Chapter 109: Dark Horse

They had arrived quite literally at the last possible moment.

The group, having just emerged, stood catching their breath as they stared at the now fully closed Gate of the Abyss.

“Wow, that was seriously a close call…”

At Eleanor’s words, Jun nodded with difficulty.

“Yeah… we got lucky.”

Right after escaping from the alchemists’ city Hedravan, they had arrived at Moradon’s Plains, which was on the fourth level. Just below the fifth level where Hedravan was located.

The problem was that the field rift created in Hedravan hadn’t generated a Gate of the Abyss, which was the only means of escaping Blackout.

From that point on, they had run nonstop without even sleeping, trying to find a nearby field rift.

As a result, had they been even a few seconds later, they would’ve been left behind in Blackout.

That thought sent a chill down their spines.

It’s a good thing we were in familiar terrain.

If not, they would’ve been dead for sure.

Of course, no one really knew whether staying behind in the field after the season ended actually meant death.

But no one was eager to find out firsthand.

“Phew… Anyway, it’s been a while. Emperor’s Hill.”

The imperial capital, Emperor’s Hill.

Jun glanced briefly at the imperial palace visible in the distance, then looked around at the scenery.

The passersby were staring at Jun and the others like they were crazy.

And understandably so.

Usually, those who returned from Blackout made sure to come out with at least a week to spare.

It was extremely rare for anyone to stay until the very last day and even more unusual for people to return by barely slipping through the Gate of the Abyss like they just had.

“Hey…! You there!”

At that moment, one of the guards stationed at the gate called out to Jun and the others.

“Are you out of your mind? Coming out just now?”

To be greeted with something like that the moment they arrived—

It really drove home how insane their feat had been.

Not that they had much choice in the matter.

“It’s not like we wanted to cut it that close.”

“Ugh…”

“Anyway, where do we go for transit registration?”

“Tch, the processing team already withdrew. Follow us—wait. Sir!”

Just then, from a nearby tent, someone who was clearly an officer approached them.

The officer gave a brief nod of acknowledgment to the soldier who had spoken to Jun, then turned his eyes toward Jun and the rest of the group.

“Who’s the leader?”

“That would be me.”

The officer stepped closer to Jun with a stern face and then whispered something quietly.

“You’re with the White Whale Mercenaries, correct?”

…What?

Why was he asking that so discreetly?

A chill ran down Jun’s spine at the strange tension, but he gave a slight nod.

“We were sent by the Gillen Merchant Guildy. You can handle the official registration later. Come with me.”

“…Understood.”

Sensing that something was off, Jun quietly followed the man, and the rest of the group read the mood and trailed behind silently.

“We were about to dispatch a messenger. You returned just in time.”

Once they boarded the carriage the officer had prepared, his expression finally softened a little as he looked at them.

“The White Whale Mercenaries… It’s an honor to meet you in person.”

“……?”

Unlike the atmosphere outside, the officer looked at Jun and his group with a somewhat more friendly expression.

Why, though?

From the way he mentioned the Gillen Merchant Guild earlier, it seems like he knows Chloe.

Still, even so…was there a need to be that friendly?

“Ah, come to think of it, you all probably don’t know what’s happened outside.”

“Could you tell us more about it?”

Jun asked, but the officer shook his head.

“It’s not bad news for you. You’ll hear the details once you meet the young lady.”

“…I see.”

Something was going on. Something even he didn’t know about.

Jun usually disliked situations like that, but he didn’t show it.

Instead, he quietly turned his gaze to the window.

This really was the capital of an empire.

Unlike Blackout, the roads were incredibly smooth, and the carriage rode along without the slightest jolt.

Peaceful.

The capital city felt peaceful. Almost jarringly so, considering how just moments ago, they’d been running for their lives.

“……”

That same capital, for a moment, overlapped in Jun’s mind with the image of it burning.

Five years, at most.

It might even happen sooner, depending on Jun’s involvement.

But Jun shook his head.

Save the complicated thoughts for later.

Now was the time to focus on the present.

***

The carriage came to a stop in front of a huge building.

It was the capital branch of the Gillen Merchant Guild. Jun had seen it before.

On the ground floor was a reception area large enough for carriages to pass through.

Jun and his group stepped out of the carriage and waited near the entrance at the officer’s request.

“They’re just kids.”

“Reckless, playing around while carriages are moving.”

Just like Aiden and Eleanor had said, a group of children were playing in the alley across the street, wielding wooden swords and staffs.

“Hi-ya! Hi-ya! I’m the great hero Aiden!”

“I’m the legendary mage Jun! Take my fireball!”

…?

Did he mishear that?

Jun rubbed his ear and looked back at the children.

“Hmph! Your fireball is useless against my sword!”

“Argh! Hey! Why are you attacking me? I’m the mercenary captain!”

“No way! Aiden’s the captain!”

“Ugh! Don’t lie!”

The kids, who had been playing happily, suddenly started pulling each other’s hair and fighting.

“…Uh.”

Jun’s expression twisted slightly.

Aiden? Jun? Mercenary captain?

Was it a coincidence?

But that felt strange, too.

If it were a famous story that kids played out and called “legendary”, there’s no way he wouldn’t have heard of it.

