Chapter 124
“Saint! Please take me with you! I’m very good with weapons! Rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles. I can handle anything! I’ll follow you all the way to Labyrinth Floor 7. Just tell me what to do……”
A person who looked like a Hunter approached the Elderly Person and said something in the Northern tongue.
The elderly person flared up in anger at his words, retorting in Northern tongue. His grandson, who couldn't bear to watch, also seemed to scold his grandfather, but the elderly person's will was unyielding.
“For 300 years, no one believed my Family’s words! Now, finally! Finally, it has been proven that our ancestors’ efforts and hardships were right! Please let me complete my final mission! Please!!”
The Elderly Person struggled, pleading with me until the very end, but he was led away by his Grandson and other Hunters and disappeared.
I stared for a moment at where the Elderly Person had been dragged away, then turned to Lou, my Interpreter.
The small, pointy-eared Dwarf woman looked curiously at the Elderly Person who had been dragged away, then, sensing my gaze, explained to me.
“It’s true that he’s from a Family that have claimed for 300 years that the God of Courage remains on Labyrinth Floor 7, and that they are Descendants of the Last Hero Karim.”
“For 300 years?”
“Yes. It was such an absurd claim that no one believed them, but they have consistently maintained it. They are a great Hunter Family. The problem is that they’re so great that only those two are left alive.”
The moment Lou said that.
The elderly person, who had been dragged far away, broke free from everyone’s restraint and walked back towards me.
When the Golden Company Members guarding me blocked him, he started shouting again.
“Saint! Please include me in the Expedition Team! I am someone who has been down to Labyrinth Floor 7! I will absolutely not be a burden! Please, I beg you!!”
The Elderly Person’s voice was loud enough to be considered a nuisance.
But strangely, the patients gathered around and their families showed no displeasure at the elderly person’s shouting.
Instead, an atmosphere of subtle apology hung in the air.
“Saint, please! I must go to Labyrinth Floor 7! I must go there and fulfill my ancestor’s last will! Please include me in the Expedition Team! Please, I beg you! The Saint’s Expedition Team is my last chance!”
the elderly person desperately pleaded with me again and again while I was performing treatment.
Some Hunters, unable to bear it, approached him again and seemed to say something in the Northern tongue, but the Elderly Person was stubborn.
In the end, no one could persuade the Elderly Person.
The young man who seemed to be the Elderly Person’s Grandson eventually got angry, shouted, and disappeared, and the Hunters, looking at the Elderly Person with a mix of pity and regret, gave up trying to stop him.
Ultimately, the Elderly Person stood by my side the entire time I was performing the treatment.
If the Golden Company Members guarding me hadn’t stopped him, he would have probably grabbed my feet and begged.
Finally, when the Treatment was mostly finished and I had a brief moment of free time late in the evening, I had no choice but to call the Elderly Person over to me.
It had been a long time since I’d seen someone so desperately cling to something.
“Elder, what is your name?”
“Ban! My name is Ban! The young man you just saw is my grandson, John. Saint, please, please take me with you. I will absolutely not be a burden.”
The Elderly Person looked at me desperately, his eyes sparkling with an almost excessive vitality.
“You’re an elderly person. Why do you insist on going to such a dangerous place?”
“Because it is our mission. Please, Saint. Grant me permission. Without the Saint’s permission, I won’t be allowed to enter the Labyrinth again. Ragot and the other Guild Masters will never allow it.”
“I need an explanation. If you could tell me what happened……”
“I will explain, Saint.”
Another Elderly Person appeared before me with a deep voice.
The Elderly Person, wearing the emblem of the Cult of Heroes on his chest, grabbed the shoulder of Old Man Ban, who had been desperately pleading with me.
“John closed the shop. If you’ve grown back your limbs and can speak again after 20 years, go back and look after your last remaining Family, Ban. That’s the right order of things.”
“But Mathieu!…….”
“I’ll explain your situation, so go on.”
Old Man Ban hesitated for a moment at his words, then turned and left. Mathieu watched the scene for a moment, then approached me and quietly bowed.
“I greet the Chosen of Lilia. I am Mathieu, a servant of the Cult of Heroes. Do you have a moment?”
I felt I needed to hear Old Man Ban’s story.
Mathieu and I went into a nearby building and sat down.
“So, the day has finally come when Ban’s Family’s words are proven true. It seems one must live a long life to see such things.”
“Is Ban truly a Descendant of the Last Hero Karim? If so, why wasn’t it announced sooner? The Cult of Heroes has been searching for Lord Ponemkin so diligently for 300 years.”
Priest Mathieu smiled bitterly.
“We announced it. For 300 years, we constantly informed the Cult of Heroes. But with the exception of a very few, no one believed us. They said there was no way a Deity could be in the deepest part of the Great Labyrinth, where even simple Magic couldn’t be maintained or manifested. They chose instead to comb the Southern Region of the Continent like a fine-tooth comb.”
“And after 300 years of attempts, the Cult of Heroes finally admitted that its search direction was wrong.”
“Yes, that’s right. And during those 300 years, Ban’s Family researched and researched ways and means to descend to Labyrinth Floor 7, finally enabling them to bring back evidence that their claims were true.”
No one believed his or her words.
Neither the Cult of Heroes, nor the Hunters of The North.
No one believed the claim that they were Descendants of the Hero Family and that the God of Courage was trapped on Labyrinth Floor 7.
