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On the way back to the surface… or rather, on the stratum above where we parted with Tur.
Upon passing the stratum where we eliminated the golden spider and the wounded lay resting, something caught my attention.
He shouldn’t be among the fatalities, but I checked just in case while following behind Ciel, and there he was, the young boy.

This blond-haired boy was around the same age as Ciel.
His clothes look brand new and needlessly expensive, clearly unsuited for den diving.
It’s not like we’re the ones to talk about ill-suited clothing, though.

After all, we can even stroll through the den in a dress if we want to.
We can block attacks even from Tur, a resident of the deepest stratum, so just as Mother said before, there shouldn’t be anything that can threaten us within the den.

『Ain, is there something bothering you?』
『Umm, there’s someone that caught my interest.』
『Among these, right? Which one?』

Ciel’s voice was, I don’t know, oddly serious. Rather than being serious to tease me, it feels like she’s trying to probe the said individual.
Since there’s no point in hiding after letting it slip, I led Ciel to where the boy was.

『Is it this one? … How do I describe it? He feels out of place?』
『Out of place is a fair description. Only people with a death wish would go into the den wearing this kind of outfit. And on closer inspection, he doesn’t even have a weapon on him.』
『Is he capable of sorcery? Does he have a lot of magic power?』
『I believe you can sense it as well, but I can barely feel any magic power from this boy. It is possible that he’s hiding it, however.』
『Yes, I can sense it. In that case, why is he in a place like this?』
『Perhaps he’s a person of high status who forced himself inside the den with bodyguards in tow.
Considering his age, he likely has an admiration for adventure.』

Just for amusement or to kill time. From his attire, those are the only answers I can think of. Ah, there’s also a possibility that he was training at the 1st stratum. However, he doesn’t feel like a rookie hunter. Whatever the case, all I can say for sure is that he really had no luck.

『Was that what caught your interest, Ain?』
『No, I actually don’t know what exactly it was about him. But if I have to give an answer, I do feel an odd familiarity with him.』
『If so, what do we do?』
『Nothing.』

Something about him certainly caught my attention, but that doesn’t mean I want to involve myself with him.
It’s clear that if we do that, we’ll just end up getting roped into something troublesome in the future. After all, the boy appears to be of high stature.
It’s just based on speculation, but I’d bet that there’s a 70% chance that he has a twisted personality.

In the end, rather than getting involved with this Schrödinger boy, it’s more important to reach the surface safely with Ciel.
As such, we decided to leave the stratum and hurry towards the surface.

◇

Unlike with the descent, there were only the two of us on the way back, so we continued on while ignoring almost every monster. I was a bit worried since we didn’t have Carol to guide us, but we were able to ascend without any trouble.
I didn’t notice the last time we came here, but we’re encountering considerably fewer monsters on the way back.

It might be because we defeated most of them when we went down, but this feels like an intentional design.
Specifically, I feel like the creator god has some sort of hand in this.
Not through magic or sorcery, but through its structural foundation.

Either way, being able to return quickly is a good thing.

And as we reached the last 10 strata, we saw Carol.

「My, that took surprisingly long.」
「A lot happened.」
「As for what exactly happened, we can save it for later. Would it be safe to say that you’ve successfully defeated your target?」
「Yeah.」
「In that case, can you tell me information regarding the survivors?」
「Sure, but what for?」
「It’s so that we can have them swiftly rescued once we return to the Hunter Guild.
You two still have to go and report to the grand master, right?」

Come to think of it, I completely forgot that we have to report back. That’s pretty absentminded of me.
Ciel had a similar reaction to mine, but I’m sure it’s for a different reason. Seeing Ciel’s reaction, Carol asked, “And so?” with a slightly exasperated tone.

『How many survivors were there?』
『I counted up to 20 people, but there should have been no more than 30 survivors.』
『Around that range, got it.』

「There were at least 20 but fewer than 30 survivors.」
「Their condition?」
「Currently asleep. Each of them were healed enough to not die.」
『Maybe they’ve even recovered enough to walk, I think?』
「They’ve probably recovered enough to walk, Ain said.」

I don’t have an accurate grasp of how potent my own healing capabilities are.
I can probably attach a dismembered limb, but that still doesn’t tell me much.
Carol nodded with a serious look.

「That’s greatly appreciated. What about the casualties?」
「I didn’t want Ain to see the bodies for too long, so I buried them. I don’t know how many there were.」
「Anything that can help identify-… Doesn’t seem like it.」
「Hunters should be responsible for themselves, no?」
「No, you’re right. That’s why it isn’t really that important. It could’ve added to your reward, but it’s not like you two are in any need of money anyway. Just making sure.」

Now that she mentioned it, we were advised to search for a guild card if we ever encounter a dead hunter to help with their identification. If brought to the guild, you’ll be rewarded according to the number of cards you returned.
Still, I’m sorry for Carol… or rather the Hunter Guild, but I really don’t have the stomach to do that. It’s not a pleasing sight for me, nor is it a sight I want Ciel to see. If you really want to know, please unearth and investigate them yourselves.

「In any case, we should probably make haste.」
「Why?」
「With the survivors being unconscious, it would be a problem if the monsters reappear. They might have all been defeated, but there’s still a lingering chance of danger.」
「It’ll be fine for a while, Tur said.」
「… What do you mean by that?」
「When you defeat all monsters in a stratum, they apparently don’t reappear for a while.」
「It seems like a lot happened.」
「A lot happened.」

And so we end with Carol back with us! It’s always funny to see when Carol has a hard time communicating with Ciel, lol.

We have an out-of-place boy wearing expensive clothing, definitely won’t be an agent of trouble at all, lol. Also, it’s still a bit disorienting for me to see written depictions of Ain moving on her own, she hasn’t done that much for the last few years… Wait, actually didn’t she do that when they were shopping too? Hmm.

Anyhow, it’s nice that Carol waited for them. Now they don’t need to worry about the troublesome stuff like how to transport the survivors and so on, hooray!

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!