I was Born in the Final Demon Realm of a Dark Fantasy

The composure that comes when one is aware of their own strength.

While I was intrigued by that distinctive relaxed atmosphere, I wasn’t particularly fond of Chamber’s manner of steering the conversation as he pleased.

After all, he had interrupted my conversation with Carb. I also didn’t understand why he was speaking so casually to me.

Of course, I wasn’t uninterested in raising my adventurer rank.

What I wanted was to gain new experiences by facing things I hadn’t encountered before.

For someone like me, the act of conquering dungeons was inherently interesting.

It was true that the magical beasts encountered in the apprentice dungeon were below expectations, but that dungeon was literally just an ‘apprentice’ dungeon.

I couldn’t know what powerful magical beasts might lurk in higher-tier dungeons.

Nothing would be better than gaining new enlightenment in that unknown.

But that didn’t mean I needed to rush recklessly.

Arnen and Elia were looking for their father’s last traces.

It was true that we needed to raise our adventurer ranks to approach the Seven Sinister Caves. And it was also true that I wanted to help the Arnen sisters if possible.

However, it wasn’t so desperate that I needed to unconditionally bow to someone.

“I think I need to hear more details. Specifically, what kind of work requires manpower.”

“What kind of work would need an adventurer… especially an apprentice adventurer? It’s not that difficult a task.”

Chamber opened the belt pouch at his waist. What he took out was a piece of parchment.

The seemingly old parchment contained information about a dungeon.

“We’re planning to conquer the Cliff Ruins, one of the 72 dungeons. It’s a third-tier dungeon, classified as ‘Forbidden’.”

At those words, Carb, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, interjected.

“Mr. Chamber… if it’s a Forbidden-tier dungeon, that’s not a level an apprentice adventurer can handle.”

Despite the voice tinged with concern, Chamber again shrugged it off with a smooth response.

“No need to worry. According to preliminary information, to reach the upper levels of the dungeon, one needs to lift a heavy stone door. The manpower is needed to lift that door. I won’t take you any further than that.”

This time, I was the one with a question.

“So it’s just lifting a stone door, and for that, you’ll raise my adventurer rank?”

“Since people I like aren’t gathering, I have no choice but to offer good conditions to bring them in.”

“…”

He spoke in a tone that seemed openly honest, as if there was no reason to hide anything.

But there must surely be a reason why people weren’t gathering. I wasn’t overlooking that.

Nevertheless, or rather, because of it, I was even more drawn.

Forbidden-tier dungeon.

In a situation where I currently needed to conquer apprentice dungeons, the opportunity to immediately go to a Forbidden-tier dungeon was certainly an attractive proposal. Plus, I could raise my rank.

‘It might be dangerous… but I wonder if it’s that bad.’

After finishing my thoughts, I met Chamber’s eyes and said:

“I need to meet the party leader in person. Since it seems they have the decision-making authority, I’ll make a decision after hearing a definite answer from them.”

“You want to meet them personally…?”

Chamber narrowed his eyes as if he doubted what I had said.

When I simply nodded as if it was no big deal, Chamber rubbed his forehead and let out a laugh mixed with a sigh. Then he shook his head.

“That’s a tough request to grant. I’d like to remind you that you’re an apprentice adventurer. Even if I’m readily making this offer, it’s true that it’s an opportunity hard to come by for an apprentice adventurer.”

“Then I’m not particularly interested either. You can leave now.”

“…Hey, don’t you think your attitude is excessive?”

Chamber’s once-glib corners of his mouth dropped. In an instant, the air changed around Chamber, whose face had hardened.

An invisible but distinctly felt pressure. A force that would instinctively make anyone shrink back gradually spread around.

But… to be honest, it was pathetic.

The act of exuding force as if to show off one’s strength would be too embarrassing to do in my homeland.

Strength is to be proven, not flaunted.

Trying to display strength through petty techniques was low-class. Though it might simply be a cultural difference.

“Bell…”

Carb tried to stop me with a worried expression from the side.

I understood.

It would look like an apprentice adventurer acting recklessly.

Disregarding such looks, I gazed at Chamber with a calm face. A look that seemed to say, “So what?”

Our eyes met.

Though not a word was exchanged, in that brief moment, more than words flowed between us.

In truth, I was also curious about this man’s power. Whether he was as strong as his outward composure suggested… as strong as the special-class warriors from my homeland.

Having lived in a place where everything was resolved through strength, I found that more comfortable too.

