"If I may be so impudent, could you please tell us the nature of what you have to do?"
The one who asked the question was Adonis.
Yes, he respected Ralyks immensely. The man was incredibly powerful, and he was selfless in many regards. Despite all his good qualities, Adonis could not remain blind to a few of his suspicious traits.
For example, his unwillingness to participate in a Dungeon Conquest that would definitely be a betterment to humanity.
"I have some private investigations I will need to conduct, so I won't be around for an extended period of time." Ralyks responded calmly, still on his feet.
"And it can not wait?"
It pained Adonis to press on this way, but he had no choice. As someone who had seen the future—one where there was no Ralyks—he had to understand this man very well.
"It cannot." Once Ralyks gave this response, Adonis felt deflated.
He had no right to pry any further, and in all honesty, Ralyks was doing him a big favor by even responding to the questions.
"Sorry for asking so many unnecessary questions." Adonis bowed, but the Dark Adventurer shrugged it off.
"It's fine. Also, while I won't be around, I don't mind transporting everyone to the Adventurers City tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room beamed.
The Adventurers City was very far. Even on the fastest carriage, it would take nearly a week to reach the location. The fastest way to get there would be through Magic, but since none of the students had Spatial Magic, it wouldn't be an easy feat.
If they boosted their transportation with Items and the likes, they would still need a few days to reach the location.
'The higher-ups at the Adventurers Guild also recognize this, so they are probably not expecting much from us despite requesting for our assistance.' Conrad thought to himself, smiling intensely. 'But with Sir Ralyks, we can bypass all of those problems.'
That was one of the major reasons why they called him in.
'Still, it's strange. Even the higher-ups don't know who Sir Ralyks is…'
It boggled the mind, but Conrad had learned to simply let the complicated matters go and just focus on the good aspects of life.
'Right now, we have everything ready for our participation in the Conquest. All that is left is, of course, the consent of the Otherworlders.'
Whether or not they would accept was a different ball game entirely, but it didn't concern Ralyks in the slightest.
"I'll return in the evening tomorrow, so please be prepared by then." As he said this, sparks of energy manifested, followed by a distortion of space behind him.
"Understood!"
Conrad , Vida, and Adonis rose to their feet and nodded.
"Thank you once again, Sir Ralyks."
"It's no problem." He shrugged as he began entering the portal.
Then, out of nowhere, a panicked voice rose from among the trio—its origin still a mystery.
"Ah, could you also transport us to the Estate Fields? I think we're a little behind schedule on…"
"Sure…"
And that was how the Royal Council met up with the waiting students while Ralyks gracefully made his exit.
**********
[The Present]
The students dispersed after the entire announcement, and most of them decided to make the most of their time before heading to the Adventurers City.
Since they would be leaving on the evening of the next day, they still had considerable time to have fun. For different people, that could be defined in various ways.
Regarding Rey and Alicia, however… it meant one thing.
—Reading in the library.
The two of them sat in silence, within the four walls of the library. They were surrounded by the fresh smell of paper and parchments, soaking in the decorum that only the inner sanctum of knowledge could provide.
The result was absolute immersion in what they found pleasure in most—at least, this was true for one of the two people in the room.
While Alicia was busy consuming the contents of the book in her grasp, hungrily devouring the knowledge within it as if there was no tomorrow, Rey's distracted gaze merely rested on his own book.
His mind was elsewhere.
'Miasma, huh? Could this be Adrien's work? Is he somehow related to this entire incident?' Rey wasn't sure what to think.
For one, it didn't seem likely that Adrien would orchestrate some big event like this that would attract the attention of so many people. Besides, Dungeons popping out of nowhere—
even Grand Calamity ones—had happened before.
As such, it wasn't some unknown, unexplainable phenomenon.
Trying to pin it on Adrien Chase, just because Miasma was involved, felt a bit far-fetched to Rey.
But…
'Adrien has found ways to manipulate even the most ordinary-
looking scenarios and made them all work for his benefit. Perhaps he caused the Dungeon appearing, but it's also possible that he didn't cause this Dungeon's appearance, but he has plans for it.'
Either way, Rey couldn't help but feel like he was being lured in.
'I don't like this one bit.'
It was one of the major reasons why he chose not to appear as Ralyks. He would be taking too big of a risk, and that could be playing into Adrien's hand.
'I'll have to think of another way to go about this…' Rey sighed.
With the Conquest happening, and so many things about to take place at the same time, Rey felt a bit overwhelmed with all of it.
'I actually kind of miss Ater now. Who would have thought…' He smiled to himself and shook his head.
'I wonder what he would have done if he was in my position.'
As Rey lay on his bed and closed his eyes, he sighed and imagined everything that could happen to him and his classmates within the City and inside the Dungeon.
'I've never been to the Adventurers City, so…' A brief smile crept on his face and he internally made a decision.
'I'll have to ask around a bit before reaching my conclusion.'