Chapter 214

“She was a very beautiful young lady, you know. Yup, yup.”

“You said you’d never sell it because it was just a hobby shop…?”

“Eung, but what can you do when they offer double the market price.”

Double the market price.

It was like the house and land had been duplicated.

It was too much money to refuse.

“Right? Anyway, I’m off on a 6-day, 5-night trip to the Petrak Kingdom with my old man, so I’ll be going now~. Good luck with your business!”

“Huh? Yes, ah, yes…”

The carriage departed.

I stared blankly after it.

“…?”

What was that really about?

Seeing the old woman so excited to go on a trip, it seemed like a good thing, but.

“Why are you standing there in a daze?”

I turned around to see Adela with her arms crossed, tilting her head.

“Like a dog surprised to find a grand house next to its own when it woke up.”

“As you can see.”

“You must be flustered to suddenly have a new neighbor.”

“Yes, well…”

As if on cue, we turned our heads to look at the new building.

The three-story building, erected in an instant, felt unfamiliar.

Judging by the exterior, it was being built sturdily with materials that would only be used in a grand mansion.

‘She said they bought the house and land for double the price.’

Who would throw around money like that?

The wealthiest people I knew were the Elidores, but Arnold and Luri, being born merchants, would never make a deal like this.

‘Then, could it be…?’

I discreetly lowered my gaze to Adela.

At that moment, Adela also looked up, and our eyes met.

“Martin, are you not hiring any employees?”

“Employees?”

Well, it would be nice to hire some.

We were busy.

But I didn't want to leak the recipes of our cafe, the best in the coffee industry, to an outsider.

“Every time I come, I notice the shop seems quite busy.”

“That’s right.”

It was a thoughtful comment, unlike Adela.

We were living our daily lives diligently and working hard.

“I know a good person, I’ll introduce you.”

No, I didn't ask for that.

“No, it’s fine…”

“I refuse your refusal. This is my proposal, you insolent thing.”

“…”

Faced with her resolute expression that accepted no rebuttal, I could only sigh.

“Listen up. I’m about to tell you a grave secret.”

“Yes, well… let’s hear it first.”

Alright, well….

Listening was possible.

At my permission, Adela spoke to me with an expectant look in her eyes.

“The identity of the person moving into that house is…”

“Yes…”

“Me!”

With her head held high, she exclaimed proudly, in a way that was very much like her….

She might have expected me to be surprised, but honestly, I had pretty much guessed it from the middle.

“Have you finally been kicked out of the Imperial Palace?”

“Ahem, you insolent fool. Do you wish for your head and body to be separated? I wasn't kicked out, I walked out on my own accord!”

Adela lifted her foot and kicked me hard in the shin.

Honestly, it didn't hurt.

If anything, Adela flinched as if a jolt of pain shot through her.

Then, with eyes slightly teary, she glared at me.

“Insolent!”

“…”

I let out a deep sigh.

She was a princess, after all.

“Ah, yes…. So the reason you wanted to see me today was this?”

“There are three reasons!”

“There are three…?”

It felt overwhelming.

“First, that the person moving in here is me.”

“I heard that already.”

“And second! Hire me as an employee!”

“…”

I had a feeling, but really….

“You have a lot of money, Your Highness.”

“How long can I live off the damn national treasury? I am a capable person. I’m trying to achieve independence.”

I felt dizzy.

“Let’s… let’s talk about the employee issue later. What’s the third thing?”

“…There’s a place I need you to go with me.”

“Let’s go there first.”

I was short on time as it was, but what could I do?

As if waiting, the Desert Hierophant appeared above Adela’s head, casting a golden light, and a golden carriage materialized.

Along with the golden horse pulling the carriage and the coachman, the old knight Sir Harris.

Sand rose from the ground, lifting Adela’s body onto the carriage.

“Get in.”

The carriage headed to none other than the underground waterway.

I didn't ask what was going on.

“My salary can be 5 gold. That’s a four-person household’s living expenses for four months, is that too little?”

“…”

“I can make coffee well. I can succeed once every five tries.”

“…”

“Cleaning…, I’ll do my best.”

“…Excuse me, but where are we…”

“Ahem, you fool! Am I not speaking?!”

Actually, it wasn't that I didn't ask, but that I couldn't….

I would find out when we arrived anyway.

“…This place is.”

It was a familiar path.

A distant memory came to mind.

A bad memory with Elisha.

‘The Time Chaos Dungeon in the underground waterway.’

To retrace my steps, the underground waterway was a private facility that handled the empire’s water supply and sewage in its early days.

Now that it was nationalized, it was half-abandoned, but remnants of that time still remained.

There were several sewage treatment plants, and this was the way to one of them.

The sewage treatment plant where the Time Chaos Dungeon I conquered with Elisha, who had tailed me in my early days of possession, was located.

“Why are we going here?”

“There’s something I want you to conquer with me.”

Could it be?

As the carriage broke through the restricted access line and entered, I saw it.

A distortion of time and space.

The re-emergence of the Time Chaos Dungeon I had seen over half a year ago.

‘What is this.’

The Time Chaos Dungeon that would have been the lair of the ‘Living Swamp,’ a super-giant acid slime that went berserk and half-destroyed the imperial capital after remaining undiscovered.

“This is…”

“My knights discovered it while searching the underground waterway. It was a Time Chaos Dungeon with a detection-jamming gimmick, so I can only say that we were extremely lucky. Hmm, this is my ability and my merit. Therefore, I permit it. Go on, praise me once!”

I was so incredulous that I couldn't even speak.

‘I definitely conquered it. I saw it disappear right before my eyes.’

“…Are you alright?”

Adela, who had been chattering on, noticed my expression and asked.

“You don’t look too well.”

“No, I’m fine.”