Did they just make up the names on the spot?

If so, that’d be one hell of a coincidence.

“…The kids sure play in a strange way.”

Standing right beside him, Aiden gave an awkward smile.

“Y-Yeah, really.”

Just then, the officer who had gone to the reception desk returned.

“You may head inside. This is where I leave you. Once again, it was an honor to meet you.”

“……”

Strange.

Jun felt it again, that sense of oddness, as he and his group followed a young man who was presumably a staff member into the building.

Unlike the officer from earlier, the young man didn’t say much.

When Jun glanced at him, he looked extremely nervous for some reason.

What is going on?

Nothing made any sense.

Eventually, they arrived at a room.

Waiting for them inside, for some reason with slightly red eyes, was Chloe.

“You’re here?”

She was trying hard to appear calm but couldn’t completely hide the slight trembling.

“Good work bringing them here. Go take care of your duties.”

“Yes, Miss!”

At Chloe’s words, the staff member who had been standing tensely nearby hurried off in a flash.

Only then did Chloe turn to Jun, glaring at him with a thoroughly irritated expression.

“Y-You…!”

“Haha, long time no see.”

“You idiot!”

He didn’t know exactly what was going on.

But one thing was certain.

Chloe was exactly the same as before and they were finally safe.

Jun could feel it: the long, long season of blackout had come to an end.

***

“Haah.”

Late at night.

While the others had each been assigned their rooms and were resting separately, Jun sat down for a conversation with Chloe, just the two of them.

“First of all… good job. And sorry for getting angry earlier.”

“No, it’s fine. It was understandable.”

After all, he had suddenly gone silent and vanished for months. That kind of reaction made sense.

“I never imagined you’d gone through all that.”

With a remorseful look, Chloe said,

“I didn’t think the job I took would turn out that way…”

“You don’t have to look like that. That’s just how things are in Blackout.”

You never know when something unexpected might happen.

And if you started pointing fingers every time something went wrong, who could you even work with?

“So that’s why Professor Schneider acted the way he did…”

“Schneider?”

Why was that name coming up now?

“Yeah. You must’ve felt it too on your way here, right? That something felt… off?”

“…I did feel it.”

“Professor Schneider made a public announcement about what you guys were working on.”

“What?”

“I mean…”

What Chloe said next was more than enough to leave Jun in shock.

***

Schneider. A scholar and professor with the Issues Society.

Having survived the orc army’s advance, he immediately began tracking the traces Jun and his team had left behind.

In the end, he was able to locate the very place in the “Silent Plains” where Jun and his team had fought their final battle against the Orc Lord.

However, all he could see there were the marks of a fierce battle and the aftermath of some massive energy explosion.

Jun and his companions were nowhere to be found.

He was devastated.

“Oh no, how could this happen! The heroes who were to light the way for Blackout have met their end…”

It was a situation that could easily be misunderstood.

The orcs, having lost the control of the Orc Lord, had vanished, and the blocked field paths had returned to normal.

Even so, he held onto hope and waited until the end for news of Jun and his team….but nothing ever came.

“I must let the outside world know about this as soon as possible!”

So he immediately began writing a paper for the Society, including every single detail of what they had experienced, leaving nothing out, and released it to the world.

Even Chloe hadn’t known about it. She only found out on the day the announcement was made.

It showed just how urgently Schneider had acted.

…The problem was, the Issues Society was a highly prestigious institution in many ways.

Though it was known for stirring up incidents here and there, it handled major secrets related to Blackout and drew a lot of attention. Especially from the imperial family.

After all, it was a story about a being as powerful as the Orc Lord nearly being unleashed upon the surface world.

Naturally, it attracted an overwhelming amount of attention.

In the process, Schneider was nearly criticized for endangering the Empire…

But the truth was, Blackout was a place where incidents and accidents happened all the time, and more importantly, the Emperor and Count Mordenain had come to his defense.

If blame were placed so easily, Blackout’s operations would become far too restricted.

Thus, much of the public’s focus shifted to the White Whale Mercenary Group, who had played a major role in resolving the crisis.

—Just who are these people to have achieved something like that?

What began as a curiosity quickly led various parties, each with their own motives, to start digging into the White Whale Mercenary Group.

And that’s when another issue arose.

Namely, the fact that the ones who had stopped the dimensional reverse known as the Orc Lord were… merely a Silver-ranked mercenary group.

At first, many refused to believe it, but as investigations went deeper…

The accomplishments of the White Whale Mercenary Group began to come to light.

—They played a major role in subjugating the Goblin Lord in the Black Forest.

—They were instrumental in killing the Area Lord, the Fairy Queen.

So far, it was acceptable.

That level of achievement could be seen as the rise of an exceptional dark horse.

But various groups began to dig deeper and gather information more persistently.

And eventually, even secrets that had never been revealed to the world came to light.

—The culprit behind the destruction of the Zenkar Magic Tower of the King of Enchantment Shylock was the Volcatornic Tower, and behind that stood a secretive group known as the Heavenly Church!

—And the ones who uncovered that hidden truth were none other than the White Whale Mercenary Group!

It was after those rumors began to spread that public opinion started to shift among those who had initially shown interest merely because a remarkable dark horse had appeared.