rubbed his chin. At least now one thing was clear—they hadn’t been reckless or deliberately abandoned their mission. They’d simply been caught by the ruin itself. His eyes drifted toward the barrier.

"Then we'll have to determine the route ourselves."

The leader looked at him.

"You said you were sent to retrieve us."

"I was."

"Who sent you?"

Amos paused for half a second.

"The Guild Kyrre Branch."

The leader seemed to accept the answer.

Amos continued.

"But before we decide anything, I want to know everything you've encountered since the teleportation."

His eyes hardened.

"Every monster. Every trap. Every unusual room."

The adventurers exchanged looks. The leader slowly nodded.

"All right."

Amos sat down opposite them.

"Start from the moment you were teleported."

If this ruin was as strange as he thought, every detail could be important—especially anything to do with the traps. If it had intentionally teleported them once, it might do the same to him again. And Amos had no plans to let that happen.