My mental state was shaken for a moment, but that was all.

Don’t be swayed.

‘If it appeared again, I just have to conquer it again.’

“Let’s go in.”

“Alright.”

I walked into the Time Chaos Dungeon with Adela.

As I pushed my body through the distortion of space-time, my vision blurred and then re-stabilized.

‘Ugh!’

I almost threw up.

My head was spinning.

Entering a Time Chaos Dungeon isn't usually like this!

‘What is it, why do I feel so nauseous?’

It was as disgusting as smelling the lingering scent of a Demon Lord.

But it wasn't a demon.

And yet, it was familiar.

‘No, this is.’

My face hardened as I realized.

This was the stench of the traces of the apocalypse.

“Ugh.”

A groan came from beside me.

Adela’s face scrunched up in a frown as she saw the ceiling and floor, glistening with slimy mucus and moisture.

“This is unpleasant.”

It seemed she simply didn't like the environment here.

Golden sand, generated from around Adela, spread out on the floor, creating a path.

When we reached the end of the cave, a large cavern appeared.

Inside it… was a slime the size of a house.

‘It’s progressed further than last time.’

If Adela hadn’t told me, I would have had to watch the capital be half-destroyed without knowing why.

“It’s big.”

The giant slime flinched in response to Adela’s voice.

In the past, I would have been terrified, but.

“I’ll end this in one shot.”

The me of now was not the me of the past.

I took out my shotgun and fired, aiming carelessly as if just swinging it.

The bullet, imbued with mana and Stellar Force, flew in an arc, pierced through the top of the slime’s head, and destroyed its core in a single blow.

“There will be a second wave.”

The terrifying thing about slimes is their acidity.

But what’s even more terrifying is the ‘division’ of a giant slime.

The scattered remains of the giant slime gathered among themselves and transformed into hundreds, thousands of small slimes.

“I will take care of this.”

Adela waved her hand, and golden sand gathered from all directions, summoning her knights.

“Wipe them all out.”

Sir Harris and the Shadow Knights, in their original form as golden sand knights, charged in and began to slaughter the slimes.

It was good to have a tedious job taken care of.

In the meantime, I surveyed the slime cavern.

‘That person isn’t here this time.’

The member of the Peacemaker who had escaped with the holy relic, the Rosary of Grace, on the day of Cosmos' fall.

He had died here on his way to the rendezvous point, becoming the medium for the Time Chaos Dungeon.

At that time, I didn't know him, so I couldn't even properly pray for his soul.

“Insignificant creatures…!”

Some of the slimes being slaughtered threw themselves forward.

They leaped towards Adela like a suicide squad, but as soon as Adela glanced at them, golden sand shot up from the ground, becoming a sand tsunami that engulfed the slimes in return.

“Hmph, worthless things. They’re a piece of cake for me.”

Adela declared the end of the battle.

There were no moving slimes in sight.

A Time Chaos Dungeon of this level was now easily conquerable.

Honestly, it was easier than I thought.

It meant Adela’s skills had improved that much.

Proof that she hadn't neglected her training.

Just then, tap tap, Adela tapped my arm.

When I turned to look, she dramatically swept her hair with her hand.

“Hehe, how about that? My skills are quite something now, aren't they? I permit it! Praise me!”

She was going this far….

“Amazing…”

At that moment, the dungeon began to rumble violently.

“Let’s get out. It’s about to collapse.”

“Tch, what about the praise? Hey!”

As we exited the dungeon through the entrance we came in, the distortion disappeared, and it began to return to its original form as a sewage treatment plant.

But….

“…? Martin. I heard that when you conquer a dungeon, there’s usually a reward.”

“That’s what I know too.”

There was no reward.

Nothing at all.

Only an empty space remained, as if there had been nothing from the start.

Something that had served as the medium for the Time Chaos should have appeared….

‘What is this.’

I had a ominous premonition that something unusual was happening.

“This is unusual. I have never heard of a case like this.”

“The same goes for me.”

Adela got back into the golden carriage.

“I’ll have to investigate. To think we’d get such a dud. And it’s not even an artificial dungeon.”

* * *

Immediately after parting with Adela, I headed to the Humanity Preservation Agency.

“So you came to see me, Kim An-hyun.”

“Yes.”

As I explained the situation to the Star Maiden, she served me coffee she had brewed herself.

“I learned some barista skills too.”

“Oh.”

“Try not to be too amazed.”

On top of the coffee the Star Maiden handed me, there was a picture drawn with steamed milk.

“…What is this?”

“It’s an indescribable abstract painting.”

“…”

Either the continent’s modern art was too high-level for me to accept, or too low.

Or the Star Maiden’s skills were just terrible.

“So, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Well…”

The Star Maiden’s brow furrowed.

“I don’t know.”

The answer from the woman who was once called the Oracle who could see the future was anticlimactic.

“If my powers as the Star Maiden were complete, I might know.”

In the process of transferring me from Earth to Martin on the continent, her ability to receive prophecies had been permanently lost.

“What’s certain is that this is strange. It’s not normal. And it’s very artificial.”

Artificial.

Adela had said something similar earlier.

“Are you trying to say that someone intentionally created or restored the Time Chaos Dungeon?”

“That’s how I see it.”

The Star Maiden stretched out her hand, and a hologram map appeared.

It was a Time Chaos map, stained with black spots.

“The continent has been fighting for a very long time.”

As she swept her hand from left to right, the black spots appeared and disappeared repeatedly.

The flow of time.

From the past to the present, the Time Chaos receded.

And finally, it reached the present with the clearing of the Fog Island in the southern sea of the continent.

The only remaining areas were the border and the ruined Cosmos Empire on one side of the continent.

“Do you know why the Time Chaos Dungeons occurred?”