Perhaps I too had been completely immersed in that approach. Though that might not necessarily be a good thing.

At that moment, Chamber raised an eyebrow.

“Are you really an apprentice adventurer?”

“Did you think I would be intimidated if you tried to scare me?”

“…”

Chamber turned his head to look at Carb. His look was one of seeking confirmation that I was indeed an apprentice adventurer.

Carb sighed deeply, then nodded.

“…Surprising. I acknowledge your spirit.”

Suddenly, the pressure emanating from around Chamber disappeared in an instant.

“Alright. You said you wanted a definite answer from Estel? Then tonight, find an inn called Hillside Sunset. Just you alone, of course. What we need is a strong man, not little children.”

Chamber’s gaze briefly lingered on the Arnen sisters sitting next to me.

He left, making unpleasant remarks until the end.

‘What an annoying guy.’

I almost missed the people from my homeland who crudely resolved everything with strength.

But I didn’t want to hold him back and cause a commotion. After all, I wasn’t tactless enough to create such a scene inside the Adventurer’s Guild building when I was just about to become an adventurer.

After the situation was settled, I left the Adventurer’s Guild with the Arnen sisters. Carb said we could come anytime if we wanted to conquer the apprentice dungeon. And he separately tipped me off to come to him if I had any questions about the “Blood Blade” party. For some reason, after Chamber left, Carb’s attitude toward me seemed to have softened.

We decided on an inn to stay at for a while and each went to our rooms. Arnen said she would share a room with Elia, and I went to a different room by myself.

The room was sparse but adequate for rest. I rested there until evening, and only when it was time to fill my stomach did I open the door and head out.

I had dinner with the Arnen sisters on the first floor of the inn.

While I was resting in my room, Arnen had been busy moving around. With a calm face, she articulated what she had found out.

“The 72 dungeons are classified into five tiers, they say.”

The lowest tier was Anomaly tier. A total of 20 dungeons belonged to this category.

After that came Threat, Forbidden, Calamity, and Apocalypse tiers in order.

The seven worst dungeons, known as the Seven Sinister Caves, belonged to the Apocalypse tier.

Arnen’s father’s last known activity was at an Apocalypse-tier dungeon called the Ghost Cave. More precisely, his last activity was accepting a request to conquer it.

A shadow briefly passed over Arnen’s face as she continued speaking.

“To participate in conquering an Apocalypse-tier dungeon… one must be at least a top-rank adventurer. Since we’ve only just become apprentice adventurers, it will take a lot of time to approach that place.”

“Hmm…”

Before I could offer words of comfort, Arnen’s face had returned to normal.

Always the same calm and neat face. However, it now contained a resolve that was firmer than before.

“It’s not something I didn’t expect. So for now, I’m going to do what I can. While raising my adventurer rank one by one, I thought I’d look for the person who gave my father the request.”

“…You’ll be busy.”

It would probably take quite some time. That was easy to predict.

Even Chamber, who exuded a leisurely atmosphere, was only a high-rank adventurer. And in my opinion, Arnen still fell far short of Chamber’s level. If I assumed that the pressure he was exuding was only a part of his strength, that was certainly the case.

Arnen smiled slightly.

“What I want to tell you is, since we’ll be pursuing our father in our own way, I hope Bell doesn’t waste time because of us. Like what happened this afternoon…”

“You mean I don’t need to go to Hillside Sunset?”

“Yes…”

I lightly shook my head.

“Well, you might be disappointed to hear this, but I don’t necessarily plan to accept Chamber’s offer just because of you two. I have my own desires.”

At my words, Arnen’s face brightened instead.

“I see. That’s a relief.”

After finishing dinner, I left the Arnen sisters at the inn and headed out to find the inn called Hillside Sunset.

The inn was closer than I expected. When I asked a few locals, they all pointed to the direction immediately.

When I opened the door, the gazes of everyone inside focused on me at once. They even put down the drinks they were heavily consuming and just stared at me. As if everyone had been waiting just for me.

And from the deepest part of the inn, a voice flowed out.

“Is it you? The one who didn’t even blink at Chamber?”

As I turned my head toward the source of the voice, I saw a woman with blue hair cascading like water down to her waist, sitting with her legs crossed.

Wearing a coat so long it dragged on the floor, she slowly raised her glass and met my gaze.

With a slight curl of her lips, she said:

“Indeed… I quite like the look in your eyes.”