The New Gate (LN)

“It was strangely noisy, what the hell are you doing, man?”

Shin stopped counting how many times he had put the children on his shoulders, and then he heard such a voice.

He turned toward the voice and saw a man standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

It was Wilhelm Avis, the adventurer who had once accompanied Shin to the Wraith Plains for Rashia to learn purification. Next to him stood Milt.

As for Milt, Shin wasn’t surprised to see her as she was on her way to play with the kids and informed him that she would be arriving in Bayreuth soon. However, Shin was a little surprised to see her with Wilhelm.

“As you can see, this is what I’m doing.”

Shin gently raised his arms and shoulders. The children on his shoulders were amused by his movements, and they were urging him to do it one more time.

“What about you, Wilhelm? I thought you were going to deal with the Skullfaces.”

“You’re right. I was assigned an area for a certain period, but it ended a while ago, and I was replaced. Also, I just met this runt at the entrance.”

Wilhelm said, pointing his thumb at Milt.

Apparently, Chosen Ones and high-ranked adventurers were fewer in their respective areas, and yet they were given a larger area to cover. The number of Skullfaces that should be killed was also set as a guideline because it would be a problem if they were to spring up all at once.

“When I tried to enter the building, I bumped into this guy.”

“I thought you came to pick up where we left off, but then they said you were coming.”

In the past, Wilhelm was temporarily controlled by a Demon in an incident during which a church saintess was taken away, and he fought with Milt at that time.

Contrary to her petite and cute appearance, Milt’s fighting ability was overwhelming compared to adventurers who specialize in defeating monsters. Since they were unable to settle the matter, they were talking about the next time if they wanted to fight again.

Incidentally, Milt was now wearing the same 『Oriental Battle Garb』 that she was wearing before joining Shin. The upgraded 『Flowing Grace Garb』 stood out in many ‘ways’, so Shin had it newly made at Milt’s request.

“Not that I didn’t think about it, but I’m not going to do it right now…and I come here for my own personal enjoyment.”

“Hey, your words and actions don’t match.”

Milt was hugging Shin around the waist with a smile on her face. Both his arms were in use to support the children, so she clung herself to the free spot for now. Because of the children, Shin could not dodge.

“We can settle it anytime when you’re free, Milt. Also aren’t you letting your guard down, Shin?”

“Eh?”

Wilhelm took his gaze away from Shin, who had a question mark on his face, and looked at the square. Immediately after, a chill ran down Shin’s spine. 

“That’s not true. This is to show that I’m not someone to be wary of, and I’m not thinking about any benefits.”

As if trying to make an excuse to someone else, Shin immediately moved to get away from Milt. Milt felt the same thing and moved away without protest.

Then, mysteriously, the chilling sensation disappeared.

Wilhelm’s eyes seemed to tell Shin, “You’re a daredevil, aren’t you?”. He seemed to have guessed how Schnee would react.

“M-More importantly, I would like to ask you about the situation.”

With a gut feeling that he shouldn’t continue this topic, Shin asks what he had planned to ask in the message card.

“I don’t mind. It’s not like I’m being hush-hush about it.”

Wilhelm started speaking by saying that he only knew what he knew.

The area he was in charge of seemed to have more high-ranking monsters than in other areas, and Queen and King class individuals also appeared.

However, the strength and equipment were generally known, and no monsters had been found equipped with special armor like the ones Schnee had fought before.

In addition, despite the Skullface being a high-ranking individual, its movements were slow, and depending on how it fought, even ordinary adventurers could buy time.

“The Skullfaces are as tough and strong as always, but they move more slowly. If you focus on evasion, you won’t be defeated that easily, you know? Adventurers from other areas and knights visiting from other countries did not suffer any major damage. Usually, even if the number is small, it causes more damage; The fact that there are fewer of them is not a bad thing.”

“It’s not a bad thing, but it’s weird.”

“That’s what it is. To me, the Skullface is the same as a mere sandbag.”

An average adventurer would have difficulty defeating the Skullface because of its durability. Still, it was not an opponent that could not be defeated if one had a certain amount of attack power.

For Wilhelm, whose attack power and speed were far superior than the average adventurer, it seemed to be just like a mere target.

The children on Shin’s shoulders and those waiting their turn around him were either excited or relieved to hear Wilhelm’s story.

Although this man was feared in the adventurer community, he was also a hero to the children at the orphanage. 

Wilhem continued.

“Next is… Uh, you guys go play over there with her for a second”

“Ehh?”

