"If she's such an important friend, why not go up and say hello?"
Bell couldn't understand the emotions on Ryu's face, but she could tell how much she wanted to.
If it were Bell, and she were standing that close, she would want to go see her grandfather too—before he had passed away.
"…We don't belong to this era after all."
Ryu reluctantly tore her gaze away.
Justice would keep circulating onward. That was what Ardee had once conveyed to her.
And as someone who had inherited that flame, Ryu had in turn passed those words on to Bell.
The seed of justice was like a flame, handed down from one generation to the next.
As someone who had received that flame, how could Ryu not want to see Ardee?
But the Ardee of this timeline had her own Ryu.
This world was beautiful, but there was no place for her in it.
If possible, Ryu wanted to return to her original world as soon as she could.
That world needed her more.
It was just that she still had no idea how to go back.
"And besides, the Orario of this world is different from the one we knew. We need to gather more information first. Ideally, we need to find out exactly where the differences lie."
Ryu desperately wanted to know what had happened in this world.
Why had Ardee not died here?
If this was how Orario was in this world, would the tragedies that were supposed to happen in the future still come to pass?
As those future calamities flashed through her mind, the first person she thought of was a red-haired figure.
Before leaving this timeline that did not belong to her, there was one thing she absolutely had to do.
Even if the Alise of this world was not her Alise, if she could save her, it might ease the regrets in Ryu's heart.
"Miss Ryu, will this world's Orario turn out the same as ours? Do we have any way to save it?"
Bell looked at the city before them with longing.
She was only an adventurer of average talent, someone who had only reached Level 3 thanks to a special skill.
In fact, before obtaining that skill, she had been nearly stuck at Level 1 for an unbearably long time.
When it came to Orario, Bell had genuinely wanted to protect it—yet in the end, she had only been able to watch as Babel fell and the city was destroyed.
Bell still remembered that when she had first arrived in Orario, it had been just as bustling and lively as the one before her now.
She wanted to protect an Orario like this.
"I don't know. For now, let's gather information first."
Having made up her mind, Ryu walked away in the direction opposite Ardee.
She expected that collecting information would not be simple.
Ordinary civilians might have lived through the Great Feud, but the information they knew would be limited.
As for the decisions made by those at the top, there was no way common people would know the details.
Still, during her past campaign of revenge against the Dark Faction, Ryu had inevitably come into contact with the city's gray-market underbelly.
Naturally, she knew exactly where to go for the kind of information she wanted.
Using the money she carried with her, she easily bought the answers she sought.
"What happened during the Great Feud? A lot of things. What exactly do you want to ask?"
"Whose contribution was the greatest? That'd obviously be the captains of the two major familias."
"If you really want a specific name, there was also that young guy who did a lot—the boyfriend of 'Ivory Verse' and 'Gale.'"
The information brokers chattered away one after another, casually handing over the information.
It wasn't because they were being sloppy. First, they had already been paid. Second, this information was long out of date.
Anyone who had ever dealt in intelligence knew that once certain information lost its timing, it became worthless.
And that was exactly what this masked girl was asking about—worthless, outdated gossip.
Yet it was precisely that worthless gossip that left Ryu stunned into silence.
Bell pulled Ryu aside and asked in an excited whisper,
"Miss Ryu, so your boyfriend is still alive in this time period too? Then you absolutely have to go see him! By the way, who is your boyfriend?"
Ever since she was little, Bell had loved listening to her grandfather tell stories of heroes.
Because of all that relentless conditioning from him, she had also come to believe that a proper hero ought to have a harem.
After growing older, Bell had often wanted to complain: she was obviously a girl, so why had her grandfather always told her stories like that?
Unfortunately, he was no longer around.
In any case, because of that upbringing, Bell was very interested in romance.
Too bad she had never once heard anything in the future about this supposed boyfriend of Miss Ryu's.
Which meant he must have died in the original timeline, right?
So he was an ex-boyfriend?
What a shame.
Ryu opened her mouth, then closed it again.
And if that were true, wouldn't that mean she was stealing Ardee's boyfriend?
As for who this so-called boyfriend was, Ryu herself was dying to know.
She genuinely could not imagine such a thing.
To be honest, she wanted to run away right now.
For a pure elf, this topic was far too stimulating.
But her intuition also told her that this so-called boyfriend might be the key figure who had kept Ardee alive.
So she could not run. Could not run. Absolutely could not run.
"Who… is that young man?"
Ryu's gaze drifted away nervously, unable to meet the broker's eyes.
Ever since she had matured and become Bell's senior adventurer, it had been a very long time since she had felt this guilty.
The last time she'd felt this guilty… had been the last time.
"That's the thing—his exact abilities aren't well known. All anyone knows is that his magic is absurdly strong. You can see that long trench outside, right?"
"As for what he actually did, well, let me formally introduce him to you."
"He is the disciple of the royal elf line, the man chosen by the Brave as the next commander, a slayer of virgin goddesses, the great contributor of the Great Feud…"
Ryu found Hermes Familia's people unbearably talkative.
Bell, meanwhile, still had not really understood.
Miss Ryu had that many boyfriends?
At that moment, Cid frowned slightly, as if he had sensed someone badmouthing him behind his back.
He was currently in his Shadow persona, and before him knelt a group of contestants who would be fighting for their lives in a few days.
"My lord, if only monsters are allowed onto the field with us, I'll definitely be able to kill that righteous bitch!"
Gelo Halmar had absolute confidence in himself.
After enduring this hellish period, he had genuinely improved a great deal.
Tempered in hell itself, he had already become Level 4.
Then his smile froze.
He never even saw the sword move before his head left his shoulders.
"Noisy."
Cid casually flicked his hand.
Chloe immediately understood, stepping forward to kick both Gelo's body and head aside.
Mocking even the family of Lord Shadow—he had clearly been tired of living.
The rest of the Dark Faction members, on the other hand, had no intention whatsoever of standing up for their fallen comrade. They all fell silent and looked at the towering figure before them with even greater awe.
This style of conduct practically screamed demonic overlord.
And remembering how he had dealt with Valetta before, they behaved with perfect obedience.
"My lord, the pair of elves you have been waiting for has entered the Dungeon."
Lunoire leaned in close and delivered the latest report.
Knowing that the Dis sisters had arrived, Cid naturally intended to personally witness the revenge battle between those three.
He believed Filvis would win, and he also wanted to see just how much those two elf sisters had changed.
More importantly, after this revenge match, Shadow Garden would officially step onto the public stage.
"The time has come. Rejoice, Orario—your king has arrived!"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it