But despite that, Old Man Ban’s Family did not give up.
With the conviction that if people didn’t believe, they would make them believe, they began to devise ways to descend to Labyrinth Floor 7.
They created exploration maps of the Labyrinth and actively researched gunpowder weapons to hunt High-Risk Magic Beasts appearing below Labyrinth Floor 3.
They manufactured firearms and supplied them to hunters.
They found strategies for countless Magic Beasts and created exploration maps for the unknown world below Floor 4.
For 300 years.
Old Man Ban’s Family continuously attacked and conquered the Great Labyrinth.
And finally.
They made Karim’s Flag see the light of the Mortal Realm once again.
Though they didn’t bring the flag back themselves.
“What happened?”
“Twenty years ago, Old Man Ban set out on an expedition with his son and daughter-in-law to find a Passage from Labyrinth Floor 6 to Labyrinth Floor 7. At the end of an expedition that lasted nearly a year, Ban finally pioneered a Passage down to Floor 7 and returned. In return, he lost his son and daughter-in-law, and he himself lost his limbs and vocal cords, living like a chrysalis for 20 years.”
“……….”
“The Expedition Team that recovered Karim’s Flag was a different Expedition Team. It had no connection or relation to Ban’s Family. But it was able to reach that point by building upon the achievements of Ban’s Family, who had struggled for 300 years, Saint.”
The Elderly Person shouted for me to include him in the Expedition Team.
I now understood a little why a mix of apology and pity coexisted on the faces of the other Hunters.
And why the grandson, called John, had left the elderly person in such anger.
“Saint. I have watched Ban my entire life. Even when the Cult said there was no way the God of Courage could be in the Great Labyrinth, I believed him and volunteered to stay in the Labyrinth, waiting day after day for evidence to emerge that would prove Ban’s words.”
“When Karim’s Flag was discovered, you were the one who announced it, weren’t you?”
Priest Mathieu nodded.
He carefully took my hand.
“He is the last remaining Successor of a Family that has endured and strived for 300 years. Please allow him to die, if he must, on Labyrinth Floor 7, before the God of Courage. He would rather that.”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
“Doesn’t Old Man Ban have a Grandson?”
He has family.
Even with Family, it was impossible to take him on an expedition to Great Labyrinth Floor 7, where anything could happen.
Ban’s Family had already done enough.
The thought crossed my mind that perhaps they should rest a little now.
“If the Saint judges it so, you don’t have to take him.”
At Priest Mathieu’s words, I felt a headache coming on.
*This….*
*What should I do?*
***
“John, are you awake?”
Gun Shop.
Old Man Ban’s Family had been gunsmiths for generations.
Magic Beasts appearing below Labyrinth Floor 3 were no longer creatures that could be caught with spears, swords, or bows.
Stronger weapons were needed, so Old Man Ban’s Family chose the path of developing firearms.
At Old Man Ban’s voice, as he entered the house smelling of gunpowder, oil, and steel, and carefully headed towards his grandson’s room, John’s door suddenly burst open.
“You’re going to follow them to Labyrinth Floor 7? You want to join the Expedition Team?”
Rough Northern tongue burst from John’s mouth.
“Why on earth would you go that far……… Why!!”
“John. Haven’t I told you many times? Humanity can only have peace if the God of Courage is returned to the Heavenly Realm. It’s about saving the World.”
“What’s the point of saving the World? What’s the point of saving the World if you can’t even protect your own Family? Now, the only Family I have left is you, Grandfather. And you’re saying you’re going to die?”
“Why do you always think that way? The best Hunters in Labyrinth are all gathered, and the Saint is also going down with us. I’ll come back alive. I will definitely come back alive.”
“They said over 2,000 Demon Followers were sighted. Do you think those guys will just stand by and watch? Absolutely not! Please, Grandfather. Just stay home. You’ve already done enough. Our Family has already done enough for the past 300 years. Why are you actively seeking death?”
“I’m not seeking death, John. I’m fulfilling an unfinished mission. I’m going to see the fruits of 300 years of effort. I want to prove that my Family, my ancestors, and I have not lived in vain.”
The Grandfather looked at his Grandson.
“That way, even after I die, you can live with pride. Don’t you think? You should enjoy the fruits of 300 years of hardship as a true Descendant of the Hero Family.”
Even with the playful words, John couldn’t smile.
“This talk about saving the World—I’m so sick of it. It’s stupid. It’s awful. It took my parents, and now it’s a phrase that might take the last Family member I have left, so I hate it. Really……….”
John turned his back on Ban and went into the Room.
And soon, he came out with a gun and handed it to Ban.
“It’s a 10-gauge Shotgun. Gas-Operated. You don’t need to move your hand to load it every time like a pump-action.”
“Not a Long Recoil System, but Gas-Operated? Is this that thing you said you were experimenting with?”
“That’s right. Someone with your skill, Grandfather, will handle it well enough. So……….”
John watched Ban skillfully handling the shotgun he had made.
“Come back alive. No matter what. I want to live and enjoy the 300 years of hardship our ancestors endured, together with you, Grandfather.”
Ban smiled faintly at his words.
“I’ll come back and prove it to the World, my Grandson, that your Father and Grandfather and the ancestors of your Family did not live in vain.”
Ban took the gun his grandson had made and ran outside.
John, left alone, remained silent for a long time.