The children should not hear this. Shin had guessed this, so he put down the children who then voiced their dissatisfaction, and pointed at Milt, promising to do it again later.

“Here, she will play with you until we finish talking.”

“What?”

Milt was surprised when the topic was suddenly changed.

“Hmm. In that case, let’s play chase. If you can catch me, I’ll reward you with sweets.”

After saying that, Milt started running slowly, and the children all started chasing after her.

Milt was small and didn’t look intimidating, acquainted with Shin, and rewarded them with sweets as an added bonus. It seemed that these were enough to eliminate the children’s hesitation.

“(I leave it to you,)” he sent via voice chat – also known as ‘Mind Chat’ – and Shin moved to a corner of the plaza with Wilhelm.

“So, do you have something to tell me, Wilhelm?”

“It’s not something that needs to be hidden, but just in case. The one you defeated last time was a Lord class, right? I thought I’d let you know that no one seems to have seen anything like that. It wouldn’t be funny if it came out again. The other thing is… I guess right now, there’s nothing that can explain this situation or solve it.”

It seemed that Wilhelm told the stories about the King and Queen classes to reassure the children. As an adventurer, if he made a mistake, he could lose his life. There were probably some kids who were worried about Wilhelm.

Shin had only seen the additional information of the Lord class once. The items he recovered that time were still in his item box.

“You haven’t been to the Wraith Plains’ center, have you?”

“I’ve poked around and come back, but I’ve been instructed not to provoke the monsters inside. Well, you’re going anyway, so I guess it’ll work out somehow.”

Wilhelm spoke lightly, as if the situation had already been resolved.

“It’s not necessarily related to what we’re investigating.”

“Even if that were the case, I don’t think someone so good-natured as you, that going out of their way to stick their noses in the turmoil of a church, would leave this situation alone.”

Although they had only known each other briefly, it seemed like they knew each other’s personalities. Shin could not deny that if there had been no incident involving Hades, he would have helped resolve this situation if he had known about it.

“Ok I give up. We have business in the dungeon in Wraith Plains. Do you know anything about it, WIlhelm?”

“A dungeon? I’ve heard that it exists, but I’ve never heard of anyone diving into it.”

In unknown dungeons, one could find items and weapons that have never been found before, and some people specialize in searching for such items and weapons.

However, there were restrictions just to enter the Wraith Plains’ center, and furthermore, there was no guarantee that there would be an entrance within it. Even the guilds had very little documentation.

As Barlux mentioned, it was not realistic to expect adventurers who were qualified to go around looking for the entrance to a dungeon, that may or may not be there, while defeating high-level monsters. They would not accept it unless they were offered a great reward.

Wraith Plains was not that dangerous except for its central area, so guilds and countries would want to send their adventurers and soldiers to the more urgent areas.

“Right. Given the situation, the dungeon would be full of undead. These kinds of dungeons are not very profitable regarding materials and items. Even those making money in undiscovered dungeons don’t bother trying to get their hands on them, you know? Even if they do find them, hardly any people can explore them, and they probably don’t get any reward either.”

The last and biggest reason why the dungeon in Wraith Plains was neglected. It was the fact that it was not very profitable. 

The materials for undead monsters had limited use, so there was little demand for them.

Even in games, dungeons with undead monsters often had poor items, and it seemed this was still the case today.

In the game, cursed equipment and items of limited use were often dropped. However, although the probability was low, there were times when first-class healing potion (Potion One), first-class magic recovery potion (Ether One), and even more rarely, cure-all potion (Elixir) could be obtained. So it was not at all unpopular.

In addition, it was sometimes possible to obtain an Elixir of Life (Revival Potion) in the early days, which was difficult to make, and Shin had dived for it on several occasions. 

Taking these circumstances into account, it was not surprising that there were a few who would dive for it. Shin remembered the game, and wondered about it.

“Hey, Wilhelm. Is there anyone who can make a Revival Potion right now?”

“…Oh?”

There was no particular intention behind that question.

However, when Wilhelm heard this, his mood changed completely, and he put heavy pressure on Shin, as if he was in a battle.

“…I apologize if I offended you. Really, I was just curious.”

“Are you really curious? …Ah, no, I see. Come to think of it, you’re one of those so-called ‘players’.”

Satisfied with Shin’s attitude and lines, Wilhelm dispersed the tense atmosphere.

“Didn’t Ms. Schnee tell you about that?” Continued Wilhelm.

“Ms., Schnee?”

Shin raised an eyebrow as he was uncomfortable that Wilhelm was calling her “Ms.”.

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