Level Down 33 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 33 - What Allen Himself Can Do

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Although Allen glared at Orlando with sharp eyes, he was unable to utter any objections. Mistaking this as an effect of his own pressure, Orlando felt a little proud that he hasn't grown rusty yet, and looked away from Allen.

Confirming that he had gathered the attention of not only the guild employees but also the adventurers near the bulletin board, Orlando raised his voice.

“The Lord has already dispatched soldiers and requested relief from not only the surrounding guilds but also from the country. Although it is not certain yet, there is also information that there are orichalcum class adventurers coming nearby.” (Orlando)

The word ‘orichalcum class’ caused a great stir among the adventurers. Everyone knows that high class adventurers are all monsters, but even among them, the orichalcum class that is the highest rank is so out of the ordinary that it has become the stuff of bardic tales.

‘It might work out somehow’. Such an awareness begins to emerge within everyone.

“Adventurers of Lilac. As people living in this land, let us fight to the end with pride. You may not actually fight, but this battle will one day be sung and reverberate around the world. Who among you would not like to be one of those characters, and one day drink wine while listening to your tale?” (Orlando)

‘Bam,’ Orlando took a step forward with a loud footstep, spreading his hands out as he said that, and for a moment, silence fell over the scene. And immediately after that...

“““OO─HH!!””” (Adventurers)

As if delirious with fever, several adventurers let out a war cry as they declared their participation, and as if pulled along by them, others decided to follow their lead and participate in the emergency request for support personnel one after another.

Some of the guild employees, especially the younger ones, looked deeply impressed as they performed their reception duties, and the Guild suddenly began to come alive.

Satisfied with the change, Orlando turned his gaze back to Allen.

“Having experienced the previous stampede, you must be fully aware of the role the Guild should play. Employees with experience as an adventurer are valuable. I hope you will continue to work hard here as a fine coordinator. I myself won't be here for that long after all.” (Orlando)

Orlando said that in a low voice that only Allen can hear, and patted Allen on the shoulder. From those words and the momentary look of sorrow on Orlando's face, Allen understood that Orlando was already prepared for his own death.

His appearance was not one of the usual unpleasant guildmaster who handed over duties with a grin on his face, but of someone whose tale about his exploits during his adventurer days Allen has heard, Orlando the Gale.

If Allen hadn't used the level-down trap and his stats remained the same as before, he might have agreed with those words just like the adventurers and employees around him.

Although he would be worried about his younger brother Eric, he wouldn’t have the strength to directly help him, so he would make every effort to increase his chances of survival, even a little.

However......Allen had already obtained power.

Allen gave a small smile back at Orlando, and then took off the badge from his chest that was proof of being an employee of the Adventurers' Guild and placed it in Orlando's hand. He then said, “Thank you for your care all this time,” and passed by Orlando who was frozen with a surprised expression on his face, and headed towards Matilda.

When Matilda saw that figure of Allen, she shook her head with a tearful face, but when she realized that Allen was standing in front of her and didn't move, she smiled awkwardly and opened her mouth.

“Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild. How may I help you?” (Matilda)

“I want to register as an adventurer. My name is Allen.” (Allen)

“Allen-sama, is it? Would you like an explanation about the Adventurers' Guild?” (Matilda)

“No.” (Allen)

The surrounding people watched the exchange between Allen and Matilda. Those are the standard words exchanged between a guild employee and a new adventurer when they become an adventurer. One that Allen had once experienced and that Matilda has given to various adventurers countless times.

“If you were to take the exam, you can register from bronze class, but what would you like to do?” (Matilda)

“I don’t mind if it’s wood grade.” (Allen)

“Understood. We will issue you a guild license, which is proof of being an adventurer, in another day, so please come and pick it up. Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild. We welcome you.” (Matilda)

After that short exchange, silence fell between the two. The two did not exchange any more words. But something was certainly communicated between them.

Matilda even now managed to keep a smile on her face even though she looks like she's about to cry, and Allen gently smiled at her.

“Sorry, Matilda. I can't leave Eric alone after all. Thank you for everything until now.” (Allen)

After saying that, Allen turned his back to Matilda and started walking. He headed toward the front entrance of the guild that he had never used since becoming an employee. Matilda continued to stare at his retreating figure with her blurred vision, and just as his figure disappeared, tears began to fall from her eyes.

“I knew, I knew that. I've been watching you all this time after all...” (Matilda)

Matilda's voice never reached Allen, and disappeared among the noise of adventurers taking reception.

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After leaving the Guild, Allen hurried home, headed to the basement, packed everything he needed into his magic bag, put it in his favorite backpack, and headed for the east gate, the closest gate to the Dragon Dungeon.

And after a few minutes of running, Allen arrived at the east gate and saw a heavily closed entrance and a large number of soldiers guarding it.

“Tch!” (Allen)

Allen clicked his tongue at this and switched directions. As expected, Allen didn't expect the east gate to be sealed so quickly. For a moment, Allen thought that he should head to another gate, but he immediately denied that idea.

Certainly, there was a good chance that the other gates were not sealed. However, Allen could easily imagine that those places would be crowded with people who had heard rumors of the stampede and were trying to escape from the city.

“If I show them my guild license... right, it’ll be issued at a later date. And I haven't accepted any requests either.” (Allen)

Allen looked around as he said that. The area around the gate was already on high alert, and perhaps because evacuations were already underway, there were hardly any people around. Allen immediately made a decision, turned into a side street, and continued on for a while.

Arriving at a house in one corner deep in the alley, Alen destroyed the door to its storeroom without hesitation, and disappeared inside.

After a while, Allen came out dressed as Nera. He let out a small breath, placed some gold coins from his magic bag under the broken door of the storeroom, and immediately started running.

Allen then headed towards the east gate, ignored the soldiers who were warning him and tried to stop him, and made a big jump, leaping over Lilac’s defensive wall. The soldiers could only watch his back in shock.

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The Dragon Dungeon is a dungeon located to the east of Lilac City that normally takes two hours to walk to from the east gate. Its entrance being a huge monolith, shaped as if it represented the mouth of a dragon swallowing its prey.

Currently, soldiers and magicians were surrounding this entrance with mounds of earth, and were beginning to steadily build an encampment. Many of the soldiers here were still inexperienced, and were trembling about when dragons would come out of the entrance.

However, they did not stop moving, because they knew that this was the last line of defense, and more than anything, they knew that their own comrades were inside, holding the monsters back.

“I wish we could just seal the entrance.” (Soldier 1)

“It'll just get absorbed into the dungeon. Stop talking nonsense and get your hands moving. Our seniors are still fighting for their lives there.” (Soldier 2)

“Yeah.” (Soldier 1)

The two soldiers were having this conversation while working hard building an encampment when they were hit with a gust of wind together with a cloud of dust. The two went alert at the sudden happening and restlessly looked around, but they found nothing, and once the dust settled, they returned to work.

That was the residue of Allen, who had passed by at a speed unrecognizable to ordinary soldiers while hiding his appearance with magic.

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(T/N: ギルド証 - guild license. I think I translated it as ‘guild certificate’ before. But the 証 part can mean ‘certificate’ ‘license’ or ‘membership card’, ‘card’ and ‘license’ is usually in katakana, but ‘certificate’ isn’t something you usually carry around, so I choose ‘license’. Btw it might also mean badge, emblem, symbol, crest, et cetera et cetera. So confusing.)

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